Budapest

With its multifarious and often embittered history, incredible architecture and rich cultural heritage, Hungary’s capital deserves its reputation as the ‘Paris of Eastern Europe’. It has a complex identity, somewhere between Western luxury and simple traditions.

Budapest’s highlights include a cruise along the Danube, strolling along the riverfront or across romantic bridges, browsing through antique bookshops and jewellery stores, or ‘taking the waters’ at one of the city’s many spas. The city is well laid-out, rarely confusing, and ideal for walking.

Eger

Although a long day trip from Budapest (128km/80mi), Eger warrants a visit. It’s a beautifully preserved baroque town, with a relaxed, Mediterranean feel. It’s flanked by two of the Northern Uplands’ splendid ranges of hills and is also home to the celebrated Egri Bikavér (Eger Bull’s Blood) wine.

Hungarians like to visit Eger because it was here that their ancestors fended off the Turks for the first time during the 170 years of Turkish occupation. The city has something interesting around every corner and is close dto traffic in the centre, making it perfect for negotiating on foot.

Lake Balaton

This oblong lake is one of the largest in Europe. Often called ‘the nation’s playground,’ Balaton is divided into the south shore, one long resort of high-rise hotels and minuscule beaches, and the less glitzy north shore, offering more historical towns and sights, mountain trails and better wines.

Dominating the south is Siófok, the largest of Balaton’s resorts, a Dionysian place of eating, drinking, swimming, sunbathing and the like. The north’s oldest and most popular resort is Balantonfüred, a sophisticated, yet peaceful place with a bohemian feel. Balaton is 100km (62mi) from Budapest.

Pécs

Lying equidistant from the Danube and the Dráva rivers in Southern Transdanubia, Pécs is one of the most interesting cities in Hungary. Blessed with a mild climate, it has an illustrious past, superb museums and some of the finest Turkish monuments in the country.

Music, opera, ballet, and Hungary’s best leatherwork are some of the cultural gems of the city. Its symbol is the Mosque Church, the largest building from the Turkish occupation still standing in Hungary. The square mosque, with an octagonal green copper dome, was built in the mid-16th century.