Things to do in Northeastern Hungary
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Carpe Diem
With its hammock seats, greenery and serene atmosphere, this small teahouse in Debrecen is an oasis on a pedestrian street dominated by concrete eyesores. It stocks teas from around the world for instant consumption or later enjoyment.
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Valley of the Women Wine Tasting
Wine tasting is popular in the wine cellars of the evocatively named Valley of the Women Wine Tasting (Szépasszony-völgy). This is the place to sample Bull's Blood - one of very few reds produced in Eger - or any of the whites: Leányka, Olaszrizling and Hárslevelű from nearby Debrő. The choice of wine cellars can be a bit daunting and their characters can change, so walk around and have a look yourself.
Cellar Nos 16, 17, 29 and 48 are always popular; for schmaltzy Gypsy music, try No 32 or 42. But if you're interested in good wine, visit cellar Nos 5, 18 and 31. Be careful, though; those glasses (about Ft50 to Ft80) go down easily. Hours are erratic, but a few cell…
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Great Church
Many of Debrecen's big sights are at the northern end of Piac utca, including the yellow neoclassical Great Church. Built in 1821, it has become so synonymous with Debrecen that mirages of its twin clock towers were reportedly seen on the Great Plain early last century.
Accommodating some 3000 people, the Great Church is Hungary's largest Protestant church, and it was here that Lajos Kossuth read the Declaration of Independence from Austria on 14 April 1849. The nave is rather plain and austere aside from the magnificent organ in the loft behind the pulpit. Climb the 210 steps to the top of the west clock tower for grand views over the city.
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Bakelit Music Café
A student pub of sorts close to the centre, Bakelit attracts a boisterous and friendly crowd with its loud music, dark corners and orange-and-brown booths. This is certainly not a place for a quiet chat over a glass of chilled white wine.
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Fehérszarvas Vadásztanya
This is Eger's silver-service restaurant. But the 'White-Deer Hunters' Farm', as its name literally translates, with its game specialities and cellar setting, is really a place to enjoy in autumn and winter.
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Express
Northeast of the bus station, this large self-service restaurant is the place for a quick, cheap meal.
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Palóc Museum
The Palóc Museum in Palóc Park (a lovely green space of mature trees and grassy corners, and perfect for a picnic) was purpose-built in 1914 to house Hungary's richest collection of Palóc artefacts and is a must for anyone planning to visit traditional villages in the Cserhát Hills.
The standing exhibit 'From Cradle to Grave' on the 1st floor takes you through the important stages in the life of the Palóc people, and includes pottery, superb carvings, mock-ups of a birth scene, a classroom and a wedding. There are also votive objects used for the all-important búcsúk (church patronal festivals). But the Palóc women's agility with the needle - from the distinctive f…
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Eger Castle
The best overview of Eger can be had by climbing up the cobblestone lane from Dózsa György tér to Eger Castle, which was erected in the 13th century after the Mongol invasion. Models and drawings in the István Dobó Museum housed in the former Bishop’s Palace (1470) painlessly explain the history of the castle. On the ground floor, a statue of Dobó takes pride of place in Heroes’ Hall. The 19th-century building on the northwestern side of the courtyard houses the Eger Art Gallery, with several works by Mihály Munkácsy. The reconstructed Dobó Bastion (1549) contains a display with the fetching title the World of Weapons (adult/child 500/250Ft). Other exhibits incurring an a…
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Hajós
The village of Hajós, 21km southwest of Kalocsa, is - or should be - a magnet for wine lovers. Around 1300 wine cellars (Europe's largest concentration) are squashed into its winding streets and alleys, creating seemingly endless rows of sharply-pointed pincék (cellars). Centuries ago, a healthy Swabian population settled the region and began fermenting and storing wine; the conditions were seemingly perfect for such activities and the result is what you see today.
Full-bodied reds are the mainstay of wine production in the area, and the best odds for tastings are over the summer, when most visitors are expected. Hajós can be reached by four daily buses from Kalocsa.
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Lyceum
Directly opposite Eger Cathedral is the sprawling Zopf-style Lyceum, dating from 1765. The 20,000-volume library (adult/student 700/350Ft) on the 1st floor of the south wing contains hundreds of priceless manuscripts and codices. The trompe l’œil ceiling fresco (1778) depicts the Counter-Reformation’s Council of Trent (1545–63) and a lightning bolt setting heretical manuscripts ablaze. The Astronomy Museum (adult/student 800/650Ft) on the 6th floor of the east wing contains 18th-century astronomical equipment and an observatory. Climb three more floors up to the observation deck to try out the camera obscura, the ‘eye of Eger’, designed in 1776 to spy on the town and to e…
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Kalocsa Cathedral
Kalocsa Cathedral, the fourth church to stand on the site, was completed in 1754 by András Mayerhoffer and is a baroque masterpiece, with a dazzling pink-and-gold interior full of stucco, reliefs and tracery. Some believe that the sepulchre in the crypt is that of the first archbishop of Kalocsa, Asztrik, who brought King Stephen the gift of a crown from Pope Sylvester II, thereby legitimising the Christian convert's control over Hungary.
A plaque on the south side outside memorialises this event. Franz Liszt was the first to play the cathedral's magnificent 3560-pipe organ.
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Wine Cellars
Start with 100mL glasses; you may swallow more than you think you can drink. The correct order for sampling a half-dozen Tokaj wines is Furmint, dry Szamorodni, sweet Szamorodni and then the Aszú wines - from three to five or four to six puttony (a measure of Aszú essence added to base wines in making Tokaj; for more information). Private Wine Cellars (Tokaj) offering tastings (usually 16:00 to 21:00) are scattered throughout town, including those at Rákóczi Ferenc út 2, Óvári utca Nos 3, 6, and 8, and Bem József utca Nos 2 and 16
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Reformed College
North of the Great Church stands the Reformed College, built in 1816, the site of a prestigious secondary school and theological college since the Middle Ages. Downstairs, there are exhibits on religious art and sacred objects (including a 17th-century chalice made from a coconut) and on the school's history, where 'early to bed, early to rise' was the motto.
Upstairs is the relatively bland 650,000-volume library and the bright, white oratory, where the breakaway National Assembly met in 1849 and Hungary's postwar provisional government was declared in 1944.
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Gyula Castle
Gothic Gyula Castle, overlooking a picturesque moat near the baths, was originally built in the mid-15th century but has been expanded and renovated many times over the centuries, most recently in May 2004. Its 24 rooms now showcase the castle's history, concentrating mainly on its medieval days when the Ottomans were in town, and the weapons used to finally fend them off.
Like any self-respecting castle, there's a thick wall to wander along, a tower to climb and a dungeon to explore, but the latter is only open during breaks in Castle Theatre performances.
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Paprika Museum
Along with Szeged, Kalocsa is the largest producer of paprika, the piros arany ('red gold') so important to Hungarian cuisine. You can learn a lot more than you need to know about its development (it was first mentioned in documents way back in the 16th century), production and beneficial qualities (it is far richer in vitamin C than citrus fruits) at the Paprika Museum.
If you happen to be in Kalocsa in September, get out to any of the nearby villages to see the green fields transformed into red carpets.
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Schöffer Collection
An exhibition of the futuristic work of the Paris-based artist Nicholas Schöffer, who was born in Kalocsa in 1912, can be seen at the Schöffer Collection. The collection would be more impressive if it was cleaned now and then, but you can see some of his work near the bus station; his kinematic light tower Chronos 8 (1982) is a Meccano-set creation of steel beams and spinning reflecting mirrors that two decades ago was supposed to portend the art of the new century. Guess not.
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Károly Viski Museum
The Károly Viski Museum is rich in folklore and art, and highlights the life and ways of the Swabian (Sváb), Slovak (Tót), Serbian (Rác) and Hungarian peoples of the area. It's surprising to see how colourful interiors of peasant houses became as wealth increased; walls, furniture, doors - virtually nothing was left undecorated by the famous 'painting women' of Kalocsa. The museum also has a large collection of coins dating from Roman times to today.
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County Hall
The tree-lined street of Kossuth Lajos utca boasts dozens of architectural gems, including the delightful County Hall, the main door of which is crowned by a wrought-iron representation of Faith, Hope and Charity by Henrik Fazola, a Rhinelander who settled in Eger in the mid-18th century. Walk down the passageway, and you’ll see more of his magnificent work – two baroque wrought-iron gates that have superseded the minaret as the symbol of Eger.
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Nótafa
There are a couple of csárdák (Hungarian-style inns) amid the wine cellars in Szépasszony-völgy, which at the end of the day are much of a muchness, but if you sit down to a meal here you'll most certainly be serenaded by Imré, an old, round chap who churns out Gypsy ballads on his whiny violin. We recommend Nótafa because it pays homage to the man, Imré; his photo takes pride of place over the dining area.
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Cathedral Treasury
The Cathedral Treasury, just east of the cathedral across Kossuth Lajos utca, is a trove of gold and bejewelled objects and vestments. In case you were wondering, the large bust of St Stephen was cast for the Millenary Exhibition in 1896 and contains 48kg of silver and 2kg of gold. Among the other valuable objects is a 16th-century reliquary of St Anne and a gold and crystal baroque monstrance.
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János Damjanich Museum
The János Damjanich Museum, a well-laid out museum devoted to Szolnok's history, is easily the town's highlight. Exhibitions are divided into three sections: archaeological finds from the Bronze Age and Roman times; an extensive ethnographical collection; and exhibits relating to Szolnok's history, especially the artists' colony. The latter often highlights contemporary local artists.
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György Kohán Museum
The György Kohán Museum , in quiet Göndöcs-Népkert, is Gyula's most important art museum, with more than 3000 paintings and graphics bequeathed to the city by the artist upon his death in 1966. The large canvases of horses and women in dark blues and greens, and the relentless summer sun of the Great Plain, are quite striking and well worth a look.
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Tokaj Museum
The Tokaj Museum, in the 18th-century Greek Trading House, leaves nothing unsaid about the history of Tokaj, the Tokaj-Hegyalja region and the production of its wines. There's also a superb collection of Christian liturgical art, including icons, medieval crucifixes and triptychs, and Judaica from the nearby Great Synagogue, and temporary exhibits by local artists.
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Szarvas Arboretum
The Szarvas Arboretum, with some 30,000 individual plants not native to the Great Plain, is Hungary's finest. On 82 hectares it contains around 1600 species of rare trees, bushes and grasses, including mammoth pines, ginkgo trees, swamp cedars, Spanish pines and pampas grass. The arboretum is about 2km northwest of the centre across the Holt-Körös.
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Astronomy Museum
The Astronomy Museum, on the 6th floor of the east wing of the Lyceum, contains 18th-century astronomical equipment and an observatory; climb three more floors up to the observation deck for a great view of the city and to try out the camera obscura, the 'eye of Eger', designed in 1776 to spy on the town and to entertain townspeople.
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