Hi Friends, We will be spending 4 nights in Budapest in April. My guess is that we can find plenty to do in the city for that time, but I've been wondering about trying to do one excursion out from the city since we won't be spending any other time in Hungary. Are there suggestions as to places we really should try to visit while there? I'm wondering particularly about the places on the Danube Bend. Don't want to attempt anything much more than an hour or so from Budapest, via either train or bus. Thanks!
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7027 posts
I'm sure James will chime in here and give you lots of great ideas. Two of the most popular excursions are to Gyor or Szentendre. Gyor is about an hour by train from Budapest and Szentendre is about 40 mins. I went to Szentendre myself and it was more of a 1/2 day trip so there was still lots of time to spend in Budapest when I got back. From what I've read and heard about on here I actually wish that I had chosen to go to Gyor instead as there seems to be more to see there.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Both Szentendre and Vac are easy daytrips. I preferred Vac. Szentendre was mobbed with tourists (think Prague), but still nice; Vac, at least in 2008, I had to myself. Plus, Vac has mummies and Szentendre doesn't. No, I'm not kidding: http://www.bshs.org.uk/travel-guide/naturally-preserved-mummies-in-budapests-natural-history-museum-and-the-town-vac-2. The clothing and coffins were quite fascinating.
Posted by
alameda, ca, usa
2602 posts
I've only done Szentendre, about 40 minutes by HEV--a rickety little suburban train, I was one of three passengers. I visited on a Thursday in late August and did not find it to be crowded and certainly not mobbed with tourists, it's a charming little artist's colony and they were having an outdoor market, lots of great food and wonderful hand-crafts to buy, plenty of places to sit in the shade and enjoy or you can wander down by the Danube. The Margit Kovacs museum just off the main street was an absolute joy--she was a noted sculptor in the early 20th century and her work just really pleased me, a certain rustic simplicity to it.
As others note, Szentendre can be enjoyed in a half-day visit, I arrived around noon, poked around for about 4 hours, had a late lunch then back to Budapest on the train around 5.
Posted by
OP
44 posts
No one has mentioned Esztergom, but I thought that would be interesting historically. I'm starting to think we could see Szentendre and Esztergom on one long day trip as they seem to be on the same bus route. Am I being overly optimistic?
Posted by
OP
44 posts
Thanks for all the responses, James especially. This has been very helpful. A little study and preparation ahead of time always pays off, I find.