• Get around
• Buy
• Sleep
• Get out

Dobo tér in Eger

Eger [1] is a historic town in northern Hungary, capital of Heves county, situated between Mátra and Bükk mountains.

[edit] Understand

Eger is mostly known for its castle, thermal baths, historical buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret) and, above anything else, for the best Hungarian red wines. When you plan your trip, it looks like a small town which half a single day is more than enough, but even 3 days may be not enough to enjoy it fully, even in winter time.

[edit] Tourist mix

Majority of travellers come here for a single day (mostly Slovakians), not staying overnight. Ukrainians and Russians are frequent among visitors to Castle, Italians go next. Around the town, many German-speaking travellers can be seen.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By train

Trains leave the Budapest Keleti station twice every hour. Some are direct but most require you to change trains in Füzesabony. Most of these trains are gyors (fast) trains and will take about two hours and 20 minutes to arrive. Several of these trains are IC and will take you directly to Füzesabony, cutting the total travel time to just under two hours, but a reservation is required.

If coming from Miskolc your options are similar, only there's no direct service and you'll have to change trains in Füzesabony. IC trains take just under an hour to arrive.

[edit] By bus

Buses leave Budapest's Stadionok station roughly once to twice an hour for Eger and the trip takes roughly two hours. Most major cities in Hungary also have direct bus connections to Eger.

[edit] By car

The easiest way to arrive is to take the M3 as far as Füzesabony, then continue north on route 25. For a more scenic route from Miskolc you can drive through the windy roads of the Bükk mountains.

[edit] Get around

The train station is located about a ten minute walk from the downtown area and most attractions. Walk over to Deák Ferenc út and walk straight up till you reach the Basilica or you can also take buses #10, 11, or 12. If you arrived by bus, the town bus station is located downtown directly behind the basilica.

Once downtown the city is small and best walked on foot. You won't need alpine boots, but high-heeled shoes are still not good as there's lots of stone pavements in the downtown.

However, the town has a taxi service especially useful if you arrive by train or if your hotel is outside of the town center. (phones: 555-555; 333-333).

Also, if you go for some outdoor activities near the town there are some buses connecting the town with the suburbs. Check at the main bus station for schedules.

[edit] Do

• Relax in thermal baths.
• and then with a glass of wine in a wine cellar.
• "Valley of the Beautiful Women" - see #Drink section.

In suburbs:

• Motor (and non-motor?) paragliding (Eger Aero Club and others)
• paintball [2]

Others:

There's a non-crowded cloakroom on the 2nd floor.

See also: New Year holidays in Hungary.

[edit] Horseback riding

[edit] See

[edit] Egri Vár (Castle)

Castle as seen from minaret

There's a scheme of sights inside the castle [3]: in Hungarian and German right near the entrance; the scheme in English is available in the depth, near Minting Museum.

The entry ticket will grant you entrance to the main exhibits.

• The Gothic Palace houses an excellent exhibit on the history of the castle, the Turkish siege, and aftermath.

• The Art Gallery contains artwork from different Hungarian artists, most notably Munkacsy.

• Finally there is a tour of the Underground Passageways. The tour will take you first to the Heroes' Hall, with a replica of the tomb of Istvan Dobo. The passages themselves contain several different examples of archeaological finds, as well as recreations of events from the Turkish seige (a cannon being fired, an underground explosion, and a makeshift motion detector that uses peas). The passages can only be visited by tour, which are available in English at an extra cost.

The castle has several other attractions which are not included on the main ticket. Specifically, you'll have to pay extra for:

• Panopticum exhibits a dozen of wax figures based on characters from the book "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon" by Géza Gardonyi. Winter time: open 9am-3pm. Entrance 350ft adult; 250ft children/students/retired.

• Weapon exhibition on Dobó bastion contains weapons from all around the world.

• Minting museum displays coins of ancient origin.

Beyond historical sights there are excellent views of the entire city as well as several hobbyhorses inside the yard that even adult tourists enjoy playing with.

[edit] Other Attractions

Minaret of Eger

• Minaret the northernmost minaret in Europe and the tallest in Hungary (the other two are in Pécs and Érd) the minaret is a 42 meter high symbol of the Turkish occupation. It is 97 steps to the top, but be warned, the climb up is in an incredibly enclosed space and there is little room to move around up top so those who are afraid of heights or tight places should just enjoy it from the outside. Open for visitors from April to November.
• Ráctemplom (Serbian church) on Vitkovics Mihály u. 30. features baroque and rococo architecture and the iconostasis painted by Miklós Jankovich.
• The wine museum, not really big but pleasant
• Basilica on Pyrker tér 1. is the third largest in Hungary (the other two are in Esztergom and Budapest).
• Lyceum is the baroque building opposite the Basilica and currently functions as a college. The Archbishop's Library inside is home to various frescoes, including one of the Council of Trent, as well as the only handwritten letter by Mozart in Hungary. The Observatory in the tower features a mirror telescope, a cannon sun dial which announces midday with a small explosion, and a camera obscura which projects an image of the city skyline on the wall.
• Széchenyi Street is the main pedestrian shopping street which features a variety of shops and restaurants.

[edit] Buy

Definitely good place for wine shopping. You can buy directly from the makers.

Other places for shopping:

• Agria Park[4] is a modern shopping mall which opened in March 2008.

[edit] Eat

Plenty of restaurants all over the town.

Visit some csárdas in Valley of Beautiful Women (Szépasszony-völgy). Some of them are constantly overcrowded as tourists are brought there by buses of partner agencies.

One of the specialties are pancake balls.

[edit] Cafes and Confectioneries

[edit] Restaurants

Onion soup is disappointedly non-traditional, but still good. Conqueror's soup is served in bread, and definitely worth tasting. Be careful with Sombrero--extremely hot, which is not indicated in menu.

[edit] Drink

[edit] Wine

Eger is the centre of one of the top wine regions in Europe.

[edit] Wines

Egri Bikavér is most famous cuvee here, but there are several others definitely worth a sip.

Egri Bikavér (Bull's Blood) is a strong red Hungarian wine which supposedly saved a clever Hungarian girl from her fate with a Turkish sultan. During the time of the Turkish occupation, it is said a young girl was summoned to become a member of the local sultan's harem. Not wanting this fate for his daughter, her father gave her a bottle of Egri Bikavér to take to the sultan. He told her to tell the ruler it was bull's blood, and would make him invincible. The sultan, being Muslim, was unaccustomed to alcohol, and proceeded to pass out, leaving the daughter unharmed. That's a legend -- but in real life, also be careful with Egri Bikavér. It's excellent, but strong stuff!

The real story is an important piece of Hungarian history: the "bull's blood" made there - is a cuvee (two type red wine mixed) - this name was given by the turkish horde trying to conquest Eger - and than proceed towards Austria...etc But failed!...there were approx. 2000 Hungarian inside Eger, and 200,000 Turkish outside. They have always seen the hungarians drinking red wine, but they did not know what it is, and they have assumed this must be bull's blood - that make these warriors so strong and fearless.

[edit] Wine shops

• <buy name="Wine shop" alt="" address="" directions="at Dr. Hibay Károly u., just across Senator Ház" phone="" email="" fax="" url="" hours="" price="" lat="" long="" tags="wine,wine_tasting,cheese">Nice place to taste and try wines. Walls and windows are all packed with wine bottles, there are even some mounted in the floor. Offers selection of wine-tasting menu, with full range of cheese and snacks.</buy>

[edit] Valley of Beautiful Women (Szépasszony-völgy)

Valley of Beautiful Women (Szépasszony-völgy) is the main place to go for winetasting in the town. Many small wine cellars that sell local wines with very good prices. Within about 15-20 minutes walk from centre of town, and easy to get to. Just follow the street signs with the english text "Beautiful Woman Valley". Vendors will fill whatever container you have with you, so bring along some extra pop bottles.

• <drink name="Biro Borozo" address="" phone="" email="" fax="" hours="" price="" url="">Elderly women are great hosts, outer-directed but not annoying, with good English and sense of humor. Half of wine sorts is poured from a barrel through decanter--it's a nice show, ask to demonstrate. Another half is provided from bottles.</drink>

• <drink name="Helyben Fogyasztas" address="" phone="" email="" fax="" hours="" price="" url="">Some hosts speak English well, others not so well. Most wines are poured from barrels, not from bottles.</drink>

[edit] Sleep

Several camp sites. Plenty of small and larger hotels and private rooms all over the town. You will not have a problem finding accommodation there.

• Arany Trófea Hotel [5], at the feet of the Bükk National Park. All the rooms are equipped with a private bathroom, a color TV, telephone and minibar.

• Hunguest Hotel Flóra [6], at the centre of thermal springs, amongst hundred-year-old trees.

• Korona Hotel, [7] is situated in the most quiet green area of the baroque city centre, near the pedestrian street.

• Romantik Hotel, [8] The family-oriented cozy 11-roomed hotel is located in the centre of Eger, only 100 meters from Eger's main pedestrian street.

• Senator Ház itself is an old building right at Dobó tér, the main square of Eger--so prepare to enjoy sounds of the town's main clock tower every quarter. Reception area is full of small antiques.

Senator Haz is in a great location, very central. Back patio is directly against the castle wall, which makes for a great setting to watch the sunset and drink Bikaver.

• Villa Völgy Hotel, [9] is a 3-star and located in the Valley of Beautiful Women, famous for its wine cellars. The hotel can be found next to a hundred-year old chapel and a delightful park.

[edit] Get out

• Visit castles in Sirok and Kisnána
• Bathe and have a glass of wine in Egerszalók
• Visit the open air museum in Mezőkövesd
• Hike in Bükk mountains
• See the romanesque abbey in Bélapátfalva

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