Hungary: Budapest, Eger Wine Country and Lake Balaton

Arrive in Budapest

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport to your hotel in central Pest

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Budapest
• Environ 30 min de route

Soir

In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: how the baths work, what to bring for the cellars, and where the easy and active options fall. Then your guide walks the group down to the Danube promenade for the view of the Chain Bridge and Castle Hill, and on to a welcome dinner of Hungarian cooking nearby: goulash soup, chicken paprikash and a first glass of Hungarian wine. Plan to land by about 4 pm to reach the briefing; later arrivals are met and join the group at dinner.

Compris

• Pick-up at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Short evening walk to the Danube promenade with your guide
• Welcome dinner in central Pest

Budapest: Castle Hill and the Danube at dusk

Pest across the Chain Bridge to Castle Hill, the Hungarian National Gallery, then an evening boat on the Danube

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Budapest
• En bateau

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the Castle District. The afternoon is free: rest, shop, or take the optional Parliament tour.

Soir

As the light goes we meet on the Pest embankment for an evening boat on the Danube, about an hour past the Parliament, the bridges and the castle as they light up.

Compris

• Castle Hill with your guide: the Fisherman's Bastion terraces and Matthias Church
• The Hungarian National Gallery in the royal palace
• Sit-down lunch in the Castle District
• Evening boat on the Danube at dusk
• Public transport tickets for the day

Activités en option

• Hungarian Parliament guided tour (timed tickets, on request)

Budapest: the market and the Széchenyi Baths

The Great Market Hall and central Pest on foot, then the Széchenyi Baths in City Park

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Budapest

Matin

The morning is for eating. With a local food guide we start at the Great Market Hall, the big iron-and-brick hall by the Liberty Bridge that opened in 1897, while the stalls are being stocked and the shoppers are locals. We taste paprika in its sweet and hot grades, winter salami, pickles and a lángos, the fried dough eaten with sour cream and cheese, then walk on through the streets of Pest for strudel, a shot of pálinka for those who want one, and coffee and a cake in an old café.

Après-midi

The walk finishes with a small sit-down lunch. In the early afternoon we take the metro under Andrássy Avenue, the oldest line on the European continent, to City Park and the Széchenyi Baths, built in 1913, with yellow neo-baroque wings around warm outdoor pools fed by a thermal spring. Stay an hour or the whole afternoon.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Market food walk with a local guide: the Great Market Hall and central Pest, with tastings
• Sit-down lunch at the end of the walk
• Széchenyi Baths entry with a locker or cabin
• Public transport tickets for the day

Activités en option

• A massage at the baths (book at the desk)

Szentendre on the Danube, then Eger

Budapest to Szentendre, then north-east to Eger

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Eger
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about 40 minutes up the Danube to Szentendre, a small town of painters on the river where Serbian merchants settled in the 17th and 18th centuries. Their churches still stand: your guide walks you up the lanes from the main square with its plague cross to the Belgrade Cathedral, the Serbian Orthodox cathedral on the hill, and to the lookout by the Catholic church over the rooftops and the river.

Après-midi

There is time for the Margit Kovács museum of glazed ceramics, or for the galleries and marzipan shops, before lunch in the old town. In the early afternoon we drive about two hours east along the foot of the Mátra hills to Eger, a baroque town in a valley of vineyards below the Bükk hills. We check in for two nights near Dobó Square.

Soir

The evening is free: take a slow first walk round the square and up to the minaret.

Compris

• Szentendre old town with your guide: the main square, the Belgrade Cathedral and the hilltop lookout
• Margit Kovács ceramics museum, Szentendre
• Sit-down lunch in Szentendre
• Drive to Eger

Eger: the castle and the Valley of the Beautiful Women

Eger Castle, the Lyceum and the minaret, then the Valley of the Beautiful Women

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Eger

Après-midi

Lunch is in town, and the afternoon is free: rest, or try the Turkish bath.

Soir

In the early evening we walk out to the Valley of the Beautiful Women, a horseshoe of cellars cut into the soft rock, for a tasting of Bull's Blood and Eger Star with dinner in a cellar.

Compris

• Eger Castle at opening with your guide, with the casemates
• The Lyceum and its camera obscura
• Sit-down lunch in Eger
• Wine tasting and dinner in a cellar in the Valley of the Beautiful Women
• Return to the hotel by van after dinner

Activités en option

• The Eger Turkish bath (thermal baths, in town)
• The minaret climb (narrow spiral stairs)

To Lake Balaton: Tihany and its vineyards

Eger to Budapest's ring road, south-west on the M7 to Lake Balaton, then the Tihany peninsula

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Tihany
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

We reach the Tihany peninsula, which juts into the north shore of Lake Balaton, in time for lunch looking over the water. Afterwards we visit Tihany Abbey on the ridge, a Benedictine house founded in 1055 by King Andrew I, who is buried in its crypt; its founding charter holds some of the oldest written Hungarian words. Then we walk: along the rim to the Inner Lake, a crater lake in the middle of the peninsula, past lavender fields and through vineyards, to the hermits' cells cut into the rock at Óvár.

Soir

We finish at a small winery with a tasting of Balaton whites, and the farewell dinner is by the lake.

Compris

• Drive from Eger to Lake Balaton with a coffee stop
• Lunch on the Tihany peninsula
• Tihany Abbey and the crypt of King Andrew I
• Guided walk to the Inner Lake, the vineyards and the Óvár hermits' cells
• Wine tasting at a Balaton winery
• Farewell dinner by the lake

Lake Balaton and home

Tihany to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) or central Budapest

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

Take an early swim or a walk on the shore while the lake is flat and the ferries are just starting to cross to Szántód, then have a slow breakfast. Mid-morning we drive back to Budapest, about 155 km and two hours, past Lake Velence and round the city to the airport. We reach Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport around 1 pm, and your guide sees you to the check-in hall and checks your flight before saying goodbye.

Soir

If you are staying on in Budapest, we drop you at a central hotel instead; many guests add a night or two to see the Parliament or the Jewish Quarter at their own pace. If you are carrying on to Vienna or Prague, our capitals trips start and finish nearby, and the train to Vienna takes about two and a half hours from Keleti station. Leave enough time for security at BUD in summer.

Compris

• Drop-off at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) or a central Budapest hotel