While Budapest rightfully captivates visitors with its grand architecture and thermal baths, Hungary’s treasures extend far beyond its capital. Venture into the countryside and you’ll discover a nation rich with UNESCO sites, centuries-old vineyards, historic thermal towns, and cultural traditions that have survived empires, wars, and modernization. These destinations offer authentic experiences without the crowds of Budapest, places where locals still outnumber tourists and traditions remain vibrantly alive rather than preserved solely for visitors.
Eger: Where History, Wine, and Thermal Waters Converge
Just a two-hour drive northeast of Budapest lies Eger, a Baroque jewel that epitomizes Hungary’s perfect blend of culture, wine, and wellness. The town’s skyline is dominated by its 13th-century castle, famous for a 1552 victory when a small Hungarian force repelled an Ottoman army nearly forty times its size. Walking through the meticulously restored fortress today, it’s easy to imagine the defenders’ courage as they protected this strategic stronghold.
Eger’s historic center unfolds around Dobó Square, where colorful Baroque buildings house cafés and shops beneath the imposing Minorite Church. The town’s architectural masterpiece, however, is the Lyceum, home to a stunning 18th-century library and an astronomical tower offering panoramic views over the red-tiled rooftops.
No visit to Eger is complete without experiencing its twin pleasures: wine and water. The “Valley of the Beautiful Women” (Szépasszonyvölgy) on the town’s edge houses dozens of wine cellars carved directly into the hillside, where vintners pour the region’s famous Egri Bikavér (Bull’s Blood), a robust red blend, and Egri Csillag (Star of Eger), its white counterpart. Many cellars date back centuries, with winemakers eager to share the stories behind each vintage.
After wine tasting, Eger’s thermal baths offer the perfect relaxation. The recently renovated Eger Thermal Bath combines historic sections dating to Turkish occupation with modern pools and wellness facilities, providing the authentic Hungarian thermal experience without Budapest’s larger crowds.
Pécs: A Mediterranean Slice of Hungary
Near the Croatian border, Pécs surprises visitors with its distinctly Mediterranean atmosphere—terra cotta roofs, outdoor cafés, and a relaxed pace that feels more Italian than Central European. This UNESCO World Heritage city bears the marks of 2,000 years of continuous habitation, from Roman tombs to Ottoman mosques to Baroque Hungarian architecture.
The city center revolves around Széchenyi Square, where the emerald-domed Mosque Church visually represents Hungarian history, originally a church, converted to a mosque during Ottoman rule, then reconsecrated as a Catholic church while retaining its Islamic architectural elements. Nearby, the Early Christian Necropolis preserves remarkably intact 4th-century Roman burial chambers with biblical frescoes, offering a tangible connection to Hungary’s pre-Magyar history.
Pécs gained fame for its Zsolnay porcelain, and the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter now occupies the former factory grounds. This innovative complex houses museums, studios for working artists, performance spaces, and the spectacular Zsolnay Mausoleum, showcasing the iridescent ceramic techniques that made the brand world-famous.
The Villány wine region just outside Pécs produces Hungary’s boldest red wines. Family-run wineries welcome visitors to taste robust Cabernet Francs and Portugieser reds in cellars dug into limestone hillsides. Many offer simple but delicious food pairings featuring local specialties like körözött (paprika-spiced cheese spread) and mangalica pork products.
Hévíz: Europe’s Largest Thermal Lake
While Hungary boasts numerous thermal towns, none compares to Hévíz, home to Europe’s largest natural thermal lake. Covering 4.4 hectares and fed by a spring delivering 410 liters of mineral-rich water per second, Lake Hévíz maintains a year-round temperature of at least 22°C (72°F), rising to 38°C (100°F) in summer.
The lake’s unique ecosystem includes water lilies imported from India in the 1890s that help oxygenate the water. The thermal water completely replenishes every 72 hours, while its mineral composition, rich in sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and hydrogen carbonate, provides therapeutic benefits for joint conditions and mobility issues.
Swimming in the lake offers a surreal experience, especially in winter when steam rises from the surface while snowflakes fall, creating a misty, otherworldly atmosphere. The historic bathing house at the lake’s center dates from 1795, though it has been modernized with contemporary spa facilities.
The town of Hévíz has developed around wellness tourism, with hotels offering balneotherapy treatments utilizing the thermal water and mud from the lake bottom. Traditional Hungarian treatments like weight bath therapy (where patients float suspended in the thermal water) provide unique wellness experiences found nowhere else.
Beyond the lake, the nearby Festetics Palace in Keszthely offers cultural balance with its Baroque splendor and vast library. The surrounding Balaton region provides opportunities for wine tasting, particularly the volcanic whites from Badacsony that pair perfectly with Lake Balaton’s pike-perch.
Tokaj: The Wine Region That Changed History
The rolling hills of northeastern Hungary hide perhaps the country’s greatest treasure: the Tokaj wine region. This UNESCO World Heritage landscape produces Tokaji Aszú, once known as “the wine of kings, the king of wines” and so valued that it was mentioned in the Hungarian national anthem.
What makes Tokaj special is noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), a beneficial fungus that concentrates sugars in the grapes under specific climatic conditions created by the meeting of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers. The resulting sweet wines have been prized since the 17th century, when they graced royal tables throughout Europe.
The Tokaj Wine Region consists of 27 towns and villages with the eponymous town of Tokaj at its heart. The region’s winemaking infrastructure includes a vast system of cellars dug into volcanic rock, maintaining ideal conditions for aging wines. The most impressive, beneath the Rákóczi Cellar in Sárospatak, extends for kilometers.
While sweet Aszú wines brought fame to the region, today’s Tokaj also produces exceptional dry Furmint and Hárslevelű wines that express the region’s mineral-rich soils. Small, family-owned wineries like Disznókő, Oremus, and Szepsy offer tastings that frequently turn into hours-long experiences as passionate vintners share their craft.
The region’s cultural heritage extends beyond wine. The town of Sárospatak houses the remarkable Rákóczi Castle, once a center of Hungarian independence movements and intellectual life. Folk traditions remain strong throughout the region, with opportunities to experience authentic Hungarian village life in places like Tállya and Mád.
Hollókő: Living Folk Heritage
In the rolling hills of northern Hungary sits Hollókő, a village that seems lifted from a folk tale. This UNESCO World Heritage site preserves not just the architecture but the living traditions of the Palóc people, an ethnographic group with distinct customs, dialect, and folk art.
The village consists of 67 protected buildings, most dating from the 17th-19th centuries, constructed in the traditional timber-framed style with white-washed walls and carved wooden gables. Unlike many “living museums,” Hollókő remains genuinely inhabited, with residents continuing traditional crafts and agricultural practices.
Easter in Hollókő offers the most vibrant expression of its cultural heritage. The weekend festival features locals in hand-embroidered traditional costumes performing folk dances and enacting courtship rituals where young men splash unmarried women with water and recite poems in exchange for painted eggs. Craft demonstrations showcase skills like egg-painting, embroidery, and wooden handicrafts that have been passed down through generations.
The village is crowned by a reconstructed 13th-century castle offering panoramic views of the surrounding oak forests and meadows. A network of hiking trails connects Hollókő to the broader Cserhát landscape, making it an ideal base for combining cultural and nature experiences.
Local cuisine provides another window into traditional life, with the village’s small restaurants serving dishes like palócleves (a lamb soup with vegetables unique to the region) and rétes (strudel filled with local cottage cheese and seasonal fruits).
Szentendre: The Artists’ Haven on the Danube
Just 40 minutes from Budapest yet worlds away in atmosphere, Szentendre offers the perfect introduction to Hungary beyond the capital. This riverside town has served as an artists’ colony since the early 20th century, when painters were drawn to its Mediterranean light, cobblestone streets, and Serbian Orthodox heritage.
Today, Szentendre’s pedestrian-only center houses over a dozen museums and countless galleries. The most fascinating is the Open Air Ethnographic Museum (Skanzen) on the town’s outskirts, featuring relocated and reconstructed historic buildings from Hungary’s regions, creating a comprehensive overview of traditional architecture and lifestyles.
The Margit Kovács Museum celebrates Hungary’s most renowned ceramic artist, whose expressive figures merge folk traditions with modernist sensibilities. Meanwhile, contemporary artists continue Szentendre’s creative legacy in working studios where visitors can often watch the artistic process and purchase pieces directly from creators.
The town’s Serbian heritage remains visible in its churches and distinctive architecture, legacy of Serbian refugees who settled here during the Ottoman period. The Blagovestenska Church houses a stunning baroque iconostasis, while Serbian Orthodox traditions influence local cuisine in restaurants serving dishes like cevapcici and pljeskavica alongside Hungarian favorites.
Sopron: Where Hungary Meets Austria
Nestled against the Austrian border, Sopron preserves a distinct cultural identity shaped by its geographic position between Hungarian and Germanic worlds. The town’s loyalty to Hungary despite its German-speaking population earned it the nickname “The Most Loyal Town” (Civitas Fidelissima).
Sopron’s Old Town remains one of Central Europe’s most intact medieval urban landscapes, centered around the emblematic Fire Tower. Beneath its streets lies another layer of history, Roman Scarbantia, with excavated ruins accessible in several locations including the Forum and Fabricius House.
The surrounding Sopron wine region specializes in elegant, mineral-driven white wines, particularly Kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch). Local winemaking tradition includes both large operations like Taschner and tiny family cellars in villages like Balf and Fertőrákos, where tastings often include homemade meals in cellars built into the hillsides.
Lake Fertő (Neusiedler See), straddling the Hungarian-Austrian border, offers recreation and wildlife watching opportunities in its reed-covered UNESCO World Heritage landscape. The Fertő-Hanság National Park protects Central Europe’s largest contiguous reed bed, home to over 300 bird species.
Sopron’s proximity to Austria makes it ideal for cross-border exploration. Just a short drive from Vienna, it often serves as a first taste of Hungary for travelers, offering access to Hungarian traditions and hospitality while remaining easily accessible from Western Europe.
The Great Hungarian Plain: Cowboy Culture and Thermal Waters
The endless horizons of the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld) present a landscape unlike anywhere else in Central Europe. This vast grassland was once Hungary’s wild frontier, where horsemen maintained traditions dating back to the Magyar tribes’ arrival over a millennium ago.
Hortobágy National Park preserves both the natural ecosystem of the puszta (steppe) and its associated cultural heritage. The Nine-Arch Bridge spans the Hortobágy River as a symbol of the region, while the park showcases traditional pastoral practices including the spectacular horsemanship of the csikós (Hungarian cowboys). These skilled riders perform feats like standing on the backs of galloping horses, traditions maintained not just for tourists but as expressions of cultural identity.
The region’s premier cultural city is Debrecen, Hungary’s historical “Calvinist Rome” and second-largest city. The monumental Great Reformed Church dominates the city center, symbolizing the Protestant heritage that made Debrecen a counterweight to Catholic Habsburg influence. Today’s Debrecen combines this religious heritage with a vibrant university atmosphere and growing wellness tourism centered on the newly renovated Aquaticum thermal complex.
Nearby, the Hajdúszoboszló thermal bath complex ranks among Europe’s largest, with dozens of pools utilizing waters rich in hydrogen carbonate, iodide, bromide, and salt—ideal for treating locomotor disorders. The town has developed entirely around wellness tourism, with hotels and clinics offering comprehensive treatment programs combining thermal water therapies with medical supervision.
Embracing Authentic Hungary
Venturing beyond Budapest reveals a Hungary of remarkable diversity from medieval towns to rolling vineyards, from thermal lakes to endless plains. These destinations offer authentic cultural immersion where traditions remain vibrant parts of daily life rather than performances staged for tourists.
The ideal Hungarian itinerary combines several of these destinations, perhaps linking Eger’s historic charm with Tokaj’s winemaking heritage, or pairing Pécs’ Mediterranean atmosphere with Hévíz’s thermal waters. Public transportation reaches most major destinations, though a rental car provides the greatest flexibility for exploring smaller villages and wineries.
Hungary’s regional tourism infrastructure has improved dramatically in recent years, with boutique hotels and quality restaurants appearing even in smaller towns. English proficiency increases annually, though learning a few Hungarian phrases still earns appreciative smiles, and occasionally better service.
Timing your visit around local festivals adds another dimension to the experience, whether it’s the Busójárás carnival in Mohács (February), the Sárospatak Early Music Festival (July), or wine harvest celebrations throughout September and October.
What unites these diverse destinations is authenticity, the sense of discovering the real Hungary where traditions aren’t maintained for tourists but remain integral to local identity. Beyond Budapest lies a Hungary waiting to be explored by travelers seeking deeper connections to one of Central Europe’s most distinctive cultures.