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| | | | Raising a glass to Hungary's Pecs
If I had a pound for every time someone asked 'Budapest?' when I said I was going to Hungary for a long weekend, I wouldn't necessarily be a rich man but I'd be able to at least afford a decent night out on the town. But there is more to Hungary than the capital city, and certainly more to the clichés that sometimes occupy ones mind before visiting a country.
Pecs is Hungary's fifth largest city, and the unofficial capital of the south-west. Currently gearing itself towards becoming a European Capital of Culture in 2010, the locals are rightly keen to show off their historic town, and it is indeed a pleasant place in which to spend a long weekend or mini-break.
The main square of Pecs is where most descriptions or tours of the town begin, and it's a real picture postcard affair, with the colourfully-patterned buildings offering a distinctive flavour. The most noticeable landmark in the square is the imposing Mosque of Gazi Kaszim Pasa, which became a Roman Catholic church following the retreat of the Ottoman Turks, and is well worth popping in for a visit.
The city's glorious four-towered cathedral dates back to the 11th century, but has been destroyed and subsequently rebuilt on numerous occasions. The cathedral is open for the public every day, although only for a few hours on Sunday afternoons. It stages regular popular organ concerts throughout the year, with schedules available on request.
The square outside the cathedral is a popular place for groups of tourists to gather, and you could visit the Bishop's Palace next door or the nearby World Heritage listed site, where recent excavations have uncovered a number of early Christian tombs.
As far as museums go, the variation took me by surprise and you could easily spend many hours exploring them. The highlight for art-lovers is likely to be the Victor Vasarely Museum, showing many of the works of the renowned artist, who was famed for his use of optical illusions.
Also on Kaptalan Street, unsurprisingly known as the 'Street of Museums', is the Zsolnay Museum, which houses a wonderful display of porcelain.
Wine-lovers will certainly feel at home in the area, with theVillany-Siklos Wine Route featuring a number of fabulous wine cellars. Known by wine buffs throughout Europe and beyond, the region has produced some outstanding wines and it is possible to explore a number of fine cellars on foot in the Villany area.
We visited the Malatinszky-Kuria vinery, where we were given a tour before tasting a selection of wines. I don't claim to be the world's greatest connoisseur but I did particularly enjoy the Chardonnay, which had a sumptuous flavour.
Another undoubted treat for wine-lovers is a visit to the Polgar Winery, with its extensive corridors and cellars, home to literally thousands of bottles of wines, many stored by Hungary's rich and famous. You wouldn't want to be stuck there on your own in the dark hours however, such is the spooky nature of the cellars. The Winery also boasts a sizeable restaurant, although it should be noted that it is a fair drive from the centre of Pecs.
Probably my personal highlight of the trip came when we visited the tiny village of Zengovarkony, a short drive from Pecs, where we were first given a delightful welcome at the Egg Museum, which celebrates the ancient Hungarian tradition of decorated eggs. The tradition, mainly an Easter one, reflects the centuries-old belief that eggs are the spring of life. We were lucky to see a local lady (in fact, the mayor's wife) using wax to paint some.
We visited the Cottage Museum next door, where I was hypnotised by a local lady weaving in the workshop there – it looked like tremendously hard work, and she joked that it was better than training at the gym.
While in the village you can also visit the Corn Treasure House, which displays over 450 corn objects, and I also recommend that you see the old Calvinist church.
Food is varied, and I certainly enjoyed some splendid soups during my time in Hungary, while meat eaters should have no reason to complain. Beer is hearteningly cheap, priced at little over £1 a pint, and you won't be surprised to hear you can try a wide range of very enjoyable wines.
The nightlife is pleasant rather than manic in Pecs, and there were still people filling the bars in the quaint streets around the main square into the wee small hours at the weekend.
During my trip, I stayed in the Hotel Kikelet, which enjoys a prime location in the Mecsek Mountains above Pecs. In truth, I've stayed in hotels with more character but the rooms are very comfortable and offer pleasant views of the town.
If I'm being honest, and despite the fact Pecs University and its 35,000 students can give the town a relatively youthful feel, I would say the area lends itself more comfortably to more mature visitors.
Road infrastructure has improved in recent years, but driving to Budapest should still take around three hours, while an intercity train ride will take slightly longer than two and a half hours.
Pecs is geographically well placed for you to incorporate a break into a longer holiday, with Croatia within driving distance and beautiful Slovenia further afield.
If it seems like I'm trying to diminish Pecs and its surrounding area by recommending staying here as a stopover or for a short break, that couldn't be further from the truth. For fine wines and vineyards, a variety of historical buildings and interesting museums, and a guaranteed warm welcome, a few days in this corner of south-west Hungary won't disappoint.
* For more info, call the Hungarian National Tourist Office on 0207 823 0411 or see www.gotohungary.co.uk
* Feeling inspired? If you like Hungary, read the following travel guides to
Krakow
Prague
Tallinn
Travel Guide: Hungary
Hungary for more
We had been told that Hungarian gypsy musicians don't know how to read sheet music and learn everything by ear alone.
Sensing a presence at my shoulder, I turned around to face one such musician, violin in hand, resplendent in a white tuxedo complete with gangster-style spats.
"Would you like me to play you something special?" he enquired of our dining group. The conversation suddenly died and silence descended as everyone cracked under the pressure and struggled to think of a suitable song.
Undeterred and knowing that we were an English group, he launched immediately into a perfect rendition of Cockney classic, Roll Out The Barrel. We were to learn throughout our Hungary trip that these musicians know every tune imaginable.
We were dining at one of Budapest's oldest and most upmarket restaurants, Gundel, and following a tour from the restaurant director, Kallmann Kozma, we enjoyed a five-course meal, sampling Hungarian delights such as goose-liver pate and paprika chicken.
The Hungarians love their spicy paprika, but our chicken disappointingly lacked any real bite. According to Mr Kozma, this is simply explained, as the vast majority of Hungary's tourist population are German. The food is often toned down because our Teutonic cousins are apparently unappreciative of fiery surprises.
The meal was accompanied by an excellent pinot noir from Gundel's own vineyard and topped off with the country's most famous export, Tokaj, a sweet and light dessert wine.
After a good night's sleep in the Grand Hotel Hungaria in the city centre, we rose early to begin our whistle-stop Budapest sightseeing tour, led by our guide, Andrea.
The city is split by the not-so-blue Danube River and we headed across it first to the Castle District, situated on the hillier and more exclusive Buda side.
This is home to the old town and the Royal Palace, and although there are few original buildings left due to World War II bombing, it's pleasant strolling around the palace complex and the attractively decorated streets of the old town, with it's famous Fisherman's Bastion.
This collection of fisherman's houses is a kind of monument to a former way of life on the banks of the Danube.The elevated position of Buda also means you have sweeping, panoramic views of the whole city - time to get the camera out.
Back on the minibus and it was off to the flatter and more built up Pest side of the river, where we cruised through pretty squares, up and down wide boulevards and past more sights, such as the impressive Parliament building and the opera house.
Our only other stop of the morning was at the huge central market. Before it was encased in brick and cast-iron, business was carried out along the waters of the Danube and farmers and traders would sail downriver to flog their wares. Nowadays, three long passageways are lined with stalls where you can sample more Hungarian delicacies - but we were saving our stomachs for lunch.
Our itinerary described our lunchtime destination, Menza, as a "typical" restaurant, but the clientele suggested otherwise. The retro decor was uber-cool and our guide pointed out politicians and even a famous choreographer enjoying his goulash. And the setting, a tree-lined, mostly pedestrianised side street, was reminiscent more of Paris than eastern Europe.
Free time in the afternoon saw the majority of our group head back to the market for a few souvenir purchases (including goose-liver pate and Tokaj) before we set off for Lake Balaton.
The number of Britons visiting Hungary has increased dramatically in the last year, but most never venture beyond Budapest, a fact the Hungarian tourist board are desperate to change.
Balaton, one of the largest lakes in Europe, is a two-hour, 100km drive away. Known as the nation's playground, it's where the capital's wealthier residents like to have a holiday home and where the rest of the population come to relax and try their hand at sailing, kite-surfing, cycling, tennis and horse-riding.
On the southern side of the lake sits Siofok, party central, where you'll find a host of restaurants, bars and nightclubs, but our destination was the supposedly more dignified northern side of the lake and the bohemian town of Balatonfured.
Travel Guide: Hungary
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| | | | A touch of the retro
Our hotel, the Annabella, was a dour and imposing eight-storey building and although the facilities were good - two swimming pools (one inside, one outside), a sauna, a huge canteen and a disco - you couldn't help feeling that you'd stepped back in time some 20 or 30 years.
Nevertheless, it was nice to be out in the beautiful Hungarian countryside and the next day, after a tour of the hotel in the morning, we set off round the lake through the picturesque Balaton Upland National Park, bound for Badacsony.
This small town has a little market selling holiday souvenirs and a charming museum and gallery dedicated to the work of the Hungarian artist Jozsef Egry, who spent much of his time by the lake.
The area is primarily known however for its wine and the St Orban vineyard is one of the country's most successful wine producers. Due to the rain, we ate lunch in the vineyard's restaurant, but when the sun is out you can dine on the terrace, surrounded by vines with stunning views of the lake.
Our roast duck, potato and Hungarian (salty) cabbage was accompanied by another delicious pinot noir but the desert wine this time was St Orban's own, sweeter, award-winning variety.
Next stop was the nearby town of Keszthely and a tour of Festetics Palace. When the Russians invaded, much of the palace's contents were looted and it's only thanks to the efforts of one educated Russian officer that the incredible Helicon Library remained untouched. Much of the palace was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers and the officer had the library doorways bricked up. A sign warning of infected and contaminated bodies kept any looters at bay.
Our sprightly guide, Mike, delighted in telling us naughty stories of the women who had lived in the house over the centuries and for a man of advancing years, he still had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
The rain continued to bucket down outside so instead of a stroll through the centre of Keszthely, it was back on the bus for a short ride to the Restaurant Bacchus and, for many in our group, the anticipated highlight of the trip, a wine tasting.
Bacchus was of course the Roman God of wine and our setting for the tasting couldn't have been more apt as we took up positions around a giant wooden cask, nestled inside a gigantic converted wine vat.
Andrea translated descriptions of each wine uncorked by our host, and those in the know slurped, swished and spat, while those non-experts among us (including yours truly) just slurped. Joking aside, despite a general ignorance concerning the ways of the tannin and bouquet, I was incredibly surprised at the quality of the wines that we tasted throughout our trip and will be definitely seeking them out where possible back in the UK.
For those of us that forgot to spit, the dinner that followed at Bacchus was sorely needed, as was the nap on the bus as we made our way back to Balatonfured.
On our return, several of us decided to venture out at around 11pm for a night-cap, but despite it being the beginning of the July holiday season, the attractive promenade's bars and restaurants were largely deserted. Disappointed, we resorted to the Hotel Annabella disco, where our conversation had to compete with the strains of Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For A Hero.
With hindsight, the lack of activity on the promenade is more a reflection of Balatonfured's popularity with families than any general lack of atmosphere. If you want some nightlife, you'd definitely be better off heading to the southern shore of the lake.
Our final day (and yes it was still raining) saw us head out across the lake on a converted 19th-century trawler for the Benedictine Abbey in Tihany.
Nestled among the trees on a hill overlooking the lake, the Abbey contains one of Hungary's most important monuments, the tomb of King Andrew I, who began its construction in 1055. The Abbey's Deed of Foundation is also the country's oldest surviving record of the Hungarian language.
The surrounding village acts as a kind of working museum where, apart from a few which have been turned into souvenir stalls, the houses are as they would have been a few hundred years ago.
Overall, my only reservation about this particular trip would be that the Hotel Annabella is not quite in keeping with the dignified air of the Balaton north shore region. Otherwise, the trip was superb and highlighted the fact that there is a whole lot more to Hungary than just the capital.
Lake Balaton proved a real surprise, and elsewhere around the country, there are a total of nine Unesco world heritage sites to visit. You still shouldn't miss wonderful Budapest, but do venture further afield for a glimpse of the real Hungary.
- A twin centre break with Crystal Lakes & Mountains (tel: 0870 403 0543) combining Budapest and Lake Balaton (including b&b) cost from £459 per person for a six night stay.
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| | Available rental properties in Hungary |
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| |  | | Spa Apartment
Spacious apartment in the beutiful hot spring and spa town of Heviz close to the lake Balaton
|  | | Spa Apartment 2
Spacious apartment in the beutiful hot spring and spa town of Heviz close to the lake Balaton
|  | | Holiday Apartment Egry
Queit Holiday Apartment in the Center of Budapest, Hungary, with online reservation possibility.
|  | | Nice apartment in the Heart of Budapest
Nice, furnished 2 roomed apartment in Budapest City Center with good public transportation
|  | | Fürdö
A pleasant holiday home for 4 adults and 1 child. It has a delightful, enclosed garden. The house is situated in the recreation area of the town.
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Holiday Rentals in Hungary |
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