Hungary holidays

Hungary delivers one of Europe's most-distinctive capital city experiences — Budapest spans the Danube with the higher Buda hills on one side (the Castle Hill, Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion) and the flat Pest commercial side on the other (the neo-Gothic Parliament, the Great Synagogue, the Andrássy Avenue UNESCO route to Heroes' Square). Add the world's second-largest geothermal spring system that supplies the Belle Époque-era thermal baths (Széchenyi, Gellért, Rudas — outdoor-pool-soaking with the city around you is a Budapest signature), the wine country of Tokaj (UNESCO, producing the world's most-historic sweet dessert wines), the Eger red-wine valley, the Lake Balaton summer resort coast, and the Great Plain (Puszta) horseback-cowboy heritage.

A 7-10 day Hungary trip: Budapest (4-5 nights — Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion at dusk, Parliament tour, the Great Synagogue, the Central Market Hall, dinner at one of the city's ruin-bars or wine-bars, a Széchenyi or Gellért bath afternoon, the river cruise sunset, optional Margaret Island bike ride) → Lake Balaton north shore at Tihany Peninsula (2 nights summer-only — wine villages, lavender season in June) OR Eger wine valley (2 nights — Valley of the Beautiful Women wine cellars, the Eger castle) → Tokaj wine country (2 nights — UNESCO-listed wine-growing region, the world's oldest classified wine appellation, the Rákóczi cellar tour) → optional Hortobágy National Park for the Great Plain horseback-cowboy show (2 nights).