Eger



Eger is a historic town in Northern Hungary, capital of Heves County, situated between the Mátra and Bükk mountains. Eger district outside of the city is covered in a separate article.

Understand
Eger is mainly known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret) and, above all else, the best Hungarian red wines in the "Valley of the beautiful women". When you plan your trip, it looks like a small town for which half a day is more than enough, but 3 days may not even be enough to enjoy it fully, even in the winter. In 2017, it was home to 54,000 people.

The majority of visitors come for a single day (mostly Slovakians), not staying overnight. Ukrainians and Russians frequent the castle, as do many Italians. Around the town you may also run into many German-speaking visitors.

By train
Trains leave the Budapest Keleti station each hour. The ones leaving at odd hours are direct, the ones leaving at even hours require you to change trains in Füzesabony. Most of these trains are gyors (fast) trains and will take about 2 hours and 20 minutes to arrive. Hourly IC trains will take you directly to Füzesabony, cutting the total travel time to just under 2 hours, but a reservation is required.

If you come from Miskolc your options are similar, except there is no direct service and you will have to change trains in Füzesabony. IC trains take just under an hour to arrive.

By bus
Buses leave the bus stop behind Budapest's Stadionok station for Eger twice an hour and the trip takes a little over 2 hours. The quarter past bus takes the highway and takes two hours, and the quarter to bus takes smaller roads and takes 2½ hours.

Buses (1343 and 1344) leave from Debrecen's main bus station Kulso Vasarter ~4x a day, and take about 2½ hours. They return to Debrecen from Eger most days at 06:20am, 10:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:45pm, but the bus station info desk will have the best information. As of June 2023, the trip is 2520 Ft each way.

You can buy a ticket on the bus. The buses take only cash in the local currency. Get there 20 minutes early during peak times, as there might be a queue and you might not get a seat. Most major cities in Hungary also have direct bus connections to Eger.

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.

Get around
The train station is located about a 10-minute walk from the downtown area and most attractions. Walk over to Deák Ferenc út and walk north until you reach the Basilica. 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. You won't need alpine boots, but high-heeled shoes are still not good as there is much cobblestone pavement downtown.

However, the town has a taxi service which is especially useful if you arrive by train or if your hotel is outside of the town centre. (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. There is also a touristy tram (a fun experience) that runs occasionally from the city center (Egeszsegaz u. ?) to the Valley of Beautiful Women (wine caves valley). Easiest to ride it back when you've enjoyed some wines and don't want to walk back up the hill. 1200 Ft each way (June 2023).

Museums

 * Kepes Gyorgy Museum. Artist from early/mid 1900s interested in geometry. Immigrated to the USA where he became a professor at MIT. Szecheyni u. Open Tu-Sat 10:00-17:00. Admission 1000 Ft (2018)
 * Synagogue Gallery (Temple Gallery, Zsinagóga Galéria, Templom Galéria) Kossuth Lajos Street #17. - Open: Tu-Su 10:00-18:00. Admission: Adult/Reduced Ft 300/150
 * Memorial Collection - History of Eger Tobacco Factory (Emléktár – Az Egri Dohánygyár Története) - Eger, Törvényház u. 4. - Open: Sa 10:00-16:00. Free of charge
 * Vitkovics house (Vitkovics-ház)
 * the Baroque Exhibit Hall of Diocesan Library (Főegyházmegyei Könyvtár Barokk terme) located in Karoly Esterhazy College
 * the Spekula Observatory and the Camera Obscura (Spekula Csillagvizsgáló és a Camera obscura) located in Karoly Esterhazy College
 * Géza Gárdonyi Memorial Museum (Gárdonyi Géza Emlékmúzeum) - Eger, Gárdonyi u. 28. - Admission: adult/reduced Ft 500/250 (2014)
 * Paloc Folk Art Exhibition (Palóc Népművészeti Kiállítás) - Eger, Dobó u. 12.; Open: 17 May-28 Sep: Tu-Su 10:15-16:15 - Admission: adult/reduced Ft 200/100 (2014)
 * Sports Museum (Sportmúzeum) - Eger, Kossuth u. 9. Inner yard of County House.
 * István cellar and National Wine Museum (István pince és Nemzeti Bormúzeum) -The wine museum, not very big but pleasant
 * Telekessy Pharmacy Museum (Telekessy Patikamúzeum) - Open: M-F 10:00-16:00 - Free of charge
 * Trickery exhibition (Szemfényvesztés kiállítás) - presents a vision for the world of the blind
 * the Spekula Observatory and the Camera Obscura (Spekula Csillagvizsgáló és a Camera obscura) located in Karoly Esterhazy College
 * Géza Gárdonyi Memorial Museum (Gárdonyi Géza Emlékmúzeum) - Eger, Gárdonyi u. 28. - Admission: adult/reduced Ft 500/250 (2014)
 * Paloc Folk Art Exhibition (Palóc Népművészeti Kiállítás) - Eger, Dobó u. 12.; Open: 17 May-28 Sep: Tu-Su 10:15-16:15 - Admission: adult/reduced Ft 200/100 (2014)
 * Sports Museum (Sportmúzeum) - Eger, Kossuth u. 9. Inner yard of County House.
 * István cellar and National Wine Museum (István pince és Nemzeti Bormúzeum) -The wine museum, not very big but pleasant
 * Telekessy Pharmacy Museum (Telekessy Patikamúzeum) - Open: M-F 10:00-16:00 - Free of charge
 * Trickery exhibition (Szemfényvesztés kiállítás) - presents a vision for the world of the blind

Other attractions

 * Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street buildings: #6 Grober House (Grőber-ház), #17 Sághy-Steinhauser House (Sághy–Steinhauser-ház)
 * Almagyar street buildings: #13 Hauser Bodnar House (Hauser-Bodnár-ház), #15 Plitzner-Buday House (Plitzner–Buday-ház), #16 Hagen-house (Hagen-ház)
 * Széchenyi Street is the main pedestrian shopping street which features a variety of shops and restaurants.

Do

 * Motor paragliding by Eger Aero Club and others.
 * Paintball
 * Motor paragliding by Eger Aero Club and others.
 * Paintball

Events

 * Eger Spring Festival - late March to early Apr
 * Agria Summer Games (Agria Nyári Játékok) - all summer
 * Erlau Dance Festival (Erlau Táncfesztivál) - end of July, beginning of Aug
 * The Bull's Blood Wine Feast (Az Egri Bikavér Ünnepe) - mid-Jul
 * Medieval Marketplace (Középkori Piactér) - end of Jul
 * Castle Festivities (Végvári vigasságok) - end of July
 * Baroque Festival of Eger (Fesztivál a barokk Egerben) - Jul-Aug
 * Festival of Szépasszonyvölgy (Szépasszonyvölgyi Fesztivál) - mid-Aug
 * Wine Competition of Eger (Bormustra az egri Piacz-on) - mid-Aug
 * Slow Film Festival - August
 * Agria International Folk Dance Meeting (Agria Nemzetközi Néptánctalálkozó) - end of August
 * Eger Festival (Eger Ünnepe) - mid-September - Civil festival
 * Eger Castle Day (Egri Vár Napja) - October 17 - all museum of the Castle can be visited free of charge
 * Every summer there is a small acrobatics workshop-week in Mikófalva, a village not far north from Eger (click on Mikófalva).

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

Other places for shopping:
 * Borkereskedés (wine shop) in Dobò Utca 3 has a wide assortment of Eger wines at reasonable prices.
 *  Eger Marketplace / Piaccsarnok (farmers market) Katona ter, most mornings, not Sunday.
 *  Eger Marketplace / Piaccsarnok (farmers market) Katona ter, most mornings, not Sunday.

Eat
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 is pancake balls.

Wine
Eger is the centre of one of the top wine regions in Europe. Egri Bikavér is most famous cuvee here, but there are several others definitely worth a sip, such as dry whites.

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 types of red wine mixed). This name was given by the Turkish horde trying to conquer Eger - and then proceed towards Austria, etc. They failed: there were approx. 2000 Hungarians inside Eger, and 200,000 Turks outside. They had always seen the Hungarians drinking red wine, but they did not know what it was, and they assumed this must be bull's blood which makes these warriors so strong and fearless.

Sleep
Several camp sites are available along with plenty of small and larger hotels and private rooms all over the town. You will not have a problem finding accommodation there.


 * Hunguest Hotel Flóra, at the centre of thermal springs, among hundred-year-old trees.
 * Imola Udvarház Hotel. Modern and comfortable hotel in a quiet little square at the foot of the castle. There is a garage for guests cars.
 * Imola Udvarház Hotel. Modern and comfortable hotel in a quiet little square at the foot of the castle. There is a garage for guests cars.
 * Imola Udvarház Hotel. Modern and comfortable hotel in a quiet little square at the foot of the castle. There is a garage for guests cars.
 * Imola Udvarház Hotel. Modern and comfortable hotel in a quiet little square at the foot of the castle. There is a garage for guests cars.

Go next

 * 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