Miskolc

Miskolc, with population of about 157,000 (2017), is the third largest city in Hungary, located in the north-east of the country, east of Bükk mountains.

Understand
Miskolc used to be one of the centres of heavy industry in 20th century. Today Miskolc is the regional centre of Northern Hungary. The city is surrounded by the beautiful Bükk Mountains. The most famous tourist attractions are outside the city, but one can find things worth visiting in downtown, too.

A quiet suburb of Miskolctapolca, most famous for its cave bath, provides unique cave thermal spa. is a popular ski resort.

By plane
Miskolc doesn't have an international airport; the nearest ones are in Košice (Slovakia), Budapest and Debrecen.

By bus
Since Miskolc is well connected to the rest of the country by railway lines, there are fewer bus lines connecting Miskolc to other cities. Price list, Lines, some of them to Debrecen 05:30-20:00, 20 per day, to Eger 05:00-18:00, hourly, to Hajdúböszörmény 05:35-20:00, 12 per day, Kazincbarcika 5:30-22:00 every half hour, Mezőkövesd 05:00-18:40, hourly; Szerencs every 2 hours, 06:00-18:40; Tiszaújváros every half hour; Hódmezővásárhely, Nyíregyháza, Salgótarján, Sátoraljaújhely, Szeged one morning, one afternoon; Kecskemét and Szolnok daily.

By train
The trains going through Northern Hungary all stop in Miskolc, the city can be reached by train from all the major cities (although if you come from the Transdanubian region, you might have to change trains in Budapest which means you have to find your way through the city to the Keleti station.) See the website of Hungary State Railways for information on trains, travel time and prices. The site is available in Hungarian, English and German (this link leads to the English version.

International connection to Košice, in Slovakia (daily, one morning and one evening train, 3.5 hr, discounted RW tickets for €6.5) International travel tickets, seat reservation, travel card can be paid in euros. The returning will be paid in forints.



By car
Miskolc can be reached from the Budapest and further west on Highway M3, or from Debrecen to the south on M35. You have to pay a toll/fee if you want to drive on a highway, which consists of going into any gas or petrol station and purchasing a sticker for your car windshield before you drive on the road.

If you come by car you may expect some trouble with navigation. There is really only one way to get into the village, and it goes through Miskolc, which is not famous for having good road signs. If you are very careful and have at least 2 spare eyes to read the signs, you may well succeed. Or ask locals for directions if you feel lost. The spa is about 5 km (3 miles) south of Miskolc city center, west of the main road.

By bus
If you need info on bus lines, go to the mass transport company's site and click on "Menetrend". At "Viszonylat" choose the number of the bus to see the time tables. (1V and 2V are the tram lines.)

Bus lines important for tourists include:
 * Bus 1 connects the Tiszai railway station with the downtown and Diósgyőr district
 * Bus 2 starts at Búza tér and goes to Tapolca (30 min)
 * Bus 5 starts from Felső-Majláth and goes to Lillafüred
 * Bus 15 also starts from Felső-Majláth and goes to Ómassa.

Tickets
You can buy bus tickets on the station (or on the bus for a somewhat bigger price and the driver won't have change, you have to pay the exact amount. Generally it's not recommended), also can buy bus tickets at news stands. Bus tickets are Ft 300 (or Ft 400 if you buy it on the bus), ten tickets ("gyűjtőjegy") are Ft 2800 (Feb 2017).
 * General ticket, valid for all buses & trams for one day (napijegy): Ft 1600
 * Same for 3 days (tourist ticket): Ft 3000
 * same for 7 days (hetijegy): Ft 3900

You can buy Miskolc Pass Tourist Card online or at the hotels. If you have you can travel for free on local buses and trams, and one time on the forest train.

Tickets are the same for bus and tram. General & tourist tickets are not valid on Bus 7 after it leaves Miskolc (Bus 7 is the only city bus that leaves Miskolc; it goes to the nearby town Felsőzsolca.) Penalty if you don't have valid ticket: Ft 3000 if you pay immediately, Ft 6000 if you don't have money with you and have to pay later.

Buses usually open the first door only because it is part of the driver's job to check if everyone has tickets. They open the other doors only if someone wants to leave the bus at that door, and if you get on the bus through those doors, the driver might ask you through the loudspeaker to show your ticket.

By tram
There are only two tram lines, 1 & 2. The end station to both of them is at Tiszai station. Tram line 1 goes to Felső-Majláth. Tram no.1 is the good one to reach the castle of Diosgyor, take off when you can see it on your left hand side.

Tram line 2 goes to the metal factory. Be sure to leave Tram 2 at latest at Újgyőri főtér' and change trams if you want to go to Diósgyőr.

By narrow-gauge train
These trains run between and Lillafüred (in 10 km away from Miskolc) with open carriages, 40 min. Inside Miskolc it makes a few more stops, including the one close by to castle of Diosgyor. After Lillafüred it then continues its way up to Garadna village, takes another 20 min. Daily 10:00 - 19:00. Fixed price 800 Ft no matter how far you go.

By car
Foreigners sometimes find it hard to find their way in the city. City maps are sold in every bookstore and at some newsstands. There are some road signs, but not too many. In the individual parts of the city parking areas are divided to designated parking zones. The maximum parking time in Green/Yellow/Blue zone: 2/3/4 hours the fees are Ft 340/220/150 per hour. There is two underground car park is at Patak Street and at Európa Square (charge Ft 200 per hour, 2014).

By taxi
Moving around by taxi in Miskolc is an easy way to explore the city or get to your destination. Cabs are not hard to find, especially in the downtown area or around the busy tourist attractions. Prices are the same by all company, it averages US$1.00 per km and the basic fee of $1.50-2.00 per ride. Most dispatchers should speak English or German and possibly French, in addition to Hungarian. The main taxi companies are Bolt taxi and Best of Taxi.

On foot
Probably the best way to see the spa is on foot.

This is recommended for the downtown only. Many of the tourist attractions are quite far from the city centre.

Széchenyi Street is mostly a pedestrian precinct, the tram lines go along it, but cars use it only occasionally.

Downtown

 * Main Street (Széchenyi st.) and City Hall Square (Városház tér) with 19th-century houses and lots of shops

Miskolctapolca
Getting there: take bus #2 on weekdays (30 min by bus from 'Buza ter'), and bus #20 on weekends and go to the final destination, 200 m walk from there, you will reach the Cave Bath.
 * The Cave Bath is surrounded by a large park which has an artificial lake where you can row boats.
 * Rock chapel (a chapel in a small natural cave)
 * Akropolis is an adventure park for kids and grown up.
 * Akropolis is an adventure park for kids and grown up.

Do

 * Football: Diósgyőri VTK play soccer in NB 1, the top tier. Their DVTK Arena (capacity 15,300) is 5 km west of city centre.

Festivals and events

 * Queen Spring 22 May. Renaissance season opening in the castle of Diosgyor.
 * Bartók + in June is an international opera festival with opera and ballet performances at the theatre and additional localities presented by international guest artists and companies.
 * Medieval commonalty joust in the court of King Louis the Great. 14–15 August in the castle of Diosgyor.
 * CineFest is a week-long international film festival in September, organized for the 7th consecutive year in 2010. Expect somewhat obscure but very interesting feature and documentary films, rollercoaster sessions of half-amateur short films of inapprehensible quality, and a haphazard but invariably watchworthy selection of short animations, almost all with English subtitles; also workshops and talks with foreign guests.

Malls
Two smaller malls are Batóház and Metropol, opposite the Centrum.

Budget
There are many smaller shops, Chinese restaurants with cheap food.

All these are in the city centre:



Drink
Enjoy wine in some of the restaurants in Avas hill.

Wifi
There are free Wi-Fi hotspots at Heros Square and Szinva Terrace as well as at some other places like Szinvapark and Miskolc Plaza (Mall) You can use free Wi-Fi on the new trams, too.

Go next

 * Eger — famous for its baroque buildings, castle and wines, especially Bull's Blood (Bikavér)
 * Gyöngyös - city of Wines
 * Hollókő — a beautiful old preserved village. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage List
 * Lillafüred (W 15 km) — there's a narrow gauge train to this nice village in Bükk mountains sitting in a valley by Hámori lake, where you can visit several caves.
 * Mezőkövesd — spa with hot mineral water
 * Sárospatak — Rakoczi Castle, is the highlight here.
 * Sátoraljaújhely - the northeasternmost town of Hungary. A split town with the eastern half of it in Slovakia.
 * Szerencs — famous for its castle. Chocolate factory, guided tours and industrial history museum
 * Salgótarján — a modern mining town situated in the hills with two castle ruins
 * Tokaj — a famous wine town producing high quality white wines. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage List