Szeged

Szeged is a Hungarian city in the Csongrád-Csanád County. The third largest city in the country, it is sometimes called "the city of sunshine", for its brilliant weather. It is known for the imposing cathedral, a wealth of Art Nouveau and historicist buildings, and for the fish soup Halászlé.



Understand
Szeged lies on Hungary's south-eastern border, just south of the mouth of the Maros river on both banks of the river Tisza. It is about 171 km south of Budapest on the M5 highway. It is the lowest elevation city in the country and is known as the "City of Sunshine", because it has the most sunny days throughout the year. Szeged is the main city in Csongrád-Csanád county and serves as a commercial and cultural center of the region. The city's population was around 170 000 in 2011.

Szeged's Open Air Theatre Festival held in the summer attracts people from all over Europe. Szeged is also famous for its gastronomy. Its delicious fish soup is known all over the world, and it has its own festival in September. One of the main attractions of Szeged is the River Tisza, that offers possibilities to do different water sports or boat trips. While boasting hundreds years of history, Szeged has been rebuilt almost entirely after the flood of 1879, which destroyed most of the city. Today, with its avenues, ring roads and beautiful palaces, Szeged is one of the nicest Hungarian cities.

By car
If you are flying to Hungary, you will most likely be arriving to the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest and you will want to take the M5 highway South to Szeged. It will take 1½-2 hours to drive from the airport. You must get a sticker for your car to drive on the highway, which you can buy at any gas station (ask for "matrica").

Szeged has a parking zone system, parking tickets are available from newsagent's, local stores, etc.



By train
It takes about 2 hours to travel by train from Budapest Nyugati train station to Szeged. These trains also stop at Ferihegy, the station for Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport, meaning it isn't necessary to travel into the centre of Budapest if travelling to Szeged from the airport. Additionally, there are regional cross-border trains from Subotica in Serbia.



Get around


Szeged lies on the banks of Tisza river. The western side is generally referred to as "Szeged", while the newer eastern side is called "Új-szeged" ("New Szeged").

There are further parts of the city, which you can think of as districts (although they do not work as districts): Belváros (the center of the city, downtown), Alsóváros, Móraváros, Rókus, Újrókus, Fölsőváros, Tarján, Fodor-kert, Petőfi-telep, Makkosház, Baktó, Tápé, Újszeged, Odessza, Marostői kiskertek, Klebelsberg telep, Kecskés István telep, Iparváros, Béke-telep, Baktó.

Public transportation
For the size of the city, Szeged has a really good public transportation network. Within the city you can get around by cabs (taxi), trams (villamos), trolley buses (trolibusz) or autobus (autóbusz). If you wish to use these types of public transportation, you will need to find out about their routes, stops and schedules. During the work week, in the busy hours, within the city, most public transportation vehicles will leave every 10–15 minutes.

Schedules

 * Schedule of public transport:
 * Schedule of City buses
 * Schedule of buses leaving and arriving to Szeged
 * Schedule of trolley buses and trams

Tickets
There's no difference in the tickets for the different types of transportation methods. You can usually purchase tickets from the driver, for which you will always have to get on the vehicle using the frontmost door. On trams, you can also purchase tickets on board using your credit card (Visa or MasterCard only). You can also purchase weekly and monthly passes as well as single-trip tickets from various kiosks and newspaper stands throughout the city. These passes will be valid for all 3 types of public transportation, so you can travel by trams, trolley buses and buses. There are also discounts offered to students and seniors.

Taxi
There are a few taxi services in the city. You can call and "order" one to your location. The drivers may not speak English, but should be able to get you where you want to go. Trips usually cost somewhere between Ft 1000-2000 within the city.
 * Szeged Taxi: +36 62 333-333
 * Tele-4 Taxi: +36 62 444-444
 * Gábriel Taxi: +36 62555-555
 * Bolt taxi - with mobile app



Churches

 * Jesus's Heart church, - Szeged, Fő tér, - Tel +36 62 425370, It was built in 1936, in modern style, planned by Fábián Gáspár, plebania.ptelep@freemail.hu
 * Reformed church of Petőfi Telep (Petőfi Telepi Református Templom), 6727 Szeged, Sirály utca 14. Phone: +36 62 426496, Sun:08:30-10:00
 * Jesus's Heart church, - Szeged, Fő tér, - Tel +36 62 425370, It was built in 1936, in modern style, planned by Fábián Gáspár, plebania.ptelep@freemail.hu
 * Reformed church of Petőfi Telep (Petőfi Telepi Református Templom), 6727 Szeged, Sirály utca 14. Phone: +36 62 426496, Sun:08:30-10:00
 * Jesus's Heart church, - Szeged, Fő tér, - Tel +36 62 425370, It was built in 1936, in modern style, planned by Fábián Gáspár, plebania.ptelep@freemail.hu
 * Reformed church of Petőfi Telep (Petőfi Telepi Református Templom), 6727 Szeged, Sirály utca 14. Phone: +36 62 426496, Sun:08:30-10:00
 * Jesus's Heart church, - Szeged, Fő tér, - Tel +36 62 425370, It was built in 1936, in modern style, planned by Fábián Gáspár, plebania.ptelep@freemail.hu
 * Reformed church of Petőfi Telep (Petőfi Telepi Református Templom), 6727 Szeged, Sirály utca 14. Phone: +36 62 426496, Sun:08:30-10:00
 * Reformed church of Petőfi Telep (Petőfi Telepi Református Templom), 6727 Szeged, Sirály utca 14. Phone: +36 62 426496, Sun:08:30-10:00

Monuments

 * Somogyi Károly Városi és Megyei Könyvtár
 * Püspöki palota
 * Indóház tér és vasúti pályaudvar
 * Dorozsmai szélmalom (ipari műemlék)
 * Egyetemi Füvészkert
 * Szegedi Csillagvizsgáló
 * Szegedi Vadaspark
 * Szent István-szobor
 * Gőzfürdő (Anna-fürdő), Tisza Lajos körút 24. * Márer-ház, Tisza Lajos körút
 * Móricz-ház, Szent Mihály u. 9.
 * Szeged Állomás, Indóház tér
 * Ungár-Mayer-palota, Kárász u. 16. built in 1910-1911
 * Raichle-palota, Szentháromság u. 2.
 * Lakóház, Mikszáth Kálmán u. 4.
 * Wagner-kripta, Belvárosi temető
 * Tűzoltólaktanya, Kossuth Lajos sugárút
 * Kárász street - main street, downtown
 * Tisza river
 * Kárász street - main street, downtown
 * Tisza river

Open-air theater

 * In the summer you don't want to miss the famous "Open-Air Festival". It is called open-air, because the Dóm square is turned into a stage with seats. It usually starts around the beginning of July and ends sometime in August. The shows play for about a week and then they change. Tickets are not always easy to get, but you can always get them from scouts (of course at a higher price) before the show starts. If you are on a limited budget, you can purchase tickets for a lower price and after the show has started you can move to a better (empty) seats.

Festivals
There are several events taking place in Szeged during the summer. The best way to find out about their times is from the free local magazine (called "Szegedi Est") that you can find in most restaurants, bars, clubs and cinemas.
 * Wine Festival
 * Beer Festival
 * Days of Szeged
 * Hungaricum Festival

Movies and theaters

 * There are two main theaters in Szeged. One the main one is close to the museum, near to the bridge in downtown. The smaller theater is also near-by, a few blocks from there.
 * Cinemacity: in the Szeged Pláza shopping mall.
 * Cinemacity: in the Szeged Pláza shopping mall.

Baths and pools
Like some other Hungarian towns, Szeged also has thermal baths. The two best known are:

Other

 * See the city from the air: head out to the local airport. You can select from various airplane tours ranging that last about 15 minutes to 1½ hours around the city. They also have programs when they let you fly the airplane.
 * Go-cart: The Szeged Go-Cart ring is on the road 47, outbound from Szeged, just before the junction of M43 and 47. The track is made of old tires in an old parking lot, and is about 800 m in length. Prices are reasonable.
 * Biking: Along the eastern bank of the Tisza river runs a paved bicycle path; the route is quite scenic and peaceful once you get away from the city a bit. If you head south for seven to eight kilometers, you'll reach the Serbian border, which you can't cross, of course. You can rent a bicycle from the tourist information office.



Buy

 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)
 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)
 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)
 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)
 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)
 * ALDI discount store (ALDI diszkontáruház)

Eat
Szeged is famous for its local, traditional food. The most famous of all is probably the Fisherman's soup (Halászlé), which is made from various freshwater fish using lots of paprika (this is not necessarily spicy, but you can definitely order it that way).

Szeged is also known for its good quality sausage and salami. Pick is Szeged's own brand, which is also exported to various countries around the world. Make sure that you try the famous "Pick salami". You can buy these products at most local grocery stores and smaller, family-owned 24/7 stores.

If you are looking for international food, just check the local grocery stores. You shouldn't have too much problem finding anything from around the world. Even Americans can find their favorite cream cheese and peanut butter and jelly if they look around.



The quality of the food varies by restaurants, but is good in general. Meats and cheese can be found at most places, and they are often breaded and fried. If you go to a standard restaurant, the portions will be generous and more than enough to feed an adult.

There are lots of fast food places in the city. The most popular ones are local pizza restaurants, which are all around town. Some of them, which are open until the morning hours, are popular gathering places for the late night crowd. Of course, the international fast food chains are also present (Burger King, McDonald's, etc.), they are popular mostly among younger people. Compared to the local fast food places, these chains offer smaller portions for higher prices.

Budget
All these are in the city centre:



Traditional Szeged-style fish restaurants
The traditional fisherman's restaurants are a great choice for visitors. Locals also visit these on a regular basis because of their excellent fish soup and wide selection of good other food. There are three main fishmerman's restaurants in town.

Sweet
Hungary has very good home made style pastries and cookies. Szeged has a few bakeries around town that have excellent food selection. Ordering is quite simple, since most of the baked goods are displayed behind a glass window. They are usually freshly baked. Just point and pick what your eyes like and enjoy. Some of the more popular pastry shops around town:

Coffee shops
Coffee shops are very popular among students. There are quite a few in town, where the younger crowd likes to meet up to study or talk.



Clubs
Szeged is a University town and it has a very active night life throughout the school year. The high school and college crowd gets mixed up at most places, although some clubs try to target specific age groups with their events.

Most places have entrance fees, but offer discounts if you have a student ID. Regular fees are around 500-1000 Forints depending on the day of the week, the place and the event.

Parties are advertised to start early at night, but the crowd doesn't start to gather really until about midnight or 01:00, and usually party until the morning. This is true even on weekdays (for example Wednesday is a very big party night). Many times people meet at local pubs for a drink and talks before hitting these places.
 * Sandor Pub (Sándor Söröző), Csap Str. 1. (Petőfi-telep its, old name Somogyi-telep or Tápé, about 300 meters from the Tisza River) This is one of the smallest dance clubs. It operates once a month (Szintipop Retró-Video Buli Klub with karaoke).
 * Sandor Pub (Sándor Söröző), Csap Str. 1. (Petőfi-telep its, old name Somogyi-telep or Tápé, about 300 meters from the Tisza River) This is one of the smallest dance clubs. It operates once a month (Szintipop Retró-Video Buli Klub with karaoke).
 * Sandor Pub (Sándor Söröző), Csap Str. 1. (Petőfi-telep its, old name Somogyi-telep or Tápé, about 300 meters from the Tisza River) This is one of the smallest dance clubs. It operates once a month (Szintipop Retró-Video Buli Klub with karaoke).
 * Sandor Pub (Sándor Söröző), Csap Str. 1. (Petőfi-telep its, old name Somogyi-telep or Tápé, about 300 meters from the Tisza River) This is one of the smallest dance clubs. It operates once a month (Szintipop Retró-Video Buli Klub with karaoke).
 * Sandor Pub (Sándor Söröző), Csap Str. 1. (Petőfi-telep its, old name Somogyi-telep or Tápé, about 300 meters from the Tisza River) This is one of the smallest dance clubs. It operates once a month (Szintipop Retró-Video Buli Klub with karaoke).



Sleep
You will have various choices to stay at while in Szeged. The city has some larger and more expensive hotels, but there are quite a few cheaper and comparable places where you can stay.

Budget
In Szeged, and in most other, bigger Hungarian cities you can find a cheap room in college dorms. Most places will let you pay cash and stay for a few days. There are a few of these around town and the best way to find one is probably to ask one of the younger, "student looking" locals.



Mid-range




Splurge
The bigger hotels are usually closer to downtown. Szeged is not that big in size and you can probably walk or use public transportation to most places.

Stay safe
Szeged is a pretty safe city. You can enjoy walks around the whole town even at late night hours. Most places and streets are well lit, so you won't have to worry about getting lost.

Connect
Szeged postal code is: H-6700 to H-6791. Area Phone code: 62

Internet, hotspots
Szeged has many free WiFi (hotspot) locations. The largest square downtown - the Széchenyi tér - has free on-street wifi.

Consulates

 * 🇷🇴 Romania

Go next

 * Baja - This is a local commercial centre and the provider of public services such as education and healthcare. A small cosmopolitan town (pop. 37 000) with some minorites such Germans; Croats; Serbs; Slovaks and Romanis. Also there are some museums and art galleries. The city churches representing the variety of religion.
 * Kecskemét - A city approximately halfway on the road and railway to Budapest. It boasts a pretty historical center that is largely pedestrianized.
 * Pécs - Part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
 * Subotica in Serbia - Just on the other side of the border. The time you need to get there varies according to the waiting time at the border but usually it takes approximately 2-3 hours. It is a nice first stop if you want to explore some other cities in Serbia as well.