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Home Page > Travelogues > Hungary > Eger

To the outsider, Eger certainly doesn't get as much attention as Budapest, but to the Hungarian people, Eger is a place of great historical importance.  It's also a beautiful place to visit, especially if you want to immerse yourself with the indigenous people.

Eger is about a 90-minute train ride east of Budapest, in the foothills of the Carpathian mountain range.  Like Szentendre, Eger has a lot of religious diversity, but while the former has a wide array of small churches, Eger went big.  The largest is the yellow structure in the background, St. Stephen's Basilica, pictured in full below.

The square you see in the top picture is part of the main pedestrian area -- among the largest in Hungary (second only to Budapest).  Eger has more than 150 protected historical buildings and structures in the town center, all very well preserved.  The largest, and most prominent of these structures is Eger Castle (from where the top picture was taken).

Eger Castle was built in the 13th Century, and is extremely important to the Hungarians as it is the site of a key battle against Ottoman Turk occupation.

Eger Castle is the size of a city block, and has much to see.  There are four separate museums scattered throughout the complex, including a Hungarian art museum, history museum, wax museum, and hall of sculptures.  The base of the old Cathedral sits at one corner, and the battlements are still largely intact.  Plus, the view is fantastic.

Wine lovers might be interested in the wine cellar, shown below.  The cellar is in the middle of the Castle grounds, and for only twenty US cents a taste, visitors can sample many of Hungary's finest wines.

Eger is a must-do excursion for visitors to Hungary.  It is beautiful, historical, and entertaining.

Trip taken 24 November 2001 -- Page last updated 01 September 2006 -- (C) 2001 Tom Galvin