Web tours scenic Hungary

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2003 (8321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT’S a good time to visit Eastern Europe to sample the scenery and culture of Hungary, home of sweet wines, food spiced with paprika, scenic countryside and centuries of history.

Start your visit in the city of Budapest — www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/budapest — and look up Picture Gallery for a brief introduction to the city’s scenery. Read up on the city’s history, beginning with an early Celtic settlement, and then take A Little Tour to get acquainted with the Castle District, the Inner City and more.

The city’s Web site also has an essential Practical Information section with sketchy directories of places to stay, a list of museums (there’s a link to the Web site for the Hungarian National Museum) and a guide to public transit.

Detailed information about the country’s art and major museums is available at Art in Medieval Hungary — http://home.hu.inter.net/~jekely — where you’ll also find information on the Holy Crown of Hungary and other regalia. Then visit Fine Arts in Hungary — www.kfki.hu/keptar — for more discussion, pictures and links.

Learn more about Budapest from the Budapest and Beyond section of the National Tourist Office — www.gotohungary.com — which touts the city as having “an image more exotic and mysterious than any other Western capital,” and outlines areas from the old Obuda section with Celtic and Roman ruins to the caves of Gellert Hill. That same part of the tourist office Web site will show you the attractions of other areas of Hungary, including Lake Balaton, and describe the country’s food and wine heritage.

Click on the tourist office’s Choose a Tour for suggested itineraries, including castles, wineries and Hungary’s centuries-old horse-raising traditions. If you want someone else to worry about the details and schedule, they also have references to tour companies. And according to General Information, English is widely understood, and no visa is required with a U.S. or Canadian passport.

Travellers on really tight budgets should look over Backpackers Youth Hostels Budapest — www.backpackers.hu — whose information isn’t limited to hostels. Among other things, they provide guides for walking tours and “a glutton’s guide to Hungarian cuisine.”

Northwestern Hungary has a little of everything from medieval villages to baroque and Renaissance palaces, according to the regional information at CyberHungary — www.cyberhungary.net — and the area around Lake Balaton is a wine-producing region with dozens of resort hotels. And look under Culture for more on spas, castles with photos, wines and horses.

Head for the English section of “Hungary’s official touristical homepage” — www.hungarytourism.hu — and look for Hungaricums or Hungarian specialties, for the lowdown on Bull’s Blood wine, apricot brandy and paprika. Food & Drink has recipes for sour-cherry strudel and stuffed cabbage with dill.

— Associated Press