Eger

If I had told middle-school me that strolling around a medieval Hungarian city, complete with exploring castles and buying fancy regional wine, would be a casual Friday, I would have fainted into my stack of Rick Steve travel brochures. And yet, over Easter weekend in Eger, that happened!

Getting There

A popular daytrip from Budapest, Eger is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from the Hungarian capital. A 3 hour journey by train ($22 round trip) or bus ($23 round trip) is also possible.Do

There are seemingly endless churches and monuments to choose from, but seeing the Cathedral Basilica of St. John, minaret, and Eger Castle fit comfortably into the afternoon we had to explore.

I enjoyed them (even though the minaret was unfortunately swathed in scaffolding), but even more so I enjoyed the novelty of walking arm in arm with someone around the city, making lazy circles through the old streets. Eger’s a city for lovers–who knew?

Eger Castle

Chalk it up to my inexperience with royal residences, but I didn’t know castles could be so fun. Archery, chimney cakes, giant puzzles…was this a historical experience or Disneyland? (There was also a plethora of architectural info, but I glazed over after looking at the fifth column fragment, sorry to say.)

As I could have guessed from the rolling vineyards we passed on the way into town, the Eger region takes great pride in its wine. I took home a flavorful red for 2500 ft ($10) as a sweet reminder of the trip!

I never regret taking a day trip that lets me see more of Hungary. And after walking around a city this cute, I can’t wait to see more of this country I’ve come to call home! (Also I’ve finished that wine, so I think another trip to Eger is in the very near future.)