Best of Hungary
Around & About
Hungary is one of Europe's most fascinating countries and offers a wealth of sight seeing and attractions!
With the Alps to the West and the flat, open Great Plain to the East, the climate is accented with cold short winters and many long summer days, with the sun shining for up to 10hrs a day!
Explore Budapest (only and hour away by car), one of the world's most beautiful cities, marvel at the architecture, enjoy the renowned operatic and music events and experience the romance of the Danube River and Budapest's famed spa baths. Most towns and cities in Hungary have reliable and affordable public transport but the best way to see the country is to hire a car and experience it all for yourself!
If you would like to research any of the topics that are discussed then please use the selection of links we have provided to the left of this page. There are more links on this page.
Lake Balaton & F1
Lake Balaton (also known as the 'Hungarian Sea'), is the largest lake in Central Europe.
50 miles long lake with silky green-yellow water in the middle of Transdanubia. Lake Balaton is one of Hungary's most precious treasures and most frequented resorts. Picturesque vineyards in the region produce an assortment of excellent wines for you to enjoy.
Cycling - the cycle ways & quiet country lanes around Lake Balaton are little explored and allow the tourist to experience the cultural, historical & architectural delights little seen in other countries.
The Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix 2010 - held at Mogyoród, 20km northeast of Budapest (1hr 20 mins away from Villa Aquatica), between Sat 29th July - Sun 1st August 2010. The racetrack is in a valley, surrounded by a beautiful hillsides, so you can enjoy much of the race from any point. You can also follow the race on several, well-positioned giant TV screens.
The Hungarian circuit surely won’t be boring either. Though drivers often criticize the track, because it’s narrow and there are few points where they can overtake each other. After Monaco the Hungarian Grand Prix has the slowest average speed.
Budapest & Famous People
Hungary is a medium-sized Central Eastern European country, over 1100 years old, with a population of 10 million.
The country boasts one of the world's most beautiful cities, Budapest - the "Pearl of the Danube". A country where you can find 2000 year old Roman ruins and 400 year old Turkish monuments, found side by side. A country that boasts Central Europe's largest fresh water lake - Balaton which provides a natural paradise for its visitors and a country where hundreds of therapeutic mineral springs gush up from the depths. Not forgetting to mention the ledendary Hungarian hospitality!
Spa Culture in Hungary - Hungary is a land of more than 1,000 hot springs and enough spa facilities to accommodate 300,000 people at the same time! These spas are located in big cities and smaller towns throughout the country. Some are simple thermal baths serving the local community.
In Budapest you can find Castle Hill - in Buda's 'old town' which has been a cultural and strategic focal point of the city for centuries. Buda Royal Palace - The enormous building at the southern end of Castle Hill has been the royal palace, in various styles and guises, since the 14th century. Fishermen's Bastion - The Fishermen's Bastion is often the first stop for tourists visiting Budapest, the fairytale turrets offering an elevated vantage point from which to view the city. The Chain Bridge which was the first permanent link between Buda and Pest and is a fitting monument to István Széchenyi - known as the 'Greatest Hungarian'. The Great Synagogue in Pest, is the second largest in the world (after the one in New York). It has three naves and following orthodox tradition, separate galleries for women. Together the naves and galleries can accommodate up to 3,000 worshippers. Gellért Hill is visible from almost everywhere in Budapest with the impressive Freedom Monument on its peak standing 14m high, is one of the city's memorable landmarks.
Some of Hungary's famous people!
Franz Liszt, the genious Hungarian composer &
pianist, was born on 22nd October 1811 in Raiding (then Doborján), Hungary and died, aged 74 on 31st July 1886. Some other famous Hungarian composers & muscians are: Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, George Szell & Márta Sebestyén.
Famous Inventors: Albert Szent-Györgyi was the first to discover vitamin C, after extracting it from paprika, the zesty yellow peppers of Hungary.
Ede (Edward) Teller helped to develop the atomic bomb in the 1930s. László József Bíró invented the ballpoint pen the most popular tool for everyday writing. Ernő Rubik was the one who came up with the world's best-known toy – the Magic Cube. József Galamb designed the world’s first affordable car, the Ford Model T. János Irinyi was the mastermind behind safety matches. Dennis Gabor is most notable for inventing holography for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971. John George Kemény is best known for co-developing the BASIC programming language in 1964. John Von Neumann was a pioneer of the application of operator theory and quantum mechanics.
Famous Sports & Entertainment Personalities: Hungarians are a talented and resourceful bunch of people: Judit Polgár can justly claim to be the greatest female chess player who ever lived. Monica Seles was the World’s No. 1 player in the women’s tennis game during 1991 and 1992. Ferenc Puskás was captain of the all conquering Hungarian soccer team of the 1950s and one of the brightest lights to grace a soccer field. Harry Houdini, the renowned escape artist, was born Erik Weisz in Budapest. Zsa Zsa Gabor made her film debut in 1952’s Lovely to Look At. Andy Vajna is a film producer, who has made numerous movies including the Rambo series, Die Hard with a Vengeance and multiple Terminator movies and series. William Fox (or, rather, Vilmos Fried) started out in Hungary and went on to found the film studio, 20th Century Fox!
