The visitor will surely be drawn to two places: the capital Budapest and Lake Balaton. Buda and Pest, which lie either side of the great Danube River make up a city which is a magical cauldron of castles, Cathedrals, churches, squares and boulevards. The clubs and pubs and modern music scene are much revered and the islands sitting in the river are the perfect place for either a relaxing walk or an internationally acclaimed music festival whilst the universities give the city a young and vibrant feel.

German tourists have been flocking to the shores of Lake Balaton for decades to wade into its knee deep water and relax in the serene Central European atmosphere at its best. The wonderful shallowness of the water at some points, makes for a bizarre experience and it’s not uncommon to see groups of people standing round in their bathing suites with water only up to their ankles chatting away or taking in the sun.

Music

Music in Hungary can be broadly classified as traditional folk, classical and Roma/Gypsy music. The traditional music has strong rhythms driven by the language whilst the Roma music is that which is typical across the whole of Eastern Europe. Famous notable classical musicians and composers include György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Jeney and Balazs Szokolay.

Hungarian Cuisine

Bordered to the west with the terrible and boring Slovak kitchen, the Hungarian one seems like heaven in comparison; the mixture of the spicy, thanks for the Ottoman invasion, with the sweet means that Hungarian cuisine is both diverse and tasty. The most obvious dish to start with is goulash, which is more of a soup in Hungary then in its neighbours. But the magic really starts with the stews and soups, which are often creamy with hot after-kicks. Some people have suggested that Hungarians are obsessed with food, they certainly talk about it a lot. Friendly locals might well offer you food and it is considered rude not to accept, but there is little reason why you would want to with such wonderful cooking; where else would someone put sugar on your spaghetti or in your tomato soup? There is also a wide selection of baked sweet deserts to complement the main courses. Sweet white wine is also in abundance and of great flavour and taste.