City Profiles: Balatonfüred

Whether you are planning to spend your summer holiday at Lake Balaton, or just looking for a quick weekend getaway, Studentguide.hu is here to help you choose your destination. This time, we are looking at the Capital of the Northern Shore, Balatonfüred.

Where it is and how to get there

Balatonfüred lies on the northern shore of Lake Balaton, close to the Tihany peninsula. Since it's rather close to the eastern basin, you can get there very quickly from Budapest, both by car and by public transport. Although the distance is only 130 km, the motorway can get really crowded and jammed in the summer months, so you might want to check traffic news and seek alternative routes. The most popular way to get there is by taking M7 from Budapest to the eastern shore and then turn left onto Route 71, which takes you along the shore to Balatonfüred. The less crowded option is to exit M7 at Székesfehérvár and continue on Route 8 to Veszprém, where you can take Route 73 towards Csopak, only a few minutes away from Balatonfüred. Fewer people come this way, although it's only 5 km longer and a lot less crowded than the first option.

If you don't have access to a car, you can get to this pearl of a city easily by train. MÁV, the Hungarian railway, operates on summer schedule from the 16th of June till the 26th of August, which means that there are at least two trains every hour. Depending on the kind of train you select, the journey can take from 1:59 up to 2:39. You can board these trains both at Déli train station and at Kelenföld. The train station in Balatonfüred is located close to the city center? it is 1 km, so about a 10-12 minutes walk away from Tagore Promenade, which stretches for miles along the shore of the lake. 

What to do

Balatonfüred is the cultural capital of the Balaton region, but it's also perfect for partying. The city has recently been replanned and renovated, so you can admire the city's signature classicist buildings in all their glory. Füred also has a busy port, with ships transporting people and bikes both to nearby Tihany, and to the southern shore as well, so you can easily explore the nearby area if you stay for more than a few days.

Füred offers a pretty cool selection of gastronomical curiosities, whether you are looking for minimalist food experiments, or for typical Hungarian cuisine. Prices are pretty cheap compared to the other parts of Balaton, and the quality is always consistent. Some must-try places include Malackrumpli, Hatlépcsős, and Baricska csárda. If you have a sweet tooth, you'll probably keep returning to Karolina, as many people do from all around the shore, and you can also discover Bergmann and Kedves, both top-of-the-line pattiseries.

Balatonfüred offers numerous bathing possibilities. Esterházy beach is a bit on the pricier side, but Kisfaludy beach is close enough if you'd like to have something on the cheaper side. The area is also famed for its thermal water, whose benefits you can enjoy in Annagora Aqua Park.

Füred is home to a number of festivals, most of them focusing on wine. The summer starts with the Wine-Book-Jazz festival on the 6th of June, followed by VinAgora, an international competition on the 16th. But the most famous is probably the Borhetek, which means weeks of tasting superb wines on the shore from the 13th of August till the 3rd of September.

The most popular place for parties is SunCity, a small mediterranian party village near Füred's shopping mall. This is almost like being in a city within the city, where the music never stops, and you suddenly have thousands of friends. The curiosity of this place is that it copies the architecture of Greek villages, but it's actually a lively party town with pubs, bars, and discos. There are also a couple of houses that you can rent, which adds a cool twist to your holiday on the shore of the Hungarian Sea.

City Profiles: Pécs

You can check out what you can study as an international student at the University of Pécs here.

International adventures

Pécs is a truly unique city to live in as a student, both because of the sizzling university life and the natural beauty of the region. Pécs is located in county Baranya, near the Croatian border, so the sea is always just a couple of hours of driving away. Imagine coming out of class on Friday and swimming in the Adriatic sea in the evening! If you are the adventurous type, it’s a no-brainer – you only need to get a couple of friends together to rent a car and drive a few hours to hit the beaches. But don’t get discouraged if you are not a big fan of water either, because you can also explore picturesque Serbia, which also very close.

Sun on the hillside

Pécs has a pretty exceptional location even if you don’t count the fact that it is near the border. It is surrounded by plains on the southern side and the famous Mecsek mountain in the North. The southern altitude of the city gives it a strong Mediterranean feel, but the wind coming down from the mountain cools and clears the air in the evenings during the hot summers. If you know anything about wine, at this point you might already suspect that this area has to have some good ones to offer. And how right you are! This is, in fact, called the Pecsi wine region, which covers an astonishing 8.23 square km. The region’s special climate means that the air is dry and there’s a lot of sunlight, so only the Villányi wine region can be compared to Pécs. The area produces both red and white wines, with riesling being the most popular, but Pécs is also home to one of the country’s biggest champagne producers as well.

Culture

Pécs is the Heidelberg of Hungary, as the saying goes – and you can see that the city was not Europe’s cultural capital in 2010 for nothing. The whole thing starts with architecture. You might remember from your World History studies, that the Ottoman Empire spent quite a long time enjoying their reign in Hungary. Although it is probably not the fondest and proudest time of the nation’s history, it did leave us with a lot of cool things including music, new vocabulary, and amazing architecture. Pécs is where you can see it at its best: whether you stand in the shadow of the mosque of Pasha Qasim the Victorious, or marvel at the Jakovali Hassan Mosque, you’ll see how seamlessly and organically the city grew around its historic buildings. An interesting modern example of the cityscape accommodating cultural needs is Múzeumutca, or Museum Street, which was named after the fact that every house in the street is some kind of a museum. It’s both very practical, and beautiful. A similar enterprise is Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, a transformed factory, which has become a city within the city with its  5 hectares of museums, concert halls, galleries, and theaters.

Nightlife

From the exceptional possibilities when it comes to culture and number of university students living around the city, it is no surprise that Pécs is also a favorite when it comes to parties. It’s enough to look at some of the insane festivals they organize, such as The Pécsi Student Days (PEN), Rockmaraton, P.DAY, Fishing on Orfű, the Summertime Blues & Jazz Festival, to mention a few. Pretty cool for a city with a population of 25 000 people, right? But once you go there, you’ll soon understand that there is something in the air in Pécs – or at least that is what the local musicians say, of which there are many! If Debrecen is the home of rock, then Pécs is certainly the heart of the underground music scene. The sheer number of concerts is enough to keep you occupied for months, and then there is the biggest theater festival in the country in the summer, and ballet, and folk dance, and and and… The list is endless.

Specialities

The Zsolnay factory is the most important Hungaricum of the city. Originally a manufacturer of tiles, porcelain, and stoneware, it has become the cultural backbone of the region. The factory was opened in 1853, and has become famous because of the invention of pyrogranite, which took the Vienna World Expo’s breath away in 1873. Here’s what the Zsolnay website says about it: „[It] came into existence through the continuous development of architectural ceramic materials, and was created specifically to substitute for the costly stone carvings on the facades of historical buildings. It is architectural ceramics fired at high temperatures with a grainy structure resembling to sandstone. Pyrogranite is well suited for both external and interior applications either unglazed or with various glazes (majolika-, eozin-, salt glaze). The Pyrogranite plant within the Zsolnay factory was established in 1895. Eosin is based on the reduced-pasty luster technique already in use by the Persians in the 7th century. So in fact, it I not a new inventions, but the further development of an old, traditional procedure of which Vilmos Zsolnay developed an array of unique varieties.”

City Profiles: Debrecen

You can check out what you can study as an international student at the University of Debrecen here.

Discover the Eastern part of Hungary

Debrecen is the second biggest city in Hungary, home to more than 200 000 people, and an important place in the history of Hungary. Because of its location, it’s the perfect place both to study and as a holiday destination. Debrecen is 220 km east of Budapest, which is a mere 2 and a half hours train ride. It is also only 35 kms from the Romanian border, which makes it a perfect starting point to discover two amazing countries at once. Debrecen is part of the Great Hungarian Plain, also known as Alföld, a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary. It’s okay if you’ve never heard about it, as it is at the same time a very specific and a completely everyday region. Alföld is huge, it covers about 56% of the country: this means that as long as you are not in the North Hungarian Mountains or in Transdanubia, you are probably walking the Great Plain.

Pannonian Steppe

Debrecen is located nearby Hortobágy National Park, one of the only places left where you can find the original Puszta landscape. The Puszta is a grassland biome, an exclave of the Eurasian Steppe. The word in Hungarian simply means ’plains’, which reflects the landscape pretty well, in which your eyes can roam for miles without anything breaking the horizon.  The puszta is characterized by saline steppes and salt lakes, and includes scattered sand dunes, low, wet forests and freshwater marshes along the floodplains of the ancient rivers. There aren’t many trees in sight, the wildlife, however, is amazing. There are hundreds of different bird species, which makes it an ideal place for bird watching. If you visit Hortobágy National Park, you can also learn a lot about the region’s agriculture, and see the famous Hungarian grey cattle, racka, hucul horses, wallowing buffalos, goats, and other domestic animals.

Culture

In 1849, Debrecen was the capital of Hungary for a short time when the Hungarian revolutionary government fled there from Pest-Buda (modern-day Budapest). What is more, in April 1849, the dethronization of Habsburgs and the independence of Hungary was proclaimed here by Lajos Kossuth at the Great (Calvinist) Church (Nagytemplom). But it’s not only history that makes Debrecen so interesting when is comes to culture. Home to the University of Debrecen, the city has been the intellectual center of the region since the 16th century. The city also hots a number of festivals, such as DESZKA, a theater festival celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2016, which features audience talks, professional lectures, a workshop and an exhibition. One of the most popular events int he summer is the Flower Parade, which has been around for more than 40 years. This is a one-week celebration of flowers, displaying both international and HUngarian performers.

Nightlife

One word: Tankcsapda. You probably cannot live in Hungary without knowing them. At this point, the band is almost a Hungaricum, and guess what – they are from Debrecen! Being the home of the influential rocka band, and many others as well, Debrecen is famous for its indie music scene, and even has a Rock School! If you prefer to just hang out, however, you can enjoy the by now almost tradition ruin pub feel in Roncsbár, which doubles as grill garden in the evening. If you want a bit more ecotic location, you can also visit Lovarda, a huge cultural and conference centre converted from a military equestrian facility, conveniently located on the Kassai Street campus of the university.

Specialties

There is something about Hungarian cities and sausages. Am I right? All joking aside, Debrecen has a flavor of its own, the famous Debrecen double sausage. Why have one when you can have both! The sausage comes in four different versions: pork, beef, a mixture of pork and beef, and (kosher) lamb. You can’t go wrong with either. Although you can get “debreceni” in most supermarkets and even some eateries in Budapest, it’s best to go the source and enjoy it in style in Debrecen, with a beer to chase it down with.

City Profiles: Szeged

You can check out what you can study as an international student at the University of Szeged here.

Open spaces

Szeged is the third biggest city in Hungary, and the main regional center of Alföld, with a population of 162 621 over 281 km2 . Yes, this means about 578 people for each km2 ! In comparison, this number is 3350 for Budapest, 3931 for Vienna, and 26 720 for New York. Szeged is not crowded at all: people have plenty of space, which is also visible in its architecture. The city is characterized by wide avenues, huge parks, magnificent palaces, and buildings that utilize the available space horizontally, instead of for striving to reach the skies. The architecture is eclectic but surprisingly modern. The main reason behind this is that a huge flood in 1879 basically erased the city, so it had to be rebuilt completely in the coming years. Because of this, it’s pretty easy to get around down. As a result of the strategic planning at the turn of the century, Szeged’s great winding avenues form concentric circles, with smaller avenues connecting them.

A hint of the Mediterranean

Szeged is often called the City of Sunshine, and it’s not surprising why. Since it is located near the southern border of Hungary, its climate is a bit warmer than the rest of the country, and it also gets the most sunshine hours. The city lies on the banks of Tisza, which is the second biggest river in the country. In the summer months, you can see people kayaking up and down the river, and just generally enjoying the gush of cool air in the heat. Partly because of its wonderful weather, Szeged is an ideal place for festivals. The two most important are the Szeged Open Air Festival, and Szeged Youth Days. The former is a prestigious theater festival, while the latter is one of the biggest music festivals of the year. More info about festivals here.

Culture

The sizzling cultural life in Szeged is of course not only restricted to the Open Air festival. The city is also home to Szeged National Theater, one of the biggest theaters operating in two buildings. Szeged also has a number of museums and galleries hosting exhibitions that are visited by people all over the country. The biggest museum is Móra Ferenc Museum, located in the Palace of Public Education, on the riverside. Visitors can learn about the folk culture of the region, watch paintings and "meet" Earth. The University of Szeged also has a world famous botanical garden, which you should not miss if you are horticulturally inclined.

Nightlife

It’s probably not surprising that the city home to one of the biggest universities of the country takes its nightlife really seriously. If you’ve ever been out partying Budapest and liked it, you’ll probably do all right in Szeged as well. Besides the wide selection of bars and clubs, Szeged also has some rather surprising venues that you need to check out. TiszaDOKK, for example, is a bar on the river – but do not imagine the kinf od party boat that is oh so common in Budapest. This place is actually a pier, with small boats and everything! Another fabulous place is Várkert, which is mainly open in the summer and serves as the most popular concert venue. And the reason is pretty simple: you can rock out in the ruins of the old castle! How cool is that?

Specialities

As most Hungarian cities, Szeged also has its special Hungaricums, or those things that are unique to its region. One of these are the traditional slippers, which are beginning to be rediscovered because of their simple elegance and beauty. Their history goes back to the times of the Turkish occupation and spread after the big flood in 1879 - which destroyed the whole city - when as part of the rebuild, all of the streets got covered with stone. These slippers are covered in velvet and are decorated with the country's typical flowers: poppy, knapweed, wheatear and lily of the valley. Szeged is also famous for Pick szalámi, a cured cut meat, and, of course, because of their paprika, the most important element of the traditional dish of the region. One of the biggest inner wars of the country if the great Fish Soup Debate, or which city makes the best Halászlé: Szeged or Baja? Here is the recipe from Szeged’s website of the traditional fish soup, if you’d like to try it on your own. But you know what? Why don’t you come to Szeged and try it here?

After cleaning the fish take out the fish milk and eggs. Cut off the fish heads and tails and cook it with sliced onion.

Add enough water to cover the meat. Boil covered for an hour. Add paprika and salt.

Put broth in a soup pot, add water and heat. Add fish morsels, fish milk, and eggs, paprika, peppers, salt. After 15-minute  boiling add the hot peppers, paprika, and tomatoes. Low boil until fish is done, stir gently as to not break apart the fish.

Ingredients

- 1 kg of carp

- 0,5 kg of catfish

- 25 dkg of sturgeon

- 25 dkg of pike

- 30 dkg of red onion (Mako)

- 25 g Szeged Paprika Powder

- 10 dkg pepper, 5 dkg tomato

- 2-3 hot pepper (or chili) and salt