Private Full Day Tour to Eger - History, Culture and Wine
Description
Eger is a beautiful baroque city located in Northern Hungary and known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret) and red wines. The tour covers a great walking in the downtown where you can visit the second largest cathedral in Hungary. There are 17 churches in the city: e.g. in baroque or in Zopf style. The Castle of Eger is famous for its successful defense against the 1552 Ottoman invasion. Nowadays it is a protected historic monument. The city has a lot of sights from the Turkish era, for example the Turkish minaret and the Turkish Bath. The city and the region is also famous for its wines. "The Valley of the Beautiful Woman" is a part of Eger which has numerous wine cellars and many of them serve tourists with their own wines.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Eger Castle is a medieval fortress in Eger, Hungary. Historically, it is known for repelling the Turkish attack in 1552 during the Siege of Eger. During the Mongol invasion in 1241 the bishop of Eger moved to a rocky hill in the city of Eger. On the hill a new castle was built and it developed rapidly. In 1552 an Ottoman army of 35,000-40,000 soldiers attacked the castle which had 2,100-2,300 defenders. The siege failed as the Turks suffered heavy casualties. A total of 1,700 of the defenders survived. After that Turks besieged the castle again in 1596, resulting in a Turkish victory. In 1701 the Austrians exploded half of the castle.
It is the minaret having survived in the best condition in the country. The tower is 40 meters high and the balcony circling the terrace in on 26 meters high. Up there your breath will be taken by the view, however, it is also due - besides the fantastic panorama - to having overcome 97 high steps of the spiral staircase to get up. Those having movement disability or height fobia perhaps the minaret will give nice memories admiring it rather from outside but those who like challenges it is really worth climbing up the balcony as well!
Arriving at the square you can see that the square is full of life, milling crowds: it is a popular social place of youngsters, it is where little children can run about, cyclers and rollerskaters can pass the time with their acrobatic shows and also a popular meeting point of lovers. Dobó square is really vivid in summer, at this time you can sense a kind of mediterranean atmosphere.In the focus of the square can be found a monument dedicated to a most determining historical event of Eger. While walking you can take a seat, admire the beauty of Baroque architecture.
The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle or more formally Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, St. Michael and the Immaculate Conception also called Eger Cathedral is a religious building affiliated with the Catholic Church that functions as lacatedral of the Archdiocese of Eger, is located in the city of Eger. The cathedral was built in the 19th century by József Hild commissioned by Archbishop János László Pyrker.
Eger is famous for its delicious wines and historic wine region. It is less known that the famous viniculture of Eger was established by Italian and Vallon settlers in the 1200s, so the wine has almost all the time been present in Eger, and nowadays it is better to say that excellent wines can be found in Eger. The most popular venue for tasting wine is Szépasszony-valley (Valley of the Beautiful Woman).
The fameous thermal resort Egerszalók is just a few minutes drive from Eger. We visit the spectacular "Salt Hill and Water Terraces". They are naturally built by two thermal springs.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The tour can start from any hotel or other accomodation type in Budapest.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(9)
We had a wonderful time on our guided tour to Eger. Our guide was professional, knowledgeable, and punctual throughout the trip. The whole experience felt well-organized and personal — a true white-glove experience. Eger itself is a great destination, and having such a capable guide made it even better. Highly recommend. 5 stars.
Our guide Gergely was great! We were able to customize our trip (visit Gödöllő palace), never felt rushed and still were able to hit all the highlights of the planned tour.
Eger was a charming town with an interesting castle. We ate lunch at a wonderful restaurant recommended by our guide and had a little time to explore the town and get coffee afterward. The wine cellars were fun to explore as well but our focus was Eger. Our guide was very knowledgeable in the history of Hungary and enjoyable to ride with. Would highly recommend this tour!
We were traveling to Eger to see the area where my grandfather lived before emigrating to the United States in 1905. Gergely was very helpful in locating archival photographs of Eger from the early 1900s and provided a detailed history that helped us understand the social and cultural context of that time. Everything about this tour was first rate from beginning to end.
We enjoyed touring the castle and the town of Eger. Gergely is an exceptionally knowledgeable guide and he gave us a very thorough explanation of the history of the area, and he recommended a nice restaurant in town for lunch. After lunch we saw the wine country and visited the area where many cellars are offering wine tastings. He asked us how many wines we wanted to try and what kinds we liked, and he made good recommendations. Lastly, he took us to see a natural hot spring that was being captured and routed to pools where people could bathe (although we did not have enough time to soak on just a day trip). Everyone in Hungary visits this area at one time or another because of its historical importance of the castle. If you have Hungarian roots, or if you’ve been to Budapest before and want to do something different and see more of the countryside, I highly recommend this tour with Gergely. However, you should bear in mind that it is nearly two hours driving each way from Budapest, and if it is your first visit to the area or if you are not deeply interested in Hungarian history, your time would probably be best spent on other tours. The town is interesting but I would not call it a “must see,” and there are certainly good wine cellars for tastings that are closer to Budapest. All in all, we had a very good day and Gergely was an excellent guide, but we might have preferred to spend our day closer to Budapest.
We had emailed Gergely to ask for a more wine focused day in Eger and we were more than delighted with the itinerary. The information on the drive out of Budapest was really interesting as was the drive to Eger. On arrival we explored the Eger Castle then went to visit some wineries - all of which were amazing. We visited some wonderful cellars and met owners. The day was full from the 8:30am start to arriving back around 7pm. Gergely is wonderfully friendly and really knowledgeable. Highly recommended!
Gergely was such a wonderful tour guide. My partner and I went on this tour in mid-June and highly recommend it. Visiting the castle in Eger was super cool and Gergely was super knowledgeable about the history of not only the castle but also the whole village. He did a fantastic job of taking us around and making sure the tour was not only informative but also very entertaining and enjoyable. He allowed us many chances to tailor the tour to our liking. Visiting the valley of the beautiful women was also a highlight and again Gergely gave us the chance to choose what we'd like to do in terms of the wine tastings, and also proved to be a very helpful translator when needed. I would definitely recommend this tour.
Gergely did an absolutely amazing job touring Eger! He picked us up at our hotel in Budapest. He was prompt and the car was immaculate and extremely comfortable. While we drove to Eger, he took the time to explain Budapest a bit to us and then gave us some history on Hungary as well. He properly set expectations for us in Eger and was a wealth of knowledge. I would recommend anyone to do a tour with Gergely as he was extremely friendly and offered recommendations as a local. Thank you for such a great day!
I experienced a great tour with Gergely. He picked me up from my hotel on time. We drove to the town of Eger in eastern Hungary by a nice, comfortable car. We visited the medieval castle and the beautiful old town with the basilica, followed by a great wine tasting. Gergely is a tour guide with a very good knowledge of history, but we also had great conversations on current topics such as economics and politics. I recommend his services to everyone who really wants to get a great overview of Hungary in a short time.
