Arrival at Budapest airport in the morning. Your English-speaking private guide welcomes you at the airport and you really start your beautiful weekend in Budapest. By private car you take the road to the city center. Check-in at your hotel. The discovery of the capital begins on the Place des Héros for an introduction to the history of the country. Stop in the square, walk to Vajdahunyad Castle . Then, to rest a little after the long journey this morning, have lunch at the Bois de Ville where you will taste the famous Goulash soup (or the Hortobágyi pancake) and the Somlói dessert.

To relieve your belly a little, take a walk to the Széchenyi thermal baths , take a look at the outdoor pools where you can often see people in bathing suits playing chess in the pools… Then, by car, you take a panoramic tour of the city to admire the capital’s must-sees, such as St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Parliament, the Central Halls, the Neolog Synagogue and the Buda Palace – listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Visit without entries.

Your discovery will end in the Jewish quarter, with a guided tour of the quarter, without forgetting the famous ruin-bars , such as Szimpla or Instant, where you will be welcome for a little drink…

4:00 pm Transfer to the hotel, free time. 7:00 pm Dinner will be waiting for you tonight on the Danube , aboard a boat that makes a 3-hour tour, while you enjoy your 4-course dinner . Admire the lights of the illuminated capital and attend a superb folklore and operetta show. Return transfer included.

This day of your beautiful weekend in Budapest will be devoted to relaxation and individual discoveries. The day begins at the Széchenyi baths , an important thermal establishment in the Bois de Ville, with pools of different temperatures (18-40°C).  Your entrance ticket also includes entry to the Palmeraie (rest area on the baths floor, with hammocks, sofas, unlimited consumption of herbal tea and fresh fruit), private cabin cloakroom, towel rental, 20 minutes by aromatic cabin as well as a 60-minute massage.

In the afternoon, walk in town, then, preparation for the evening at the opera. 

• 6:00 p.m. at the Erkel Theater (ask for the program)
• Round-trip private transfer is included. 
• Free dinner.

Today, a visit outside the capital awaits you. Program a, b or c depending on the option chosen.

English-speaking private guide and private car provided throughout the weekend in Budapest.

A) Discovery of Lake Balaton and its surroundings 

Lake Balatonis the largest lake in Europe apart from the Scandinavian lakes. Already the Romans inhabited the surroundings of the lake, being a source of water and food. Then the first Hungarians also built fortifications, as well as a monastery in Tihany, of which we still find the vestiges today. In the 18th century beautiful baroque towns like Veszprém and Keszthely were built. In the 19th century the potential in curative tourism was discovered, and Hévíz and Balatonfüred saw their development. 

From the 1970s, towns like trendy Siófok were and still are very popular. There are many marinas for sailing and peaceful places, surrounded by reeds, for fishing. And of course, beaches by the “Hungarian Sea” as we call it here. Departure from the hotel at 08:00 after breakfast. The visit will start atSzigliget (175 km from Budapest) to Lake Balaton, where you will visit the remains of the castle or to the Arboretum Folly (according to your wishes) from where you will have a very beautiful view of the Balaton. 

A wine tasting with cold dishes will also be on the program today, to taste the delicious wines of the region, because the wines of Badacsony, Csopak are famous.  Continuation with the visit of Tihany, which is a peninsula in Lake Balaton, with at the top a Benedictine monastery which houses in its cellar the tomb of King Andrew I, who died in 1055. A fortified castle was built to fight against the attack of the Tatars in the 13th century, which he resisted well. The Turks couldn’t take it either. After the Turks, it was the Austrians who wanted to take the reins in Hungary. At the defeat of the first Hungarian revolution against the Habsburgs, the emperor blew up practically all the fortified castles, including that of Tihany as well. A church and an abbey were built in the 18th century, which has remained intact to the present day. 

It was here that the last Habsburg king was imprisoned by the Entente after the First World War, until his exile. A room commemorates Charles IV and Zita Bourbon.Guided tour in Tihany, with the discovery of the Echo hill, the Pottery House and the Abbey.  Free time for shopping, coffee, photos, lunch, etc. Return to Budapest around 6:00 p.m., arrival scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

B) The Royal Palace of Gödöllő and Szentendre, the village of arts

Gödöllő is synonymous with Hungarian-style baroque palace . The wings of the palace do not go forward, like arms inviting the visitor, but backward, to frame the garden. Count Anatole Grassalkovich I ^had the first magnificent Baroque palace built in the middle of the 18th century, which subsequently gave its name to an architectural style, the “Gödöllő style”. The palace includes an exhibition of furniture, paintings and porcelain that belonged to Sisi and Francois Joseph, who received this palace from the Hungarian state as a coronation gift as reindeer and king of Hungary in 1867. The visit also includes the castle’s baroque theater (which still functions today). Then, continuation with the visit of Szentendre.  2-course lunch included in Szentendre or Gödöllő (depending on time). 

Szentendre is a picturesque artistic village which has kept its 18th century style. It was a village of winegrowers, tanners and traders, but phylloxera destroyed the vines, and the village was deserted. It was in the 20th century that artists began to come to Szentendre to paint or compose, because calm reigned there. This village was and still is today a bit like going back in time. Guided tour of Szentendre, with a Serbian church and the Kovács Margit gallery (ceramics). Free time to visit other galleries or shops. 

• Return to Budapest at 5:00 p.m., arrival scheduled for 6:00 p.m. 
•  Evening and dinner free.

C) Edelény Palace and the historic town of Eger 

08:00 Departure to Edelény (approx. 210 km), known for its magnificent palace decorated in Rococo style, the construction of which was started by Jean-Francois L’Huillier in 1716 and was finished by his wife, Marie-Madeleine de Sainte- Croix in 1730. Guided tour of the palace and coffee in its buffet.  Continuation to Eger, where you will start with a good lunch in one of its most famous restaurants, the Macok restaurant with the tasting of the region’s wine, the Egri Bikavér (or in French, the Blood of Bull). Then, again full of energy, you will discover the must-sees of the historic town of Eger. Internal visit of its great church and the Library of the Líceum. Eger is a lovely Baroque townnortheast of Hungary. It is a bishopric, with the second largest basilica in the country. 

A normal school operates there, in the building of the former Liceum . Its library has books since the opening of the university (17th century) and its ceiling fresco dates from the 17th century. In its tower there is a functioning observatory which can be visited even today. 

This city is also famous for its fortified castle which resisted the onslaught of the Turksin the 16th century for several decades after the fall of Buda. The city was subsequently conquered by the Turks, we find in memory in Eger the northernmost minaret of all Europe. Near the small town, a valley with many cellars, the valley of the Belle Dame. Eger is famous for its wine, and particularly for the Bikavér, which translates to “Blood of the bull”. Return to Budapest around 5:00 p.m., arrival scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Last day of this Weekend in Budapest! Day without a guide. After your breakfast, around 11h00-12h00 Internal guided tour of the Parliament , one of the symbols of the capital, which houses the National Assembly and where you can also admire the Sainte-Couronne.

Free lunch, then depending on the departure of your flight, private transfer organized at the airport. End of your weekend in Budapest, flight.