Szentendre, Budapest

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If you have seen most of Budapest you may want to do a daytrip! Szentendre is ideal as it is located only 20km north of Budapest on Danube Bend.

It’s a picturesque small town which means during the summer it gets packed with hundreds of tourists. We easily reached it by train in 40’ but you can also go there by bus or boat.

There area was populated since the Stone Age by Illyrians, then some celtic tribes and then Romans had built a castle here and called the town Ulcisia Castra. Later Lombards, Avars, Serbs, Hungarians and Bulgarians arrived. Much of its history is connected with Serbs that used to have 8 serbian orthodox churches here. After the liberation from Ottoman Turks in 18th century immigrants from Greece, Servia, Croatia, Slovakia and Germany came bringing in different cultures. Today Szentendre has about 25,000 inhabitants.

There is a special atmosphere in Szentendre with nice cobblestone streets, baroque architecture, some great churches and numerous cute small museums (most of them close on Monday). We liked the marzipan museum (weird collection over a pastry shop), we loved Margit kovacs ceramics museum (the most famous ceramic artist in Hungary), we went up to Templom ter for a view from above, we visited many churches (Blagovestenszka orthodox church at Fo Ter and cathedral Beogradska Serbian orthodox church that includes a museum were the most interesting) we even visit Mikro Art museum that houses microminiatures!

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If you are visiting Budapest for more than a weekend escape you may want to escape to Szentendre (St Andrew's) to get a bit of fresh air and see a quaint Hungarian Village. As it is so easy to get to from Budapest it has become quite touristy but it is still well worth going as it is lovely.

It is well taken care of and although small there are plenty of things to so after you have walked around the streets, gone to see the Danube, which is far cleaner up here, and even walked on the stone 'beach'. There are lots and lots of art exhibitions and museums and many arts and craft shops too.

To go all you have to do is catch the HEV train from Margit Hid (Margaret Bridge). You can get here using the 4 or 6 trams and getting off at the 'Margit his buda hetfo'stop. It is on the Buda side of the Danube right by Margaret island. It costs about 1500ft which is about 5 euros. There are plenty of trains and the last one back is at about 10 or 11 at night so you don't have to worry about getting stuck here!

You can also catch the train from Batthyany ter which is on the red metro or also be getting a bus from Arpad hid.

Please check out the time-table link for accurate up to date info on the train times. It takes just under a hour!

If you are looking for a good place to have a day's outing from the city pressures of Budapest, Szentendre is an option worth considering. It is a small but attractive village about 25km north of Budapest and sits on the Danube.

Access to Szentendre is easy. The HEV train trundles up from Batthany Station (metro interchange) and Magrit Hid, taking 50 minutes for the journey. Trains depart every 20-30 minutes depending on the time of day. If you have a Budapest Card or Budapest travel ticket you will be covered up to the administrative boundary of Budapest, so need to pay a small supplement (only 610 Forint return in March 2011). Best to do this at the station of departure to avoid angst with the inevitable ticket inspectors en route.

Trains are basic and not good for leg room, but this is part of the atmosphere of the journey: good to look at it this way, in any event. Szentendre is the end of the line, so you can's miss it. When you get off, use the underpass in front of you and continue in a broadly straight line, The shops and market vendors are good indicators that you are on the right route!

Szentendre is tourist heaven or hell, depending on your perspective, but the village has a long and interesting history and has some very attractive buildings (if they are open). There is also a huge choice of art galleries and museums alongside the predictable range of tourist tat.

The village centres around a small triangular square, from which anxious Hungarians will offer to whisk you on a carriage ride around the other good bits. Walking is just as easy as the area in total is not huge. But this is a good place for meandering and exploring and there are plenty of open-air cafes and restaurants to tempt you.

Given its location on the Danube it is also possible to do one or both legs by boat, but it is important to check the times. Nothing really kicks off before April, and even then the service is severely limited until the real season starts.

Szentendre bus station (next to the train) is also the start point for transport to the ethnological museum, but again be sure to check opening times (for the museum) and bus times.

Arm yourself with a good guide book so that you can explore various churches, crosses, inscriptions, cemeteries and alleys to get the most out of this village.

If you happen to visit in really peak period, you may find Budapest something of a relaxation afterwards, but Szentendre is genuinely an easy and attractive place to get to, and worth the visit no matter what the numbers.

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If you have enough time while in Budapest take a train ride over to Szentendre. You don't even need the whole day, just a few hours in the afternoon. There are many arts and crafts shops that line its tiny streets and you can find something like jewellery, a puzzle or a toy, that will catch your eye because of its originality. My wife and I didn't think much of Szentendre before we got there but once we were there we found a few items that we really liked and had not seen before. Prices are reasonable and you can haggle them down. We were glad we made the trip.
Not only are there shops but there are a couple of museums too. Like the Micro Museum which is 600HUF pp to enter. Here you'll get to look through microscopes at miniscule crafts made on the heads of pins. Or the Marzipan Museum where everything is made from marzipan. From a life-size Michael Jackson and Lady Di to children's books and flowers to anything else you can imagine. You can even watch as they transform the marzipan into something. Entrance fee is 450HUF pp.
I'd also like to mention that it is a pretty touristy village but that shouldn't scare you into not going.
The train ride from Budapest is 45 minutes on the HEV train. Cost of the ticket is one way 305HUF pp. Trains run until 11pm

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Only 16 miles from the centre of Budapest, Szentendre is a perfect destination for a day trip. Although it is definitely a tourist village, it is still a change from the busy streets of Budapest. We took the HEV train from Batthyany Ter station. The station is a bit of a distance from the town, about a 10 minute walk, but a lovely one on a sunny day like we had. The town has many things to see, including churches, lots of cafes and restaurants, and even a Marzipan museum! Just walking around it is enjoyable.

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We had a go for Szentendre, though we avoided the week end because i've read somewhere it was crowded during saturday and sunday. To go there, you simply have to take the HEV at Batthyany ter the more difficult part is to understand what you pay for when you take the tickets (as it wasn't expensive we didn't ask too much. You've got a 100% chance to be checked so pay for your tickets or you will have troubles.

Once you're in Szentendre, find the tourist info (tourinform) for any question you could have, they are very helpful. Then just get lost in the streets of Szentendre, and don't forget your camera. Before going back to buda, i would advice a walk on the Danube Banks, it's really nice.

We also had a meal there in a pretty good restaurant called "Promenade".

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Szentendre is a nice town 20 km from Budapest on the shores of the Danube.
A lot of cruises get to Szentendre althought you can also get by train.

The town is very picturesque with beautiful churches , a lot of museums and artists , nice buildings and architecture.

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Szentendre is a major tourist destination and is a common day-trip for travellers to Budapest. Its main attraction is the charming, Mediterranean-style architecture of the town centre. Szentendre is a town of arts and museums. There are a further 14 museums and art galleries acquainting visitors with the rich historical past and teeming artistic life of the town. It is not by chance that the quietness of the town and the proximity of the bustling metropolis of Budapest have drawn over one hundred artists here. Owing to its excellent geographical endowments, the town of Szentendre has been populated since the New Stone Age. It has been home to Illyrians, the Celtic Eraviscus tribe, Romans, Lombards, Avars and, of course, Hungarians. In the 17th Century, Serbian settlers came to the town and gave Szentendre its characteristic, Mediterranean-style architecture. The numerous churches in town reflect the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of Szentendre.

We spent a week in Budapest before joining a tour. We located a private tour guide and had two wonderful trips, one to Eger and then to the Danube Bend. Both of our guides, Peter and Gebrielle, had an excellent command of English and a thorough knowledge of the history of the county.

Eger is one of the wine producing regions. We went to several wine caves, sampled several local wines and really enjoyed that part of the tour. We were then taken to the fortress, where there is a monument to the women of Eger. In 1551, they defended against an attack by the Turks by pouring hot oil and gulyash on the invaders. They did not return for nearly 50 years. I may have the dates wrong, but the activity is historically correct The town was beautiful and the peole were very gracious.

On the Danube bend, we saw the cities of Szentendre (St. Andrew), Estergom and Visegrad.
Szentendre was especially beautiful and we plan to stay overnight on the next trip to Eastern Europe.

The rest of our trip was to Vienna, Salzburg and Prague. We'll remember Budapest most fondly, because of our guides and the people of the region. And don't miss the Central Market and Nostlgia Restaurant in Budapest .

Enjoy!

Charlie

This lovely village, up-river from Budapest, was originally created by the Serbs, and a small Serbian-speaking community remains here.

Stroll along its picturesque streets, do some souvenir-shopping, visit galleries, churches and small museums.