Simply because it’s the place I know best and love the most, let me make a case for Szeged in the south of the country.
A couple of hours away from Budapest by train, or a roughly 90-minute drive down the E75 highway, Szeged is Hungary’s third-largest city with a population of a little over 160,000. It’s home to one of the country’s most prestigious universities, which gives its center the feel of, say, Ann Arbor, Michigan or Cambridge, England.
Szeged University is particularly known for its contribution to the sciences. It was here that Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated vitamin C in 1928. According to legend, Szent-Györgyi discovered that the paprikas or peppers for which the region is famous were a hugely valuable source of the vitamin.
More recently, Katalin Karikó, 2023 Nobel Prize winner for her work developing mRNA technology, crucial for COVID-19 vaccines, started at Szeged University.
Szeged is located on the River Tisza, also the name of a cult Hungarian sportswear brand and our new broom political party, perhaps because it was once known as “the most Hungarian of rivers” when it flowed entirely within the country’s borders.
After the devastating floods in 1879, Szeged’s center was rebuilt in a mélange of the most fashionable architectural styles of the time, including magyar szecesszió, Hungary’s distinctive interpretation of Art Nouveau. Probably the finest example is the Reök Palace at Magyar Ede tér 2, home to a pleasant coffee house, which is a fine place from which to plan exploring the city.
My humble suggestion is that you give yourself an early start from Budapest, set aside a day to visit Szeged and stop over in one of the city’s hotels.
It’s always been my contention that the best place to find a city’s soul is in its markets: Szeged’s Mars téri piac is no exception. To get there, walk for about 10 minutes up one of the broad streets from the city’s central park away from the river. The market is the ideal place to pick up some smoked paprika made from Szeged’s famed peppers. It’s also great for pickles.
My wife and I try to head up to the market once a week. After purchasing our pickles and mushrooms from the Mushroom Lady in the main market, we head for the Irén csarnok annex. The Szegedi Boszorkák Palacsintázó (“Szeged Witches’ Pancake Shop:” the city was once thought a hotbed for witchcraft and staged a number of witch trials from 1728–1729) is a family-run stand opposite the avocado and cheese/diary product stalls and has been operating for more than three decades. It is locally famous for its pancakes and doughnuts.
The Kávészöm café in the main market serves good coffee and croissants, and the outside tables are a great place to bask in the sun on a warm day; Szeged claims to have more sunny days than any other city in Hungary.
Sipping coffee and munching on cake is a major part of life in Szeged. The Móra Ferenc Múzeum by the river, the twin-spired Votive Church at Dóm tér, and the glorious synagogue on Josika utca are all worth a visit, but I’d recommend spending the morning wandering, stopping in one of the many cafés that give downtown Szeged its Mediterranean feel.
My two favorite cafés are at opposite ends of the Szeged coffee-and-cake experience. Rudi and Fickó at Oroszlán utca 4 is a large, roomy, tastefully decorated and hugely popular café in the city center. Named for the owner’s dogs, Rudi and Fickó is known for its almost too-large cakes and simple pizzas.
The café is a short stroll away from one of the best vinyl stores in Hungary, Néma Papagáj Record Store at Deák Ferenc utca 24. Néma Papagáj is a great place to dip your toes into the waters of Hungarian and Eastern European vinyl, but unless you’re already an expert, it’s hard to know what you’re buying. Anything by Hungarian American jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó, about whom I have previously written, is a good investment.
Should you have a yen for something a bit more downhome than Rudi and Fickó, follow the river to the Novotel Hotel and then up to Z. Nagy Cukrászda at József Attila sugárút 24. Known to locals as Rózsika Néni’s, it opened in 1940 and is one of Szeged’s oldest cafés. It doesn’t have the largest or fanciest selection of cakes, but those it does have are deeply satisfying, including a particularly hearty “szegedi” (from Szeged) roll made from sweet “kalács” bread.
If you’re feeling energetic and want to work up an appetite, you could walk to the Kiskőrössy Fish Csárda, the temple to “halászlé,” Hungarian fish soup, on the north bank of the Tisza. Just head upriver from the Novotel for about 20 minutes until you see the sign for the restaurant pointing off to the right. I’d say you can’t worship at the Kiskőrössy without trying at least a small bowl of “halászlé,” but there’s plenty to choose from, including vegetarian options.
After all that eating and walking, you may well fancy a quiet night. The Belvárosi mozi in the city center is a fabulous old cinema which has been sensitively restored and shows a good selection of blockbusters, European art house movies and Hungarian films. The Zsigmond Vilmos Hall, named for the great Hungarian cinematographer and son of Szeged, is one of the best theaters I’ve ever been in.
Check out szvp.hu/en for Szeged tourism info, kiskorossyhalaszcsarda.hu for fish soup, and belvarosimozi.hu for movie times.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of July 17, 2026.
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