Things to See in Hungary

Aquincum is the most complete Roman civilian town in Hungary and its indoor and outdoor museums try to put the ruins in perspective, with some success. Most of the big sculptures and stone sarcophagi are outside to the left of the museum or behind it in the lapidary.

Visegrád's impressive citadel is perched on top of the dramatic Castle Hill. Visegrád was once the royal centre of Hungary and the citadel, completed in 1259, was the repository for the country's crown jewels until 1440 when they were impishly stolen by Elizabeth of Luxembourg, with the help of her lady-in-waiting.

Totalling 76,000 hectares (187,720 acres), Kiskunság National Park consists of half a dozen 'islands' of protected land, though much of the park's alkaline ponds, dunes and grassy 'deserts' with juniper trees are off limits. Bugac village is the most accessible part of the park. Here you can see the famous Hungarian cowboys ride at the popular horse show.

About two-dozen renovated rooms at the horseshoe-shaped Esterházy Palace are open to the public; the rest of the huge complex houses a hotel and a secondary school. You can only tour the palace with a guide, but armed with a fact sheet in English (available from the ticket office), try to lag behind and explore the rooms away from the crowds.

Founded by Benedictine monks almost 1000 years ago, Pannonhalma Abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt many times and is now a crazy quilt of Turkish, Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. The interior is beautiful despite the butchery, and includes a neoclassical library containing 300,000 volumes, making it the largest private library in Hungary.