A Day in the elegant town of Eger – Budapest & Eger, Part 5

This post is the continuation of a series documenting our visit to Budapest and Eger in Hungary in the autumn of 2022. We had spent a packed sightseeing filled day and a half in Budapest which was capped off by a mesmerising sunrise from the Fisherman’s Bastion up on Castle hill ( Enjoying a sunrise at the Fisherman’s Bastion – Budapest & Eger, Part 4 ). We had then taken the 2 hour train journey to the Northern Hungarian town of Eger ( pronounced EH -gehr).

I am always interested in visiting the lesser known smaller towns of a country as it gives a more real feel about the life and the culture of the place without the crowds of the bigger cities. My interest in smaller towns has grown so much nowadays that I tend to spend lesser and lesser time in the bigger cities with each new trip. Back in 2022 this interest was still in its developmental stage so I spent just 1 night in Eger – If I planned this trip today it would be a minimum of 2 nights there.

We reached the nondescript station of Eger and used my downloaded offline maps to walk through the residential area around the railway station to get to the City Centre / Old town of Eger. We had booked a room at a small family run hotel called Senator Haz just under the castle of Eger. We reached the hotel way before check in time and didn’t expect our rooms to be ready. We kept away our luggage behind the desk at the quaint little lobby of this superbly located hotel. We used the hotel facilities to freshen up and begin exploring Eger.

The quaint lobby of the Senator Haz hotel at Eger

The better half rests her legs for a few minutes in the lobby of the Senator Haz

After resting our legs for some time we set out to see the most famous landmark in Eger – The Castle of Eger. A castle in some form has existed in that location since the 12th century. In Hungary Eger is famous for being the Castle that repelled a Turk Ottoman army in 1552 inspite of being massively outnumbered. The leader of the Hungarian soldiers posted here Dobo Istvan has legendary status here and  the square of Eger is named in his honour.

The castle was a short walk from our hotel and soon we were on the uphill wide path leading to the castle walls. We bought our tickets and entered the famous landmark of Hungarian history.

The path up to the domineering walls of the Castle of Eger

The Castle was undergoing massive restoration while we were visiting ( Many more structures have been restored as of March 2025). We still got to visit the castle courtyard which gave a great panoramic view over the town below. It also showed the advantageous position it had militarily as one could see for miles together in all directions from this vantage point. Since it was off season there were only a handful of people in the castle grounds that day.

The view over the main square of Eger from the castle

The better half poses at the restored walls of the Eger Castle

The restored fortifications show why this castle was so well located

A timed selfie at the Eger Castle

Another timed selfie with the restored cannons

A cannon operator’s perspective

A view of the minaret and the red roofs of old town with modern Eger beyond

The restored castle walls with the Hungarian flag flying high

The sun shines high on the Eger Castle

Happy us at the Eger Castle

We then visited the only other part open at that time of the year which was the museum that occupied the top floor of the only standing building inside the castle grounds. The museum had the usual array of historical artefacts of the region and a short video presentation of the famous victory against the Turks. The dungeons and other parts are only accessible by guided tour which wasn’t on during the off season. Also the ruins of the cathedral from the times of St Istvan ( the first Christian king of Hungary & the same one whose Basilica we had seen in Budapest) were being restored, so we could only see it from afar.

Outside the museum at the Castle of Eger

A recreation from the defence of the castle in 1552

The better half poses with a couple of knights armour on display

The ruins of the Cathedral that were being restored

After walking a full circle along the castle walls we walked out of the castle via the same way we had come up having learnt a small obscure part of Hungarian history but enjoyed every minute of it.

The walls along the path descending back to town

After our enjoyable visit to the Castle of Eger

The path down to the town of Eger

We then walked down the Dobo Utca (street) having gained fresh knowledge about the man himself and walked to the Palacsintavar Restaurant that we had chosen to have lunch in. This restaurants speciality was artistically done huge crepes with all different sorts of fillings.

Walking down the pleasant Dobo Utca in Eger

We had no idea how huge these crepes would be and ended up ordering two savoury crepes – one vegetarian for the better half and one with meat for myself and a dessert crepe too. We also ordered a beer for myself and an ice tea for the better half. When the huge servings of savoury crepes arrived we realised that we had made a mistake and ordered too much. Never one to waste food we finished off the delicious but extremely heavy crepes with great difficulty!

Never a bad time for a cold beer in Hungary

The better half enjoys her glass of iced tea

The artistically done huge servings of Savoury crepes

Looking at the huge servings and realising we had ordered too much

The dessert crepe which was delicious !

With extremely full tummies we walked back to our hotel where our rooms were ready by now. We took our luggage to our room and were extremely tempted to take an afternoon siesta after that heavy meal, but we only had one day in Eger and we wouldn’t get a chance to visit the other sights in Eger if we gave in! So we quickly kept our luggage and went down before we succumbed to the temptation to sleep off.

The common area outside our room at the Senator Haz

Our room at the Senator Haz , Eger

We set off again to walk through the Old town and visit the churches that were open along the way. We first crossed the bridge across the creek to reach the main square of the town – Dobo square. The square is surrounded by colourful Baroque buildings and has the extremely photogenic Minorite church. So we took the opportunity to visit the church and do our usual church routine of sitting in the pews for a few minutes.

At Dobo square with the small bridge across the creek behind and Eger Castle on the hill above

As with all churches I enjoyed photographing the symmetric interiors which are always a joy to photograph. Painted ceilings, gilded & decorated pillars, the small but ornate altar dedicated to St Anthony of Padua and the peaceful atmosphere inside were like most of the small churches in Europe, but still a photographers paradise nonetheless. I clicked away to glory.

The interiors of the Minorite Church in Eger

The Altar dedicated to St Anthony of Padua

Baroque architecture is always a joy to photograph

The fading paintings of the arched ceiling at the Minorite Church

We walked out and took a photo of the exteriors which were partly blocked by the Christmas tree that had already been set up for the market that was starting after a few days in the square.

The exteriors of the Minorite Church in Eger

We then walked to the Eger Cathedral which we had walked past on our way into town. Eger was pleasantly peaceful and a joy to walk around.

The Old town of Eger was a pleasure to walk around

We reached the Cathedral which is a massive building built in the 1830s and decorated on the outside with fine statues of Apostles and the Christian Kings of Hungary. It would fit right in in any big Italian city but seemed too big for the small town of Eger. We also saw the Lyceum building right opposite which had a old fashioned library that had closed early that day but we would see before leaving Eger.

The grand exterior of the Eger Cathedral

The Lyceum building opposite the cathedral which had the old library

St Paul guarding the gates of the Eger Cathedral

We went inside the Cathedral and saw the ornate ceiling fresco which had Hungarians in traditional attire all around and the Cathedral and St Peter’s in Rome at opposite ends showing the connection between the two religious places. It also had 2 stained glass windows which were not that old but still beautiful. The space above the door held a massive church organ, supposedly the second largest in all Hungary. The seats and pews were being restored at the time so we didn’t get a chance to do our routine and walked back out into that pleasant square.

The ornate ceiling fresco of the Eger Cathedral

The second largest church organ in all Hungary at Eger Cathedral

Beautiful Stained glass windows at the Eger Cathedral

The quiet and pleasant square outside the Eger Cathedral

It was late autumn so it was already starting to get dark as we exited the cathedral and the short day meant that I got to see Eger lit up without having to stay up too late – always a silver lining to things! We walked around the old town and saw the Minaret that we had seen from the castle from up close. Once part of a mosque it now has a cross on top showing who eventually won in the region! The tower was closed in the off season or we would have surely climbed up to the top!

A ferris wheel set up for the Christmas market coming up

The Minaret of Eger – built during the Ottoman rule

A pretty looking house just below the castle walls

The Minorite Church all lit up

The statue of the local hero Dobo Istvan at the square named after him

The Dobo square looking all pretty at night

The Minorite Church looks even prettier lit up

Our Hotel Senator Haz in the centre and the Castle in the background

After a walk around lit up Eger

We had reserved a table at the restaurant at our hotel which was apparently very popular with the locals. We went to our room to rest our legs for some time before returning to the restaurant at our reserved time for an anniversary eve dinner.

Outside our hotel – The Senator Haz

The better half at our table at the Senator Haz

I ordered the famous Pork knuckle that came with baked potatoes and pepper sauce that was just spectacular. The better half had still not recovered from the decadent lunch and just had a bowl of Tomato soup which turned out to be a large bowl! The serving sizes in Eger are to be seen to be believed! I also ordered a local red wine since the area is well known for wines while the better half had a glass of lemonade. We topped everything off with a delicious plate of baked chocolate balls with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. We must have consumed twice our regular caloric intake that day!

The best Pork knuckle I have ever had

My small glass of wine vs the better half’s huge lemonade

Enjoying our meal at the Senator Haz

Even after eating so much there is always room for dessert!

With that much food in our tummies we fell right off to sleep and enjoyed a great nights sleep. We woke up refreshed the next morning and got ready and went down to enjoy the limited but freshly made breakfast in the small breakfast room of the hotel.

We then proceeded to do our by now compulsory early morning walk around Old town to see Eger one last time before we headed back to Budapest. It was our 12th wedding anniversary that day and there was no better way to start the anniversary than a walk around a beautiful small European town.

Dobo square all deserted early in the morning

Picturesque Eger early in the morning

At the Archbishops Palace in Eger

At the square outside the Cathedral in Eger

The beautifully maintained flowerbeds outside the Cathedral

Autumn colours in the small park outside the Cathedral in Eger

Every lane is photogenic

Autumn colours always brings a smile to our face

The better half posing outside the Eger Cathedral

The Main Street of Eger old town early in the morning

Sad to have missed the chance to climb the Minaret

Saying goodbye to the Castle of Eger

I had my eye on a small ceramic figurine shop on the Dobo Utca ever since I had seen it on the way to the castle the previous day. It just had local hand made figurines which would make a perfect souvenir. I was being my usual miserly self thinking about whether I should buy one but the better half convinced me to go for it and I bought a small figurine for my display cabinet back home.

Having my eye on the ceramic figurines in Eger

The local handmade figurine shop in Eger

The figurine I bought from Eger

We then decided to go and visit the library at the Lyceum which we had missed the previous day due to short visiting hours off season. We rushed back to the Lyceum and bought the tickets to see the library which didn’t disappoint!  It was just worth it for the jaw dropping ceiling fresco painted in 1798 which showed a scene from the Council of Trent that was held in the 1500s. Even without knowing any history the scale and the detail of that fresco is worth the price of entry.

The amazing ceiling fresco at the Lyceum Library in Eger

The Council of Trent comes to life in the ceiling painting at the Lyceum Library

The library itself holds 160000 books earliest of which is from 1048 AD! The useful and concise English Pamphlet provided gives all the information that a lay tourist would want about the library.

160000 rare manuscripts all around the Lyceum Library in Eger

At the Lyceum Library in Eger – happy that we got a chance to see it

We then walked back to our hotel but still had time for our train back to Budapest so we decided to enjoy a coffee at a small coffee shop at the Dobo Utca and enjoy our anniversary in the peaceful atmosphere of Eger for some more time.

Enjoying a coffee on the Dobo Utca

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Eger, so we went to the Hotel Senator Haz to collect our luggage and say goodbye to the old couple that ran it. It had been a short but memorable stay there.

Saying goodbye to the Senator Haz

We walked back to the train station well in time to catch our train back to Budapest.

Walking back to the train station via a residential neighbourhood in Eger

Eger had only reinforced my love for the small towns in Europe and made me plan later trips to include more time in the smaller towns.

With the Eger sign

We would spend return to Budapest and the Park Plaza hotel for 2 more nights in the capital. The forecast for the next day wasn’t particularly good. Whether the weather would hold up is topic for another post as I have gone on far too long because of how much I enjoyed Eger.

Till next time,

Bye.

Eger – A town with a special place in our hearts