Castles, gardens, wines (Central Hungary & Mór & Neszmély wine regions)
Stop the time, smell the scent of the countryside, discover the colors, listen to the voices of nature, visit beautiful castles, and learn about history, architecture, taste the amazing wines of Hungary and enjoy the excellent Hungarian gastronomy!
The castles are unique buildings, each of them has its own history and architectural uniqueness. They hide a piece of history, evoke fairy tales.
Getting to know the history, culture, and customs of a castle, a region, is like escaping from today's fast-paced world, slowing down a little bit. The parks surrounding the castles invite you to pleasant walks, meditation, picnics. We do hope these thoughts will attract you to explore the magnificent castles of Hungary.
Let's go on a journey through time, in the wonderful castles of Central Hungary, recall the gastronomical traditions and get to know the great wines.
DAY 1.
Departure from Budapest at 8:30. After about one hour journey we will arrive in Agárd. The small resort on the shore of the Lake Velence, surrounded by fruit trees, like sour cherry, apricot, plum is the home of the
Agárdi Distillery. It produces the Hungarian spirit, called Pálinka for 15 years. We will start with a visit of the distillery, followed by a lunch with Pálinka tasting.
Already in good mood we will travel to Nádasdladány, where we can find one of the most beautiful historicizing, neo-Gothic, Tudor-style mansions in Hungary, surrounded by a 24-hectare English landscape garden with rare plants and pond. The castle was built in the second half of the 19th century and it is a symbol of the true love!
By the end of the 19th century, the building and its surroundings had become the center of the estates of the formerly much larger Nádasdy family, their main rural home, the repository of their applied and fine art collections and library, and the number one base for their excellent stud.
After the castle visit transfer to Fehérvárcsurgó.
Check in at the 4-star castle hotel in Fehérvárcsurgó and we will have dinner at the hotel. If we are lucky, the countess Károlyi will welcome us by the dinner.
DAY 2.
After breakfast we visit the Fehérvárcsurgó Castle and Arboretum.
The Károlyi Castle is a 19th-century castle, of Classicist and Eclectic styles. The complex was built by György Károlyi from the Károlyi noble family, designed by architects Henrich Koch and Miklós Ybl.
The architects created a small French garden in the courtyard, and a large park around the castle. The park is a 40-hectare arboretum. For over 150 years there are pines, lindens, oaks and chestnuts, as well as lakes, promenades and bridges.
In this beautiful garden we take a horse-drawn carriage ride and take part in a guided tour with a professional botanist and landscape architect. Finally we will have a picnic lunch in the garden.
After this tour we continue our journey to Mór, where we visit a winery and taste some first class wines produced from local grape varieties.
In the afternoon we visit the Lake Bokod, where we can admire the floating village.
Transfer to Tata, check in at a 4-star hotel, dinner.
DAY 3.
After breakfast we will visit the Camaldolese Monastery in Majk. A visit to Majk offers both spiritual accretion and active recreation. The hermits taking a vow of silence of the Camaldolese order settled in Majkpuszta in the 18th century. The building complex, unique in Europe, lies surrounded by woods and near a lake. The hermitage was erected by Count József Esterházy. Seventeen austere cell-houses surrounding the church steeple and the one-time monastery turned to the later Esterházy mansion preserve the memory of the hermits who once lived here. The tiny houses standing on an area encircled by wall were built from the donations of aristocratic families whose coat of arms are shown on the main façade of the houses. The furnishings in the rooms of the monastery are faithful representation of the epoch when the hermits lived here. Wandering within the walls radiating unusual tranquillity, visitors can experience the peace of the monks living in silence.
During our stay here we can get to know the monastery’s herb garden and taste herbal teas too.
After lunch, we will visit the Esterházy Castle in Tata. We will start with a cake and coffe in the castle caffe, and taste the Esterházy cake.
The late baroque palace was built according to the design of Jakab Fellner in 1765-1780. The palace is surrounded by a landscape garden on the shores of Old Lake in a picturesque environment.
We finish the day with a winery visit and wine paired dinner in the Neszmély wine region.
DAY 4.
After breakfast we have a sightseeing in the charming baroque town Tata. The English Garden of the town
is the first english-style park of Hungary. The “small Esterházy” castle in the park hosts the famous Herend Porcelain exhibition. We will visit the huge cellars of the former Esterházy Sparkling manufacture and of course taste some sparkling.
By small train we travel to the vineyard hill of Baj, where we will visit a family owned premium winery and have a home made lunch prepared from the wife of the winemaker.
Before returning to Budapest we stop in Bajna, for our last castle visit: the Sándor-Metternich Castle, called also the Mansion of the Devil’s Horseman, is one of most beautiful classicist mansion complexes of the country. Count Móric Sándor was famous for his horsemanship throughout Europe. He earned himself the nickname the Devil's Horseman. In February 1835, he married the daughter of the Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich, princess Leontine von Metternich (1811 - 1861). As he wanted to present her with a mansion worthy to her status, he started to transform the manor house into a fifty-nine-room palace a year before the marriage (1834). He entrusted one of the most famous architects of his time, József Hild, to help. Legend says that count Móric Sándor jumped from the balcony with his horse as a bet.
Return to Budapest airport or Budapest in the late afternoon hours.
Extend in a Budapest possible.