Fejér

Fejér County lies between Budapest and Lake Balaton, and many travelers simply drive straight through it. If you treat yourself to a vacation in Fejér County, you'll discover Hungary's oldest royal city, a warm swimming lake, and a planned socialist town on the Danube.

Székesfehérvár, the Royal City

In the Middle Ages, Székesfehérvár was the coronation and burial site of the Hungarian kings. Only the foundations of the basilica that King Stephen founded around 1000 survive in the Ruins Garden, but they speak to the city's importance: more than 30 kings were crowned here. The Baroque city center, with its bishop's palace, cathedral, and pedestrian zone, has been carefully restored. On the edge of town stands Bory Castle, a whimsical fortress that one architect built by hand over several decades for his wife.

Things to See in Fejér County

With its shallow water, which gets very warm in summer, Lake Velence is a popular swimming destination for families from the capital. Gárdony and Velence have beach pools, boat rentals, and a bike path around the lake, and in the western part birds nest in the reeds. On the north shore near Pákozd, a memorial commemorates the 1848 battle in which Hungarian troops drove back a Croatian army; from the granite hills there, the view stretches far across the lake. Dunaújváros was founded in 1950 as Sztálinváros around a large steelworks and today shows off impressive apartment blocks and mosaics in the style of socialist realism. In the north, the forests of the Vértes invite you to go hiking, and in Martonvásár the Brunszvik Castle recalls Beethoven, who stayed here as a guest of the friendly count's family. In the southern Mezőföld, a broad plain of farmland, grain is grown, and in the csárdas along the country roads you can find fish soup and pörkölt.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Székesfehérvár lies on the M7 motorway, about 40 miles (65 km) from Budapest, and can be reached by train in roughly an hour. The best time to visit is May through September; in August the city celebrates its medieval heritage with the Royal Days festival, and the swimming season is in full swing at Lake Velence.