46.08° N · 18.23° E
Hungary's Mediterranean city, about three hours from Budapest: a World Heritage Roman necropolis, two Ottoman mosques, a cathedral and the Zsolnay factory.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
The painted burial chambers of the 4th century beneath Cathedral Square and the Early Christian Mausoleum · 1 h 30 · From 3,900 Ft · UNESCO
The four-tower cathedral, with a five-aisled Romanesque crypt, and the Bishop's Palace · 1 h · From 3,600 Ft for one site
The largest Ottoman building left in Hungary, converted into a church with its mihrab on view · 30 min · At the diocese entrance
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From April to June and in September and October, with terraces on Király utca and the mildest climate in Hungary. In summer the sloping old town is hot. In winter almost everything opens Tuesday to Sunday, and the Zsolnay Quarter cuts its days.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Pécs works very well without a car: the Mecsek InterCity arrives from Budapest in about three hours and the old town, the cathedral, the necropolis and Király utca are covered on foot. Only the Zsolnay Quarter is 20 minutes away on foot or by city bus. The budget is per person per day, with accommodation, meals and tickets.
Pécs has no flights from Spain: you fly to Budapest-Ferenc Liszt (BUD), with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona, and from there it is about three hours by train or about two and a half hours by hire car. That is why Pécs is a break of one or two nights from Budapest, not a day trip.
By car, Pécs is about 200 km from Budapest on the M6 motorway, with an electronic vignette. Leave the car at the hotel or in the Zsolnay Quarter car park and get around on foot: the old town is pedestrianised and on a slope. With a car you can add the Villány wineries, to the south, on the way back. The budget is per person per day, with accommodation, meals and petrol.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Pécs has more for children than it seems: underground Roman tombs seen from glass walkways, a ceramics factory turned into a park with a hands-on physics space and a planetarium, and a car-free old town.
For teenagers, Pécs has history that needs no explaining: painted Roman tombs, two Ottoman mosques, one with its minaret intact, and a ceramics factory with virtual reality and a planetarium.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A four-star hotel next to Széchenyi Square, in three buildings joined by a glass corridor, with a lift, wellness and a buffet breakfast.
Why we like it: A three-star family hotel in the old town of Pécs, with 20 rooms and two apartments, free parking and pets at no extra charge.
Why we like it: The Art Nouveau grand hotel of 1915 on Király utca, with the hall where Bartók played in 1923, renovated with contemporary-style rooms and suites.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: The pancakes with the fruit of the day or the Buddha bowl, with a cold brew.
What to order: Eat here between the Gyugyi collection and the mausoleum so you don't have to go back to the centre.
Takeaway and markets
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
From November to March the Zsolnay Quarter is mostly open only from Thursday to Sunday.
The World Heritage ticket is valid for two days; the Heritage ticket, four.
The old town is on a slope, from Széchenyi Square up to the cathedral.
A break from Budapest: Pécs is in southern Hungary, at the foot of the Mecsek hills, about 200 km from the capital, and is the city that most surprises anyone who already knows Budapest. In a few sloping streets it brings together three layers of history that you will not find side by side anywhere else in the country: the painted Christian tombs of the 4th century in the Roman city of Sopianae, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; two mosques from 150 years of Ottoman rule, one converted into the church on the main square; and Zsolnay ceramics, the ones on the coloured roofs of Budapest, which were born here. It is a university city with a mild climate and terraces, and you can see it on foot.
From Spain you fly to Budapest and travel down to Pécs on the same day: because of the distance, Pécs is not a there-and-back day trip but a break of one or two nights.
Start in the upper part, on Cathedral Square. Beneath your feet is the Cella Septichora and the Early Christian necropolis: painted burial chambers seen from glass walkways, and a few steps away the Mausoleum with its frescoes of Adam and Eve. Above, the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, with four towers and a Romanesque crypt, and the Bishop's Palace. Next to it, the Medieval University, the first in Hungary, from 1367.
Then go down to Széchenyi Square, closed off by the green dome of the Mosque of Pasha Qasim, now a Catholic church with its mihrab on view. If you are interested in the Ottoman period, ten minutes away is the Mosque of Hasan Jakovali, the only one in Hungary with its minaret intact. From the square runs Király utca, the pedestrian street of cafés.
Set aside half a day for the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, the former ceramics factory east of the centre: the Gyugyi collection with pieces from the golden age, the family mausoleum, the majolica workshop and, for children, the Physics Lab and the planetarium.
| What | How much |
|---|---|
| World Heritage ticket, two days | 3,900 Ft |
| Time Traveller, with the Medieval University | 4,400 Ft |
| Cathedral and Dzsámi, two diocesan sites | 5,600 Ft |
| Zsolnay ticket | 9,900 Ft |
| Heritage ticket, four days, combined | 12,000 Ft |
For lunch, Morzsa Konyha, a bakery with a kitchen and a Michelin Bib Gourmand on Király utca, open every day, including Sunday; Reggeli, for breakfast; and in the Zsolnay Quarter, Room Bistro, Monday to Saturday at midday. To sleep, the Palatinus Grand Hotel, from 1915, on the pedestrian street; the Hotel Arkadia, a four-star next to the square; or the Hotel Diána, family-run, with parking and pets at no extra charge.
In spring and autumn. The World Heritage and diocesan monuments close on Mondays, and in winter many rooms in the Zsolnay Quarter open only from Thursday to Sunday: avoid arriving on a Monday and give the city a weekend.
Questions
About three hours by InterCity and about two and a half hours by car on the M6.
You can, but it is six hours of travel: one or two nights is the sensible option.
The visitor centre of the 4th-century Early Christian necropolis, a World Heritage Site since 2000.
Almost all the monuments close on Monday.
Yes: the tombs under glass walkways and the Lab in the Zsolnay Quarter work very well.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/pecs
