47.78° N · 19.13° E
The left bank of the Danube Bend, 25 minutes by train from Budapest: Vác's Baroque old town with its mummies and, in Nagymaros, the river opposite Visegrád.
Part of Danube
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
The only triangular Baroque square in Hungary, with the bandstand, the fountain and the ruins of St Michael's church · 1 h on foot · Free
Painted coffins, clothing and naturally mummified bodies of the 18th century found in 1994 in the crypt of the main square · 45 min · Wednesday to Sunday
The great neoclassical Basilica of the Assumption, one of the largest churches in Hungary, with a viewing platform in the tower · 45 min
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
All year, but best from April to October, with the riverside promenade full and the climb to Hegyes-tető free of mud. In summer, at weekends, EuroVelo 6 cyclists arrive and the Mahart hydrofoil stops at Vác.
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.
It is one of the easiest car-free excursions from Budapest: the train from Nyugati leaves you in Vác in 25 minutes, the old town is covered on foot and the same train continues to Nagymaros, where the ferry crosses to Visegrád. The budget is per person per day, with one night, meals and transport.
Vác and Nagymaros have no airport: you fly to Budapest-Ferenc Liszt (BUD), with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona. The 100E bus takes you to the centre in about 40 minutes; from there, the M3 metro to Nyugati and the train to Vác, another 25. By hire car, from the airport to Vác it is about 50 km via the M0 and the M2. Almost everyone comes for the day from Budapest.
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.
With children, the excursion works because of the river: a short train ride, a flat promenade with playgrounds, a ferry to cross the Danube and, for those who walk, a climb into the forest with a tower at the end.
For teenagers, what hooks them is the odd and the concrete: real mummies in a crypt, a cathedral tower with views and a hike into the forest that ends at a lookout over the bend of the Danube.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Eight rooms above the Danube promenade, almost all with a terrace over the river, with a Finnish sauna in the garden and breakfast in the café downstairs.
Why we like it: A small hotel of 14 air-conditioned rooms a few minutes from the centre of Vác, with 24-hour reception, buffet breakfast and free secure parking.
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: A brunch on the terrace with a view of the river and a house cake with your coffee.
What to order: The seasonal dish on the menu; in summer, a table in the garden with a view of the river.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
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Tips
The Memento Mori is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Cross to Visegrád on the ferry and return to Budapest by bus or, in season, by boat.
It takes 25 minutes against 40 for the one that stops everywhere.
A day trip from Budapest: Vác and Nagymaros are on the left bank of the Danube, the one almost nobody visits. While the coach groups go along the other bank to Szentendre and Visegrád, here you have a Baroque episcopal city with a triangular square, an 18th-century crypt with real mummies, a very long riverside promenade and, twenty kilometres upriver, a village of vines and chestnut trees with Visegrád castle right opposite. It is all on the same train line from Nyugati station.
If you are coming from Spain, from Budapest airport you arrive in a little over an hour: 100E to the centre, metro to Nyugati and a train.
Start at Március 15 Square, an elongated Baroque square in a triangle with a bandstand, a fountain and the ruins of a medieval church at ground level. On one corner, beneath the White Friars' church, a crypt walled up since 1801 was found in 1994 with 264 naturally mummified bodies: the Memento Mori shows its painted coffins, clothing and mummies. It is open Wednesday to Sunday.
To the south, the cathedral, a great basilica with columns and a viewing platform in the tower. To the north, the triumphal arch, the only one in Hungary, built in five months to welcome Maria Theresa. And between it all and the river, the Danube promenade, with sculptures, playgrounds and the EuroVelo 6 cycle path.
A short train ride upriver leaves you at Nagymaros-Visegrád. The village looks straight at Visegrád castle, and the ferry, which has crossed since 1890, takes you to the other side for 950 Ft: that way you link up with the Danube Bend. If you like walking, follow the blue trail up to the Julianus lookout on Hegyes-tető, about 4 km of forest with the bend of the river at your feet. In the centre, the Nagymaros church preserves the only medieval church tower left on the Danube Bend.
In Vác, Lujza & Koriander serves breakfast, brunch and the weekly lunch menu on the riverside promenade, admits dogs and is also open on Sunday; Remete Pince serves Hungarian cooking in a cellar from the Turkish period with a garden over the Danube, every day. To sleep, the eight rooms at Lujza & Koriander, almost all with a terrace over the river, or the Vácz Hotel, with free parking.
Half a day for Vác. A whole day if you add Nagymaros and the ferry, or the climb to Hegyes-tető. With a night, you can cross to Visegrád in the morning and continue along the Danube Bend.
Questions
By train from Nyugati, about 25 minutes; by car on the M2, about 30 km.
The exhibition in the crypt of the White Friars' church, with 264 naturally mummified bodies from the 18th century.
On the Atlantis Club ferry, roughly every hour until 20:00, for 950 Ft.
Yes, for the riverside promenade, the ferry and the car-free square; the Memento Mori is better from a certain age.
Yes in the streets and on the promenade, on a lead; Lujza & Koriander admits dogs.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/vac-and-nagymaros
