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Stephanie Szitanyi at ceu@bard.edu, or call 718.213.8297

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Cultural Trips around the Region

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About CEU »  About Budapest » Cultural Trips »

Participants in the Bard/CEU program will find numerous opportunities to explore their surroundings. The program facilitates several social and cultural events each semester, including a trip to one of the nearby capital cities in Central Europe. At the beginning of the semester, students will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of activities, which can also be combined with their academic and research interests.

Budapest is one of the most beautiful European cities, enjoying a rich cultural life throughout the year. During the first two weeks in Budapest, participants in the Bard/CEU program are offered a cultural program designed to introduce them to the unique atmosphere of the city, and to give them the opportunity to experience Hungary outside the capital, as well as some of the neighboring countries.

Organized trip to the historical town of EgerIn Budapest, the program includes walking tours of the city, visits to museums, palaces, churches, and spas and opera/classical/jazz concerts. There are countless possibilities including:

- Tour of Budapest’s main attractions – the Castle District, the River Danube embankments and the whole of Andrássy út, which have been officially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Parliament, Saint Stephen’s Basilica, the impressive Synagogue on Dohany utca , the Heroes’ Square, the City Park with Vajdahunyad Castle, Margit island, etc.

- Tour in the Buda hills. The green Buda is no less impressive than the urban Pest. The citadel on Gellert hill, the caves, the chair lift to Magdalene Tower, Bartok memorial house, the Children’s railway, the cogwheel, or the Statue Park, are not to be missed.

- Visits to museums and castles: Hungarian National Museum, Hungarian National Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, the House of Terror Museum, Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Aquincum, Kiscelli Palace, Ludwig Museum, Jewish Museum.

- Concerts at the Opera House, the Palace of Arts, and the Music Academy, dance performances and exhibitions at Trafo, English performances at Merlin Theatre, jazz/blues/hip hop/funky etc. on A38 Boat.

trip to Eger - 16th century fort - Festivals, parades, fairs, open air concerts all year round.

The program usually offers two trips outside Budapest, but more can be organized if requested. The list to choose from includes:

- Boat trip to Szentendre, a centuries old, beautiful town, 20 km from Budapest on the Danube river. Nowadays it is a well-known artists’ colony, which also hosts the biggest outdoor museum in Hungary.

- Boat trip to Visegrad, a charming old town, residence of Hungarian kings during the Middle Ages.

- Boat trip to Esztergom, the first capital of Hungary and birthplace of King Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary.

- Trip to Gödöllö, the favored residence of Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, affectionately known as Sissy.

- Boat trip to Százhalombatta, Hungarian’s first experimental archaeological park.

Longer trips (2-3 days) can be organized, as well:

- Northrastern Hungary – trip to Eger (known as ‘the baroque city’, the third most visited locality in Hungary) and Debrecen;

- Western Hungary – trip to Tihany, at Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Europe, passing through the royal towns Székesfehérvár and Vezprem;

- Southern Hungary – trip to Szeged and Pecs 

The program offers at least one trip outside Hungary: Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague are the most popular destinations, but other attractive destinations are Zagreb and Ljubljana (Croatia), Krakow (Poland), and the medieval towns Sighisoara and Sibiu (Romania).