In September, 2023, I’m traveling to Hungary in search of answers to questions I wish I had asked my father about his homeland. How did Hungary become the principle producer of paprika?  Exactly why is Budapest called the Paris of Eastern Europe?  How did Hungary's culture contribute to its many 20th century Nobel Laureates, artists and composers?

We have planned an ambitious eleven-day itinerary that criss crosses this impressive country and includes visits to UNESCO World Heritage sites, hands-on cooking opportunities and meals at wineries throughout the country. We will travel by coach from museums to farmers’ markets, from a funky bar in Budapest’s bombed-out Jewish quarter to a theraputic thermal spa near Lake Balaton.

My partner on this quest is Claudia Royston, owner of Global Gourmands, and a fellow member of the Chicago Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an organization that funds women seeking careers in the hospitality industry.  

Our ten day journey of discovery is limited to a group of twelve travelers.  A nonrefundable deposit of $1000 will secure a place. In the event of cancellation by a traveler, the deposit will be refunded if a replacement is found.

I look forward to your company on this exciting adventure of unique experiences and discovery!

Delicious Highlights:

• Learn to prepare traditional Hungarian dishes in two hands-on cooking classes
• Meet an artisanal paprika producer, discover how paprika is made and sample some different kinds
• Learn to make apple strudel as part of a lunchtime cooking class
•  Visit wineries in Tokaj, Neszmély, and Lake Balaton
• Tour a pálinka distillery and learn where its smoldering flavor comes from 
• Take a culinary walking tour of Budapest's main market and learn about the history and production of traditional Hungarian ingredients
• Lunch in an old Budapest wine cellar, hosted by Carolyn Bánfalvi, author of Food, Wine, Budapest
• Enjoy a curated visit to the annual Budapest Wine Festival 
• Dinners in some of Budapest's most exciting restaurants
• Two paired wine meals at wineries in Tokaj and Lake Balaton

Sightseeing Highlights:

• Get to know Budapest through various museum visits and walking tours, including a private guided tour of Buda Castle
• Take a day trip to Szeged by train and a walking tour of the city
• Explore the unique Matyó culture and its beautiful embroidery, designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; watch a demonstration and try your hand at it
• Private guided walking tour of Budapest's famed Art Nouveau architecture
• See the UNESCO World Heritage–listed riverbank of Budapest during a sunset cruise on the Danube
• Relax in Europe's largest thermal lake during an afternoon visit at Hevíz spa
• Visit Pannonhalma Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where the Benedictine Monks wrote the first document in Hungarian

It is strongly recommended that you purchase travel insurance for the trip in case your are unable to participate in the trip . Global Gourmands works exclusively with Arch Roamright. For a travel insurance quote, please click here. 

Please Note: The tour starts in the afternoon of September 2, so if your flight arrives after mid-morning, please consider arriving on September 1st (departing the US on August 31st). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Claudia Royston at croyston@globalgourmands.com.

Over the course of ten days, learn about both traditional and contemporary Hungarian wine and cuisine, experience the vitality and love of life that makes Hungarians so endearing, and let our private guide reveal the authentic Hungarian culture and  cuisine that hide behind the mysterious Magyar language.

Upon arrival at the Ferenc Liszt International Airport Budapest, meet your guide and be transferred to the four-star Zenit Budapest Palace Hotel and check in. (There is one group transfer from the airport to the city. Separate transfers can be arranged for those arriving early.) After some free time and a light lunch, take a drive around Pest - the Andrássy Quarter St Stephen’s Basilica, Ráth György Villa, Széchenyi Spa, City Park, etc. This will help with orientation and provide an overview of this bank of the Danube. This evening, sit down to a welcome dinner at a unique restaurant!

This morning we will go to the Jewish quarter for breakfast at the legendary Szimpla Kert. Once a factory, it now delights visitors with a bohemian environment, an open courtyard and a labyrinth of rooms.  Every Sunday it hosts a much loved farmer’s market and spectacular all-you-can-eat brunch on Sunday mornings. Deciding between the cornucopia of cheeses, the fresh fruit, artisanal yogurts and meats will be challenging!

From there, travel to the Buda side of the Danube River to visit the 13th century Buda Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite being razed and rebuilt over the centuries, history is written into the castle’s walls. Rooms with traces of its Renaissance, Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist past are to be seen throughout. The guided tour will include the recently- renovated St Stephan’s Hall, Matthias Church, and the Fisherman's Bastion. 

This afternoon, indulge in a cake tasting at Gerbeaud, a staple of Budapest's cafe scene since 1858. Besides learning about the legend and tradition of the cafe, we will taste three cakes: Dobos, Esterházy and Gerbeaud’s own slice, the zserbó szelet, invented by Emile himself. 

The rest of the afternoon and evening at leisure. 

Sleep in this morning as the day starts with a cooking class in a private home. On the menu is a three-course lunch of traditional specialties. 

After lunch, take a walking tour around some of the most spectacular architectural samples of Art Nouveau. Budapest is one of the preeminent locations in Europe for Art Nouveau architecture. After the tour you will be able to spot Art Nouveau all across the city from simple apartment complexes to lavish, spectacular buildings. 

This evening, take in the illuminated highlights of Budapest during an hour-long  cruise on the Danube River. This will give you some of the best opportunities to snap photos of  the UNESCO World Heritage–listed riverbank in a glass-enclosed boat, toasting the sights with an included beverage. 

After breakfast, leave the city for our first wine region, Ászár-Neszmély, about an hour from Budapest. There is a long winemaking tradition here that goes back to Roman times. Most of the area lies on slopes overlooking the Danube with Slovakia on the other side. The Danube is an important factor in the region's microclimate, which leans cool/wet, and the wines are almost exclusively white (think Sauvignon Blanc). There are two main producers in the area, and the rest of the production is private.

Beginning in the village of Majk, our first stop will be the beautiful and tranquil Camaldolese Hermitage. Discover the buildings and grounds and learn about the history of the Camaldolese order during a private guided tour. 

Our guide will now take you to her own family vineyard for a unique experience: a goulash cooking lesson over an open fire in the vineyard!! 

Before returning to the city, make one last stop at the recently-restored Esterházy Castle in Tata, located on the banks of Lake Öreg. Learn about the history of the Esterhazy family, one of the most important noble families of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and admire the furnished rooms where the family conducted their everyday activities as well as hosted important events and world leaders. Return to Budapest for the rest of the evening at leisure. 

Today, travel by train to Szeged in the southeastern part of Hungary. Szeged is Hungary's most atmospheric city, and the region around it is renowned for two culinary specialties: paprika and fish soup. 

The first stop will be a visit with a family that makes one of the most prized paprikas in Hungary and one of the few which undertakes the entire paprika production process themselves. Their small production is located just a few minutes from their paprika fields outside Szeged. While there, learn how paprika is made and sample the different kinds. 

Halászlé (fish soup) is made with mixed river fish cooked in a broth that is heavily spiced with hot paprika. The fish—mainly carp, catfish, perch, or pike—is locally sourced from the Tisza and Danube rivers, and though halászlé may seem like a simple dish, this rich soup is the result of nuanced seasoning and care. Enjoy your soup lakeside at a local and much loved restaurant  considered the “pearl of fishing taverns” in the Szeged region. 

After lunch, take a walking tour of Szeged, which is beautifully set on the Tisza River. The walking tour will include the city center, the huge cathedral – with Roman, gothic, and Byzantine style elements –  and the second-largest synagogue in Hungary. Relax on the return journey to Budapest and enjoy the evening at leisure. 

This morning we begin with a very special culinary walking tour around Nagyvásárcsarnok, the Central Market Hall, and Budapest's largest and grandest of them all. So loved by the citizens of Budapest, major repairs after the war included reproductions of the original roof tiles by Szolonay, the porcelain and tile manufacturer.

One of the main reasons the hall was built was to improve the quality of food in a rapidly-growing Budapest. Today many Budapest's still prefer to shop in a market where the produce changes with the seasons and artisan meats and cheeses are readily available. There will be tastings of cheeses, meats, even the unique-tasting unicum, which is a bitter liquor made from over forty herbs and spices. 

Afterward, enjoy a gourmet lunch hosted by Carolyn Bánfalvi, author of Food, Wine Budapest, in the cellar of her wine shop. 

Enjoy some free time until this evening. Tonight is the first night of the Budapest Wine Festival!  We'll take a curated walk through the cobblestoned streets of the Buda Castle District, sipping wine with the breathtaking views of the Danube with the Chain Bridge and Pest opposite. We will sample wines from every region of Hungary: Olaszrizling from Lake Balaton, a Cabernet Franc from Villány, Kéfrankos from Szekszárd, etc. Our guide will take us through the festival, introduce us to the winemakers and escort us along the tasting “stations”.  Stay for dinner (not included, but there are lots of food trucks/stands around the festival) and soak up the atmosphere! 

After breakfast, pack a travel bag for the next three nights as we depart for the Tokaj region in Hungary’s northwest. En route, stop at the small village of Tard in the heart of the Matyó region to learn about Matyó embroidery, designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Locals welcome you with palinká and pogatcha (traditional unleavened bread). See how they make their traditional embroidery in a short presentation then design your own piece and try it yourself! The home-cooked menu for lunch is the traditional chicken paprikash. Participate in preparing lunch by making the traditional fresh pasta. 

Continue to the UNESCO Historic Cultural Landscape region of Tokaj, famous for its long tradition of wine production in its low hills and river valleys which result in their own microclimate. While it is most well known for its sweet wine, especially aszú (which is more a liquid dessert than a wine), dry unoaked furmint is perfect with savory dishes and cheeses and comes in all shapes and sizes.

 Check into the four-star Degenfeld Castle Hotel and enjoy a tour of their winery. The Gróf Degenfeld estate cultivates the three main grape varieties of the Tokaji wine region (Furmint, Hárslevelű, Yellow Muscat) as well as the three supplementary grape varieties, Kövérszőlő, Zéta and Kabar. All their vines have been organic since 2009. We will enjoy some of their best vintages at a special degustation dinner. 

After breakfast, we will make the cross-country trip to Lake Balaton in Western Hungary. Lake Balaton is central Europe’s largest lake at over 230 square miles, but it’s only about six feet deep at its deepest point. The region is known as the “Hungarian Mediterranean” because of its rolling hills and relaxed southern European atmosphere, and it is the country’s main holiday resort in the summer. Surrounded by romantic little villages, wineries, abbeys, castles, and national parks, the area has much to offer. 

En route stop at an artisanal pálinka distillery for a tour and tasting. We'll enjoy a guided tour of the distillery and take a ’spiritual journey’ of the fruit from the orchard to the glass. Enjoy a tasting followed by a light lunch. 

Continue to Lake Balaton for two nights a boutique inn considered one of the top 100 hotels in Europe. Located in the Káli Basin of the Balaton Uplands National Park, it is a beautiful property with several stone buildings set in a lush garden. After checking in enjoy some time to relax, perhaps in their "natural-water" pool or strolling the grounds. Dinner will be a four-course meal made from fresh, local ingredients. Breakfast at this boutique inn is also a treat.

After breakfast, travel to Tihany, a charming town that sits on a peninsula which juts out over two miles into the lake. The town is filled with lovely thatched-roof houses and quaint shops and restaurants. The first stop will be Tihany’s famous Sunday Market, which is part flea market, part farmer's market and part festival. Browse the selection of antique furniture, vintage clothes and other ephemera, displayed amid a variety of artisanal cheeses, organic vegetables, homemade jams, freshly baked goods, and more. 

Next visit the famous Tihany Abbey which is perched on an 80m-high plateau above the town. Take a guided tour of the abbey and church before lunch. 

After lunch, travel to Hévíz for a unique spa experience. With a maximum depth at almost 125 feet and a temperature around 91 degrees, Hévíz’s spa sits on the world’s largest thermal lake.  The thermal water is known for its healing benefits due to its unique composition of different minerals such as sulphur, calcium, magnesium and hydrogen carbonate. The facility features modern spa capabilities, as well as a wellness center. This evening, take in beautiful views of Lake Balaton during a degustation dinner at a winery overlooking the lake.

After breakfast, check out of the hotel and travel to the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage site of Pannonhalma Abbey. The Benedictine Order, founded in 996 and gently dominating the Pannonian landscape, had a major role in the diffusion of Christianity in medieval Central Europe. These Benedictine monks founded the country's first school in 1055, they wrote the first document in Hungarian language.  Enjoy a guided tour of the abbey, church and herbal garden. 

Afterwards, lunch will be at a rural wine cellar nearby. 

Return to Budapest for a festive farewell dinner. 

After breakfast, check out of the hotel for the transfer to the airport and your onward flight home.