Kőszeg: Hungary's Jewel-Box Town on the Austrian Border
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The Town That Rings Its Bells at 11
Every day at 11 in the morning, the bells of Kőszeg ring out over a town of barely a few streets. They ring for August 1532, when about 1,000 defenders, most of them local people who had fled inside the walls, held off an Ottoman army on its way to Vienna for 25 days. The army left, and Kőszeg has been telling the story ever since.
Today Kőszeg is one of the quietest, prettiest small towns in Hungary. It sits under wooded hills on the Austrian border, with a castle, a square of painted house fronts and church towers, and trails that climb straight from the edge of town to the highest point in Transdanubia. It works as a long day trip from Budapest, and even better as a weekend paired with Sopron or a thermal spa in Bük or Sárvár. This guide covers the siege, Jurisics Castle, the old town, the hills, the year’s events, where to eat and how to get there.
Photo: Pasztilla aka Attila Terbócs, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. The gate of Jurisics Castle on a November evening.
📋 At a Glance
| 📍 Where | Kőszeg in Vas County, western Hungary, right by the Austrian border and 21 km by road from Szombathely (Google Maps) |
| 🚆 Getting there | IC from Budapest-Kelenföld plus a local train from Szombathely, 3 hours 4 minutes, 4,850 Ft; last practical train back 18:32 |
| 🏰 Jurisics Castle | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, adult 2,400 Ft; daily museum pass 4,100 Ft |
| 🔔 Don't miss | The bells at 11:00, rung for the 1532 siege |
| 🥾 Hills | Írottkő lookout tower on the border, 884 m; a 12 km loop from Velem |
| 📅 Best time | The harvest festival on the last full weekend of September; the Siege Days in August |
| 🚫 Skip if | You want big-city sights or nightlife; Kőszeg is a slow, small-town trip |
The Siege and the 11 O’Clock Bells
In 1532 Sultan Suleiman’s army marched on Vienna and stopped at Kőszeg. The town was defended by Captain Miklós Jurisics (Nikola Jurišić in Croatian) with about 1,000 men, only a small part of them soldiers; most were local serfs who had taken refuge behind the walls. Against a huge Ottoman army, they beat off 19 assaults over 25 days.
The ending is the best part. The siege closed with an agreement: the defenders let Turkish flags fly on the towers, so the Sultan could claim a victory, and Grand Vizier Ibrahim led the army away. The town’s history adds that hunger had driven the janissaries to revolt after the last assault. The army left Kőszeg on 30 August 1532, unwilling to take on the imperial forces gathered at Vienna. Suleiman had watched from a hill outside town, still called Szultán-domb, the Sultan’s Hill. Afterwards King Ferdinand made Jurisics a baron and gave him the town.
Tradition holds that the last Ottoman troops marched off at 11 o’clock. The bells have rung at that hour since 1777, and the castle says they still ring every day at 11 in memory of the victory. Be on Jurisics tér at 11 and you will hear it.
Siege history from jurisicsvar.hu and the town history on koszeg.hu, read 21 October 2026.
Jurisics Castle (Kőszeg Castle)
Jurisics Castle sits at the edge of the old town, reached over a brick bridge. Its history goes back a long way: the castle counts a mention in 802 as its first, it belonged to the Esterházy family from 1695 to 1931, and it served as a border-guard barracks from 1932. Today it houses the city museum’s permanent exhibition, Centuries of Kőszeg Castle, in six rooms, one of them on the 1532 siege, along with the Golden Room, the Royal Crown Room, the armory, a Renaissance corridor and the Knights’ Hall. You can also climb the north tower.
| Jurisics Castle | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Address | 9730 Kőszeg, Rajnis u. 9 |
| Opening hours | Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday |
| Adult ticket | 2,400 Ft (about $7.40) |
| Concession (under 18, over 60, disabled) | 1,800 Ft |
| Family (2 adults + 2 to 5 concessions) | 7,500 Ft; under 3 free |
| KŐSZEG daily museum pass | 4,100 Ft (about $12.70); concession 2,400 Ft, family 10,000 Ft |
The pass. The KŐSZEG daily museum pass covers the castle, the General House (Tábornokház, Jurisics tér 4) and the Golden Unicorn pharmacy museum (Jurisics tér 11), so buy it if you plan to see the pharmacy too. An audio guide is offered, and the Írottkő Natúrpark Tourist Card gets you 10% off. Ticket desk: +36 94 561 667.
Mondays and winter. In 2026 the castle also opened on Mondays from 1 June, and it often does in summer, so check before a summer Monday. Last winter it shut for about a week in early January.
Hours and prices from jurisicsvar.hu (ticket page and news post of 14 May 2026), read 21 October 2026.
The Old Town
Kőszeg’s old town is small enough to cross in ten minutes and good enough to fill an afternoon. Start on Jurisics tér, the long main square, lined with medieval and Baroque house fronts, some covered in gray-and-white sgraffito.
Photo: SNRTZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Jurisics tér and its old house fronts.
The Heroes’ Tower. The square’s landmark is the Hősök tornya, the Heroes’ Tower, with a wide arch through its base. It looks medieval but was built in 1932 for the 400th anniversary of the siege, on the site of the old Lower Gate tower that was pulled down in 1880. It stands 27 m tall, designed by Flóris Opaterny, and on major holidays tower music still plays from its balcony. Stand back on the square to take in the carved oriel and the arch.
Photo: Szalax, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. The Heroes’ Tower and its gate from Jurisics tér.
St James church (Szent Jakab-templom). The Gothic church on Jurisics tér dates from around 1400 and got its Baroque front after the fire of 1700. Frescoes rediscovered in 1937 show a Madonna of Mercy sheltering people under her cloak, St Christopher and the Three Kings. Two of Jurisics’s children are buried here.
The town well. The Városkút on the square was set up in 1766 and reshaped in Classicist style between 1818 and 1824.
The Golden Unicorn pharmacy museum. The Arany Egyszarvú Patika at Jurisics tér 11 was founded by the Jesuits in 1743, and its Baroque pharmacy furniture, made between 1735 and 1744, is the reason to go in. It has been a museum since 1980 and is open Tuesday to Sunday 9:00 to 17:00. It is included in the castle’s daily museum pass.
Church of the Sacred Heart. Just outside the old walls on Fő tér, the neo-Gothic Jézus Szíve-templom was built from 1892 to plans by the Viennese architect Ludwig Schöne. Its 57 m tower is the tallest structure in town, and inside there are paintings by Otto Kott and a Rieger organ from 1894.
Old town details from koszeg.hu sight pages and kvmkl.hu (Kőszeg city museum), read 21 October 2026.
Into the Hills: Írottkő
The Kőszeg Mountains start where the town ends. Their top is Írottkő (Geschriebenstein in German), 884 m, the highest point of Transdanubia, crowned by a stone lookout tower built in 1913. The tower stands exactly on the border: half is in Hungary, half in Austria, and a border stone marks the line in the middle of it. The name, “written stone”, comes from a rock a few meters away on the Austrian side carved with the letters CBE; a plaque that had hidden them since 2012 was moved in spring 2026, so you can read them again.
Photo: © C.Stadler/Bwag; CC-BY-SA-4.0, resized. The Írottkő lookout tower on the Hungarian-Austrian border.
The classic climb. The Natúrpark’s Hegymenet route is a 12 km loop from the Velem bus turning point, with more than 500 m of climbing in under 6 km up to the tower, past the Szent Vid chapel and the Hörmann spring. Allow about 4 hours.
Easier walks from town. The town’s own trail page says you can reach Hétforrás, the Óház lookout or the Írottkő summit on comfortable signed walks. For a short loop, the Natúrpark’s Kőszegi esszencia route is about 8 km (2 to 3 hours) through the Kálvária church and the boating lake back into the old town. The longer Kőszeg panorama loop, about 17 km, strings together some ten viewpoints, among them the Szulejmán lookout and the vineyards of the Sultan’s Hill.
Route details from naturpark.hu, koszeg.hu and Outdooractive, read 21 October 2026.
Events Through the Year
- Book of the Coming of the Grape, 24 April. Every year on St George’s Day the town records the state of the new vine shoots in the Szőlő Jövésnek Könyve, a book kept since 1740.
- Siege Days (Félhold és Telihold), August. A weekend of re-enactments around the castle, held every August since 2007.
- Kőszeg Harvest Festival, last full weekend of September. Three days of harvest celebration with an international wind band meeting; the carnival parade is on the Saturday.
- Natúrpark Ízei and St Ursula’s fair, October. A craft and food fair around St Ursula’s Day, running since 2002.
Event dates from koszeg.hu (featured events), read 21 October 2026.
Where to Eat
Kőszeg is a small red-wine area, so look for local Kékfrankos, Zweigelt and Blauburger on the wine list; the town’s wineries include Kampits, Stefanich, Láng, Tóth and Frank.
| Place | Where | Hours | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portré étterem és kávéház | Fő tér 7 | Every day 8:00 to 22:00 | Mediterranean and international cooking, house-made ice cream, local wines and a terrace on Fő tér; booking +36 94 363 170 |
| Bécsikapu Étterem | Rajnis J. u. 5, next to the castle | Every day 11:00 to 22:00 | A knights’-hall-style cellar restaurant with Láng wines by the glass, Kőszeg beer, a heated covered terrace and a daily set menu all year, weekends included |
Hours from portre.com and becsikapu.hu; wine details from koszeg.hu, read 21 October 2026.
Getting There
From Budapest by train. Start from Budapest-Kelenföld: the IC leaves at :25 every two hours (06:25, 08:25 and so on to 18:25), reaches Szombathely at :49, and a local train leaves there at :06 to arrive in Kőszeg at :29. Door to door it is 3 hours 4 minutes and 4,850 Ft (about $15) one way in second class, including a 650 Ft seat reservation, which is compulsory on the IC. From Budapest-Déli, a suburban train at 06:10 connects into the 06:25. Keleti has no good connection, so head to Kelenföld.
Coming back, trains leave Kőszeg at :32 every two hours. The 18:32 is the last practical one, reaching Kelenföld at 21:32. With the 06:25 out and the 18:32 back you get about nine hours in town, which is plenty for the castle, the old town and lunch.
Train times and fares from the MÁV journey planner, checked 21 October 2026 for 7 and 10 November. These are autumn 2026 times; the timetable changes in December, so check for your date.
From Szombathely. Local trains take 23 minutes and cost 500 Ft; on weekdays they run every hour, with buses in between, and on Saturdays every one to two hours.
From Sopron. Take the train via Szombathely: Sopron :08, change at Szombathely, Kőszeg :29, 1 hour 21 minutes and 1,490 Ft, about hourly most of the day. A few direct buses run from Sopron’s GYSEV station stop (1 hour 6 minutes to 1 hour 47 minutes, 930 to 1,120 Ft), mostly in the morning.
From Vienna. ÖBB routes you from Wien Hbf via Sopron and Szombathely, two changes, 3 hours 6 minutes, with departures at :23. On a Saturday the last practical train back leaves Kőszeg at 20:32 and reaches Wien Hbf at 23:37.
Sopron times from the MÁV journey planner and Vienna times from the ÖBB timetable, checked 21 October 2026 for 7 and 10 November.
By car. Kőszeg is about 226 km from central Budapest, roughly 2 hours 45 minutes. From Sopron it is about 47 km, from Vienna about 109 km, and from Szombathely 21 km. Our car rental guide covers hiring one in Budapest.
Combine It
Kőszeg sits in a corner of Hungary that is made for a two- or three-day loop.
- Sopron, 1 hour 21 minutes away by train, is the bigger border town next door. Do the two on consecutive days.
- Bükfürdő is the spa pairing: a long soak in Bük one day, Kőszeg’s castle and old town the next.
- Sárvár works the same way as a thermal spa base.
If you stay over in Kőszeg, sleep in or near the old town, on Fő tér, Rajnis utca or the Várkör ring, so you can walk the squares after the day visitors have gone.
The Verdict
Kőszeg is a small town with a big story, and it rewards anyone who slows down for it. Be on Jurisics tér at 11 for the bells, buy the 4,100 Ft daily pass for the castle and the pharmacy museum, have lunch at Bécsikapu by the castle gate, and walk the old town in the afternoon light. It is a long but very doable day trip from Budapest on the 06:25 from Kelenföld. Better still, stay a night, climb to Írottkő on the border the next morning, and add Sopron, Bük or Sárvár to turn it into a proper western Hungary weekend. For more castles within reach of Budapest, see our Hungarian castles guide.
Sources: MÁV journey planner and ÖBB timetable, checked 21 October 2026; Jurisics Castle: castle site, castle history, exhibitions, tickets, summer Mondays notice and last winter’s hours; Kőszeg town: history, castle page, Heroes’ Tower, St James church, Church of the Sacred Heart, town well, trails, featured events, harvest festival, St Ursula’s fair, Kőszeg wine and wineries; city museum: opening hours, Heroes’ Tower and General House and Golden Unicorn pharmacy; Írottkő Natúrpark: alpannonia hard routes, alpannonia light routes, the CBE letters and Hegymenet on Outdooractive; restaurants: Portré and Bécsikapu, all read 21 October 2026.
Prices are in HUF, which is what you pay at the counter. Converted at 1 USD = 324 HUF, the ECB rate on 15 October 2026. Rates move, so treat the converted figures as indicative.
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Good to know
Is Kőszeg worth visiting?
Yes, if you like small, walkable old towns with a real story. Kőszeg packs a castle, a main square of medieval and Baroque houses, a Gothic church with old frescoes and a Baroque pharmacy museum into a few streets, with wooded hills and the Austrian border right behind it. It is quiet rather than showy, which is the point. Give it a full day, or a night if you add the Írottkő walk or a spa in Bük or Sárvár.
How do I get to Kőszeg from Budapest?
By train with one change at Szombathely. The IC leaves Budapest-Kelenföld at :25 every two hours (06:25, 08:25 and so on) and reaches Szombathely at :49; a local train leaves at :06 and arrives in Kőszeg at :29. The trip takes 3 hours 4 minutes and costs 4,850 Ft one way in second class, including the compulsory 650 Ft seat reservation. The last practical train back leaves Kőszeg at 18:32 and reaches Kelenföld at 21:32. These times are for the autumn 2026 timetable, so check for your date. By car it is about 226 km.
Why do the bells ring at 11 in Kőszeg?
To remember the siege of 1532. Captain Miklós Jurisics and about 1,000 defenders, most of them local people who had fled inside the walls, held off an Ottoman army marching on Vienna for 25 days and 19 assaults. Tradition says the last Ottoman troops left at 11 o'clock, and the town's bells have rung at that hour since 1777. The castle says they still ring every day at 11.
How much is Jurisics Castle?
An adult ticket is 2,400 Ft, with a 1,800 Ft concession for under-18s, over-60s and visitors with disabilities, and a 7,500 Ft family ticket; under-3s go free. The KŐSZEG daily museum pass, 4,100 Ft, covers the castle plus the General House and the Golden Unicorn pharmacy museum on Jurisics tér. The castle is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.
Can I visit Kőszeg from Vienna?
Yes. ÖBB's route from Wien Hbf goes via Sopron and Szombathely with two changes and takes 3 hours 6 minutes, with departures at :23. The last practical return on a Saturday leaves Kőszeg at 20:32 and gets into Wien Hbf at 23:37. By car it is about 109 km.
Can I combine Kőszeg with Sopron?
Easily. A train via Szombathely takes 1 hour 21 minutes for 1,490 Ft and runs about hourly most of the day, and a few direct buses take 1 hour 6 minutes to 1 hour 47 minutes. By car it is about 47 km. Sopron and Kőszeg together make a good two-day trip along the Austrian border.