Szeged From Budapest: A Day in Hungary's City of Sunshine

Why Szeged Is Worth the Long Ride

In 1879 a flood wiped out most of Szeged, and the city was rebuilt almost from scratch. You can still read that flood in every street: Szeged went up in one go, so it looks like nowhere else in Hungary.

Walk the wide ring boulevards to an Art Nouveau palace that seems to ripple, climb the 302 steps of the twin-towered cathedral the city promised itself after the water went down, and step into one of the largest synagogues in Europe a few streets away. Then eat the city’s fish soup and give the river an hour. Szeged calls itself the City of Sunshine, and the direct InterCity named after it, Napfény, gets you here from Budapest every hour in about two and a half hours: a long day, but an easy one. The one thing that ruins it is the calendar: come on a Monday and most of the doors are shut.

Photo: Pasztilla aka Attila Terbócs, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized.

📋 At a Glance

📍 Where	Szeged, southern Hungary, on the Tisza, close to the Serbian and Romanian borders. Center: Dóm tér and Széchenyi tér (Google Maps)
🚆 Getting there	Direct InterCity from Budapest-Nyugati, every hour, about 2.5 hours, 191 km
💰 Train fare	3,410 Ft one way, plus 650 Ft seat reservation bought in advance (990 Ft on the day)
🚋 In town	Tram 2 from the station toward the center, 470 Ft in advance
🎟️ Core tickets	Cathedral tower 1,500 Ft, synagogue 2,500 Ft, Reök Palace 2,000 Ft, Móra Museum 4,690 Ft
🚫 Skip if	It is a Monday, or a Saturday and the synagogue is the reason you are going

Dóm tér and the Votive Church

Dóm tér is the reason Szeged looks the way it does in photographs: a huge square enclosed by arcades, with the twin towers of the Votive Church at one end. The city pledged the church after the 1879 flood, building started in 1913, the First World War stopped it, and it was finished in 1930. Its towers rise 81 meters, and you will see them from almost anywhere in town. From late May to August the stage of the summer festival fills the square, so for the full facade photo come in spring or autumn. Go inside too, and look up: the painted dome and walls are the real payoff, not the red-brick front.

The visitor center at Dóm tér 16 sells four separate experiences, and the trick is choosing between them:

• The tower (1,500 Ft). The west tower on the city side, 302 steps up to a viewing level 46 meters above the square, with three rest levels on the way where short films play and four bells you pass on the climb. No guide, no fixed time.
• The dome lookout (1,500 Ft). Guided only, about 30 minutes, and the route goes through the roof space of the church, which is half the fun.
• The Dömötör Tower (1,500 Ft). Guided only, about 30 minutes. This is the oldest building in Szeged, found walled up inside the old church in 1925, and its lower chapel carries frescoes by Vilmos Aba-Novák.
• The exhibition (900 Ft). Church treasures of the diocese, including a 15th-century chasuble, plus the building history of the square. The chapel ring beneath it holds the tombs of Kunó Klebelsberg and the church’s architect, Ernő Foerk.

The combined EXTRA ticket covers the tower, the exhibition and the Dömötör Tower for 3,400 Ft (about $10.50), and adding the dome lookout brings it to 4,600 Ft. Students and pensioners pay less (900 Ft for the tower), family tickets are available, and HungaryCard holders get 15% off.

Book the guided parts around the afternoon. The 15:00 dome tour and the 16:00 Dömötör tour run on every opening day. The earlier slots do not always run on school days, so if you want both, plan your afternoon around those two and climb the open tower in the morning, when you arrive.

Services, weddings and concerts sometimes close the nave to sightseers, which is one more reason to start your day here and keep a second window free later. An English guided tour of the church itself costs 3,000 Ft per person for an hour, or 2,000 Ft for half an hour.

The New Synagogue

A few streets north of Dóm tér, the New Synagogue (Új Zsinagóga, Jósika utca 10) was built between 1900 and 1903 to plans by Lipót Baumhorn. It is the second-largest synagogue in Hungary and the fourth-largest in Europe, and the interior, with its blue and gold dome, is the reason to go.

• Hours: Tuesday to Friday and Sunday, 9:00 to 16:00. Last tickets and entry at 15:45.
• Tickets: 2,500 Ft (about $7.50) adults, 1,500 Ft students and seniors over 65, 5,500 Ft for a family. Free under six. The garden and the hall of martyrs are free.
• Dress: shoulders, stomachs and knees covered. Men cover their heads, and a kippah is handed out at the door.
• Bags: there is a security check, and anything bigger than hand luggage stays at the ticket desk.

Take a few quiet minutes at the memorial wall in the entrance hall, which lists the city’s deported Jewish residents. Even on a closed day, the building and its garden are worth the walk around.

The early close is what catches people out. Put the synagogue before lunch, not after it. In the cold months the building is staffed more lightly; if the gate is closed during opening hours, call the number posted on it and someone will let you in. You can visit on your own, or book an English tour of 35 to 45 minutes three working days ahead.

The Reök Palace

On Magyar Ede tér, a short walk from the cathedral, the Reök Palace is the Art Nouveau building on every Szeged postcard: completed in 1907 to designs by Ede Magyar, all flowing curves and water lilies, as if the facade had been poured rather than built. Today it is an art center run by the Szeged National Theatre.

The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and a ticket is 2,000 Ft. Until 8 November 2026 it holds a retrospective of the glass sculptor Péter Botos, about a hundred pieces over two floors. The insider move is the staircase ticket: 500 Ft gets you into the Art Nouveau stairwell alone, which is the part most people come for. The pastry shop in the palace’s corner is a good excuse to sit and look at the facade, and the Gróf Palace and the synagogue are a few minutes away if you want to make a short Art Nouveau walk of it.

The Móra Ferenc Museum

The neoclassical museum on Roosevelt tér, facing the river, is the sight that stays open on Mondays. The main building is 4,690 Ft (about $14.50), open daily 10:00 to 18:00, and the price includes a 1,100 Ft service charge for the cloakroom and toilets. Add the rooftop lookout for 1,200 Ft more, and do: it is one of the best views of the river and the bridge in town. English captions are thinner outside the main and temporary shows, so the visiting exhibition is what makes it worth a couple of hours.

Until 10 January 2027 the main show is Dear Friend, Picasso, about the painter and the Hungarians around him, with an immersive projection room and works by Aba-Novák, Czóbel and Csontváry alongside. Remember the morning-only days listed below, from 30 October to 18 December.

Photo: Themightyquill, CC BY-SA 2.5, resized.

Lunch: Fish Soup, the Szeged Way

Szeged’s dish is halászlé, fisherman’s soup, cooked thick and deep red with local paprika. Every Hungarian town on a river argues about how it should be made, and Szeged’s version is the one the rest of the country measures itself against.

Portions are large and often come in a small kettle, so order the small one, or one fewer soup than there are people at the table. In many kitchens the traditional version comes with bony river fish, so if that bothers you, ask for the filleted one. It arrives mild to medium with hot paprika on the side, so add the heat yourself. Many fish restaurants have live Roma music in the evening, so come at lunchtime if you would rather talk.

A dependable choice is Régi Híd Vendéglő at Oskola utca 4, at the foot of the old bridge, where the szegedi halászlé is made with filleted carp, catfish or a mix, so there are no bones to pick. The breaded catfish is the alternative if soup is not your thing. Portions are generous, and the kitchen keeps strictly to its last orders, so do not arrive at the last minute. The restaurant asks for reservations and takes them by phone only, on +36 62 420 910, from 10:00 each day, and may limit table time when it is busy. Dining in carries a 12% service charge. Opening hours are 11:30 to 22:00 Sunday to Thursday and to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen closing an hour earlier.

Getting There

The train

Szeged is on the main line from Budapest-Nyugati, and the Napfény InterCity runs direct every hour, no change, covering 191 km in about two and a half hours. Through October the departures leave Nyugati at 44 minutes past the hour because of track works on the Cegléd line, which run until 3 November. After the works, and by 10 November at the latest, they leave at 50 minutes past. Either way, trains reach Szeged at 16 minutes past the hour, so an early start puts you in town at 9:16.

A full-fare second-class ticket is 3,410 Ft (about $10.50). A seat reservation costs 650 Ft if you buy it no later than the day before, or 990 Ft on the day, so the advance version brings the trip to 4,060 Ft each way. Buy in the MÁVPlusz app, which also shows the live timetable for your date. Our guide to traveling Hungary by train explains the reservation system in more detail.

The way back. On weekdays the last direct train leaves Szeged at 20:44.

From the station into town

Szeged station is south of the center. Tram 2 runs from the station stop (Szeged vá.) into town and stops at Aradi vértanúk tere, right beside the cathedral area, and at Széchenyi tér. A single ticket is 470 Ft bought in advance, 550 Ft from the machine on board. If you plan to ride more than a couple of times, the 24-hour ticket is 1,450 Ft.

Driving

The M5 motorway runs from Budapest to Szeged, and it is a toll road that needs an e-vignette. Our guide to renting a car in Hungary walks through how the vignette system works.

The Calendar Problem

If one thing on this page decides your day, it is this. Three of Szeged’s four big sights close on Mondays.

• The Dóm Visitor Center, which runs the cathedral tower, the dome lookout, the Dömötör Tower and the exhibition, is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00, and closed on Mondays.
• The New Synagogue is open Tuesday to Friday and Sunday, 9:00 to 16:00, and closed on Mondays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays.
• The Reök Palace gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00.
• The Móra Ferenc Museum is the exception: open every day, 10:00 to 18:00.

So the clean version is Tuesday to Friday, or Sunday. Saturday works for everything except the synagogue. Monday leaves you the museum, the river and a bowl of fish soup, which is a pleasant day but not the one you came for.

Two more dates to know this winter. The synagogue closes from 24 December 2026 to 5 January 2027. And the Móra Museum’s main building opens only from 10:00 to 12:00 on 30 October, 13, 20 and 27 November, and 3, 4 and 18 December, so on those days go in the morning or skip it.

A Day in Szeged, Hour by Hour

Here is a Tuesday-to-Friday plan built on the 9:16 arrival:

Time	What	Why then
9:16	Arrive, tram 2 to Aradi vértanúk tere	The first useful train of the day
9:30	Cathedral tower and exhibition	Open from 9:00, no fixed slot needed
11:00	New Synagogue	Last entry 15:45, so do it in the morning
12:30	Fish soup lunch	Book by phone from 10:00
14:00	Reök Palace, then a walk along the Tisza	Open until 18:00
15:00 or 16:00	Dome lookout or Dömötör Tower	The guided slots that run every opening day
16:45	Móra Museum, or a coffee on Széchenyi tér	The museum stays open until 18:00
18:44 or 19:44	Train back to Nyugati	The last direct train leaves at 20:44

In July and August, keep the hottest hours for the church interior, a museum or a long lunch, and save the river embankment between the bridge and the Móra Museum for the early evening, when it is at its best.

On a Sunday the same plan works, except that the Tourinform office on Széchenyi tér is closed. If you want maps or event tickets, it is open Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 9:00 to 13:00.

Staying the Night

A day trip sees the sights. A night in Szeged adds the things that happen after the last train.

The Anna Bath. The thermal bath in the city center, a short walk from Dóm tér, is a destination in its own right, with a domed thermal wing and night bathing on Wednesday and Friday evenings. Our Anna Bath guide has the current prices and hours.

Napfényfürdő Aquapolis. Across the river in Újszeged, a year-round slide park and spa with 13 slides, the longest 272 meters. A weekday day ticket is 5,700 Ft for adults, 9,500 Ft from Friday to Sunday.

The Open-Air Festival. Every summer Dóm tér turns into an outdoor theater for the Szegedi Szabadtéri Játékok, with the cathedral as the backdrop. The 2027 season is already announced, with tickets on sale: a new Petőfi musical on 9, 10, 11, 16 and 17 July, an operetta gala on 24 July, We Will Rock You on 30 and 31 July, and a new Miss Saigon on 13, 14, 15, 20 and 21 August. Evening shows end long after the 20:44 train, so a festival night is an overnight by definition.

Staying over? Compare hotels in Szeged on Booking.com.

The Verdict

Szeged is the long day trip that pays off best for the effort: one train, no change, and a center where the four sights that matter are all within walking distance of each other. Come Tuesday to Friday or on a Sunday, climb the tower when you arrive, do the synagogue before lunch, eat fish soup, and take the 18:44 home. Stay the night if the Anna Bath or a summer evening on Dóm tér is part of the reason you came.

If you want something shorter, Szentendre sits right on Budapest’s edge. If you want something similar in scale but further west, Pécs is the other great southern city day.

Sources: Dóm Visitor Center, New Synagogue, REÖK, Móra Ferenc Museum, MÁV fare table and the MÁV journey planner, SZKT tickets, Napfényfürdő Aquapolis, Tourinform Szeged, regihid.hu, Szegedi Szabadtéri Játékok, all checked 17 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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