Győr – The City You’ve Never Heard About

When visiting Hungary, it’s difficult to see anything other than Budapest, the country’s capital. Tourists travel extensively between Vienna, Prague and Budapest, zipping past the cities in between while reading the latest novel on a bus or train. We had a day spare in our itinerary after Bratislava and used a very scientific (pointing a finger at a map) method to find a stopover while travelling between the two cities. Luckily, our methods resulted in Győr, a city in the Gyor-Moson-Sopron region of Hungary.

Like most of the cities under communist rule, the 1950s and 1960s saw multitudes of grey apartments being built in the city. As a result, a large part of the city’s more than thousand-year history was neglected. Later governments realised this and started restoring the city centre and in 1989 the city won the European award for the protection of monuments.

We arrived by train at the Győr station late on a cold winters evening. Our first introduction came when we tried to purchase some groceries for the evening, no Euros were accepted. Clearly, we were not in Hungary’s premier tourist destination. Being unfamiliar with the city, we followed the only route we knew back to the train station to draw Forints at the ATM. Cash in hand, we walked past the beautiful town hall the to local Christmas Market.

The market had the variety of food and hot wine stalls that one would expect to find at any of the famous European Christmas markets with the added benefit of being much more affordable. Near the Danube river, an outdoor ice rink, Ferris wheel and lights display on the surrounding buildings were set up. Szechenyi Square was transformed into a winter wonderland without the hordes of tourists other Europeans cities accommodate during the festive period. This ensured we had a totally unexpected but amazing experience in a city that we have never heard of before planning the trip. The locals were friendly and spoke to us in English so we had no difficulty ordering the best hot chocolate we have ever tasted.

We stayed at the Ibis Gyor, a business-like hotel in the city centre. The hotel was clean and functional, the staff was friendly and spoke perfect English. We chose to include breakfast in our booking and we could not find anything wrong with the morning offering. Although we had no need for it, the city had we well-routed bus system which should be sufficient for any touristic needs.

Some tips when planning your trip to Gyor:

• Euros are not accepted in the city, draw Forints from an ATM if you intend to use cash.
• The town hall offers great photographic opportunities during the day and at night.
• If you visit during the festive season, skip the hotel’s restaurant and visit the Christmas markets.