Hungary

Straddling the Danube River, Hungary’s capital is best known for its local custom of thermal bathing – notably at the Art Deco Szechnyi Baths – and its lively ‘ruins bars’ scene. The magnificent Hungarian Parliament is a show-stopper.

Lush countryside, vineyards, the vast plains of the steppes and a chance to moor in the heart of the great cities of Vienna and Budapest.

The spectacular ‘house of the nation’, completed in 1904, is the largest building in Hungary. It’s rumoured to include 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40kg of gold.

Known as the ‘City of Spas’, Budapest has more thermal and medicinal water springs than any other city – 118 in fact, providing over 70 million litres of thermal water a day.

A fabulous art nouveau bathhouse, a sprawling spa complex of baths and pools. From steam baths and artesian water baths inside, to steaming thermal pools outside. Budapest’s best natural spa and local institution.

Perched on a limestone plateau overlooking Budapest and the Danube, this magnificent 19th-century castle has been the seat of Hungarian royalty since the 13th century. There are intriguing remnants of the original medieval castle but in the main, this is a fairy-tale Royal Palace built in neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque style.