Pécs Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Pécs (PEH-ch; [1]) is a town in the south-west of Hungary.
Contents |
Understand
Founded as Sophianae 2000 years ago by the Romans and known as Fünfkirchen by the Germans, today's Pécs is a pleasant small (but still one of the largest in Hungary) university town that has largely escaped the ravages of both communist-era architecture and modern-day mass tourism. In 2000, the Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Get in
By train
There are frequent trains to Pécs from Budapest's Déli or Keleti station - Hungarian Railway Timetable. The trip can be as fast as 2:40 on an express, but several hours longer by local clunker.
Get around
The core of Pécs is small enough to cover on foot, but for those who wish to explore the town, there is a cheap and efficient bus service, single tickets are available for 170ft from the driverm or 130ft from the many kiosks dotted around the city. Make sure you have tickets, the bus inspectors have no mercy and will fine clueless foreigners.
To visit the impressive communist era TV tower catch the (infrequent) number 35 or 35A to Misna (the last stop), from the Train Station or Korhaz Ter (Hospital Square).
See
- Mosque Church. Széchenyi tér. Formerly the Pasha Gazi Kassim Mosque, this Ottoman-era mosque was converted into a Catholic church by the simple expedient of hanging a crucified Jesus above the mihrab (the prayer niche pointing to Mecca). Even the original Arabic inscriptions inside the niche remain intact.
Do
Buy
Pécs' most famous local product is Zsolnay porcelain, covered with a distinctive green-gold glaze known as eosin.
Eat
Király utca is packed with restaurants and cafes, many with attractive outdoor terraces in summer.
- Áfium, Irgalmasok utcája. Serves Hungarian traditional dishes.
- Arizona Restaurant. Serves the best beef steak in town.
- Caesar Pince, next to the cathedral. This special restaurant with a more exclusive atmosphere is situated in the same building as the Pannonia Champagne Factory, and shows you the beauty of the old Roman cellars.
- Replay Café. A wide variety of small dishes.
Drink
Even in a country of oenophiles, Pécs is known for its sparkling wines.
- Pannonia Champagne Factory (Pannonia pezsgőgyár). Hungary's first champagne factory, founded in 1859 by Lorinc Littke and still producing sparkling wine under the Pannonia label. The facility is a tourist attraction, with a 5-story underground labyrinth of caves and cellars.
Sleep
Private rooms and apartments are widely available. There's also a number of small hotels in the centre. Enquire at the tourist office.
During the summer months some student dormitories open for foreign visitors, this is the cheapest accommodation (~2000Huf per night). There are currently no hostels in Pécs.
- Makártanya Sportcenter , [2] Most of the rooms can have spare beds so the biggest capacity reaches 100. All the rooms are at high standard, equipped with modern furniture, bathroom, air-conditioning, minibar,cable television and telephone.
- Hotel Rácz , [3] is located in the Historian City in the neighborhood of the Castlewall. Just a few minutes from the city, along the road #6 and it is also easy to access with public transport.
- Hotel Fenyves Panoráma , [4] is a family atmospheric hotel, which is located on the hillsides of Mecsek by the pine forest, right above the centre of the town.
Get out
In the early evening students gather at Replay Café, Apollo or Los Bongos in the city center. For late night clubbing you should ask the taxi drivers at Széchenyi Tér where to go. No one are more updated than them about nightlife in Pécs.
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