Surrounded by the Hungarian countryside at its finest, the city of Kecskemet lies midway between the Danube and Tisa rivers. The southeastern town has been steadily settled since the Middle Ages and is a pleasant escape among Hungary’s orchards and vineyards.

Sightseers will be drawn to the town’s City Hall, Evangelical and Orthodox churches, and the Jozsef Katona Theatre. The theatre’s namesake was the playwright responsible for inventing the Hungarian drama, and the building’s neo-Baroque façade is especially charming when lit at night. Kecskemet is also home to a few museums including the Hungarian Museum of Photography and the Museum of Hungarian Native Artists.

While Kecskemet used to have a tram service, today the only means of getting around the city is by its extensive public bus network. From Budapest, a train or bus to Kecskemet takes between an hour and 90 minutes.

There are traces of human habitation in Kecskemet from as far back as five thousand years ago. Over the centuries, the area’s villages became populated with traders, refugees from the Turkish Invasion, and a great many animal breeders. Once the fields were overgrazed, however, Kecskemet needed a new agricultural endeavour, and so the area’s wine trade began.