Belváros
First-timersThe inner city: the Votive Church, the squares, the bars and most of the beds.
Szeged city guide
Things To Do In Szeged
A city rebuilt from nothing after a flood destroyed it, with boulevards named after the European cities that paid for them, paprika in everything, and a very large student population.
1879
The flood that destroyed all but a few hundred buildings
2,100+
Hours of sunshine a year, the most in Hungary
20,000
Students in a city of 160,000
Washed away in 1879 and rebuilt to a plan
In March 1879 the Tisza broke its banks and destroyed Szeged. Of around six thousand buildings, a few hundred survived. The city was rebuilt from scratch over the following decade, which is why it looks nothing like the rest of Hungary — wide ring boulevards, planned squares, and a consistent late nineteenth-century architecture in one sweep.
European cities sent money to help, and the sections of the outer boulevard are named after them: Vienna, Brussels, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin. Walking a ring road and passing through half of Europe is a genuinely odd experience.
The Votive Church, a vast twin-towered brick cathedral, was built in thanks for the city's survival and finished in 1930. Its square hosts an open-air theatre festival every summer.
Szeged is Hungary's paprika capital and the home of its fish soup, both taken seriously enough to argue about.
It is also the sunniest city in the country, with twenty thousand students. Two days.
Where to stay
A planned centre inside a ring boulevard, with the river on one side.
Along the Tisza
River and quietThe embankment and the streets behind it, with walks and a short stroll into the centre.
Újszeged
Green and cheaperAcross the river: parks, the open-air baths and cheaper rooms ten minutes from the middle.
Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Szeged
Walk the ring boulevards and read the street names. The outer ring is divided into sections named for the cities that sent money after the 1879 flood — Vienna, Brussels, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin — and it is the clearest expression of what happened to this city.
The Votive Church on Dóm Square is free to enter, with a tower climb for a small fee. The square in front is one of the largest in Hungary and hosts the open-air festival through the summer.
Next to it stands the Demetrius Tower, one of the few pieces of medieval Szeged to survive the flood.
The New Synagogue is among the finest art nouveau synagogues in Europe, with a blue dome painted with stars, and it is usually open to visitors for a small fee.
Then eat fish soup. Szegedi halászlé is a paprika-red river fish soup, served properly in a small kettle, and the city considers its version definitive — the rival claim from Baja is a live argument.
Free things
Free things to do in Szeged
The Votive Church is free to enter, and Dóm Square around it is free and enormous.
The ring boulevards and the planned squares cost nothing, and the architecture is the attraction.
The Tisza embankment walk is free, and the bridge over to Újszeged gives the view back at the cathedral towers.
Újszeged's parks across the river are free and large, and they are where the city goes in summer.
The Reök Palace, a green art nouveau building that looks like it is melting, is free to look at from outside and is the best single facade in the city.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Szeged
Paprika is the local industry and has been since the nineteenth century. It is sold ground in every strength at the market, and it is in most of what you will eat.
Szegedi halászlé is the dish: freshwater fish — carp, usually — in a deep red paprika broth, cooked and served in a small kettle. A portion is 3,000 to 5,000 HUF, about €8 to €13.
Pick salami is the other export, made here since 1869 and hung to mature for months.
A restaurant main is 3,500 to 6,000 HUF, about €9 to €15, and the student places do considerably less.
Wine comes from the sandy Kunság vineyards nearby, which is not Hungary's finest region but is cheap and local. A glass is €2 to €3.50 and a beer about the same.
Nightlife
Going out in Szeged
Twenty thousand students in a city of a hundred and sixty thousand, and the nightlife follows from that.
The bars are concentrated in the inner city around Dugonics Square and the streets off Kárász utca, the pedestrian spine.
A beer is €2 to €3.50 and cocktails €5 to €8, among the cheapest in Hungary.
Summer moves everything outdoors — the squares and the riverbank fill, and the Szeged Open-Air Festival puts opera and theatre in front of the cathedral through July and August.
Out of term, July and August are quieter in the bars even as the festival runs, since the students have gone home.
Getting around
Getting around Szeged
The centre is flat, planned and walkable, with the pedestrian Kárász utca running through the middle.
Trams and buses cost a few hundred forint, and the tram network is good for a city this size.
Trains from Budapest take about two and a half hours for around 4,000 HUF (about €10).
Szeged sits close to both the Serbian and Romanian borders. Buses run to Subotica in Serbia in about an hour and a half and to Timișoara in Romania in around three, which makes this a useful overland point rather than a dead end.
Cycling is excellent — the city is completely flat and has a good network, with hire cheap and widely available.
Costs
What Szeged costs
One of the cheapest cities in Hungary. Beds are €11 to €26, a main €9 to €15, and a beer €2 to €3.50.
A day is €28 to €55.
The cathedral, the boulevards, the embankment and the parks are all free, which covers most of a visit.
The open-air festival in July and August is ticketed and prices vary widely by production — the cheap seats are genuinely cheap.
Paprika and salami from the market make the only souvenirs worth carrying, and both are inexpensive.
Safety
Staying safe in Szeged
Szeged is a safe city and crime against visitors is low.
Petty theft happens around the station and the student bar streets at weekends, at ordinary levels.
The Tisza is the thing to respect. It is a large, fast river with a strong current and it destroyed this city once — swimming in it outside supervised areas is a bad idea, and the embankment has sections without railings.
Summer heat is significant. Szeged is the sunniest and among the hottest places in Hungary, regularly passing 30°C in July and August, and Dóm Square has no shade at all.
Mosquitoes along the river are notable in summer.
Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Szeged
A puszta national park, and two countries within three hours.
Subotica, Serbia
An art nouveau town just over the border, with a synagogue and a town hall in extraordinary condition.
Timișoara, Romania
Where the 1989 Romanian revolution began, with baroque squares and a lively arts scene.
What's on
What is on while you are there
Opera in front of a cathedral, all summer.
July and August
Szeged Open-Air Festival
Dóm Square
Opera, musicals and theatre staged in front of the Votive Church, running since 1931 and the largest open-air theatre in Hungary.
Summer
Fish Soup Festival
The Tisza embankment
Competitive halászlé cooking on the riverbank, which is taken more seriously than it sounds.
May
Szeged Days
Citywide
The city festival, with events across the squares and the riverbank.
September to June
Term time
Citywide
When twenty thousand students fill the bars and the cheap places are open.
December
Christmas market
Dóm Square
A market in front of the cathedral, with an ice rink.
When to go
April to June and September. July and August are hot but hold the festival.
Jan
Cold and flat. Cheapest, students in
Feb
Cold. Quiet and good value
Mar
Warming fast on the plain
Apr
Excellent. Warm, sunny and quiet
May
Very good. Long evenings and everything open
Jun
The best month. Term running until late June
Jul
Hot. Open-air festival on Dóm Square
Aug
Hottest. Festival continuing, students away
Sep
Superb. Term restarts and the heat breaks
Oct
Good value and still mild
Nov
Grey and cooling
Dec
Cold, with a Christmas market on Dóm Square
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs, and the highest in Hungary — Szeged gets over 2,100 hours of sunshine a year on the open plain, which also means no shelter from it in midsummer.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros — you will pay in forint.
Shown in euros for comparison; you pay in forint. Festival tickets in July and August sit outside these figures.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Szeged travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Why does Szeged look so different?
Because it was rebuilt from nothing. The Tisza flood of March 1879 destroyed all but a few hundred of around six thousand buildings, and the city was reconstructed over the following decade to a single plan — wide ring boulevards, planned squares, and consistent late nineteenth-century architecture throughout.
Why are the boulevards named after other cities?
European cities sent money to help rebuild after the flood, and the sections of the outer ring were named in thanks — Vienna, Brussels, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin. Walking one ring road and passing through half of Europe is the strangest and best thing about the city plan.
What is halászlé?
Hungarian fish soup — freshwater fish, usually carp, in a deep red paprika broth, cooked and served in a small kettle. Szeged considers its version definitive and the rival claim from Baja is an argument people will happily have with you. A portion is about €8 to €13.
What is the open-air festival?
Opera, musicals and theatre staged on Dóm Square in front of the Votive Church through July and August, running since 1931. It is the largest open-air theatre in Hungary and the cheap seats are genuinely cheap.
Is it a good border crossing point?
Yes. Subotica in Serbia is about an hour and a half by bus and Timișoara in Romania around three, which makes Szeged a practical overland link south and east rather than backtracking through Budapest.
How hot does it get?
Szeged is the sunniest city in Hungary at over 2,100 hours a year and regularly passes 30°C in July and August. It sits on open plain, so there is no shelter — Dóm Square in particular has no shade at all.
Is it cheap?
One of the cheapest cities in Hungary. Beds €11 to €26, a beer €2 to €3.50, a main €9 to €15, and a day around €28 to €55. Twenty thousand students keep it that way.
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