Eger – wine tasting in the Valley of the Beautiful Women
Eger’s central square is very pretty and worth sitting around in whilst looking at the views of the Minorite Church, but it is the wine tasting in the Valley of the Beautiful Women that gains the attention.
To manage expectation though … it’s not quite what you’d expect. There doesn’t quite seem to be the hoards of beautiful women helpfully grouped together in one picturesque valley. It’s also not quite a valley …. more like a park around 70m x 35m / 230ft x 135ft with a few wineries round the outside.
False advertising? Yes for sure, but it is worth a visit as once you get past the initial surprise at what you’ve taken a 2 hour train from Budapest for – it does kind of grow on you:
- Firstly, the wine cellars are deceptive – there must be around 40 of them and most have cellars / drinking / eating areas that go back around 100m / 330 feet under the hills, which makes for quite a lot of wine drinking area around such a small park.
- Secondly, the Valley of the Beautiful Women attracts locals and tourists alike to generate what must be quite an atmosphere in this compact spot in the summer festivals (sadly we missed one by a couple of days).
Is it worth visiting?: Yes, definitely worth a day trip / overnight trip, but manage expectations.
Some high level tips:
- Getting there – trains leave every hour or so from Budapest’s Keleti station, and it’s less than a 10min taxi into the centre of Eger / the Valley of the Beautiful Women.
- Accommodation – we stayed at the Hotel Senator which had a perfect location and felt like going back in time a bit. Slightly overpriced (USD100 per night) and maybe a tad basic in places, but worth it for the location and the randomness.
