Gödöllő

Emperor Franz Joseph and his royal consort Queen Elisabeth, affectionately called Sissi by Hungarians, stayed often in the 250-year-old Baroque Royal palace of Gödöllő. Classical music concerts and festivals are held in the stateroom and on the ceremonial courtyard. After 200 years the restored Baroque Theatre is open to the public once again. The chapel and Calvary in Elisabeth Park are from the 18th century.

Martonvásár

A Beethoven memorial town, where the great composer was a guest on two occasions. His close rapport with the Brunszvik family of Martonvásár and love for the 'immortal beloved' were sources of artistic inspiration for such superb pieces of music as the Apassionata and the Moonlight sonata and the final movement of the Fourth Symphony. His music books, the piano that he played and a lock of his hair, a cherished item in the estate of the family, evoke his memory in the Beethoven Museum, housed in the neo-Gothic Brunszvik Mansion. The castle park is a wonderful arboretum: a 40-hectare topiary with a small lake in the middle. On the island of the lake, accessible by an ambient wooden bridge, open-air Beethoven concerts are given in July and August.

Ráckeve

The Ráckeve Danube branch is a favourite area for anglers and water sport enthusiasts. The main attraction of the town is the fine Baroque mansion of Eugene of Savoy, a great Austrian general, from the 18th century. The country's only Gothic-style Greek Orthodox Serbian church, boasting a star-vaulted ceiling, a Baroque icon screen and several medieval Byzantine frescoes. The Árpád Museum traces the life and history of millers along the Danube.