Sárospatak

This small town used to be the favourite estate of Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II, who fought for Hungarian liberty against the HaBsburgs. The oldest parts of the Rákóczi Castle, rich in Gothic and Renaissance details, include the Red Tower, the late-Renaissance Lorántffy Loggia and the Prince's Palace, housing the Rákóczi Museum. The themes of the exhibitions are the history of the Rákóczis and the Rákóczi war of independence, the life and libraries of 16th-17th-century landed nobility as well as wine-growing and wine-making at Hegyalja. A collection of ceramics and stone relics is also on display.

Boasting a Baroque organ and Hungary's largest wooden altar, the former castle church is one of the country's most valuable Gothic monuments. Recollecting the history of the famous Calvinist College where it is located, the museum houses the ecclesiastical treasures and the library of the college with its incunabula dating back to the 16th century. The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical collection is housed on the first floor of the former Jesuit monastery. The school park displays statues of famous personalities.

Tokaj

The historic Tokaj wine region, another World Heritage site, has been producing 'the king of wines and the wine of kings' for 450 years. Crowned heads of states, including Russian tsars, Polish kings and the Pope of Rome, were among regular customers of the wines made from grapes which ripen on the sunny hills until late autumn giving them a high sugar content. The exhibition at the Tokaj Museum traces the glorious history of the drink initially used as medicine in the Middle Ages.

A collection of icons and the Greek Orthodox church are reminders of rich Greek wine merchants who once lived in the town. The Rákóczi Cellar, that once belonged to the Rákóczi dynasty is now a catering facility. Its 24 tunnels, with a length of 1.5 km, are suitable for storing up to 20,000 hectolitres of wine.

Volcanic hiking trails rich with protected plants lead to the 516-m high Kopasz-hegy (Bald Hill), which gives a full panorama of the region.