Fertőd

The largest and most exquisite Baroque chateau in Hungary, the Esterházy Palace was built over a period of 46 years, starting in 1720. 'The Hungarian Versailles' with a magnificent Baroque-Rococo topiary was commissioned by the Esterházys, the richest family among the landed aristocracy in the country, in order to hold a sumptuous court. Joseph Haydn (1732- 1807) spent over a decade in this palace as a court composer. Today the palace is a museum housing Gobelin tapestry-upholstered, inlaid furniture and the valuable chinaware of 18th-century stately homes of the landed aristocracy. The Haydn Memorial Room at the Baroque House of Music commemorates the world-famous composer and musical director of the castle chamber orchestra.

Nagycenk was the centre of the estate of the Count lstván Széchenyi, prominent statesman of the 19th century, and he actually lived there. Count István Széchenyi, often called the greatest Hungarian initiated the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Science, enhanced steamship transport on the Danube and paid the costs of the buildíng of the first permanent bridge between Pest and Buda (Chain Bridge, Lánchíd) was also Minister of Transport in 1848 in the first independent Hungarian government. His old castle in Nagycenk has been turned into a museum.

Sárvár

A long stone bridge leads to the pentagonal building of Nádasdy Castle, once surrounded by a moat. The castle served as a fortress and a residence for an aristocratic family. The Nádasdy Ferenc Museum, displaying a rich collection of applied art and housing exhibitions that detail the life of Hungarian Hussars and the interwoven history of the city and the castle, is one of the country's most beautiful museums, due to its lavish interior décor and valuable furnishings.

The Hédervár castle lying in the heart of Szigetköz Nature Reserve (Szigetközi Természetvédelmi Körzet) used to be a small fortified castle. Having been destroyed and re-built several times it units the characteristic features of various architectural styles. A huge, 700 years old oak tree stands in front of Our Lady’s Church (Boldogasszony templom).

Sümeg

The 13th-century Sümeg Castle on top of the 270-m Castle Hill is one of Hungary's best preserved and largest castles. Its museum houses an exhibition on the history of the castle, a torture chamber and a waxworks. The courtyard provides a setting for the re-enactment of historical battles, reminders of the former chivalric tournaments. An 18th-century hub of Roman Catholicism, it boasts some fine examples of ecclesiastical architecture, including the Episcopal palace, the Franciscan church, which has become a pilgrimage site and the Roman Catholic parish church, the walls of which are covered with frescoes painted by F. A. Maulbertsch.