# Eger and Tokaj: Hungary’s northern wine hills

> 4-day road trip of about 351 km (218 mi) with 7 stops, from Budapest to Rákóczi Castle. About 4 h 51 min of driving in total.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b7-tokaj-eger/

**At a glance:** 4-day road trip of about 351 km (218 mi) with 7 stops, from Budapest to Rákóczi Castle. About 4 h 51 min of driving in total. From Eger’s castle and cellar valley to the Aggtelek caves and the sweet wines of Tokaj.

| | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 351 km (218 mi) |
| Driving | 4 h 51 min |
| Suggested days | 4 |
| Stops | 7 |
| Route | Budapest → Rákóczi Castle |
| Countries | Hungary |
| Updated | June 18, 2026 |

## Route description

The M3 motorway (vignette required) takes you from Budapest to the Bükk hills and Eger in under two hours. The Baroque town is built around its castle, famous for the 1552 siege, and has a minaret and a thermal bath close to the centre.

In the evening walk or take a taxi to the Valley of the Beautiful Women, a ring of wine cellars dug into the rock just outside town, where you taste Bull’s Blood and white Egri Csillag at the barrel.

Head north through the Bükk and the Sajó valley to Aggtelek on the Slovak border, where the Baradla cave runs for kilometres under the karst. Then drive east past Miskolc to Tokaj, a small town at the meeting of the Tisza and the Bodrog below vineyard slopes.

Many Tokaj cellars offer tastings of aszú and dry Furmint; the villages of Mád and Tállya are worth a detour. Finish at Sárospatak and the Rákóczi castle by the river. September and October, during the harvest, are the best time to come.

## Stop-by-stop itinerary

1. **Budapest** (Hungary)
2. **Eger** (Hungary)
3. **Eger Castle** (Eger, Hungary): The fortress where a small garrison held off the Ottoman army in 1552, now a museum complex with bastions and casemates above the Baroque town.
4. **Valley of the Beautiful Women** (Eger, Hungary): A horseshoe of wine cellars cut into the tuff on the edge of Eger, where you can taste Bull’s Blood and Egri Csillag straight from the barrel. Walk or take a taxi back.
5. **Baradla Cave** (Aggtelek, Hungary): Hungary’s best-known show cave, kilometres of dripstone passages in the Aggtelek karst that continue under the border into Slovakia. Tours of different lengths leave from Aggtelek and Jósvafő.
6. **Tokaj** (Hungary)
7. **Rákóczi Castle** (Sárospatak, Hungary): A Renaissance castle on the Bodrog river, seat of the Rákóczi princes, with a museum on their uprising against the Habsburgs and a pleasant riverside park.