Welcome to Budapest, a city with a unique history and rich cultural heritage. Tourism is one of the key elements of Budapest's economy - and daily life. This is shown in the rising numbers of tourists visiting the capital, and the growth of the quantity and quality of tourism services. Year by year the number of new hotels grows in Budapest, many old buildings are reconstructed or converted into new cultural and touristic venues. The city's unique Danube Panorama is now part of the World Heritage, Budapest boasts of the Continent's largest Parliament Building and first underground, and Europe's largest functioning synagogue. The visitor will find side by side the remains of buildings from Roman times, still operating Turkish baths, Baroque buildings, and the incredibly rich Art Nouveau architectural heritage. Budapest is often referred to as the "Queen of the Danube" and it is the only capital city in the world with more than 100 thermal springs and 12 spas.

The legendary Magyar tribes settled in this land at the end of the 9th century. The soil was fertile and rivers and lakes abounded. It was also a central location, that, throughout the next 1100 years resulted in one of the stormiest histories Europe ever produced. Hungarians, (whose name is a linguistic mistake, since its origin, the Ogurs, were Turks, not Magyars...) managed to be on the losing side of most wars; the land, after an expansion in the early medieval centuries, kept shrinking until it reached today's size; people got used to being constantly occupied by Mongols, Turks, Hapsburgs, Germans and Russians - no wonder their national anthem is the saddest such hymn in the world. What is a wonder, though, is that they kept their unique language and culture against all odds, and all 10 millions of them learnt a very special survival skill.

Today's Hungary is a smallish country with a territory of 93,000 square kilometres. The capital, Budapest is one of the largest metropolitan centres of the area with a population of 2 million people. It is a 2000 years old settlement bisected by the majestic Danube River. It is an incredibly scenic city with the river winding through it, crowned by her glorius bridges.The architecture is a turn-of-the-century medley of Baroque, Art Nouveau and Neo-Renaissance. Buda, the old and historic part of the city lies on the west bank; Pest, the pulsing downtown area on the east bank. The city has dozens of baths and curative spas; a thriving cultural life accented by music; hundreds of first class restaurants, gambling casinos and jazz clubs. Hungarians love to eat - nobody counts calories here. Love of food is paired with love of good wines - and the land produces plenty of excellent varieties. A sad history, but good humour and a nonchalant hedonism: this, probably best sums up what Hungarians are all about.