We slept until almost 09:00. Hugo quickly went to the shop for milk, bread, salami and cheese, while we drank coffee and made sandwiches to take with us.

Then we headed back towards the castle complex, this time aiming for the Citadel higher up the hill. From our guesthouse it was a pleasant 45-minute hike on a narrow trail winding upwards through the trees.

Caro standing beneath hiking signs in the wooded hills above Visegrád
Following the signs up through the hills.

The Upper Castle was built in the mid-13th century on the orders of King Béla IV after the Mongol invasion. Its position above the Danube Bend made it both a fortress and a royal refuge. It later became a royal seat and, for many years, the home of the Hungarian Holy Crown.

Hugo walking through a stone archway within Visegrád Citadel
Hugo exploring the passages through the Citadel.
Caro climbing the wooden stairs of a stone tower in Visegrád Citadel
Climbing higher through the Citadel.

We visited the wax figures, hunting and weapons exhibitions and again enjoyed the views from the top. This time more of the information was available in English.

Hugo standing beside a suit of armour at Visegrád Citadel
Hugo found a heavily armoured travelling companion.
The medieval royal meeting recreated with wax figures inside Visegrád Citadel
The royal meeting of 1335, recreated in wax.

The wax figures commemorate the royal meeting held at Visegrád in 1335, when the kings of Hungary, Bohemia and Poland met to settle disputes and improve cooperation. It felt slightly mad to think that almost 700 years ago they were already holding diplomatic summits and enormous feasts with rulers from neighbouring countries.

The panorama from the Citadel was even more impressive than the view from Solomon’s Tower. We found a picnic table at the top and ate our cheese and salami buns overlooking the Danube Bend.

Hugo eating a cheese and salami bun at a picnic table above Visegrád
Cheese and salami buns with a view.

We took a different trail down to the river, passing Solomon’s Tower again, and stopped at the shop for cherry alcohol-free beer, canned food and pasta.

We escaped the worst heat of the day back at the guesthouse. Hugo worked while Caro painted.

In the evening we walked along the river and drank the cherry beer with chips on a bench beside the Danube. On the way home we decided to stop at a local restaurant and try some Hungarian classics: halászlé, a spicy fisherman’s soup made here with catfish, and babgulyás, a thick bean goulash that presumably contained pork.

The last evening light over the Danube and hills opposite Visegrád
Evening beside the Danube.
Caro sitting at an outdoor restaurant with two bowls of Hungarian soup
Our first proper Hungarian dinner: halászlé and babgulyás.

For dessert we had Somlói galuska — a rather untidy but excellent plate of sponge cake, vanilla, rum, walnuts, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

A plate of Somlói galuska with chocolate sauce and whipped cream
Somlói galuska — untidy, rich and very good.

Steps: 14,932