Szombathely sits in western Hungary, only a few kilometres from the Austrian border, and it claims to be the oldest city in the country. The Romans founded it around the middle of the first century as Savaria, and it prospered on the Amber Road that carried Baltic amber south to the Adriatic. The ruins of a temple to Isis, the Egyptian goddess, were rebuilt from fragments and stand in the middle of town, a reminder of how cosmopolitan the Roman world was. Saint Martin of Tours, the soldier who famously shared his cloak with a beggar, was born in Savaria in the fourth century, and the town honours him with a pilgrimage and a church.
Later centuries added baroque grandeur. The cathedral and the bishop's palace look over streets of ochre and cream houses, and a good open-air museum on the edge of town preserves farmhouses from the western Hungarian villages. A few of them show the traditional way of living on this border land, which was shaped by Hungarian, German and Slovenian influence.
For riders, Szombathely is the doorway to a gentle, lovely landscape. West and south lie the Kőszeg hills, with the quaint walled town of Kőszeg at their foot, and the Őrség National Park, a land of woodland, meadow and scattered hamlets with thatched or shingled farmhouses. The roads are narrow, with moderate bends and low traffic, and there is pleasure in simply meandering from village to village. Surfaces vary, so watch for patches and farm vehicles, especially in harvest season.
Fuel and food are easy in a town of nearly eighty thousand, and the Austrian border is just a short ride, so prices are worth comparing. Local specialities include pumpkin seed oil, used in salads and soups, and rich cakes from the old Habsburg tradition.
The best months are May to June and September, when meadows are green and the air is clear. Motorways need the Hungarian e-vignette; the minor roads do not.