The Danube makes a sharp turn at Visegrád, squeezing between two ranges of hills in a narrow gorge before swinging south toward Budapest, and the town sits at the point of the bend, below a fortress that watches the whole thing. The citadel stands on a steep hill about three hundred and fifty metres above the river, and its walls look out over the water, the town and the forested slopes across the way. It is one of the best views in Hungary, and it has been used for strategic purposes for more than a thousand years.
The history here is royal. In 1335, the kings of Hungary, Bohemia and Poland met at Visegrád to agree on trade and alliance, a meeting that gave its name, in 1991, to the Visegrád Group of central European states. In the fifteenth century, King Matthias Corvinus built a magnificent Renaissance palace on the river bank, which was destroyed under Ottoman rule and later uncovered and partly rebuilt. The palace, with its fountains and courtyards, gives a glimpse of the court that once filled this small town, and the Solomon Tower beside the river is another relic of the Middle Ages.
The ride to Visegrád along the Danube is among the nicest in the region. The road follows the river from Szentendre through Leányfalu and Tahitótfalu, with the water on one side and the wooded hills on the other, then passes Dömös before reaching the bend. The corners are gentle, the views wide, and the surface is generally good. It is popular with cyclists and motorcyclists, so take care at weekends. The road up to the citadel is steep and narrow, with hairpins, and a good place to test your cornering.
Visegrád is a small town with about seventeen hundred residents and basic services, but fuel is available at Nagymaros, just across the river by ferry, and Vác, about twelve kilometres away, is the larger town with more choice. There are restaurants along the riverside, serving fish and Hungarian dishes, and cafés near the palace. The best time to visit is spring or autumn, when the hills are green or golden, and the crowds are thinner.