Where to stay in Szeged
Szeged is small enough that the choice comes down to one question: do you want the square outside your door or the river? Here are the districts, who each one suits and who should look elsewhere.
- First visit
- Belváros around Dóm tér
- Quieter
- Alsóváros, greenery and guesthouses
- Other bank
- Újszeged, across the Belvárosi híd
Most of what you came to see in Szeged sits within a walk of one square, so the useful decision is how much of the city you want to leave behind when you close the door. Belváros keeps you in the middle. Alsóváros trades some of that for green, and the river districts give you water. There is no airport to plan around, because people arrive by train, and the page on getting around covers that part.
Belváros, around Dóm tér
The streets around Dóm tér and Széchenyi tér are where Szeged keeps its postcard views, and from a room here you can walk to the Votive Church, the Reök Palace and the synagogue without opening a map. A three-star hotel stands on a quiet street about five minutes from Dóm tér, which shows that the centre is not all terraces. Belváros is the right base for a first visit and for anyone travelling without a car. It is the wrong one in summer if you like to sleep with the window open, because the cafés spill onto the squares and the evening carries on outside until late.
3-star hotel, double room, per person per night
Alsóváros, quieter and greener
Alsóváros lies close to the Franciscan church and to the green strip along the Tisza, and its accommodation is mostly small guesthouses rather than hotels. It suits a slow stay of several days, with a quiet street for the morning coffee. Not for everyone, though: it does not suit someone who wants every sight at the doorstep, since the squares are no longer outside the window.
3-star hotel, double room, per person per night
Újszeged, across the Belvárosi híd
Újszeged is the other bank of the Tisza, reached over the Belvárosi híd, a bridge that opened in 1883 and was rebuilt in 1948. On the centre side it lands at Roosevelt tér, by the Móra Ferenc museum, and on the far side at Torontál tér, beside Erzsébet park. Stay here if you would rather look at the river and the park than at the squares, and expect to cross the bridge every time you head into town. There is an apartment here, and the Szeged Pension, about fifteen minutes' walk from the centre and the lodging nearest the zoo.
3-star hotel, double room, per person per night
The Tisza bank and Odessza
This is the park by the river, where the boat trips leave, where people take up water sports and where birdwatchers come to look. A hotel in a green belt along the Tisza gives you the river from the window. Families do well here, and so does anyone whose idea of a city break is a walk by the water in the evening. It is quiet. If you want shops and restaurants within a few steps, this is not the base.
3-star hotel, double room, per person per night
One night or more
For a single night, sleep in Belváros on a quiet street near Dóm tér, so that you can walk to the main station or the bus the next morning. A night in a three-star hotel costs €27–42 per person in a double room. For several nights the other districts start to make sense, and the question becomes whether you prefer the green of Alsóváros or the water of the Tisza.
Where to next
What Szeged costs
→In Szeged most of the money goes on the room and on the long journey from Budapest, because tickets in the centre are cheap and the zoo is the priciest entry.
Pécs · 149 km
→An old city where a 4th-century Roman necropolis lies beneath the same square as the largest mosque ever built in Hungary, now a Catholic church.
How well does Szeged suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Szeged
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which part of Szeged is best for a first visit?
Belváros. Dóm tér, the Votive Church, the Reök Palace and the synagogue are all reachable on foot from there, and you will not need public transport for the main sights.
Do you need to stay near the station?
No. Tram 2 runs from the main station to Európa Liget and the centre is a walk, so a room near the station is only a choice.
Is it worth sleeping in Újszeged?
It is, if the river matters more to you than the centre. Everything else in the city is across the bridge, so expect to cross it each day.
Ready for Szeged?
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.