If you have never been in Miskolc before, and you spend some days discovering this colourful city, these places should be the first ones on your “To Visit” list. Even if you live in Miskolc, it can be much fun looking around in your hometown pretending to be a tourist. On all of these sites you can spend a whole day, but if you don’t have that much time you can connect two or three of them because many of them are fairly close to each other.
The Zoo and Culture Park of Miskolc
The Zoo and Culture Park of Miskolc is located in the Csanyik-valley near the Bükk National Park. The zoo, which used to be a game-preserve park 100 years ago, has more than 700 inhabitants from all over the world. The zoo is very diverse with its 130 species, many of the animals live in the Bükk area or in Hungary, but you can also see tigers from Asia, pythons from Africa, racoons from North-America, reindeers from Europe, squirrel-monkeys from North-America, kangaroos from Australia, and many other exotic animals.
The Castle of Diósgyőr
Those who travel to Diósgyőr have to prepare for a time travel back to the Middle Ages. Presumably there was a castle made of soil in Diósgyőr which was ruined in the 13th century, then a new castle was built from rocks during King Béla IV’s reign. But the best days of the castle came when King Lajos I inherited the throne. He spent much time in Diósgyőr and many alterations were made on the castle due to his needs. The exhibitions in the castle mostly date to King Lajos’s time: we can get to know how the castle was built, how the King, the people of the court and their servants lived, what type of weapons the knights fought with, and on the weekends you can also see how the knights used these weapons during the duels, which are held three times a day in the castle.
The Cave Bath
Swimming in the Cave Bath of Miskolctapolca is a really unique experience because you can not only try many great outside pools, but the enchanting pools inside the cave as well. The bad weather cannot ruin your day there, because the thermal water is always around 30 °C. The warm-water spring of Miskolctapolca has been used for bathing and treating illnesses since as early as the 16th century, but only since the 20th century can people try bathing in the cave. There is a beautiful sauna park, and aquatherapy treatments are also available.
Lillafüred
Maybe the best way to travel to Miskolctapolca from Miskolc’s city centre is travelling with the forest trains, because during the ride you can take great photos, and, of course, you can enjoy the wonderful view of the forest. There are two unique caves in Lillafüred, one of them is the Anna Cave, a limestone tufa cave which was used as a temple for many years. The Saint Stephen Cave is a dripstone cave with many lovely dripstone creatures in it. You can also visit the beautiful hanging garden, or walk around the Hámori Lake to admire Hotel Palota, which reminds many of us to Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
Adventure Tour Park
The Adventure Tour Park of Miskolctapolca is the biggest of those adventure parks of Hungary which are built in nature, so you can really feel as if you were an explorer in an unknown land. There are three tours: an easy (blue), a hard (red) and an extreme (black) one. The Adventure Tour Park is located next to a rowing lake in the forest, so after a tour you can also try rowing or just take a walk in the forest.
Ottó Herman Museum
If you are interested in arts and natural science, you will love the Ottó Herman Museum in Miskolc. The museum has five parts: the Ottó Herman Memory House, the Gallery of the Ottó Herman Museum, the Exhibition Building, the Gallery of Miskolc and the Museum of Pannon-see. In the Ottó Herman Memory House, which used to be the great natural scientist’s summer-house, the visitors can learn about his life and work. If you visit the Gallery of the Ottó Herman Museum, you can admire many beautiful works of Hungarian visual artists, who lived between the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In the Exhibition Building, visitors can get to know Szemere Bertalan’s career and life, Endre Szász’s works, as well as other periodical exhibitions. The Gallery of Miskolc offers great programmes for art-lovers, and many permanent and periodical exhibitions. Visiting the Museum of Pannon-See, you will learn many interesting things about the history of the Earth and the natural world.
Újmassa
The old furnace in Újmassa is a really unique sight, because there are only a few of this type of furnaces are left in Europe. The two-hundred-year-old furnace may be an interesting sight to see for everybody who would like to know more about how and where people lived and worked in the 19th century. The furnace worked from 1813 until 1866, and it was renovated in the middle of the 20th century to regain its original beauty. Next to the furnace, there is the Museum of Massa, where visitors can get to know the history of the furnace, see cast-iron products and the tools which were used by the workers.
