Wine tasting in Eger, Hungary

As I've said before, if visiting Hungary and especially Budapest you should take the 2.5 hour train ride north to Eger, a fortified town known for its wine cellars.

About a twenty minute walk from the centre of town will bring you to the Valley of the Beautiful Women, a horseshoe of wine caves carved straight into the hills. Nobody really knows why it has this name - there are at least three different theories but none of them is proven. What is proven, though, is that it's the perfect place to spend an afternoon.

Each cellar offers you the choice to sit inside a cave (yes, literally) lit only by candles, or outside in the fresh air. They offer a huge selection of wines and, like most things in Hungary, they are super cheap. We were drinking large glasses of wine for something like 99p.

If you've already spent most of the afternoon sampling wines (which we did) you can shake things up a bit and try one of their many fruit wines. We tried blackcurrant, peach and apple among other flavours - these cost a little bit more but we still only spent the equivalent of about 6 or 7 euros on a whole bottle. We also got the enormous cheese plate below for less than 5 euros, and a basket of traditional, home cooked biscuits for a euro.

So if you want a relaxing break from Budapest's crowds, head to Eger and spend the afternoon drinking wine in the valley of beautiful women!

Blackcurrant wine and cheese in Eger, Hungary