Aquincum is the most complete Roman civilian town in Hungary and its indoor and outdoor museums try to put the ruins in perspective, with some success. Most of the big sculptures and stone sarcophagi are outside to the left of the museum or behind it in the lapidary.

Keep an eye open for the replica of a 3rd-century portable organ called a hydra (and the mosaic illustrating how it was played) and the mock-up of a Roman bath.

Visegrád's impressive citadel is perched on top of the dramatic Castle Hill. Visegrád was once the royal centre of Hungary and the citadel, completed in 1259, was the repository for the country's crown jewels until 1440 when they were impishly stolen by Elizabeth of Luxembourg, with the help of her lady-in-waiting.

She hurried off to Székesfehérvár to have her infant son László crowned king. The crown was returned to the citadel in 1464 until the Turkish invaded. The Habsburgs came along in 1702 and blew the citadel up to prevent its use by Hungarian independence fighters as a base. Its remains were buried until the 1930s when archaeologists, following descriptions in literary sources, uncovered the ruins.

There's a small pictorial exhibit in the residential rooms on the west side of the citadel and two smaller displays near the east gate and the nearby Royal Palace and Solomon's Tower are worth exploring However, the real highlight is just walking along the ramparts of this eyrie, admiring the views of the Börzsöny Hills and the Danube, which are arguably the best in the region.

Totalling 76,000 hectares (187,720 acres), Kiskunság National Park consists of half a dozen 'islands' of protected land, though much of the park's alkaline ponds, dunes and grassy 'deserts' with juniper trees are off limits. Bugac village is the most accessible part of the park. Here you can see the famous Hungarian cowboys ride at the popular horse show.

The horse show is the park's highlight. You may come across a couple of noble Nonius steeds being made to perform tricks that most dogs would be disinclined to do, but the real reason for coming is to see the csikósok (cowboys) crack their whips, race one another bareback and ride 'five-in-hand'. This is a breathtaking performance in which one csikós gallops five horses around the field at full tilt, while standing on the backs of the last two.

About two-dozen renovated rooms at the horseshoe-shaped Esterházy Palace are open to the public; the rest of the huge complex houses a hotel and a secondary school. You can only tour the palace with a guide, but armed with a fact sheet in English (available from the ticket office), try to lag behind and explore the rooms away from the crowds.

On the ground floor of the palace you'll pass through several rooms decorated in the pseudo-Chinese style that was all the rage in the late 18th century. On the 1st floor are more sumptuous baroque and rococo salons as well as the lavish Concert Hall and Ceremonial Hall, which lead on to one another. There's also an exhibit dedicated to the life and times of Haydn.

Founded by Benedictine monks almost 1000 years ago, Pannonhalma Abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt many times and is now a crazy quilt of Turkish, Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. The interior is beautiful despite the butchery, and includes a neoclassical library containing 300,000 volumes, making it the largest private library in Hungary.

Also inside the abbey are historical archives holding some of the earliest surviving examples of written Hungarian; a gallery with works by Dutch, Italian and Austrian masters from the 16th to 18th centuries; and, above the red-marble arched doorway, a fresco depicting the patron, St Martin of Tours.

Look down to the right near St Martin and you'll see, written in Latin, perhaps the oldest graffiti in Hungary: 'Benedict Padary was here in 1578'. Pannonhalma is a working monastery, and must be visited with a guide.