Experience the best of Sopron

Sopron lies at the eastern edge of the Alps, right against the Austrian border, and its old town is packed into a horseshoe on top of the Roman settlement of Scarbantia. The Fire Tower, with a baroque top above a medieval base, overlooks the historic centre, and streets of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque houses lead to the Goat Church, a Gothic church founded by Franciscans in the thirteenth century. Sopron won the title of the most loyal town after residents voted to stay in Hungary in 1921.

Lake Fertő, called Neusiedler See in Austria, is a shallow steppe lake ringed by reeds, and with its surroundings it forms a shared UNESCO cultural landscape. Fertőrákos has a vast old quarry used for open-air performances, and Fertőd has the Esterházy Palace, where Joseph Haydn served as court composer. Vienna lies to the north, and the wine villages of Austria's Burgenland begin just across the border.

Kékfrankos, the local red grape, is Sopron's wine, and cellars in the old town pour it with simple meals. Goulash, paprika stews and strudel fill the Hungarian menus. Autumn brings the grape harvest, and spring brings wildflowers to the wooded hills.