Main information
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county is famous for its folk architecture, folk art, music and dance traditions. The county’s most beautiful and unique pieces of folk architecture can be found in Túristvándi, Szatmárcseke and Tákos. One of the main attractions are the wooden bell towers, the 13th century church and the coffered ceiling of the Reformed Church in Mátészalka.
Among the secular buildings of Baroque, Classicism and Eclecticism, the glitzy castles of the county aristocracy stand out. The Andrássy castle in Tiszadob, the Lónyay castle in Tuzsér, the Tomcsányi castle in Vásárosnamény, the Kölcsey-Kende mansion in Cégénydányád are all gems of the architecture of this period.
Furthermore, there are other famous historical sites in the county worth visiting, these being the Gencsy castle in Balkány, Nyírbátor with its reformed church and the Castle of the Báthory family, which features today a panopticon and a renovated dining room, as well as the Castle of Kisvárda.
One of the most interesting tourist attractions is Vaja with its Renaissance castle and nature reserve, where nature lovers may discover rare plants, dating back to the Ice Age, on the marshy islands. The lake is also used for fishing. There is a large number of stillwater fisheries in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county.
The community called Szabolcs has the biggest and best-preserved earth castle of Central-Europe from the times of the Hungarian Conquest.
The Salty Lake (Sóstó) near Nyíregyháza has always been a notorious holiday destination, the unspoilt beauty of its landscapes creating the perfect environment for relaxation and medical treatment. The Aquarius Spa Resort in Sóstó and the Aquacinema Castle Spa in Kisvárda attract many foreign guests as well as they are proper destinations for tourists looking for more vibrant entertainment. The Zoo of Nyíregyháza also has international reputation (being selected as the Zoo of the year in Europe in 2018) with more than 200 thousand visitors coming from abroad a year.
As far as religious tourism is concerned the county offers a great number of treasures worth visiting. The Route of Medieval Churches is the name of the thematic route designed with the intention of thoroughly familiarising interested tourists with a unique ecclesiastical, architectural and cultural heritage not only in the county but in the Carpathian Basin. This thematic route was created with the purpose of presenting the medieval ecclesiastical heritage of three geographical units, which formed one historical region in the past. Namely, the route crosses Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county in Hungary, Szatmár/Satu Mare county in Romania and Transcarpathia (Zakarpatska oblast’) in Ukraine. The churches of Csaroda, Lónya, Csengersima, Sonkád or Csenger are outstanding relics, while Máriapócs as a natural shrine is one of the most famous and visited pilgrimage places not only for Greek Catholic pilgrims but it attracts visitors from all over the Carpathian-Basin. The Via Maria Pilgrimage Route in Hungary goes through Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county as well.
The Gara mound in Nyírkarász, the Ercsi castle in Pócspetri, the Domahidy hill in Szamosangyalos and the earth castle in Szabolcs itself can also be mentioned as natural specialties.
