Szentes
©
Szentes

Szentes

Great Hungarian Plain market town on the Kurca, with thermal baths and flat agricultural countryside.

Szentes is a quiet market town on the Great Hungarian Plain, about 30 km north of Szeged. It sits on the banks of the Kurca, a small tributary of the Tisza, and has the unhurried feel of a town where agriculture is still the main business. The surrounding countryside is flat as a table — fields of sunflowers, wheat, and paprika stretching to the horizon.

The town centre has a pleasant main square with some fine 19th-century buildings, including a handsome town hall. The thermal bath, fed by mineral springs, is a popular local attraction and a good reason to break a journey across the plain. Szentes is not a destination in itself, but if you are travelling between Szeged and the Hortobágy or exploring the quieter parts of the Alföld, it makes a comfortable stop.

Guide

Eating Out

Szentes has a handful of simple restaurants serving traditional Hungarian food at low prices. The cooking is hearty plain fare — soups, stews, and grilled meats.

Guide

Things to Do

Szentes is a market town and not a sight-heavy destination, but it has a handsome central square ringed by 19th-century buildings, a couple of substantial churches, a local museum with a strong holding of Hungarian painting, and an unexpectedly good thermal bath. An afternoon is enough to see the lot.