The Danube Bend — Dunakanyar in Hungarian — is one of the great river views of Central Europe. Just north of Visegrad, the Danube makes a dramatic right-angle turn from its eastward course and swings south toward Budapest, hemmed in between wooded hills on both banks. The view from the Citadel above town is the classic vantage point, but the curve of the river is also visible from the main road and from the riverbank promenade in Visegrad itself.
The Bend is not just scenery. The geography forced the river to narrow here, which is why this stretch was fortified so heavily in the medieval period — the Citadel above Visegrad and the castle at Esztergom on the north bank effectively controlled all river traffic through Hungary. Today the Bend is popular with cyclists (a marked cycling route runs the length of both banks) and with paddlers on the river. The wooded hills of the Danube-Ipoly National Park rise directly from the water on both shores.