Baja (Hungary)

Baja (German: Frankenstadt) is a town of 35,000 people (2019) and a district in Bács-Kiskun County.

Understand

Baja, City Hall

Baja is at the meeting point of two large regions: the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld) and Transdanubia (Dunántúl). The River Danube separates the two regions. The occidental part of the city is where the Gemencforest starts to spread out next to the István Türr Bridge.

Baja is on the left bank of the Sugovica river (also called Kamarás-Duna), on the Great Hungarian Plain. However, Baja is more similar to the cities of Transdanubia. To the east, arable crops such as maize, wheat and barley are grown.

Get in

By car

Baja town is 90 km west of Szeged, 150 km (93 mi) south of Budapest and 108 km (67 mi) southwest of Kecskemét. It sits at the crossing of Road 55 and Road 51, on the river Danube.

By train

Direct trains from Budapest from Keleti station via Szekszárd (approx. 2 hr 40 min) or with a change in Sarbógárd (approx. 2 hr 50 min) or Kiskunhalas (approx. 3 hr 40 min).

Further direct trains from Dombóvár (connection from Pécs), Kecskemét (connection from Budapest Ferihegy) and Kiskunfélegyháza (connection from Szeged).

By bicycle

The Danube Cycle Path runs through the city. The river side can be changed over the Danube bridge.

Get around

See

In the town

• 1 Baja Town Hall (városháza).  
• Franciscan Church and Monastery
• St. Peter and St. Paul Church
• Baja synagogue, Calvary Chapel
• St. Roch Chapel Meszaros tomb
• St. John's Chapel
• Andrew Jelky statue
• István Türr Museum (exhibits objects of former local life)
• István Nagy Gallery (a collection of István Nagy's paintings)
• Bunjevci House (about Bunjevci traditions). The
• Istvan Nagy Gallery
• Türr Stephen's memorial
• Charles IV memorial.
• Former synagogue, Munkácsy Mihály utca 7-9. City library since 1985: Erected 1842-1845 in neoclassicism by architect Lajos Frey, main facade with a double row of columns.

In the district

St. Anne's Chapel

• 2 Sükösd (12 km from Baja). St. Anne's Chapel (Szent Anna-kápolna) 

Do

In the town

• Fisherman's Soup Boiling Festival (Bajai Halfőző Fesztivál). This annual festival held on July 12th is a famous event in Europe, which includes a great fish soup boiling contest, and other cultural occurrences. (updated Dec 2021)
• Gemenc is part of the Danube-Drava National Park, which can be discovered from Baja via a narrow gauge railway.

In the district

• 1 Gemenc. Europe's largest contiguous floodplain forest. The wood's fauna include stags, boars, storks, grey herons, gyrfalcons, white-tailed eagles, and kites. You can make excursions on foot, by bike, horse or motorboat. There is also a narrow-gauge railway from Pörböly to the eastern outskirts of Szekszárd  

Eat

The local specialties include fish dishes of all kinds, especially fish soup.

Sleep

In the town

West of the city centre, within walking distance, there are two campsites on the opposite bank of the Sugovica arm of the Danube. One in the Petőfisziget district and one in the Nagypandúrsziget district. Otherwise there are a few smaller hotels in the city centre.