Tour Testimonials

Helen, New York

Posted on by Liz

After drooling for a few years over Magyar Marketing’s tours, my husband and I joined their Wine & Culinary tour in the autumn of 2019.  My father fled during the ’56 Revolution and relocated to America.  I was raised in a household filled with Hungarian traditions, food, music, and love.  I had previously traveled to Hungary twice under communism and once post communism.  Each visit was filled with my extended family’s visits accompanied by homemade food, wine & palinka, and their proud sharing of their town’s tourist sites.  Unfortunately, when I was ready to visit again, only one family member remained in Hungary.

I’m an adventurous person by nature, but I decided to see Hungary from a tourist’s perspective.  My husband and I have never traveled with a group, so we had uncertain expectations.  Prior to travel, Liz of Magyar Marketing was always promptly available to answer questions and assist with any concerns and arrangements.  She handled each detail with a lilt in her voice exhibiting the joy and passion she possesses with sharing of our mutual heritage.

We were a group of about 18 individuals ranging in age of 30’s to 80’s, a combination of singles, couples, parent & child, aunt and niece.  I believe each and every one of us had a wonderful twelve days touring, eating, drinking, and sharing. There was variety for all at every stop, nothing was cookie-cutter or repetitive.  The guides were extremely informative with excellent English and not only guided, but were knowledgeable in addressing every inquiry made by our group.

The tour allowed for free time at each destination for further exploration, shopping, or simply soaking in the moment on a park bench.  The tour is not a fast paced, on the bus-off the bus, on to the next destination.  Each day allowed sufficient free time to enjoy the day’s tour without feeling stressed, physically or mentally.  Departure times were reasonable and our group was respectful of such.  Our lodgings were comfortable and accommodated all our needs and then some.

One item that comes to the forefront of the tour was the flexibility offered for individuals within our group.  Liz’s and her guides’ abilities to meet specific requests while on tour offered such a  personal touch.  I personally requested making a slight side-tour to my father’s village of birth, another left our tour to visit with friends for the day and met up with our group later.  They arranged another day trip for members to visit a specific town to look for ancestral records.  An impromptu bacon roast was arranged one evening which was not part of our tour.  One of our guides assisted me in locating, procuring, and delivering a specific vintage of wine. Such impromptu personalization was welcomed and achieved.

Magyar Marketing’s tour was well organized offering sufficient variety to pique everyone’s interest.  Liz, her guides, and drivers excelled throughout. My husband and I would certainly not hesitate to tour again with Magyar Marketing in the future……the sooner the better!

Helen & John, New York

Tour Testimonials

Sally, Arizona

Posted on by Liz

Last fall, I traveled to Hungary on a wine and culinary tour with Magyar Living. It was my first trip with this company and a wonderful experience. All my grandparents emigrated from Hungary in the early 1900’s, so I had a keen interest in learning more about the culture and history.

Our guides were extremely knowledgeable. They so eloquently presented historical facts as we
journeyed through northeastern Hungary including a day trip to Slovakia, and then to Budapest for our last three nights. With the exception of Budapest, we weren’t competing with lots of tourists and buses, confirming how unique our tour was.

Our meals included everything from modern Hungarian cuisine to the more traditional. The
pogácsa/pálinka greeting was something we got to enjoy at several stops starting with Day 1 on the bus!

There were excursions in small towns to see various artisans demonstrating their crafts including crystal, glass, cooper, vinegar, and more. There were several wine and other spirits tours – small wineries where the owners did the tour and served a meal, wine tasting in a vineyard, a craft beer tasting, a pálinka museum, a Unicum museum – all with more than adequate sampling included! There were visits to a wide variety of museums and special sites – a doll museum in a small town, an internment camp from the Communist period, Helia D cosmetics, a horse show followed by a huge lunch with gypsy musicians, Parliament tour, evening cruise on the Danube, and so much more.

We had an all day village experience in Tard, starting with a pálinka and pogácsa welcome, of course.
The day included cooking, baking, and noodle making lessons. We toured historic homes, learned
Hungarian folk songs, had embroidery lessons, had a short but excellent organ concert at the village
church, dressed a couple from our tour in traditional clothing – all so much fun! We were free to
participate in any activity, or just observe and ultimately enjoy the lovely meal we helped to prepare.

Because of the smaller tour group size and the presence of Don and Liz (Magyar Living owners) on the tour, there was more flexibility to accommodate individual requests and to adjust for the unexpected
(which can always be expected when traveling)! I was traveling solo, but never felt alone – everyone in the group was congenial. I’m 76 years old and, like many in my age group, have some challenges in terms of walking, getting on and off tour busses, etc. However, those limitations never kept me from
enjoying all the experiences. There was always a “work around” – elevator instead of stairs, a fellow
tour member willing to give a hand if no handrail, etc. There was only one mini tour to a castle high on a rocky hillside that I skipped but was able to entertain myself with an interesting medieval restaurant on site and homemade ice cream from a lady with a small vendor cart. She was a local and made the ice cream herself with fruit from her orchard – how delightful!

Sally, Arizona

Tour Testimonials

Bea, Oregon

Posted on by Liz

I went on the Fall 2019 trip to northeastern Hungary.  What a wonderful experience!  Each day of the tour brought interesting activities, places to visit, and beautiful countryside scenes from our tour bus.  The itinerary is varied and each day brings something new. 

There was some free time on the tour for us to relax, or shop, or stroll around.  This was a good balance to our active schedule.  Our great Hungarian guides, as well as Liz and Don, provided helpful information and answered our questions.

After a busy day, hotel dinners or winery/restaurant dinners were delicious and something to look forward to.  Also, the hotel buffet breakfasts were a favorite of mine – so many choices of fruit, vegetables, juice, breads and rolls, as well as heartier foods like meat and eggs.

I have so many good memories of the tour!

Tour Testimonials

Donna, Louisiana

Posted on by Liz

The trip of a lifetime is the best way I can explain my February 2018 tour with Magyar Marketing. I have traveled to Hungary several times but was never fully immersed in Hungarian culture until touring with this group. Since my ancestors were from Hungary, this was very important to me.

Our tour guide, Andrea, provided us with a wealth of information on Hungarian people, places, culture, and history. Part of our fascinating journey took us not far from my paternal Grandfather’s birthplace of Tizadob. Liz and Andrea surprised me with a tour of Andrassy’s Palace in Tizadob – where my grandfather often watched ongoing activities while working in fields close by as a young boy. I can’t begin to explain the feelings running rampant at the thought of possibly walking on the same soil where my grandfather was born and raised. Little did I know, this was the beginning of two weeks of wonderful adventures. We took a short train ride through the snowy Bükk National Park in Lillafüred and enjoyed a horse-drawn sleigh ride in the countryside to learning about storks at Fehér Gólya Museum (stork museum) in Kölked and visiting Polgar Winery in Villány – where the owner reminded me so much of my dad. I felt like I was dreaming. We visited the Memorial Park of the Battle of Mohaćs where ~20,000 lives were lost and the culminating activity of trip – experiencing the Busó Festival first-hand in Mohaćs. What an experience to behold!

I will be forever grateful to Liz of Magyar Marketing, Andrea, and Christian, our skilled bus driver, for fulfilling my dream of a lifetime in becoming fully immersed in Hungarian culture. I am looking forward to future trips with Magyar Marketing and all this company has to offer.

Tour Testimonials

 András és Kathleen

Posted on by Liz

It was a lifetime wish to visit the land my grandfather left over a hundred years ago, a wish I thought would never come true. But circumstances changed and in  2018 we had the opportunity to take the Fall Wine and Culinary Tour operated by Magyar Marketing. Liz Szabo-Vos, the amazing owner of Magyar Marketing, organized and conducted a tour that took us to ancient wineries and fine restaurants,  new wineries and beautiful churches,  large wineries and  palaces, and small wineries and old factories producing cloth and porcelain with time tested methods.  It was a smorgasbord of history and culture. Despite a full schedule, the pace was leisurely with ample opportunity to sit in the park or shop in the numerous quaint shops and markets.  The transportation was always comfortable, the accommodations were very nice, and the local guides were simply great. It was all so well done.

Liz goes above and beyond the call of duty.  Learning that we were also planning to search for relatives, she volunteered to arrange a driver/guide/interpreter to assist us.  As a result, we were able to return to the small village my grandfather left a century ago. We found the house he lived in, the church he attended, and the old cemetery with the names of my ancestors on the headstones. By sheer good fortune we also found my cousin, Bandi, the same age as I, and a complete stranger for 75 years. We are now in regular contact by mail, and we were able to attend his 50th wedding anniversary last October. We have found a whole new family!

András és Kathleen, Virginia

Tour Testimonials

Michelle and Darlene

Posted on by Liz

The people included in the tour were great and we all got on well with each other We were able to interact with the people demonstrating their crafts.  Tard village was one of the many days to remember.  The lady I was paired with was able to get me to understand that I needed help in embroidery. “Isten nem” —  I remember my grandma saying that.  We were very happy to have arranged to go to our ancestral villages and to meet the priest.

This trip was a trip of a lifetime for Darlene. And a continuation of my trip of a lifetime. We both hope to return.

Michelle and Darlene, cousins

Tour Testimonials

Jim and Linda, Maine

Posted on by Liz

This was one of the most enjoyable trips that my husband and I have taken. While we’ve been fortunate to have taken many trips to Europe, what sets this trip with Magyar Marketing apart from the rest, is the in-depth look we got of Hungary. We not only visited places that tourists don’t usually travel to around the country, but also, we were able to take part in lots of fun and unusual activities.

From trying our hands at painting decorative eggs and participating in an actual paprika harvest, to a traditional fish-fry picnic in the wooded mountains, and an exciting horse show, as well as several wine tastings and pálinka tastings, we were truly immersed in the Hungarian lifestyle for the two weeks we were there. The food was to die for, as well!

Our guide, Andrea, was an encyclopedia of information from whom we learned much about Hungarian history, from the time of the Magyars through the years of the Soviet occupation. We even covered some of the recent struggles with the European Union and the plight of displaced refugees from Syria. Our bus driver, Christian, a delight to travel with, gave us a young perspective of Hungarian life today. The small size of our group enabled us to get to know our traveling companions quite well, and the fantastic accommodations added to our enjoyment. We hope to travel with Magyar Marketing again in the future!

Thank you Liz, for this wonderful, unforgettable trip!

Tour Testimonials

Jen, Michigan

Posted on by Liz

I always dreamt of traveling to Hungary (my grandparents were Hungarian) and my leery mother was going to be my traveling companion. While browsing for paprika on the Magyar Marketing website, I came across their Hungarian tours. I excitedly told my mother about it. She felt that it would be safer than traveling on our own, getting lost and starving. Even though I was looking for an adventure, I felt that this was a good compromise. The trip turned out to be amazing. We traveled to places that we never would have found on our own. My vacations typically consist of bars and shopping, whereas my mom’s consist more of museums and scenery but we found Hungary to be a great blend of both of our tastes.

My mother kept a journal and I was the photographer. While the journal has been passed along to family and friends to read, the pictures are still waiting to be developed.

It has been a long time since I spent over two weeks with my mom. We were both nervous that we would be sick of each other, but the trip was a great way to reconnect. We were still speaking after we arrived home, and we may even consider including my dad on the next adventure.

To experience exploring cultural roots with my mom was an opportunity to learn about my heritage and brought us closer together. The memories will last forever. ~ Jen, Michigan

Tour Testimonials

Frank and Hilda, New York

Posted on by Liz

We’ve been traveling as a couple both independently and with organized tour operators in the U,S., Europe, South America and the Middle East for almost five decades, and we’ve found your operation to be among the best we’ve experienced. Your trips are well organized and it’s easy to see that there must be a lot of planning and preparation behind these excursions and itineraries. We typically stayed at four star hotels, and this reduced the number of times we had to pack and unpack. Many of the hotels were close to city centers, our luggage was zipped into and out of each hotel so we didn’t have to lug them around, we didn’t have to find restaurants that were decent and open, and you did all the leg work for the sights and attractions for a full day. We put ourselves into your hands and did not regret it once.

In addition, we appreciate each tour’s balance between the natural beauty of the country, the rich history and culture of my wife’s homeland, and the unique products offered by the country’s talented artisans not to mention the amazing local cuisine, wines and of course, pálinka. Even though I am not of Hungarian decent and have been to Hungary four times in the past, I found your tour to be very interesting and fun. After all, you don’t need to be French to enjoy Paris.

We like the fact that each day’s schedule is not too ambitious or exhausting, and that your itineraries leave time for relaxation and rejuvenation. Also, the air-conditioned coach was clean and comfortable, and your local tour guide and the very skilled coach driver were knowledgeable and good-natured and always ready to help with any issues that came up. So, all in all, your guests get good value for their vacation dollars and a memorable experience. ~ Frank and Hilda, New York

Tour Testimonials

Mary Lou and Val, Minnesota

Posted on by Liz

Growing up in a first generation Hungarian family, we were exposed to many aspects of Hungarian culture and traditions: hearing the language spoken between siblings and also enjoying the delicious foods on holidays and Sunday dinners. As cousins, we wanted to embrace that heritage and visit the country where our parents were born. This led us to discover Magyar Marketing and a tour planned by Liz’s mother in 2003. Memories of that trip still lingered and when we heard that Liz was planning a tour, we jumped at the chance! We have traveled to many countries with various tour groups. By comparison, Magyar Marketing comes out on top in all areas. The personal attention we received, visits to enjoy local music and food and cultural activities were plentiful — and at no extra charge! Our accommodations were always at unique properties and meals were mostly included and reflected local foods. Liz has a unique perspective on tour planning. She has a vested interest in her tours that brings the focus to learning and appreciating Hungarian history and culture. She has prioritized her personal selection of guides and drivers. Each one brings their own experiences and perspective of Hungary to share with us. We readily embrace them as partners on our trip and enjoy their company. ~ Mary Lou and Val, Minnesota

Tour Testimonials

Barb, Michigan

Posted on by Liz

Although my parents took that cruise across the Atlantic to N.Y. to Cleveland, Ohio, I had never been to Hungary. Due to a notice in the Magyar Marketing e-newsletter, I took the plunge and signed up for a tour in May of 2016. I think I was the oldest traveler with the group, but I never felt that way.

It was the trip of a lifetime; fabulous in every way. Let’s start with the fact that I never wondered where I would lay my head any night. Each of the hotels was first class. There are days when I relish one of those fabulous morning buffets. “Just hop on the bus, Gus, no need to discuss much.” Each day was planned to precision with breath-taking sights and luscious meals. Funny that the stuffed cabbage on the Danube cruise tasted exactly like that my Mom made. I am so lucky to have her recipe.

Liz and Andrea made sure we drank Hungarian wine in the middle of a vineyard on the back of a truck. Not only were our meals authentic but set in interesting places: outdoor poppyseed strudel baking, etc. We observed ceramic, glass and other folk artisans. I have treasures I could not have gotten in town. You will never regret signing up with Liz. ~ Barb, Michigan

Travel Tips for Hungary

Basic Travel Tips for Hungary

Posted on by Liz

 

I am often asked about important tips to consider when traveling to Hungary. Here are a few of the ones I’ve found most useful:

  • If you will have a smartphone along and you will have an international plan during your travel, be sure to understand how it works. Be informed because it is easy to run up a crazy high bill when traveling. Most of the hotels have Wi-Fi so even if you don’t have an international plan you can still communicate with friends and family back home –just always leave your phone in airplane mode! Also, don’t be so preoccupied with photos and videos that you forget to be where you are. It’s ok to just enjoy the moment and hold onto memories and not have digital documentation of everything! I always like to keep a paper journal – it is a nice keepsake too.
  • Always keep 150-200 HUF with you when you travel in Hungary. While coffee shops and restaurants are required to have restrooms (WC) for their patrons there are many places where there is a fee to use the WC.
  • Bring along a travel pack of tissues and have it on your person at all times. There are times when there is no toilet paper in the restroom stalls! You will thank me for this tip! My daughter also likes to carry a small container of hand sanitizer or liquid hand soap with her.
  • Start getting in better shape now! There is a lot of walking to be done in Hungary. There are cobblestone streets, and the castles are not handicap accessible. When visiting historic buildings they likely will not have an elevator. You may want a special pair of shoes for a special night out, but comfortable shoes for walking are a must. Do what you can to add more and more walking (and even stairs) to your routine as soon as you know you are going on a trip. It’s good for you even if you aren’t traveling. Be sure to check with your doctor if you have some special considerations.
  • If you use anything electrical, you will need an adapter or converter for Europe. Definitely limit the electrical items you bring along because otherwise you become a slave to the charger. If you have a used up plastic gift card, bring it along. Many hotels in Hungary have an energy saving feature. You insert your room key into a slot to turn the power on. When you leave you take the key with you which shuts down the power. A “spent” gift card is often a good substitute for a room key and will keep the power on so you can keep your device charging even while you’re out of the room.
  • Save a little money by washing your own socks and undergarments and hanging them out to dry in your room. The hotels we stay at typically offer laundry service but I have been to some places where there isn’t any. You can send off your pants and shirts to be done if you need to but it adds up quickly. It may be worth it to you; it all depends on how you prefer to travel! Irons are not common, so I always try to bring low-maintenance clothes.
  • Bring your own washcloth or body scrubber! Many Hungarian hotels only have a bath towel and a hand towel and no washcloth. If you buy a pack of inexpensive, colored washcloths you can choose to bring them back home with you or leave them behind in the hotel room. Just don’t bring white ones as room towels are generally white and they will be scooped up when your room is cleaned.
  • Soap and shampoo are often combined as one product and hair conditioner is not a common offering. Keep that in mind and if you have particular products you like to use be sure to bring them along. Hair dryers are commonly found in hotel rooms.
  • Pack one complete change of clothes in your carry-on. If your luggage gets lost you will have at least one back up outfit! Also, if you are traveling with someone else you might want a back up set of clothes in the other person’s suitcase so if your luggage gets lost you have another outfit until it (hopefully) gets returned to you.
  • Limit your use of strong scents. When traveling in close quarters on the planes and buses it is nice to only have neutral aromas floating around. While you likely love your favorite scent it isn’t guaranteed that everyone will!
  • If you think you will bring back fragile things, bring along some bubble wrap and some plastic bags to wrap those items well. You can always wrap things up in dirty clothes but I would still put them in cloth or plastic bags in case TSA starts rooting through your bags. It also helps you remember that there is something fragile when you get home after a long traveling day.

Reprinted with permission from Hungarian Living.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation Policy

Posted on by Liz

CANCELLATION POLICY (rev1029)

Below you will find our cancellation policy. Our tour groups are smaller sized and our prices are based on a certain minimum number of participants. It is important for us to be able to provide the tour in the event there are several cancellations. I strongly recommend travel insurance. We have used Allianz. See their website allianztravelinsurance.com or give them a call at 1-866-672-9580. Karen Timberlake at Haynie Travel can also help you with that if you are working with her for airline tickets. Karen can be reached at 1-812-477-8833 ext. 321.

Cancellation in writing must be received by Magyar Marketing 91 days prior to departure for a full refund of payment made minus service fee. The following cancellation charges will be assessed for all written cancellations received prior to departure up to the scheduled time of departure. Upon receiving cancellation notice, the following charges will apply: (Broken out by days before departure)

• 91+ days prior to departure: $100 Per Person Service Fee
• 61-90 days prior to departure: Deposit Amount
• 46-60 days prior to departure: 50% of tour cost
• 45 days or less prior to departure: 100% of tour cost

Air penalties are not part of the percentages listed and vary based on the airline policy at the time of ticket issue.

No refunds will be given within 45 business days before tour departure; please plan accordingly.

Please call 1-800-786-7851 or email [email protected] with any questions.