Before I actually made it to Gyula, I only knew that it was a small city close to the Romanian border. In fact, it’s just 1 1/2 h by car from Arad.

However, we visited on the way back from Oroshaza. And in Gyula we met our Instagram friend who offered to show around.

We met in front of Elisabeth Hotel, close to Gyula Castle. From there, we walked to the castle, passing by an interesting monument, only to realize that we didn’t have enough money for the entrance fee (1500 ft / adult and 400 ft photo tax). It was my fault because somehow I remembered it was 500 ft and never seen the 1500 ft on the website…

So…we had to find an ATM to get some money. Which meant we walked through the city, passing by a superb World Clock.

And then the guys wanted to eat something.

Plus we were told about a place which sold cakes and ice-cream since 1840…I had ice-cream of course.

From here, we went back to the castle, paid the entrance fee and enjoying the museum. And the very renovated castle.

On the way back to the car, we passed by a lake and decided to feed the ducks , too.

You can spend about 2-3 h in Gyula just visiting the cute – and very crowded by tourists – city. And you can also go to the spa (we’ve been in Oroshaza so there was no point to go here as well).

The city is really affordable but don’t count on any English being spoken (the case in any small city in Hungary, actually). Have a map handy just in case you need to ask questions.