A Family Day Trip to Sopron, Hungary: Old Town Highlights & Tips

We knew that we wanted to make a day trip to Hungary. Originally, I’d been eyeing Győr, but John has a work connection with someone living in Budapest, and he was very clear that he thought we should pivot.

His suggestion? Sopron (pronounced Show-prawn).

It was a little over an hour by train from Vienna.

We booked tickets with ÖBB (€35.90 day ticket for adults and, sadly for our budget, Belle now fits this category; €18 for kids) and got on the familiar red trains. Once we were settled, panic set in: the screens showed we were on REX65, not REX6!!!!

Oh no!

Thankfully, a helpful conductor reassured us that we were on the right train, just on the wrong car. The REX6 and REX65 are actually linked together. This is a very easy mistake to make—so if you’re heading to Sopron by train, look for the green-and-yellow carriages. At a certain station, the two trains disconnect, and you want to make sure you’re on REX6 to reach Sopron.

From the train station, it’s about 1 km to the core of the historic Old Town.

Sopron itself is charming, though smaller than I anticipated. Its history stretches back to Roman times, when it was called Scarbantia. You can still see remnants of Roman walls and roads scattered around the Old Town. Later, it became a medieval trade hub and is known as Civitas Fidelissima—the “Most Loyal Town”—for its vote to remain part of Hungary after World War I, despite being on the Austrian border.

We spent about five hours exploring, which felt like the right amount of time. Wandering the quaint, colourful side streets was probably the highlight of the day for me. It was almost eerily quiet on this particular Monday.

Fire Tower

The most iconic landmark is the Fire Tower, right in the heart of Old Town. We paid an entrance fee that included access to the tower and were able to see some Roman ruins underground—including original stones from the Roman Amber Road (an ancient trade route).

In more modern times, the Fire Tower was used to alert townspeople to danger (fires! invaders!), entertain villagers (musicians in the tower were responsible for playing wedding music!), and organize schedules (trumpeters in the tower would signal the time of day).

It worked out to about $25 CAD for a family ticket.

Note: Sopron is NOT on the Euro.

A limestone sarcophagus.

One fun detail: there’s preserved graffiti carved by a former prisoner and even an excavation of one of the old prison cells.

The stairs inside the tower are narrow and steep, so it is not appropriate for small kids or anyone with accessibility challenges—but the views over Sopron’s red-tiled roofs were excellent.

After climbing back down, we strolled along Bailey’s Promenade, lined with Roman and medieval ruins. Without a guide, we weren’t sure exactly what we were seeing, but the walk was lovely and gave a sense of Sopron’s long history.

Checking out a model of the Old Town.

We also visited the town’s most famous church, colloquially known as the Goat Church, which dates back to the 13th century. Legend has it the name comes from a literal goat… though there’s a darker interpretation too. A murderer named Geissel (which translates to “goat” in English) donated money to build the church as restitution for his crime.

Entry to the church is free, and it’s worth a quick peek inside.

Outside the church there’s yet another plague monument, Holy Trinity Statue/Plague Column. These reminders of how devastating epidemics shaped Europe are all over the place! (Having lived through a global pandemic, I think we can all appreciate how deeply impactful a pandemic is to a community.)

At this point we took a requisite shoe shot…

And then our go-to living statue photo op.

For lunch, vegan travellers, rejoice: Sopron has at least one vegan-friendly spot. This part of the world leans heavily into meat (specifically pork!!!) dishes, but we walked by a busy spot serving plant-based options. Just a little FYI.

While John attended a work meeting, we wandered through quiet streets and navigated several kilometers to get to the lone McDonald’s. (The kids really wanted to try McDonald’s in another country. Verdict: it was actually fresher than most places, but also shockingly expensive!)

Indy is never not looking for something to climb.

Or balance on…

Or jump from…

This is the Cezar Pince, a famous restaurant/winery.

We walked by the Ursuline Church but didn’t go inside (apparently, this church sustained significant damage during World War II).

There’s a fountain in the courtyard (I think it’s called the Mary Fountain?). Legend has it that a monk was walking through a local vineyard and gathered some grapes for a snack. The owners didn’t take to his “theft” too kindly and treated him roughly. When it was discovered he was a monk, they were forced to pay for the construction of this fountain by way of an apology.

To round out the afternoon, the kids and I (John was off enjoying traditional goulash as part of his work lunch), stopped for a sweet treat at Hoffer. Belle declared it the best sweet on the trip so far; I’d say the food was average, but the service was spectacular and they had free bathrooms which is always a plus!

Sopron isn’t a place I’d ever feel the need to revisit, but it was a wonderfully accessible day-trip from Vienna. Sopron has lots of charm and I think on a warm, sunny summer afternoon it would be even more delightful!