The South-Great-Plain tourism region

According to a creed at the South-Great-Plain, there are many ways to win the positive feelings and favour of the tourists. The sunny landscape and gastronomic specialties of The South-Great-Plain tourism region provide excellent mixture for that.
 The tourist - arriving from Budapest - can advance "unsuspiciously" at the highway until Kecskemét, however, travellers crossing the river Danube at Dunaföldvár can taste earlier the marvellous beauty of the landscape of the Great Plain. Of course the "landscape of the Great Plain" is not a homogenous concept - just like the mountains are not the same everywhere, too - but it has different sceneries in store with the infinite plains of the Duna-Tisza-köze, the region of rivers Körös with the forests at the catchment basins, and with the river Tisza meandering between these two, with the rich catchment basins and lavish backwaters.
 The visitors of the South-Great-Plain do well if they know that numerous gastronomic and (folk) artistic specialties - known as 'Hungaricum' abroad - originates from here, and/or have significant traditions in the South-Great-Plain. The paprika of Szeged, the embroidery and wall paintings of Kalocsa, the lace of Kiskunhalas, the "whistling" peach palinka [Hungarian brandy], the onion of Makó, the fish soups of Baja (with pasta) and Szeged (hot), sausages of Békéscsaba and Gyula, the goose liver widely recognized as a delicacy, the light wines from sandy soils are all rooted in this land and spoils the gourmet world from here.
 From the point of view of tourism, the region is in development and rise, the change in the approach of people living here and the gradual appearance of investments open new perspectives for the optimal utilization of the existing conditions. The South-Great-Plain is pre-eminent primarily with the tourism products connected to the nature, like the equestrian tourism, medical tourism, eco- and water tourism.
 When being at the Bugaci Puszta [plains], one can see the increasing number of high-level equestrian farmsteads and guesthouses in this region well known about its traditional horse breeding.

It is worthwhile to observe the amazement at the faces of domestic and foreign tourists when they see the attraction of Puszta Five or nowadays Puszta Ten (five or ten understained, yet bridled horses harnessed in formation, the herdsman - standing at the hindquarters of two horses - controls those with the reins to his own will and of course to the delight of the audience). There are more than 60 equestrian bases in the region.
 An unsurpassable natural endowment of the South-Great-Plain is the thermal water resources hiding below the surface. The health resort of national recognition, the Castle Bath of Gyula is pre-eminent in the line of baths, which is an excellent place for the guests wishing to relax with its outside and inside pools, magnificently cultivated, shady and grassy park and medicinal services. In the intermissions of bathing, a refreshing walk in the Várkert [Garden of the Fort] can provide a pleasant relaxing, where the special brick fort, sign of the city towers above the walkers. The Fort and its surroundings are invigorated in every summer, during the Végvári Esték [Fortress Evenings] and the Castle Plays of Gyula, when dramas, comedies, musicals and juvenile plays created by renowned authors and directed by excellent directors are performed.
 Moreover, in the line of numerous developing baths, the Jonathermál Health Resort at Kiskunmajsa, or the Tiszaparti Thermal Bath of Tiszakécske, or the Orosháza-Gyopárosfürdő - that underwent significant developments in the near past - can be mentioned. The spa-cities being under development offer also accommodation places in increasing number and quality, satisfying the widest range of demands from the campsites to the hotels. There are more than 50 health resorts and thermal baths in the region.
 The unadulterated charm of the nature is indigenous in this landscape. The national parks and nature reserves - the forest of Gemenc (territory of the Duna-Dráva National Park), territories of the Kiskunság National Park and the Körös-Maros National Park, the stately surging river Danube and the "blond" river Tisza, the lake Fehér or the lake Kolon, which is famous about its unique bird population, the sand dunes of Kiskunság (the sand hills at Fülöpháza), or the arboretum of Szarvas (Pepi-Garden) - provide unforgettable experience for the hikers, anglers, as well as for the cyclists.

One can find numerous well-developed holiday resorts in the region of rivers Körös (Mártély, Szanazug, estuary of the river Körös at Csongrád), where high-level services and water sport possibilities are waiting for the guests wishing to relax. In the permitted areas, hunters and anglers can follow their pastimes.
 Arising from the settlement structure of the region, there are many subregions with farmsteads. Rural tourism - a product of small settlements affecting also the community of village - is under development by utilizing these farmstead areas. One can find a quality example for that at Pusztamérges (Csongrád county).
 The cultivated city view, the well-arranged historic buildings and the breezy parks of the county seat cities (Szeged, Kecskemét and Békéscsaba) provide pleasant experience for the visitors interesting about the so-called cultural tourism. In Szeged the cathedral, the city hall, the Dömötör tower, the church of Franciscans, the synagogue, the Móra Ferenc Museum do not leave the soul of susceptible visitors untouched. In Kecskemét the city hall, the Cifra Palota [Ornate Palace], the building of Katona József Theater are famous, and the view of the cultivated central square is often remunerated by the foreign guests with the "cleanest city of Hungary" title. The third county seat, Békéscsaba achieves also appropriate place, where the ambitious city leaders carried out large-scale reconstructions and aesthetic alterations, thus, the classic buildings of the Hotel Fiume and the Jókai Theater, as well as, the city hall was renewed. These buildings, together with the Lutheran Great Church preserving the religious traditions of inhabitants of Slovak ethnicity living in large numbers there, and the two-towered Catholic Church form a redoubtable view of the city centre. The Archiepiscopal Palace and Archiepiscopal Library in Kalocsa attracts deservedly the tourists.
 The hotels of the cities recognized and gladly utilize the possibilities arising from the conference and event tourism, that induces a solvent demands, at the same time it is mainly independent from the caprices of nature, that is to say the season.