Miskolc gained importance after Hungary lost Kosice to Slovakia. It used to be one of the centres of heavy industry in 20th century. Today Miskolc is the regional centre of Northern Hungary. The city is surrounded by the beautiful Bukk Mountains. The most famous tourist attractions are outside the city, but one can find things worth visiting in downtown, too.
A quiet suburb of Tapolca provides unique cave thermal spa. Bankut is a popular ski resort.
Miskolc doesn't have an international airport, the nearest ones are in Kosice, Budapest and Debrecen.
The main railway station is Tiszai Station ''(Tiszai palyaudvar'' in Hungarian.) The trains going through Northern Hungary all stop in Miskolc, the city can be reached by train from all the major cities (although if you come from the Transdanubian region, you might have to change trains in Budapest which means you have to find your way through the city to the Keleti station.)
See the website of Hungary State Railways [http://elvira.mav-start.hu/elvira.dll/xslms/index?language=2] for information on trains, travel time and prices. The site is available in Hungarian, English and German (this link leads to the English version.)
You should try to take the ''Intercity'' trains, they're much cleaner than regular and international trains, they don't stop at every small town and a seat is reserved for you. Intercity trains are a bit more expensive and it's better to reserve your seat days before the travel, because they are usually full.
The Tiszai station is well connected to the other parts of the city, both tram lines and many bus lines have their end station there.
Miskolc can be reached from the West on Highway M3, which recently reached the city. The highway connecting Miskolc with Debrecen has also been finished. You have to pay toll if you want to drive on a highway.
Since Miskolc is well connected to the rest of the country by railway lines, there are fewer bus lines connecting Miskolc to other cities. See this page: [http://www.menetrendek.hu/cgi-bin/menetrend/html.cgi] on information on buses. Unfortunately it's available in Hungarian only. Here are the words you need to know to use it: ''"honnan"'': from (enter the city where you are), ''"hova"'': to (enter destination), ''"keresztul"'': through, ''"mikor"'': when (year-month-day), ''"kereses"'': search (click on it after entering parameters.) Now you get a page detailing time of departure, time of arrival and length of journey.
''"naponta":'' every day, ''"munkanapokon":'' on workdays (Monday?Friday), ''"Munkaszuneti napok kivetelevel naponta":'' every day except Sundays.
If you need info on bus lines, go to the mass transport company's site [http://www.mvkzrt.hu/] and click on "Menetrend". At "Viszonylat" choose the number of the bus to see the time tables. (1V and 2V are the tram lines.)
Bus lines important for tourists include:
Prices:
Tickets are the same for bus and tram. General & tourist tickets are not valid on Bus 7 after it leaves Miskolc (Bus 7 is the only city bus that leaves Miskolc; it goes to the nearby town Fels?zsolca.)
You can buy bus tickets at several places, at the Tiszai, on Buza ter (where the intercity buses arrive) and at newsstands.
(You can buy bus tickets from the driver too, but it's a bit more expensive and the driver won't have change, you have to pay the exact amount. Generally it's not recommended to buy tickets on the bus.)
Penalty if you don't have valid ticket: 3000 if you pay immediately, 6000 if you don't have money with you and have to pay later.
Buses usually open the first door only because it is part of the driver's job to check if everyone has tickets. They open the other doors only if someone wants to leave the bus at that door, and if you get on the bus through those doors, the driver might ask you through the loudspeaker to show your ticket.
There are only two tram lines, 1 & 2. The end station to both of them is at Tiszai station. Tram line 1 goes to Diosgy?r, its end station is near the castle. Tram line 2 goes to the metal factory. Be sure to leave Tram 2 at latest at ''Ujgy?ri f?ter''' and change trams if you want to go to Diosgy?r. The castle is much prettier than the factory. ;-)
Foreigners sometimes find it hard to find their way in the city. City maps are sold in every bookstore and at some newsstands. There are some road signs, but not too many.
This is recommended for the downtown only. Many of the tourist attractions are quite far from the city centre.
Szechenyi Street is mostly a pedestrian precinct, the tram lines go along it, but cars use it only occasionally.
Drivers in Miskolc are usually not as polite as in smaller and more civilized towns like Eger (i.e. they don't give way to pedestrians), but they are not as close to kamikaze pilots as drivers in Southern countries. :)
During the late 1990s?early 2000s several bigger and smaller shopping malls were opened in Miskolc (and because of them, many small shops disappeared because couldn't keep up with them.) The two largest shopping malls are ''Miskolc Plaza'' (behind the ''Centrum'' supermarket and department store, close to ''Buza ter''; with cinema) and ''Szinvapark'' (Szechenyi street, close from Centrum; the tram stops near it.) There is a large supermarket and lots of different shops in both. Two smaller malls are ''Batohaz'' and ''Metropol'', opposite to Centrum. There is a new shopping mall ''Auchan'' on the main road to the east.
Enjoy wine in some of the restaurants in Avas hill.
There's a narrowgauge train to Lillafured - a nice village in Bukk mountains sitting in a valley by Hamori lake, where you can visit several caves.