Hungary April 18, Visegrád Castle

 In the morning we hiked up and around to the Visegrád Castle on top of the hill. . Visegrad Castle was built in the 1300s.  

Solomon's Tower on Left, Castle on Top

We got there before it opened, so we hung around enjoying the view of the Danube until we could go inside.

After that we walked through the woods and down to Solomons Tower, a tower on the lower part of the castle walls where Vlad the Impaler, supposedly a model for  Dracula, was imprisoned in the 1400s. 

Solomon's Tower

Then we walked through town, stopping at the King Matthias Museum--Royal Palace 

Then back to our hotel for lunch. 

After lunch we walked through town to get a gelato then to a Matthias Natural Spring (Quelle/Forras) to fill our water bottles and then essentially the same route as the morning in reverse, up the hill to the castle and the down the other side of the mountain back to our hotel.  One of the paths was flanked with wood carvings.

Each walk was about 5.5 miles with a climb of 1500 ft.