The Laczkó Dezső Museum is the most important museum in Veszprém and the wider county, holding around 260,000 artifacts that trace the region's story from prehistoric times to today. It's a great stop for travelers wanting context on the Bakony landscapes they'll be hiking through.

The two-story building sits on the edge of the old town, tucked into the peaceful Erzsébet Park, making it an easy and pleasant addition to a walk around the city in any season. The entrance hall on the ground floor features sculptures by Imre Csikász, and the staircase displays a plaque honoring archaeologist Gyula Rhé. Designed by István Medgyaszay, the building itself blends Art Nouveau with the more rational architectural style of the 1920s, making it worth a look even from the outside.

How to get there

• Veszprém city center — Erzsébet Park, a few minutes' walk from the main sights, easy route
• The museum stands next to the Bakonyi Ház open-air folk house, so both can easily be visited together

Good to know

• The collection includes about 260,000 objects, 250,000 documents and photographs, plus an extensive library and archive
• Permanent exhibitions cover prehistory, the Hungarian conquest, the medieval period, and the era from the Rákóczi uprising to modern times
• The adjoining Bakonyi Ház was Hungary's first rural open-air museum, with a statue of Laczkó Dezső at its entrance

The museum is named after Laczkó Dezső, a geologist and Piarist teacher who discovered the famous fossil turtle Placochelys placodonta in the Bakony hills — his scientific curiosity is what set this whole collection in motion.