Incredibly beautiful and with so much to offer in terms of art, history and good food and wine, Budapest, in Hungary, is one of the best places for students to study abroad. All four corners of the country are worth visiting and exploring€"from its picture-book lakes and rivers and its fairy-tale castles, to its hiking-friendly mountains. It's little wonder the country is home to a great number of World Heritage sites identified by UNESCO.

Hungarian National Museum

If there is one single place to visit in Budapest in order to comprehensively understand what the country is all about, it would be the Hungarian National Museum. Those who visit the country to study abroad can get everything they need with a single visit; the museum houses thousands of historical artefacts representing Hungary's past. On the museum's first level are prehistoric relics and items up to the 9th century; the second level houses a collection of artefacts that represent the period when the country was occupied by the Magyars up to the decline of communism; and the basement has items from the Roman period and the Middle Ages up to early modernity. Among the most notable items include the Celtic gold jewellery found in the treasury room, the breathtakingly beautiful Baroque library, and Beethoven's actual Broadwood piano.

House of Terror

A favourite among tourists, Hungary's so-called House of Terror is not your run-of-the-mill €scary house'. In fact, it earned its name because of its relation to Hungary's dreaded AVH secret police, which held sway before and after the last World War. The secret police brought any suspected dissident to this house to be interrogated and tortured, often with a fatal conclusion. Because of its place in history, regardless of how abhorrent it may be, the House of Terror is well worth visiting, especially by students who have come to the country to study abroad. Now a museum to remind present and future generations of a government's propensity to commit crimes against humanity, the House of Terror features the reconstructed prison cells and the Hall of Tears gallery, as well as an exterior wall featuring many of the victims' photos.

Castle Hill

Castle Hill is so named for the sheer concentration of so many important medieval structures and museums located here. In fact, if for those who come to study abroad in Hungary, this is the first place they will be advised to visit. Stretching for more or less one kilometre, this limestone plateau (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is home to several of Budapest's cultural and artistic treasures. Within its walled area, you will find the Old Town and the Royal Palace (now home to two major museums). The Old town still has a strong atmosphere of the Medieval Period, with its authentic €burgher houses', whereas the Royal Palace is the site where the original castle was built in the 1200s. Underneath Castle Hill is a network of underground caves that spans around 28 kilometres. These caves served as air-raid shelters during the last World War as well as a strategic military installation during the Cold War.