The Sóstó Museum Village, Hungary’s largest regional open-air ethnographic museum, throws open its wooden gates to anyone curious about peasant life and craft traditions. Step into a village atmosphere from 150 years ago at 8 Skanzen Street in Nyíregyháza and wander through Árpád-era everyday scenes brought to life with themed events, workshops, and guided tours. It’s living history without the dusty textbook vibe, and yes, you can roll up your sleeves and make things you’ll actually take home.
Free Saturday Guided Tours
Every Saturday: free guided tours at 10:30 and 14:00. It’s an easy way to get your bearings in the museum village’s streets and cottages while picking up stories that connect the buildings, the tools, and the people who once used them. Show up, join in, and let a guide lead you through centuries of rural ingenuity.
Leathercraft Saturdays
Every Saturday, the village hosts hands-on leathercraft sessions. You make your own “masterpiece” and take it home. Trying any craft costs a flat 5 bankó. The “bankó” is the museum village’s own playful currency, sold at the ticket office for 100 HUF per piece—about 0.27 USD—so a session comes out to roughly 1.34 USD. Consider it your ticket to bragging rights and that new handmade belt or pouch.
Sunday Felting in the Szabó Workshop
Sundays mean felting. The Szabó Workshop welcomes you to shape warm, tactile wool into something beautifully imperfect. Same setup: each craft experience is 5 bankó, purchased at 100 HUF (0.27 USD) each. You leave with your own creation—soft, sturdy, and very Insta-friendly.
Weaving Tuesdays
Every Tuesday, weaving takes over the looms. Expect rhythm, color, and a satisfying introduction to one of the oldest crafts on the planet. No spoilers, but watching a pattern grow row by row is a bit hypnotic. Plan to get your hands involved—and your mind fully focused.
Fragrant Fridays: Scent Sachets and Herbal Tea
Fridays bring the gentler arts: sewing scented sachets and tasting herbal teas. You stitch, you sip, you learn the old-school logic of herbs and home remedies. The finished sachet goes home with you, and your notebook gets a few fresh recipes and leaf-and-blossom pairings. Cost: the familiar 5 bankó (about 1.34 USD total).
Workshop: Swabian Heritage, November 17, 10:00
On November 17 at 10:00, a public workshop unfolds inside the village, hosted by the Jósa András Museum, Sóstó Museum Village, and the Municipality of Nyíregyháza. It’s part of the ROHU00528 Swabian Heritage project, building a cultural-tourism route and remembrance sites by researching and presenting Swabian culture—plus boosting cross-border community involvement.
Program highlights include welcomes by Menyhért Jászai (Deputy Mayor of Nyíregyháza) and Endre Baracsi (Vice President of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County), the Erdész Sándor Award ceremony moderated by regional museum director Zsuzsanna Baloghné Szűcs, and a slate of talks: Tamás Szalay, director of the Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum (Central Museum of Danube Swabians), on the museum’s concept and the boundaries and possibilities of interpretation; Dr. Bernadette Baumgartner, guest researcher at UR Hungaricum – Ungarisches Institut (Ravensburg University Hungarian Institute), on the history of the Szatmár Swabians from origins to today; Dr. Melinda Marinka (University of Debrecen, Institute of Ethnography and Museology) on heritage and attachment among Szatmár Swabians; Dr. Levente Szilágyi (Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Ethnography) on tradition and innovation in Szatmár Swabian villages after the regime change; and Teodora Bagosi, project coordinator at the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments of Bihor County (Oradea Heritage), on research plans for Swabian culture in Bihor County and Satu Mare. Q&A sessions at 11:40 and 14:15, lunch at 12:00, and a guided walk through the village at 15:00. Participation is free but requires registration.
Dates to Circle
– Saturdays in November: free guided tours (10:30, 14:00) and leathercraft workshops
– Sundays in November: felting at the Szabó Workshop
– Tuesdays: weaving sessions
– Fridays: scent sachet sewing and herbal tea tasting
– December 13: Village Advent—expect a festive, candlelit winter mood, traditions, and crafts wrapped in seasonal sparkle.
Where to Find It
Sóstó Museum Village, 4400 Nyíregyháza, 8 Skanzen Street, in Sóstógyógyfürdő (Sóstó Spa). Come for the crafts, stay for the stories—and leave with a pocketful of bankó receipts and something you made yourself.
