Aquincum

Aquincum was the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia and stood where the northern suburbs of Obuda are now. What is open is the civil town: a grid of low wall stubs across an open field, with streets, a market building, bath complexes, a shrine of Mithras and the outlines of workshops and houses, some with underfloor heating still visible. The museum beside it holds mosaics, painted plaster, tombstones and its best object by a distance, the bronze remains of a third-century water organ found in the burnt ruins of a guild building, shown alongside a working reconstruction. Two Roman amphitheatres survive a few streets away and can be walked into without a ticket.

What you actually see

• The civil town grid - streets, shops, baths and heated floors at knee height.
• The water organ - third-century bronze pipework with a playable reconstruction.
• The Mithras shrine - the small sunken temple within the town plan.
• The amphitheatres - two free arenas in the surrounding streets.

When to go

April to October, when the open-air part keeps full hours; the ruin field shuts or runs short hours through winter while the museum stays open. Mornings are best in summer because there is no shade anywhere on the site. The museum runs Roman craft and food days a few times a year, which are aimed at families and fill the site.

Honest expectations

This is a foundations site: almost nothing stands above waist height and you have to build the town in your head from the plan. A busy road and the suburban railway run right alongside, so it is never quiet. Labels are uneven in English. Anyone who has seen a well-preserved Roman town elsewhere will find it thin, and it is a forty-minute round trip from the centre.

Nearby

Obuda's main square and the Roman military amphitheatre are a few stops back down the line.