"Please sir, I want some more," said the hungry Oliver Twist – and most Hungary travellers feel much the same way.

The Magyar country twists West with East in a perpetual entanglement, with all the luxury of a western European state and the flavour and elegance of its Eastern roots compelling most visitors to begin planning a return to the country the moment they leave.

Landlocked between several eastern European countries, Hungary was once part of the dominant Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during the First World War.

Its people hail originally from Central Asia, yet have existed in the eastern European country for the last 1,100 years.

After the end of the Second World War, Nazi-controlled Hungary was liberated, then occupied by the Soviet Army. Communism swept through the country, but in 1956 a revolution against Stalinism – though crushed by Soviet troops – heralded the promise of democracy.

By the fall of the Berlin wall in 1990, the end of Communism in the country was met by a wave of western capitalism, meaning first impressions of the country's capital Budapest are of a country confidently striding forward into a modern, shiny new era.

Budapest is a beautiful city. Its stunning array of architecture, deep cultural history and warm inhabitants make the capital a true haven for the cultured traveller.

The blue Danube slips through the city dividing the capital into two areas, the hillier Buda and the flatter Pest. Famed for its leafy green parks and broad streets, the city echoes the 19th century, but leaves a modern taste in the mouth.

With the largest number of natural hot springs outside Iceland, the city provides a number of fantastically enjoyable bathhouses, where the weary traveller can soak and enjoy a fine local wine.

Night owls will find even more heat inside the Cuba Libre – a shopping centre with a nightclub underneath. Dance, R'n'B and funk tunes turn the temperature up inside, as young and trendy Budapest gets down with its bad self.

North of Budapest, northern Hungary features a treasure trove of cultural highlights, including prehistoric relics at Ipolytarnóc and the biosphere reserve of the Bükk Plateau.

To the south-west, Lake Balaton is a magnet for many visitors, as one of the country's most treasured natural assets. The 77km-long lake is often referred to as "The Hungarian Sea" and boasts pleasant beaches and its warm waters are well suited to swimmers and watersports enthusiasts.

The flatlands which border the Ukraine and Romania house countless villages and hot springs, each offering something new and different for the intrepid traveller to explore.

Flights to Hungary leave regularly from most European airports, and the country's close proximity to Austria in particular is an added incentive to include it on an overland trip across the continent.

The country has a temperate climate, and whilst never getting too hot over the summer (averaging around 21C at its peak) the winter months are not overly cold, only dropping as low as -2C for a short time.

Hungary offers much to every type of traveller, from the energetic to the lazy, the well-off to those on a budget and the young to the old.

Although some fall in love with the country at first sight, others may take a while longer. But in the end, all invariably end up "asking for more".