Festetics Castle – Historical Model Railway Exhibitions

Model Railway for Everyone

If you think of a little train under the Christmas tree or a more serious terrain table when you hear about model railway, your breath will stop when you step into the roof of the museum, where one of Europe’s largest model railway exhibitions has been opened in 2008.

The Largest Outdoor Model Railway in Central Europe

At the exhibition, we can see the authentic replicas of 19th-20th century Hungarian, German and Austrian railways, with 60-70 realistically assembled carriages in 1:87 scale, including both old steam locomotives and modern high-speed trains. Each one has its own track, and even more, they are running “on schedule”.

“The hunting exhibition was amazing, it was brilliantly done. The railway… there are no words for it! At the model railway, the lighting is switched off from time to time, and it can be viewed in its night-time splendour, with the trains and buildings lit up, so it’s definitely worth waiting for.”

Bence BoroviLocal Guide

Our favoriteThe 'Night Lights' spectacle is unique in the world, thanks to the hundreds of lamps that form part of the exhibition.

If you want, we can feed the ducks, light a fire – of course only for fun – and we can also take part in the exhibition through the interactive system. Snowy countryside, autumn scenery, viaducts, tunnels, a 2.7 km long track network – from children to the older generation, everyone is amazed. Its largest station is Nuremberg, with 26 tracks, and the smallest… better discover it yourself and tell us the answer!

An interesting factThis is one of the largest mountain railway dioramas in the world, which illustrates the altitude difference and faithfully shows all the exhibits.

Authentic Replicas of 19th-21st Century Hungarian, German and Austrian Railways

The Austrian part is interesting as it showcases a world heritage site and Europe’s first mountain railway. In the central part of the German unit, the original aerial photograph was used to build the Nuremberg station, while a little further away a German fantasy city was built, but the elements there, such as the Freiburg city gate and the Berlin TV tower, are replicas of real buildings and structures.

The designers also paid attention to the depiction of the seasons, we can admire the snowy Black Forest and the Christmas market of Nuremberg. The Hungarian unit shows the former Southern Railway, the Budapest-Southern station-Nagykanizsa section, as well as parts of Zala county, one of the most beautiful of which is the representation of Badacsony Hill. The former Keszthely station could not be left out either, behind which we can see the model of the Festetics Castle.
An interesting factDo you want to know more about the past of Keszthely? Then the book KESZTHELYI TÖRTÉNETEK was written for you, get it in the Tourinform office on the walking street!

Approach

The museum building is located behind the Festetics Castle, those arriving from the city center can approach it on foot, and those arriving by car have the good news that it has its own parking lot. In front of the museum, a garden railway awaits the youngest, then upon entering we can buy a ticket – even with a SZÉP card, and families with many members can get a discount.