The population of the town lying on the banks of the River Rába at Kemeneshát is nearly 16,000. The town has become a tourist centre of international renown.

The most outstanding sights include: the arboretum (a nature reserve), the neo-Classical Lutheran church and the Roman Catholic church, the park forest and the Csónakázó (= Rowing) Lake. A new Thermal and Wellness bath of European standard was opened in 2002 awaiting visitors in pleasant surroundings.

Sárvár's notable sights include the spa (with its famous medicinal water), a Baroque church, and an arboretum. A number of rarities of cultural remains are shown in the exhibition halls of the Ferenc Nádasdy Museum.

In 1564 András Beythe (botanist) was born in Sárvár.

During the Second World War, Sárvár was used as a centre for the internment for Polish soldiers who had arrived in Hungary in 1939. Later, during the Second World War, Sárvár was used as a concentration camp for the internment for thousands of Serb families expelled by Hungarian soldiers from their homes in northern Serbia in 1941. Now, there is a monument and graveyard for hundreds of Serbs who died in Sárvár concentration camp.