any tips for Budapest

djl

have any other mse`s been to Budapest we were thinking about a weekend trip in march any advice would be helpfull :beer:

Foosterino

Budapest is great, i went there for my honeymoon. Definately go to a spa.

Foo
x

djl

thanks foo

was their a problem with locals speaking english ?

aurora_borealis_2

I haven't been before but I'm going in June

liz545

I went to Budapest last summer with my mum, really enjoyed it. Most places have signage in English/French/German as well so if you can manage any of those you'll be ok. We stayed at the Art Hotel, which is opposite the Parliament building, rooms at the front of the hotel have great river views. Budapest's pretty small, so transport isn't much of a problem, and the metro system is easy to use and inexpensive. Definately check out the zoo, and go to a spa; we also really liked the Bagolyvar (Owl Castle) restaurant and Cafe Gerbaud. If you can find it, the best guide is Andras Torok's Budapest - great maps and very chatty, but Time Out's pretty reliable too.
Budapest is a great place to go for culture, and a wonderful city to just walk around and get lost in, I'm sure you'll have a great holiday!

Foosterino

English is not a problem. Pubs and resturants menu's are in English. We learnt thank you in Hungarian which went down well.

Go to an Sir lancelot's a Medieval resturant with busty wenches and jesters. You get served beer in jars and lots of meat to eat with your hands. Its great fun.

The Budapet Card is good value which allows to cheaper entry into certain attractions and free public transport. You can buy this for various periods of time.

Budapest is a great city. Very romantic. It was cheaper than Prague and the food portion were huge! We stayed in the Hilton on the Buda site over looking the city. I will definately go back.

Foo
x

Katgoddess

We went just before Christmas, and enjoyed ourselves. Stayed in a private room in the Marco Polo hostel, and flew out on Easyjet. We used the company recommended by the hostel to take us to and from airport.

We ate in the Belcanto restaurant on our first night on the recommendation of other MSEers. Yes, it is expensive but the food was to die for, and you are entertained all night by a string quartet and singing waiters. A whole nights entertainment.

The second day we walked around the whole city. The Lonely Planet guide to Budapest has some great walking tours in it, but of course you don't have to follow them precisely. We also took the funicular up the hill to the castle. We went to a themed restaurant on Vinci street for dinner, which was a dive, and a tourist trap. I ordered stuffed pancakes for my main course, and got served sweet ones, stuffed with rice. :eek: We didn't stay for dessert. Some people come in, sat down, looked around, and walked back out again. The drinks were nice though. :rolleyes:

The third day we went on a "Hammer and Sickle" guided tour which was fab. The BF loved it, as he is taking Russian at uni. There were some Americans on the tour who couldn't understand our "Saff" London accents. :rotfl: We then went to the Christmas market and ate at the stalls for dinner.

On our last day we went ice skating. They have a massive outdoor rink and had school lessons down one end. There were loads of 5 year olds looking like penguins in their ski suits, skating better than me.

Didn't have a problem with language, as everyone spoke English. Some people had trouble understanding us though and they love the way we pronounced Marco Polo.

Didn't go to the spas, but would do if I went again when it was warmer. The BF was put off by one of the American blokes description of his massage by a fat Hungarian.

I'm sure you'll have a lovely time.

pmcx9

we went last february. bitterly cold and bleak. grafitti everywhere. we stayed at panzio ring hotel. very clean and great value.
got bus and metro to Pest from airport. very cheap and easy to do.
there are several restaurant boats. we ate at the Spoon which had superb service, lovely view and great food, 3 courses and wine for £40 for two. smoke free
if you are a non smoker be aware that ALL hungararians smoke like trains and you may find your dining experience unpleasant. We ate also at a very well recommended restaurant, but not touristy, and had to leave after starters.

i would possibly go again in summer but not my idea of a winter destination.

djl

thankyou for all your posts

darren j

Deaf_Leopard

I've been out here for 8 months now.

In general avoid eating on Vaci Utca as it tends to be a bit of a tourist trap. That said you shouldn't avoid the place as it is a lovely part of the city. Just watch out for Mario after dark!

Most young hungarians speak english if you get stuck. In shops I've never had any real problems with my total ignorance of their insanely complicated language!

Tourism wise if you want something quirky I can recommend the railway museum (trains leave from Nyugati stn at about 10am or you can get there on the tram from Lehel Ter.) You can drive a train for about 3 pounds. Otherwise you can't go wrong with wandering around the Castle District and the Fishermans Bastion and going up to Heroes Square and the City Park.

I wouldn't recomend the Budapest Card. Its not really worth it unless you
go in ALL the museums. Definitley get a pass for the public transport for peace of mind, especially at the weekends ticket collectors are out in force looking for tourists!

Most central and busy restauraunts are excellent, except on Vaci Utca. Since last May I have only had 2 bad meals. I can recommend Cafe Replay near Deak ter which is fairly cheap and consistently good. It's where I go when I want something simple, close and tasty!

If you want to go out to bars in the evening Szimpla and Szoda and Pot Kulcs are all good and cheap (All in district VI) They are all a bit lo-fi however so if you want something a bit more upmarket try some of the trendy places along Liszt Ferenc Ter near Oktogon or along Raday Utca (near Kalvin Ter metro)

The City, from experience, is also much better in June when its warm but not mad busy with tourists. It's great in winter too but somehow the atmosphere is better in summmer, it's quite difficult to explain!

lisyloo

If you want to go on a tour of the parliament building then take your passport as it's free to European nationals.
We didn't have our passports with us and had to pay full price.