Budapest - Is there enough to see & do

Faith177

Hi All

I originally wanted to go to Paris for my 30th in March but OH suddenly announced that he had already started looking into going to Budapest. I did want to go to Budapest at some point but it doesn't really strike me as a great place to spend my 30th compared to Paris.

OH is really anti Paris and really does not want to go and as this is his first trip out of the UK I want to do something we are both going to enjoy

I am into history and like to get and see the city I am in I'm really not the bar crawl lay on the beach kind of person. I have started to do some research on things to do but I don't think there will be enough there to keep us occupied for the length of time I originally wanted to go (5 night 6ish days)

Can anyone who has been to Budapest give me some tips?

benjus

You could always combine with Vienna (about 2 hours on the train from Budapest) - that makes quite a nice trip. Fly into one, out of the other. Although it's not the best time to be getting a train to/from Budapest - maybe better to wait and see what happens.

Vienna has loads of art, museums, palaces etc. But in many ways I prefer Budapest - it's has a nice laid-back feel to it, while Vienna can feel a bit stuffy and formal. There are some great old thermal bath houses in Budapest - well worth a visit. I suspect that 5 nights just in Budapest might be a bit much though.

Hobsons_Choice

We're just back from four nights in Budapest and had to miss out on a lot of the things we planned - just not enough time! We also had a day in Vienna planned but, because of the refugee situation, we're saving that for another time. Yes .. we will return it's a beautiful city.
Take a tour of Terror House (very moving but very interesting), the Opera House, Listz Academy, cruise down the Danube, go to Buda and the Castle District and just wander around looking at the architecture.
The Hop On/Off bus is very useful, you can get a 48hour ticket that includes an hour long mini cruise on the Danube and a walking tour. It helps you to get your bearings and see where you want to go back to for a longer visit.
We'd both go back there in a heartbeat!!!

Phildave

Just came back last week.
Excellent restaurants - Good Food & Cheap
Plenty of things to see (we were 3 days - not enough time.
Hop ON Hop Off definate

skint_chick

I went for 4 nights and didn't get to do/see a lot of things I wanted to - if you like history then Terror Museum, Memento statue Park (on a public bus that goes round a housing estate and makes you think you're on the wrong route), public baths, free walking tour with http://www.triptobudapest.hu and you can also download the In your pocket guide to Budapest for suggestions. I went for a tour through the tunnels under the castle which was interesting.

Paris is alright, it has some good museums but Budapest would be more interesting from a history point of view

asajj

There are plenty to do and it is a beautiful city. Watch out though, they might use tear gas and water cannons on you!

fairy_lights

There is so much to do in Budapest, I went for 4 days and it wasn't long enough. You can spend most of a day in one of the public baths, and the Zoo is excellent too

postcode

Spent the best part of 4 days in Budapest (nearly 5) and didn't go to the Terror Museum, didn't do a day-trip out of the city (the Danube bend villages are supposedly a worthy day-trip) and didn't go to the Memento Park either (where all the communist statues have been placed).

It all depends on what you like, really. I and my parents ended up spending 3 afternoons lazying around in three different bath houses. We'd never experienced it before and became fans. Your mileage may vary.

Apart from those bath houses we visited the Castle District, Margaret Island, did the night cruise on the Danube, City Park, Parliament (a must see and if going in a high season book in advance as they do run out of tickets on the day), went up the hills on the Chairlift and up to an old Watchtower near a pretty nature reserve...

You could do more in less time, though. We did laze around a bit, strolled rather than ran around and we also got lost a couple of times. That said we used only public transport and found it well organized all things considered. The tram lines were interrupted and a bit messy due to resurfacing works, finding alternatives wasn't the easiest of things so that added some time to our trip.

5 days won't be enough to visit both Budapest and Vienna, though. I spent 3 days in Vienna and saw only the highlights, but if you want to do it to wet your appetite, that's not a bad idea. I wish I'd have spent more time in Budapest, though.

Faith177

Thank you all so much! On the back of all your wonderful information and OH's insistane I booked our trip last night and it was VERY MSE lol got a great hotel in the hotels.com sale for £140 for the 5 nights so very pleased

So please keep the tips coming

photome

Faith177 wrote: »

Thank you all so much! On the back of all your wonderful information and OH's insistane I booked our trip last night and it was VERY MSE lol got a great hotel in the hotels.com sale for £140 for the 5 nights so very pleased

So please keep the tips coming

How much was your flight.

I keep looking at Budapest but the flight prices and to some extent the hotel prices put me off...compared to lets say Krakow which is a great place to visit but have been twice

Faith177

Flights with Easy Jet from Gatwick including a suitcase was £195 for 2 of us so whole thing was £335 for 5 nights 6ish days

I check wizzair, Ryanair and BA and easy jet were the cheapest by far