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If you are planning a holiday in Budapest, we hope that you might find some of our previous visitor’s recommendations useful. This is just a small selection – many more are written on the apartment notice board! :
The best place for a breakfast was Cafe Alibi (Egyetem ter 4) – a 5 minite walk from the appartment – also open on Sundays.
The restaurant Fakanal at the market hall is good for tourists, but not really cheap.
The children railway was closed on Monday – we didn’t know this as our travel guide was obviously not up-to-date.
We especially liked the restaurant Bagolyvar (Allatkerti körut 2, in the same building with Gundel).
Be careful on what city bus hop on hop off tours you get. Some are far better than others
Use a weekly transport pass. Got to the Foundry Museum and speak to Ferenc. Actually there is a lot of social history there too – like the wonderful cast iron stoves – works of art themselves. And the original carburettor, invented in Budapest at the Gant factory as well as the trams and electricity generators making Budapest one of the most advanced cities of the 19th cent.
If you get an inter city train to the airport from Nyugati, sit at the front of the train as the rear carriages don’t acces the platform. We couldn’t get off and ended up in Cegled and only just got our flight!
We enjoyed many of the restaurants along Vaci Utca, sample them all.
A good city to walk in. We enjoyed the architecture, the museums, the baths, the market, the cafes, the music, the parks. There was much more to see and do than we could cram into 9 days.
Rent a bicycle and ride around the city. No tour guide needed – use a map. The Buda side is flat and it’s easy to peddle around in. A bicycle is a great way to see a lot of the city, and also allow for serendipity – follow your nose, go off plan.
Saint Stephens was pretty special.
Great food and music. A great city to visit with plenty of history and lots to do.
Visit the Jazz festival on the Bridge (July/Aug), Gellert Hotel pool on a hot day, Margaret Island.
I loved eating in Market hall. Food is cheaper and more authentic. Be sure to buy fruits and vegetables on the left side of the building. The items on the right side are overpriced for unsuspecting tourists.
- Become a member of Jegymester. We made bookings for the Opera and an art exhibition through them and it was very successful and easy.
- Learn about Succession architecture we were amazed at the ‘Succession’ style architecture in Pest. Most people were friendly and tolerant of our questions in English
make sure your ticket is validated before using the metro….
I would highly recommend the seven-day tram,bus,and train umlimited ticket for e16p.p.
The obvious thing is to learn how to say please, thank you and hello in Hungarian. We did find that even those we met who were not particularly friendly did appreciate an effort with the language! Definately go to the Thermal Baths! If you forget to take swimwear though, you can hire it but you need a HUF4000 deposit. The bath houses were also more expensive than we realised but worth it! Nightlife is great in Pest but do take a guidebook to give you an idea of where to find it – ours was invaluable!
just walk and walk—-the city is a pleasure.
Loved the city—–compact, high degree of architectural integrity, very nice setting with accomodating people—-unlike some other cities where dealing with the people can be an effort.
Hungarian is an (almost) impossible language, but most of the young people, and some of the older ones, speak some English so communication is not a major problem for those of us with limited language skills.
Take advantage of some of the out of town tours e.g. the Danube bend. The Statue Park is also a must see!
The favorites of our son (10 years old) were:
- Parliament-building
- Termal baths (Gellert, Szecheny, Lukacs):
Our recommendation: Gellert only on Family-Days (otherwise too boring for children), Szecheny has a very nice architecture, but our favorite was Lukacs.
I would not recommend to go to baths with two children or more. Other visitors are very sensitive to noise. - Zoo
- Acquincum
- Chemist’s museum.
- Ungarian hot chocolate (preferably at Gerbeaud) and kürtos kalács
The air conditioning has been a godsend!
We enjoyed the trip on the Danube to Szentendre.
If the visitors should be interested in dancing Tango Argentino there is a very nice location “Milonga Urania” at Rakoczi ut 21. It is a cafe above a cinema
Be prepared for the Heat, I dont think most people realise how hot it can get in Budapest.
Must see was trip on the Danube in the evening
Definitely book a seat at the opera!
Beautiful city, easy to walk around, great food, good museums, good jazz clubs!
We ate Hungarian all the time and it was good wholesome, reasonaly priced food.
Plan day ahead cos so much to see. Must see was trip on the Danube in the evening
Spend time exploring. The flea market on the outskirts of the city is worth a visit.
Re the taxis – most guide books say to be wary of Budapest Taxi’s, so we were a bit apprehensive about taking one. However, we found the Zona Taxi’s from the airport very good – they gave a fixed quote before the journey and were very efficient.
Eat at Central Kavehaz, its amazing, as is Old Amsterdam!
Make sure you always look both ways when crossing the road, even if it seems like a one way!!
For Sale Pub, next to the Marktet Halls: special ambiance, good hungarian food & beer, prices okay “Mensa”-Restaurant, Ferenc-Liszt-ter, 70-style, slightly elegant, good food & wine Ice-Skating at Varoslig
Don’t have coffee at Anna Café on the square in front of the food market… they try to rip you off (they charged us 3 times the price for coffee). Eating at the food market upstairs and at Fatal (just 50 m away) is great fun; go hungry!!!!!. The Budapest card is not worth it if you are here for a few days… buy a pack of 10 tickets for transport.
Get a transporation card if you will be using the metro / tram.
If you are staying for a week, definitely buy a week long travel pass!
Eat “Langos” in the marvellous market hall, get used to the metro and trams quickly – then it is very easy to move about the city. The local covered market is excellent.
Make sure you visit the thermal baths at least once.
Please also see our holiday holiday apartment reviews from previous visitors!