Budapest October 2007

peewee18988

Heya Guys

Heading to budapest over the mid-term break with the girlfriend. Have got a pretty good idea about the city (main sited, baths, etc) but was looking for more specific details. Stayin on 'Margit' (wrong spelling) island; are there any nice restaurants around that general area? What;s the local beer and is a pint expensive?
Any other ideas regarding activities in Budapest will be much appreciated.

Cheers;)

Lemming

You'll love it! Get yoruself a lonely planet guide to Budapest and study it. There's a lot to see and do, and please don't waste it all down the pub. There's a few local brews, the biggest is Dreher and it's rather nice.

I would also recommend you take a trip out to Szobersky (sp?) park, aka. "statue park" outside the city limits.

The gellert baths are great as well, although the baths themselves are segregated. Take a nighttime river cruise on the Danube as well.

HarryD

Great restaurant on the pest side near Margaret island is kiskakukk (little cuckoo)
Great local prices - not over priced like other tourist trap restaurants.
great wine great service..

The beers here are mainly Dreher, Soproni and Borsodi.
They tend to give me a fierce hangover compared with home beers.
There's a couple of pubs on the island close to margaret bridge,
but they may be closed now it's almost winter..
Hold Udvar, cha cha cha kert, and sark kert..
The latter 2 are the best..
At least there's no mosquitos here now

P. Breathnach

You can get some of my personal experiences at www.iol.ie/~draoi .

Margit (right spelling in Hungarian, Margaret in English) Island is nice, but I wouldn't care to stay there -- it's a little bit away from the centre of the action.

Buy a transport pass that covers the period of your stay. It costs about €11 for a week, and is good for metro, trams, and buses. Inspection is strict, and on-the-spot fines are levied if you get things wrong (i.e. make sure that you PRINT your name on the ticket). Make good use of the trams. Make sure to use metro line 1 at least once; it's cute, and the stations are lovely.

Winter is coming, so be prepared for the possibility of very cold weather -- but you might be lucky.

For a touch of style, visit either the Central Coffee-House or the New York Coffee-House. Much nicer than the heavily-promoted Gerbeaud's.

For a cheap lunch, try the snack bars in the upper gallery of the Central Market.

You can bargain when buying things in the Central Market or on Vaci utca; you should expect to get prices reduced by about 20%.

For exercise, and a wonderful view, climb Gellert Hill.

I think it's a great city.

peewee18988

That's great guys, thanks so much! that should keep us busy for the few days. Anyone know the best way to get from the aiport to Margit island? we're staying in the danubius hotel and spa. Landing at bout 5pm so was thinkin bout gettin a bus? I think it's only 25km so maybe a taxi would be best?

P. Breathnach

http://www.bud.hu/english/transport/taxi

Margit Island is in Zone 3. Exchange rates go up and down a bit, but I operate on the basis that 1000Ft = €4. It's close enough, and makes the arithmetic simple.

There is also an airport minibus service that involves sharing. It might be just a little cheaper, but it can be slower because of taking people to a number of destinations. For two or more people, taxi is best. Note that if you use the same firm (Zona Taxi) to bring you back to the airport, you get an even better rate -- about 3400Ft.

On taxis: do not hail them on the street. The ones that ply for hire are more expensive (but still operate legal rates). Phone for a cab, and you will get a much better deal. I use City Taxi, mainly because their number is so easy to remember: 2 111 111. They have English-speaking people at their call centre.

mountaingoat

Budapest is brilliant.
Beer is cheap and nice. From what we could make out there is no going out area, so a guide is really useful for finding bars.

Public transport is fun, with its dinky bells. It is cheap and frequent. You can get the 200 bus to metro station Kőbánya-Kispest (think communism) - get a pass here and then the metro will bring you anywhere in the city. We really enjoyed finding our way around with it.

We generally spent mornings sightseeing and evenings in the baths. Get on the old crockedy trams that go along the river. Also get the old underground line that goes under Andressy Avenue to Heros' Square and go to the Széchényi baths - these were our favorites and the are mixed sex. and outdoors. Architecture is amazing everywhere. The Parliment is one of my favorite buildings in the world and the Chain bridge is really nice too.

One of our biggest highlights was caving (not everyones cup of tea, I know). You go way down with your guide and a torch on your head.
http://barlangaszat.hu/index.htm

There is a restaurant called Spoon on a boat (not very cheap though if you are on a tight budget) - we'd a really nice romantic meal there.

Have a great trip and come back all shrivled from the baths.

peewee18988

That's great, thanks guys!! Really looking forward to it now. Will try to get through everything you recommended (not sure bout caving though). Will try to book the spoon restaurant and can't wait to try the baths. Headin off next Tuesday (30/10), will post a review when i get back.

Thanks again!

jdivision

Are the kerts still open. They're worth going to. Be wide of some of the taxi drivers alright. I liked it a lot, not as touristy as Prague yet.

HarryD

Most of the kerts are closed now... been cold the last couplea weeks..
The 3 kerts are margrit island are closed..
Szimpla kert is still open though..

You can also get public transport to airport for feck all if on a budget..
From the island get the tram in pest direction for 2 stops
Jump on the blue metro south until the last stop (Kobyana Kispest)
Jump on the airport bus - well signposted

And good advice on the taxis... always call one..
2111111 is city cab - reliable and good prices..
And don't go to any strip joints unless you want yer bank balance,
to take a severe hit..

Ray.