shopping in budapest

irish_bob

hi there

i am going to budapest for a short trip next week , i was wondering what the place is like for clothes shopping , ive been there twice before and didnt see much value in anything from eating out to buying a watch , is it any cheaper than ireland at the moment or northern ireland perhaps

P. Breathnach

I like Budapest for many things, but shopping is not high on the list. You can get cheap clothing, but the quality is quite poor. Good stuff costs at least as much as in Ireland.

There is good value to be had in eating out, and if you haven't found it, you were unlucky. There is the general rule that places where you find lots of tourists tend to be more expensive. Get a little away from them, and you can do very well.

Blackjack

Agree with the above. Have friends who are from there and live there currently.

When they come over here the go nuts shopping for Clothes here.

Food and Beers is great value if you avoid the tourist traps.

RDM_83

A good restaurant is Haxen its a german place (and apparently has been for a 100 years) think its on Kiraly utica but not sure,
In terms of drinks liked the Zsimpla (also not sure of spelling) group of dingy/trendy winebars (was about 60/70 cents for a glass on wine in the small one)

Fratton Fred

I stayed at the Hilton West end a couple of months ago and wandered around the shopping mall there to kill an hour or so. to be honest, all the brands we know and love, Timberland, Levi, Pepe etc were as much, if not more expensive than Ireland. If its shopping you want. you would be better off going to London at the moment to exploit the weak pound.

One thing i did note about eating out, wine in restaurants was extortionate. most of the stuff we drank (We were on expenses, so it wasn't an issue) was local and very very good, but house wine was about €50 a bottle in the two places we ate in.

HarryD

Budapest is not good for clothes shopping - I live in Budapest.
The malls are as expensive as Dublin if not more, with the same stuff available.
The markets generally have poor quality goods - eg: chineese market.

It's great for food & drink though :-)

irish_bob

got back from budapest last night , i didnt do any clothest shopping other than buying a wooly hat for four euro , it was 6 degreese below zero during the day so i needed it

the only place i ate in other than mcdonalds was a restaurant called fresco and also beckets pub , i didnt specifically go to beckets to eat , my flight got in late and i just went there as its an irish pub but the food was good , i like traditional food so chicken and fries were fine with me , thier was only about 3 others in the pub with me , monday nights in january dont tend to be too exciting , the fresco restaraunt was quite expensive , i had planned to go to the restaurant PASSION next door but it was closed during the day

this was my 3rd visit to budapest and ive yet to see any real value in the place yet , in fact i would say that at every turn , people are trying to rip you off in budapest , i find hungarians to be an extremly unpleasant nation , rude , unfriendly in the extreme and would give your frost bite with one stare , on top of that they are very arrogant which is quite silly considering the place is such a nothing country , they also have zero appreciation of foreign investment and from what i hear and witness , most of them outright dislike foreigners , on my 3 visits to the country , i mingled on the plane with many irish people who have also invested in the country and bar a few , they all share the view that hungarians are not a nice people to deal with , i see no real future for the country and realise i was a fool to have ever stuck any money in the joint

P. Breathnach

irish bob, I don't think that's a straightforward travel report. It looks more like you tried to make easy money in Budapest, and got your fingers burned.

I have been there several times, and never got grief from the locals.

irish_bob

P. Breathnach wrote: »

irish bob, I don't think that's a straightforward travel report. It looks more like you tried to make easy money in Budapest, and got your fingers burned.

I have been there several times, and never got grief from the locals.

dont start that lefty rich westerner taking advantage of the poor natives crap with me , both the hungarian state and hungarians themselves have and continue to benefit from investment from the likes of irish people like me , oh and i didnt go there trying to make a quick buck btw , not everyone who buys property in a foreign country is a vulture

you clearly like the place and its people , good for you

i dont have to like all nationalities

HarryD

irish_bob wrote: »

i find hungarians to be an extremly unpleasant nation , rude , unfriendly in the extreme and would give your frost bite with one stare , on top of that they are very arrogant which is quite silly considering the place is such a nothing country , they also have zero appreciation of foreign investment and from what i hear and witness , most of them outright dislike foreigners , on my 3 visits to the country , i mingled on the plane with many irish people who have also invested in the country and bar a few , they all share the view that hungarians are not a nice people to deal with , i see no real future for the country and realise i was a fool to have ever stuck any money in the joint

Having lived in Budapest for over 5 years I totally agree.
It drives me mad, to the point that I'm desperate to get out.
I think they are still stuck in the communist mindset, while their former communist colleages (Poland, Czech..etc) have moved on and welcome business with a smile.
Some examples of the shortsighted/communist mindset:

• I call an ISP to subscribe. They said they'd call me back. They didn't. I go to another ISP.
• After 45mins waiting for my food in a restaurant, I ask the manageress how much longer the food would be. I was told if I wanted fast service I should go to McDonalds
• Almost daily I get rude service, a grunt or a sigh of displeasure when in shops, restaurant or pub
• 8 of us eating out. 1 person orders tap water. The waiter throws his eyes to the sky, and groans.
• Most taxi drivers will rip you off if they realise you're a tourist. Having been inundated with rip off reports the US embassy has posted a list of rip-off clubs in Budapest on their website.
• My neighbours welcomed me to the building with legal letters, due to renovation works at 3pm on a Friday. "Just because you're from Ireland doesn't mean you can make noise at this time".

Not to mention the frustration of corruption. You can't rely on the post for anything other than a letter as things regularily go missing. The hungarian blog sites are full of stories. As such many online stores and indeed many Hungarians now refuse to post to/within Hungary.
Bribing officials is rife (handy if that official is in the police force ). Most of the high end cars parked in the city display disabled certificates (free parking). Of course these certs are 'purchased' via backhanders. A undercover reporter bought one from the department via bribing..etc, and published his findings. He then presented his findings to the police who proceeded to charge HIM with forgery. :mad:
The Hungarian revenue have the power to remove funds from corporate accounts without any warnings.
This has happened us on several occasions. On enquiring why it was taken we were told it was 'advance' tax for next year. This behaviour has put others out of business as it screws up ones cash flow.
When buying a product or getting a service it's assumed that no receipt is required. If one is needed you need to add about 20% to the bill. ie: Nobody pays tax.
The IMF bailout Hungary got this year may have to be handed back as the gov don't seem to know how capitalism works.

As for Becketts, the expat community here avoid like the plague. The service there is as rude as local service. The manager seems to have taken on the same mindset despite been Irish himself. Unfortunately Becketts survives only on tourist trade. No return business there, as on one visit you realise what a hole it is.

</end rant>

Anyway I've no sympathy for them. Maybe eventually they will see the errors in their ways, but the world won't wait.

HD

P. Breathnach

I wonder what I do differently in order to get decent treatment from people in Budapest.

RDM_83

I didn't find the service in Budapest that bad (well no worse than Poland, Latvia and Lithuania- possibly slovakia has better), I don't care about a smile as long as their fairly fast.
one thing I do notice is woman in Budapest don't seem to smile much at all but thats the same for stunning looking woman that have clearly spent 2 hours doing themselves up each morning (though there is more of them so do notice them)

irish_bob

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I wonder what I do differently in order to get decent treatment from people in Budapest.

no idea but i assure you , your experiences are the exception rather than the rule