Ideas for budapest holiday

tonyheaney

My wife is going 2 day trip with her 2 friends and id like to know what they can do there. The want to see hot springs and various buildings. My wife likes food and the hot springs. the plan to stay in a 4 star hotel (for safety) but apart from that they are on a budget. My wife would like to do wine tasting and so on. she says she is going to only bring €200 cash and that all. do they need more money??? the flight and hotel are already paid in advance you see. they are Chinese (I am Irish)

what are they pros and cons? ups and downs? i want to make sure they are safe and have a good time.

grimm2005

The baths are a must do. €200 should probably be plenty for 2 days as Budapest is very cheap compared to here. The city is very safe from my experience so you needn't worry about that. It's worth going to the top of Gelart hill as you get really great views of the city and a taxi can take you up there if not keen on walking. We went to a shooting club when we were there which was great fun although this may not be to your wife's taste. Pretty sure they have the usual bus tours as well which might be worth doing to get a good overview of the city.

Only advice would be not to hail taxis on the side of the road as many of them will screw you over and charge loads. Always call for a taxi with a reputable company or ask the hotel to arrange one for you.

Sleepy

Tell them to try avoid the tourist traps for dining and they should do well. Eating out is very reasonable away from the obvious tourist traps around the main shopping areas.

Google the Communist Walking Tours, I did one while I was there that took in the Statue Park which was absolutely excellent, great way to get a feel for the history of the city imo.

Depending on how fancy the places they'll be eating, how many tours etc. they're going to do are and how much shopping / drinking they'll be doing 200 could be a little tight imo. I've done the city twice: once as a backpacker where I'd have spent about that over 3 days and another a few years later when I'd have burned through 200 in a day and a half or so,

Maxmelay

200€ is around 60000 forints which is quite a lot to spend in Budapest on 2 days.

If now, you exclude the price of the hotel, they will have more than enough money to spend.

I went in Budapest last month and I hardly spent 150€ in 5 days (including the accommodation).

FYI, a 3 course-meal in Pest is around 10€ (drinks included).

meolwan

My advice is if you do go into any of the tourist restaurants make sure that they leave the drinks menu on the table or else the price of drinks will go up buy the drink it nearly happened to us when we were there but one of us was a non drinker. When he raised the rise in the prices it was sorry it was a mistake by the staff who all of a sudden did not have good English.
I would recommend the walking tours there are couple of then we went on two of them great fun also ask the guide to recommend cheap places to eat as well on both sides of the city.

tonyheaney

What is the safest and cost effective way for my wife and her two female friends to get from the airport to the city centre??? Taxi? train or bus???? he mentioned some kind of three day pass?? any one??

Maxmelay

You can book some cab in advance but it can be quite expansive. Otherwise, there are some shuttles but then they have to take the metro.

niallo32

There are now public bikes like in a Dublin with similar free charges f you return it within a certain time.

I'd recommend taking s bike up to the Citadel - best views of Budapest