BudaPest or Krakow?

aw

Was in the old travel agents yesterday and we picked these two as possible places to go. These and Riga too which we don't know alot about.

Has anyone been to any of these places?

Was in Prague last year and would like somewhere similar but different if you know what I mean!

Any thoughts?

HarryD

I'm living in Budapest now and love it.. great city..
I'm going to Krakow in 3 weex.. I'll let u know how it goes.

R

Gandhi

I was in Budapest about a month ago and it was fantastic. Hot as hell for the few days we were there, but beautiful city.

Lots of castles, cathedrals etc. down along the river. We did a night-time cruise on the Danube which was great, as they light up all the old buildings and bridges at night.

Statue Park (Szobor Park) was really cool with all the old Communist Monuments and stuff. Worth the trip outside the city.

Did the Szechenyi Baths, but had to stand in line for well over an hour to get in. This was the weekend of the Grand Prix, during a heatwave, so it may not always be like that. Baths were great, but I am not sure they were worth the wait.

Great food and wine to be found. The beer I had was crap, but some guide book I read said that you are in wine country at that stage, and they just don't do good beer. We were drinking Bikaver ("Bull's blood") wine which I figured was manly enough.

I had to have some Goulash, even though it was about 35 degrees, so the sweat was pouring off me. The locals in the restaurant were falling over laughing at the big red face on me, shovelling more Goulash in my mouth.

Have not been to Krakow, so I can't give you a comparison on that.

monkeyfudge

Budpest is a wonderful city.

I was there in January this year and the whole place was covered in snow. It was really lovely.

They are also really enthusiastic about Europe and you'll be treated really well as an EU citizen. If you go to the parliament building you get to go on the tour for free if you show your EU passport.

There are also some amazing restaurants. I went to one where you sat on hammocks and had to choose from a menu that was over 500 pages long.

LegacyUser

Ill throw my cards in for Krakow. An absolutely beautiful city, particularly around the main square. I was there during August. The suburbs still have a kind of commie feel to them but around the city is magnificent. Theres plenty to do and Austwitz and Belsen are 1hour on the train. But the main thing is you get to drink Okocim, the beer of Polish Kings!! I swear this is the nicest beer Ive ever had and that includes budvar and Pilsner Urquell. And only 75cent for a can in the shop and about €1.50 in a nightclub on the main square. Budapest is pretty impressive aswell. If you go there check out the citadella and any of the baths

sharkman

monkeyfudge & Gandhi , any recommendations as to where to stay .


Myself and the wife are going in November

Gandhi

We stayed at the Hotel Ibis Vaci Ut. which was nice, but not that central, though it was next door to a subway station, so that was not too much of an issue.

To be honest, if I was going again, I would splash out the extra to stay right in the city centre.

monkeyfudge

Last time I was there I stayed at a hotel called the Art'Otel, it's part of a German chain of hotels. I was there for a conference that was taking place in the hotel, so I had to stay there. It was pretty pricey for food and drink, we're talking almost Irish prices here. But the room rates weren't too bad and the rooms were very comfortable and pleasent, and it was right on the river near the castle so it was very central.

p.pete

Was in Budapest a few years ago and it was certainly to be recommended. However, one of the lads in our group had been to Krakow about 2 weeks earlier and he wouldn't shut up about the place, it was Krakow this and Krakow that (he was obviously impressed). I certainly plan to get to see the place myself eventually. It's probably a little less overrun by tourists then somewhere like Prague or Budapest which can only be a good thing too.