Budapest
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Overview
Paris is the Budapest of Western Europe. Gorgeous panoramic night scenes and a picturesque river to walk up and down. Make sure you stroll across the Szechenyi bridge, and take the tram up to Castle Hill. Wander around up there and walk along the Fisherman's Warf (the Halaszbastya) from which you will have a beautiful view of Pest. Stop in the Matthias Church, which was begun in 1255. At the far end is a little store that sells Herend china, and a tea shop next door for refreshments. There are some renovations going on, as this part was heavily damaged in WWII. The town houses are now selling for almost $1 million. We advise a walk around the Hapsburg Castle, as they have done a lot to the grounds (particularly the fountain that will remind you in some ways of the Fontana di Trevi in Rome), but there is not much inside. If you took the cable car up, you should descend to the Chain Bridge by taking the road down from the Castle, as it offers a spectacular view of the city and is an impressive entry if you can imagine yourself approaching in a horse-drawn coach.
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Hotels and lodging
- OctopusTravel.com Hotels in Budapest and all over the World
There are 2 hotels I would recommend
- the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest (011) 36-1-268-6000 [$375+] The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest is stunning, and is located at one end of the Chain Bridge that is the focus of the Budapest’s skyline at night.
- The Meridien is not on the river, but it is well situated.
- You can also consider the Kempinski (011) 36 1 266-1000. The Kempinski is newer and cleaner and is next to the main square in town.
- The Marriott (011) 36 1 235-4847 is several blocks away, but has a lovely view of the Danube and the Castle on the Buda Hill. It also has a gym that I like since I can run on the treadmill and look out at the castle and boats going by on the Danube.
Attractions
| Find out where to go in the maps section below. |
- If you want a good day trip try the Danube bend where Castle Visegrad is on a hill overlooking the river (good climb). On the way back visit Szentendre a small quaint town on the Danube.
- Take a tour of Parliament, which looks uncannily like the Houses of Parliament in London. It was, of course, designed that way by the architect, who was selected in a competition at the end of the 19th century. The design includes elements of neo-gothic, neo-roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Baroque architecture. The runner-up design was built across the street as another government building. The Parliament building itself is beautiful inside, and now houses the Hungarian crown, scepter, and orb (you need to book tickets ahead of time rather than at the gates to Parliament). To get there it is worth taking the trolley car/subway along the riverfront. You will need to get a ticket first, probably from the station in the Vorosmarty ter. It’s only about 50 cents a ride, but they don’t sell tickets onboard.
- BSE: Another beautiful building is the Budapest Stock Exchange. If you are staying at the Kempinski, it is diagonally across from the entrance on Vorosmarty ter. Go into the visitor’s gallery and see the interesting combo of high tech and old world architecture.
- Baths: One of the things that the Romans took advantage of when they arrived on the banks of the Danube was to take advantage of the region’s thermal baths, and you should too. Whatever you do be sure to pack a bathing suit in your luggage on a trip to Hungary. There are several interesting Turkish baths around town (but that is for the adventuresome!), although I prefer the somewhat more refined baths at the Gellert Hotel (Open 6am – 7pm Mon – Sun; 466-61-66). They are co-ed but an experience everyone should try once
- Religious Tours: Besides the Matthias Church in the Castle Hill district, we also recommend a visit to St. Stephen’s Basilica on the Pest side of the river, and a tour of the Jewish Quarter. The Basilica has recently been cleaned, and shows the influence of several architects who participated in its construction over 50 years. You can even climb the dome, which tops out at over 300 hundred feet. Budapest is also the home of the world’s second largest Synagogue (the largest is in New York), and is the focal point of an excellent walking tour you can book through the hotel that retraces the intersection of Jewish history and modern day Budapest.
Shopping
- The Madison Avenue of Budapest is called the Vaci Utca (pronounced va tsi oot). It is steps away from the Kempinski and the Meridien hotels mentioned above, and begins at Vorosmarty ter. At the very end of it is the Central Market Hall, a wonderful emporium of local food specialties and traditional crafts, which is close to the green bridge. It is closed Sundays, but you should ask your concierge to check the times it is open. Be sure to look up as you travel down the street. Some of the buildings are dramatic architectural edifices above the street level storefronts.
- An adventurous marketplace is somewhat outside of the city and may require a guide--Ecseri Market. We recommend you go there by taxi, as it can take an hour on the #54 bus route to get there, and that you go in the morning. It is filled with odds and ends (some authentic, some not) with salespeople who can see a tourist approaching from a mile away (so have your guide bargain the prices down.) There, you have to try a typical Hungarian snack called langos, like a puffy pizza bread pita with sour cream.
- Shops are generally open 9am – 6pm on weekdays, and half days on Saturday.
- Another shopping area where the goods are not worth buying, but from a cultural perspective it could be interesting to see, is on the Buda side of Budapest, on the west side of the river (the residential area) where all the young, affluent Hungarians shop. The Mammut mall has a bunch of food halls and 3 floors of shops. Only visit this if you've got an extra half-hour, as it is not of any cultural value whatsoever, but it is a great example of westernization. Part of the building has been reserved as a green market, and farmers still come in from the country with their homegrown fruits and vegetables, as well as traditional meats and preservatives. EU integration will probably spell the doom of this sometime soon, as none of these vendors ascribe to the health and packaging standards set by the western world --- which doesn’t mean the food isn’t yummy!
Maps and transportation
Getting to Budapest
Exploring Budapest
- Tours of the City: If you don’t mind doing a “really touristy” (but I would submit worthwhile) half day tour of the city, there is a little minibus that takes you around Budapest to see the sites and allows you to get out and walk around. You can catch any one of these regularly scheduled buses making the rounds when you're finished with a specific site.
- Budapest is a great walking city. Take the vertical tram up to the castle and then wind your way back down the the river
Practical information and resources
Restaurants
Dinner
- Cosmo (upstairs, and ask for a window table)
- Tom George, which is located at “8 Oktober 6 Ter” (36-1-266-3525)
- Of course, Gundel's (owned by George Lang of Cafe des Artistes on the West Side in NYC) which has delicious Hungarian food and strolling violinists at NY or London prices (but worth seeing). Your concierge can make reservations for you at all of these
Lunch
- Lulu's, which is near the Central Bank
- Bardoni located at “12 Falk Miksa Utca” (36-1-269-0090), which is on the same street as many art galleries, making it a great stopover place
Tea
- Gerbeau near the Kempinski, on “Vorosmarty Ter” (pronounced ver-ush-marti-terr), which has the best pastries in town
- Anna, a coffee house on “Vaci Utca”, which is touristy but is still a center of action
- Gresham Café located in the eponymous hotel --- if you don’t mind paying $25 for a cappuccino.
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Nightlife
In Vino Veritas: Make sure you try some Hungarian wines. A delicious red wine from the Villany region is good. The red wines from Eger (Egg-air) called Bikaver (Bee-ka-ver) are known in English as “bull’s blood”, and are very full bodied. The famous chardonnay grapes of the Tokaj (toe-kai) region make both a great white wine and a highly rated sweet desert wine. You may find a tour of this wine region resembling the itinerary of a trip to Napa Valley complete with tastings and visits to various vineyards. While Tokaj is both the most famous wine region and it is very pretty, the countryside is locate to the north of Budapest on the border with the Ukraine, and we like the lake district more for its proximity to Austria
Photo gallery
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 Water from a Hid |
 St. Istvan |
 Four Seasons Hotel |
 Roof |
Everything else
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External resources
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If you want to add personal links, please do that on your user page (you can also write your profile there). If you have a link with great content that travellers need, you can add it at Budapest/Links |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Budapest. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with World Wikia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
