Budapest Travel
Tourist Guide, Hungary

European cities | Budapest

Budapest baths in November

Why Travel to Budapest?

Stylish, attractive, relatively unspoilt and gateway to East Europe, Budapest is a hot destination at the moment.

After centuries of destructive wars followed by dramatic rebuilds this city offers an eclectic collection of architectural styles ranging from Roman ruins to Turkish, neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau and Stalinist block house chic. Boring it ain't.

Musical entertainment is similarly varied, from opera to garage via salsa, and all at bargain prices.

The city's restaurants and bars follow the eclectic party line too with quality offerings from goulash to sushi, premium lagers to exotic cocktails and giant café lattes for your wake up call before hitting the sensational thermal baths.

Public transport is efficient, easy and good value and the ambience is free.

Downsides
• Begging and petty thievery are not uncommon, see Hungary Travel Guide for safety information.
• There is a lot of reconstruction going on - permanently it seems, it's the Hungarian way of life.

Fisherman's Bastion in Buda, a tourist favourite. The Danube River is in the foreground.
Photo by Ian Pitchford

Weather

Best: April- July, Spetember, October. Spring and Autumn arts festivals are well worth attending.
Worst:  August due to heat, humidity and tourist overload, and winter - cold, grey, wet and windy.

Current Budapest temperature and time.

Main attractions

Budapest is a merger of two towns, Buda on the hilly, quietly regal west bank of the Danube river and busy Pest on the east.

Buda: Budapest - unlike Prague - is big enough to absorb the tourist crowds except in Buda's Castle District where the stunning views from Fisherman's Bastion are the premier attraction and night-time floodlights turn the area into a Disney fantasy.

Among other Buda offerings are walks on the old castle ramparts, the Royal Palace and its museums, 700 year old Matthias Church, the underground Labyrinth, the Citadella and the thermal baths in the superb Art Nouveau Gellert Hotel.

Don't miss Statue Park, a collection of monumental Soviet era mega-heroes set in stone.

Pest is the place for shopping, bopping and neo-neo land, including the neo-Renaissance State Opera House and St Stephen's Basilica, neo-Gothic Parliament and neo-Classical National Museum.

Margaret Island is for culture day release, an oasis of trees, flowers, swimming pools, spa hotels and a theatre with musical evenings. Bicycles are available for rent.

The famous hot spring baths in Hotel Gellert, Pest.

The Thermal Baths of Hotel Gellert were finished in 1918 in Art Nouveau style, but the waters have been known to have healing powers since the 13th century. One bath naturally heats to about 36C and the other to 38C. Some believe the baths cure or at least relieve asthma, bronchitis, degenerative joint disease, circulation problems, gout, arthritis, and more.

Short Trips
Boat trips: Budapest is fairly Danube-centric so short and long boat tours are readily available April - October.
The Danube Bend scenic hill/river region, starring Szentendre and Visegrad towns, begins just 20km (12m) north of Budapest.

Szentendre is an attractive place to see art of all kinds, as well as medieval buildings on steep winding streets full of tourists.

Visegrad also offers impressive sights, but is much smaller and less busy than its big sister.

Lake Balaton. This massive lake 100km (62m) from Budapest supplies a full range of leisure activities - swimming, sailing, biking, walking, beaches and sunbathing.

Eger, 125km (80m) from Budapest, is a charming, pedestrian friendly, baroque town full of interesting sights and buildings. The adjacent Valley of Beautiful Women offers wonderful wine cellars, music and spectacular drinking locations.

Lake Balaton
Photo by Nobli

Kids Stuff
The Aquarena water park just outside the city is a big hit with kids, and the Tropicarium (animals, birds, fish and plants) works well too.
City Park offers varied childish treats, from the Zoo - a popular Art Nouveau family destination - to a circus, funfair and pond for rowing in summer and skating in winter.
Buda's Children's Railway Line - staffed mostly by children - is a pleasant peculiarity.

Festivals
end of March: Budapest Spring Festival - a huge and well-respected all-round arts festival.
mid July: Visegrad Palace Games. A medieval festival including arts, archery and jousting in this pretty town near Budapest.
early August: Sziget Festival. A massive and excitable international music event held on Margaret island, with over 1,000 performances on 15 stages.
August 20: St Stephens Day - a nationwide celebration, especially lively in Budapest, with parades, folk singing, fairs and fireworks.
end of October: Budapest Autumn Festival, more contemporary arts, from music to dance to computer art

For some precise dates or more information see: European Festivals or Arts Festivals.

Arts/Culture

Museums: Pest offers its national treasures in the National Museum, Jewish artefacts in the museum in the Great Synagogue, cutting-edge art in the Mucsarnok and foreign work in the Museum of Fine Arts.

Buda's contribution is mainly the National Gallery and Budapest History Museum - both in the Royal Palace, and the Museum of Ecclesiastical Art. Museums are often closed on Mondays.

Classical and Folk Music: Music drifts everywhere, in mansions, castles, on Margaret island (Sziget), in churches and in the streets, particularly during the big festivals (see above), but at other times too - it's a national obsession.

Opera: The State Opera House in Pest has good shows at great prices or daily tours if you can't manage to attend.

Theatre: There are more than thirty theatres in the capital but the Magyar language is incomprehensible to most visitors so alternative theatre is the way to go, if you can find it.

Live Music & Clubs: The Inner City of Pest (Belvaros) is the core of the capital action, a hive of buzzing cafés and clubs.
There are masses of clubs with superb DJs; dancing often starts very late, after midnight. Local Jazz musicians are excellent though locations are limited.

Music information: For local information on events look for the free 'Where Budapest' in hotels, or listings in 'Budapest in your Pocket.' Tourinform publishes a free monthly event summaries including the classical calendar, Koncert Kalendarium.

Food
Budapest is a thoroughly cosmopolitan city and has embraced nouvelle cuisine with the same verve with which it welcomes neo-everything else.
While traditional Magyar cuisine is rich, heavy and meaty there is the abundance of international dishes found in most sophisticated European cities - and at the right price. Carefully check your bill at the end of the meal, overcharging is common.
See Hungary Guide for more cuisine information.
Coffee houses are an institution here, many of them opulently furnished and offering disastrously delicious cakes and pastries.
Wines are first rate too, with red Bull's Blood and sweet white Tokaji being world famous.

City Shopping
Hardly impressive or unique but some popular souvenirs are painted eggs, dolls in folk costume, porcelain, crystal, embroidery, paprika and wines. Fine Bohemian crystal, ceramics, wooden toys, Easter eggs (Kraslice) and puppets.
Psst! The Unicum liqueur is vile, take Bull's Blood instead.
Touristy: The Castle district has many small shops offering folk art and antiques. These are also found around the Grand Market Hall.
Foods: The huge Grand Market Hall is the place to get a good selection of nosh or edible presents in a comfortable environment.
Modern goods: Westend City Center houses 400 shops, a food court and all the usual commercial suspects.

Internet access
There are plenty of online cafés in this city, though far fewer elsewhere in Hungary.

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