Tourism in Hungary

[imaginas]

Only 12 days!I wish the weather will be good!

If somebody knows places for raill photography please tell me.

[venom6]

If you want to make pictures from standing, arriving trains you should go to the main railway stations in the city.

You will pass Nyugati Pályaudvar (it means west railway station) for sure as its in the center. Also the Margaret bridge is close with the island. If you make a walk in Nyugati you will see Siemens Desiro trains for sure.

The other one is Keleti Pályaudvar (east railway station) where you see all trains arriving from the west. The ÖBB Railjet is also here sometimes!

Our last big station in Budapest is the Déli Pályaudvar (south railway station). Here you see trains like Stadler Flirt or Bombardier Talent.

Right now we have good weather! If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask!

[imaginas]

Thank you for the info.


The area around Keleti Station is safe?

Only 7days!!!!

[Bikes]

It's not the safest place, but if you just keep an eye on your stuff then nothing will happen. Police are patrolling the area also, but pickpockets are common.

[Rational Plan]

Hi, I've just got back from Budapest after spending 5 days there keeping my mother company as she underwent extensive dental surgery. I have a few thoughts and thought I'd share. First this was not the best week to visit as the weather was grey and overcast, everything was so gloomy and cold, it cut down on my enjoyment of wondering around. In the future I'd definitely leave it till spring at least.

We stayed in Buda near the clinic, the hotel we stayed in was okay, in the future I would not to chose a hotel that was ten minute walk uphill from the tram stop. As the traffic seemed quite free flowing to me I would not be bothered about being so close to the clinic and chosen a hotel on the Pest side.

I thought the public transport was excellent I especially loved the 4/6 tram line. It was like a street level metro line.

The Metro was also good, it seemed strange to not have ticket barriers and to have so many shops. But the trains were very frequent and the escalators seemed fast. For the future, all they really need to is get some new metro trains, new escalators and refurbish some of the stations. The metro system seems to function very well though.
I think some of the surface stations buildings and transport interchanges let down the look of the city. The interchange at Széll Kálmán tér could do with a thorough rebuild. curbs were falling apart some of the tram crossings seemed a bit haphazard and the whole seemed poorly integrated with the surrounding cityscape. There are some lovely grand buildings around there and it feels as if a big hole was scooped out the ground refilled and just left. With grander staircases, proper landscaping and better station buildings it could look very grand.

I hope that all the tram lines get converted to something similar to 4/6 line and it seems a shame that some of the tram lines were cut back when the Metro was built. I assume that's the reason line 49 just ends at Deák Ferenc tér. I think it would be great if it was extended towards the train station. The is so convenient for hopping short distances I think it would be better if more of central Budapest had some tram lines.

Budapest has some great set pieces, such as the Castle and the Parliament building but I feel it's important to preserve the rest of the city centre. I feel it has great potential. First let me just say I am not being excessively critical here, I realise the neglect of decades will take a long time to repair. But I could not help noticing home many buildings in the centre seemed to be derelict or in very poor repair. Even in District V there was a surprisingly high number of dirty and crumbling stucco buildings. Though in the core at least I could see it won't be too long before these are all brushed up to gleam.

The reason I may of noticed this is when I visit a city I like to walk the back streets as well as the boulevards to get a feel of the place and once you are away from the river large areas of central Budapest are in a very sore state.

I'm sure it will just be a matter of time, as building by building is sandblasted and restuccoed, with new windows and doors. Just fight as many attempts as you can for them to demolish and fling up cheap concrete boxes. just because it's on a back street does not mean it does not matter. Once the majority of the buildings are restored and new roads and pavements laid these old neighbourhoods will be very pretty and highly valuable.


The one shame, is the poor state of many of the shops on your main streets, Rakoczi Way seemed the worst, the ring boulevard had a variable mix, with some parts okay and others filled with very low rent uses. Even Vaci Utca seemed very quiet to me. Has it reached a point where that street is only busy during the tourist season?

I wonder if the city has built too many shopping malls. Even the ones in the central city are all on the ring boulevard and not in the centre. Instead of having one critical mass of shopping it is all spread out across the city. The city might have to consider to some limit on new malls and look at ways at revitalising the main streets.

The old buildings could be kept, with their insides rebuilt for modern uses. I wonder if it would help if you developed some proper department stores. From looking at several mall maps there don't seem to be any. There will be a Tesco and several large space users like New Yorker, H&M, C&A, Libri etc, but no big department stores. I wonder if the market will ever develop them in Hungary.

I did enjoy most of the meals I had here. I only had one bad meal and one so so cafe experience, which I consider a very good ratio. I was trying to balance out nice food at a reasonable budget so I did not go in some of the very grand restaurants. I found the places on Vaci Utca seemed quite overpriced for what you got.

Also it was good to see that the streets were slowly being rebuilt. You don't have to do anything fancy for all the street just replace some curbs and resurface some pavement, so there are fewer trip hazards.

The places I enjoyed were mainly on Jokai Ter or Oktober 6 Utca. In fact I had some really nice food in Barrio, Imnio. In fact the wine in imnio was very good, and I spent a happy afternoon sinking into the sofa with a book and some Sauvignon Blanc. The cake with coffee was also good value. But the best meal we had was at Bar Minitaur in Buda on Rozsahegy Utca. It's a limited menu but the chef is very good, chicken liver pate with quince and raspberry mousse was divine and the pork loin wrapped in pancake with dauphinoise potatoes , just brilliant. Never mind discussing the Souffle. Very reasonable just 11,000 florints for two, a bargain. I was unable to properly experience the cities nightlife as my mother was not really up to that sort of thing. But I did not notice any clusters of nice bars other than near Oktogan. If I came back where would you say the nicest (reasonably priced) bars and restaurants were in the city. As I mainly experience the city during the day and was not there at the weekend I could not get a true feel for the place. It seemed there were only loose collections of places no, grand squares surrounded by bars and cafes. Did I miss them? Were would you go if you were in your early thirties and wanted a lively night out, that did not cost a fortune but was not cheap and nasty either?

Overall I thought it a great city with an even greater potential it's just a bit dirty and rundown in places. Try and keep your city centre uses in the city centre, don't let all the retail and offices migrate to the suburbs. preserve as much as you can in centre but if the interior of buildings are not special rip them out and fit modern shops and offices in them. Tourism is very important to the city but don't let it be the only thing that keeps the centre alive.

[Vikusz]

All you mentioned above, are not unknown for us, unfortunately.

First of all, the state of the buildings are not depend on us. All those impoverished/run downed buildings in the city centers are private properties, where elderly(pensioners) lives (due to socialism). The government gives every year a big amount of money, to spend on the recounstruction of facades, but the process is not as fast as we wish/desire. So it will take several years when the whole city will be furbished.

As for the metros, i have a good news: In 2012 the new Alstom metrocars will be delivered to Budapest. video about the new cars.

And about the mall restriction, the goverment recently passed a new law about limiting the construction of new shopping malls in the city.

I hope you will visit Budapest in summer too, because there is huge differences between the two seasons.

[kiskaloz]

Inside Luxury Travel

"1 Hungary

Varun Shaman arrives at the Castle Hertelendy, 50kms south of Lake Balaton, where he quickly changes for a trip to the riding school. A little"sore" from riding, Varun then heads to the spa where he finds out how the water is heated by natural thermal pools underground. After heading to the town of Pecs, world famous for glove-making, Varun drops into a local winery. Just before leaving the Castle, Varun takes advantage of an offer to learn Olympic Skeet. Back in Budapest, Varun explores the city with his guide, stopping off to visit the Szechenyi Baths; part of what makes Budapest the "Spa Capital of Europe". "

UK
http://www.travelchannel.co.uk/serie...Sharma&ID=1473
In Hungary& Central Europe

14 dec at 13:00

15 dec at 07:00

17 dec at 20:00

19 dec at 02:00

[lexaNS811]

Hello.
Salute from Serbia..I need few information about Szeged..if someone can help me please send me a private message?
Thank you...

[Drisko]

Hello from Bulgaria!
My dream is to see the Fisherman's Bastion and the Novotel Congress hotel in Budapest.
I've wanted to see them ever since I saw them in that Dire Straits video called "Money For Nothing".
While the first one is a perfect specimen from the classical period, the other one is one of the best-looking hotels built during the Socialist rule. It even looks good today. I saw the prices and I think it's very affordable.

[Bikes]

Since it's been renovated it looks quite good yes. Location wise if you want to wander around the center of the city, then it would take you 30+ minutes to get there. The ~$100 per night is more than the average, but if it's your dream, then definitely go for it.

[Drisko]

Originally Posted by Bikes

The ~$100 per night is more than the average

I saw that they offer some rooms for ~49 Euro at the Novotel Congress hotel, which is cheaper than or equal to rooms in some Bulgarian hotels, so I think that's a fair price.

[Bikes]

Yeah, that's very cheap, even for Budapest (for the quality of the hotel).

[cinxxx]

Hello.
I will drive from Ingolstadt to Timisoara in May, and thought to make it in 2 days.
So a nice place to stop would be Gyor, nice city from what I've seen, worth a quick visit and photo shooting .
Do you know a good and affordable place to stay the night?
Thanks.

[Windblower]

Check out the Fehérhajó Panzió (Gasthaus Weißer Schiff). I slept already there, it was OK. The price is 6500 HUF/night (some 21,50 €), which is affordable and includes the breakfast.

[cinxxx]

Originally Posted by Windblower

Check out the Fehérhajó Panzió (Gasthaus Weißer Schiff). I slept already there, it was OK. The price is 6500 HUF/night (some 21,50 €), which is affordable and includes the breakfast.

Looks OK. I would need a room for two (me and girlfriend).
So I see, it's 45 euors.
Private parking and breakfast is a plus .
Köszönöm szépen!

[venom6]

http://mandiner.hu/cikk/20120410_zen...nek_a_turistak

[Bikes]

Cute video. The guy makes a good point about the spas. People are normally not aware that Budapest is so blessed by thermal water and that there are so many good places to go. You can spend 3-4 days just by trying out different spas. Hope they will put big focus on this when advertising BP, I definitely do when I tell about the city to foreigners.

[venom6]

Lenovo Tablet ad has Budapest at the end

(from 0:50)

[talendon]

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...1503922&page=2

[Le Clerk]

Dear Hungarian friends, I am taking a vacation in Budapest the coming days and I was wondering if you could recommend a few good (and not so expensive) restaurants/eating places downtown, as well as some good spots to visit. Thanks a lot in advance!