1

Budapest is a great city and worth a trip.

1. Search online and you will find plenty of answers to your first question,

2. I have stayed at Marco Polo hostel a couple of times. It's very central, clean, popular. Don't have breakfast there though unless you enjoy stale bread and coffee that must have been made from mud.

3. Yes, dead easy. Most of the exchange bureaux offer decent rates. The one in the Great Market is good - just inside the first door you reach as you approach from Kalvin Ter. There are others on Rakoczi ut between Astoria and the river (on the right hand side of the road) that are ok as well.

4. Around the same price as Bratislava and cheaper than Berlin. Make sure you understand the complexities of the transport ticketing system. This link should help you. http://www.bkv.hu/en/

Enjoy,

Dave
www.berlincentralapartment.webs.com

2

Hi....

While checking out hostel websites, have a gander at cheap hotels too.
I've stayed in some mad cheap hotels in Budapest, that beat any hostel for peace, quiet and a comfy bed.

3

Buy a guidebook.

amazingly, this being 2012 and all that, there are ATMs on every street corner.

4

You may want to try some of the "ruin pubs" in Budapest. They are essentially derelict buildings that have been turned into bars. Szimpla Kert is my favourite and is pretty central - easily found online. Don't be put off by the bouncers, curtains and graffiti as you enter as inside it's fantastic. Very much on the tourist route now but in an alternative kind of way.

I would be curious to hear if you go and whether or not enjoy it.

Dave

5

It's hard to recommend anything specific because everyone has different interests. I enjoyed walking down Andrassy avenue as well as the riverfront with a view of the castle hill across the river. The castle district itself was, however, extremely touristy. I also enjoyed my day trip to Szentendre. The opera house tour was well worth its time. The Szabadsag (sp?) square was beautiful and very nice. But every person is different, and without knowing your interests I can't know if you will enjoy any of those.

6

As for what to see others said it already, there's plenty and we can't say it in a post.

As for bathouses, because of the weather and temperature I'd suggest you one of the Turkish: Rudas, Kiraly and Torokfurdo are all nice, clean and cheap (around €10 to enter). Note that with the exception of the weekend and Tuesdays (women only day), Rudas is men only. Sometime it's also open on Friday night from 22.30 to 4.00.

Hostels are almost everywhere, and the already mentioned Marco Polo is among the best. You don't need a reservation though, just walk around and have a look at some place to decide as I don't think you'll have too much luggage.

To eat: unless you go to a fancy restaurant or to some touristic place in Vaci Utca, a meal including beer/wine will be around €10/15. Have a walk along Raday Utca (just off Kalvin Ter), while my favorite place is a wine bar on Krudy Gyula Utca, not far from there.

Bars: Szimpla can be very touristy but needs to be seen. Have a look also at Fogashaz, Doboz, Instant, all in the same area.

7

Thanks very much for all the advice! Coach is booked and we are off next weekend :)

8

OP - How about a trip report?

9

Trip report from November, in case anyone's interested:

Getting there/accommodation:
We went by coach from Vienna, which was very cheap and only took 3:30hrs. We arrived late in the evening, but it was easy enough to get from the bus station to the centre of the city where we were staying, using the metro. We had booked a hostel online, "Tiger Tim's Place' and found it to be friendly, clean, well-located and fairly priced. Friends have also told me that Wombats is very good.

Sights:
St Stephen's Basicilla - beautiful to look around, and also great views from the top.
Gellert hill - worth going up (either by walking or the Funicular) - nice to walk around the old town and spectacular views over the Danube
Budapest
Széchenyi thermal baths - HIGHLIGHT of our trip. Do NOT go to Budapest without going to these thermal baths - we had such a lovely, relaxing evening. They have loads of different ones at different temperatures and it's pretty reasonably priced.

Food:
Beware! I would recommend not eating in the main tourist traps - we had some really rubbish restaurant experiences. However, found a nice place called Most - would definitely recommend (http://visitbudapest.travel/budapest-restaurants/most-bistro/)

All in all, we had a nice weekend. I have to say that I'm not sure I would travel all the way from the UK, for example, just to go to Budapest. It's near to where I'm living, which makes it more appealing, but I wasn't bowled over by in like I have been by Rome or Vienna. I would also say the same for Bratislava...

10

Hi,

i would recomend the followings:

1) 'must-see' things in BP:

• thermal baths - Szechenyi is the best known, but my favorit is Rudas fürdő, bc less turistic and racently renovated!
• Castle, Mathias church, Margaret island, Heroes Square, St Stephens Basilic and the Great Market r recomended.
• View of the whole riverside.
• Kopaszi gát - a pretty peninsula park at the Buda side of Rákoczi bridge , not in the citycenter, but dont miss it!
• regretly public transport is not the best, but summertime it worth to ride! by bike one day is more or less enough to visit almost et - see for a bike rental, Hi-Bike is a low budget place in the citycenter and they have realible new dutch citybikes.

2) Wombats is a trendy 5star hostel, not cheap but quality and location is also good.

3) the V. district is the center, and here in every corner u find an exchange place.

4) costs r bit moderate compared to other western side capitals of the EU.

hope i could help, :)
r.