What is Budapest like?

Question

I am thinking of visiting the Hungarian capital next year, can anybody tell me:

* When is the best time to go?
* What is it like for nightlife?
* Where are the best places to meet young people?
* Can anyone recommend worthwhile youth hostels?
* Is the public transport system good?
* Is it easy to communicate with people?
* Are there are lot of attractions?
* Is there enough to see and do, to fill up 7 full days?
* Can you recommend any interesting daytrips from the city?


I am interested in sightseeing, football, photography, shopping, people-watching, characterful urban villages, and doing the 'backpacker thing'

Thanks a lot for your answers

Answer 1

I drove down to Budapest from Bratislava about a year ago (Oct. 2006), to spend a day there. Parking was hard to find, but it was worth the hour-and-a-half drive from Bratislava... I hoofed it all over the city for the whole day, taking in the sights and snapping pictures like crazy. I got to go to one of those political rallies they were having at the time when they were protesting the Ferenc Gyurcsany, the Hungarian prime minister (because of his election fraud), on the steps of the Parliament on the banks of the Danube. I stuck around late enough for night to fall, then went to many of the same places all over again just to get night pictures of the city--Budapest is arguably even prettier at night than it is by day, and that's saying something.

I'd recommend going during the spring or the fall, to hopefully avoid the largest crowds of tourists, but when the weather is still favorable. I don't know anything about the nightlife because I almost never wasted time in bars or clubs anyplace I went in Europe (one bar or club is pretty much the same as any other no matter where you go). I didn't say in a hostel in Budapest, since I was staying in one in Bratislava at the time, but I know the city has plenty of them. Hostels.com or Hostelz.com can probably recommend quite a few good ones. You can meet young people anywhere; the city is pretty youthful. Many Hungarians speak English (if that's your native language), especially in the capital. I didn't use the public transportation system because I walked all over the city. Yes, there are plenty of attractions--I only got to see most of the more well-known places in the city, and even then discovered I missed more after I left and did a little more research into Budapest. You can probably find enough to do to fill up seven days, although I would recommend at least visiting some of the other cities and sights in the country during that time, and maybe some of the neighboring countries (Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Slovenia, etc.)

If you like sightseeing, photography, shopping, people-watching, and doing the backpacker thing, Budapest will come quite naturally to you. There are plenty of villages to visit in Hungary and its neighboring countries if you need a change from the urban lifestyle, and as for football... well, I know next to nothing about sports, but I know that Hungarians, like most Europeans, love that sport. I'm sure there's a game or two to be found if you time your visit right.

Answer 2

I was there for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it's a lovely city. I'd like to go back.

The public transport system is quite good and cheap.

I found that it wasn't all that easy to communicate with people in English, learn a few phrases in Hungarian if you can. However, I was there in the wintertime.

There is plenty to fill up seven days.

A day trip: go see the statues. There's a statue park that contains the monuments from the Soviet era, it's outside of the city because there are still very strong feelings about this era and they don't want the statues vandalised. Well worth a visit, make sure you invest in a CD entitled The Best of Communism - now that I just couldn't pass up! You can get a bus to this place.

Invest in a DK Eyewitness Guide for Budapest and make life easy for yourself.

Answer 3

Budapest is often identified because the "Little Paris of Middle Europe" and if you want to see that city you will need to take a look with hotelbye . Budapest is popular not just for the monuments sending a unique 1,000-year-old lifestyle, but additionally for the relics of other people who resolved here. Stays from both Roman occupation and much later ruled by the Turks can however be seen in the city. Budapest has two sides, Buda and Pest, extending over the banks of the Danube, and they're representing two different characters of the city. Suburban Buda and its ancient fort section offer medieval streets and properties, museums, caves and Roman ruins. The powerful Pest part provides the largest parliament developing in Europe, riverside promenades, flea markets, bookstores, traditional stores and café houses.