Budapest

Off there for a few days in September en route to Kiev.

Just wondering if anyone on here has been, what to recommend, how much £ to change etc.

Ta

 

Didn't get to see much of Budapest while I was in Hungary but overall its a fair bit cheaper than here, even for a capital. For changing money it depends what kind of trip you want really, a cheap one or not. You can get a decent 2 course meal with drinks for between £10-£15 per person but again it depends if you want to eat at fancy restaurants or just standard ones. Think for shopping price won't be that much different to over here because they have a lot of shops that are all over Europe.

 

I last went in 2009 and found the prices very good (although that's based against London prices). Gf raved about the red wine and the local Dreher beer back then was probably about £2.40 a pint from memory.

Beautiful city (probably my 2nd favourite behind Rome) and if you get time, check out getting a tour of the Parliament building. Think you have to book in advance as a foreigner, but well worth it.

Heroes Sq and the park are worth a stroll (the trams are a bit old but work perfectly wine) and there's a trendy little bar area off the long road that gets you to Heroes Sq. The terror museum was good too.

There was a good bar on the opposite side of the river (the side with the palace on the hill). Quite local and think it was a comedy bar, plenty of local beers and cheaper than the s****ier side with the hotels.

There's a funicular too to the top of the hill and some lovely views, palaces at the top and a large old church.

Best place I ate was an Italian, but it had a very local game style to it...pomodoro maybe?

I can dig through research we did if I can lay my hands on it... though it is for a couple doing a city break.

Oh... and try unicum... a most unique alcoholic drink!

 

I'd put a caveat on that. Go where the locals eat and drink and it can be much cheaper, but in all the touristy areas you'll not notice much difference to what you pay here. And even if you do go to the more 'Hungarian' places you might find a lot of unscrupulous landlords/restaurateurs/shop keepers charge you a completely different price to what they charge the locals. When I say different, what I mean is much higher.

 

You don't actually need to use the Metro unless you're staying on the outskirts. All the tourist spots are walking distance as long as you're used to walking. We walked across the chain bridge, around the castle, up to the viewpoint, hero's square, parliament, baths etc all in a weekend.

 

Went to Budapest for a stag do a few weeks back. I'd recommend it highly.

From a lads trip point of view, the accommodation, food and beer was cheap. I think I only paid about £100 for 5 nights at a very basic hotel. Admittedly, that was three to a room and really just a bed to crash in but gives you an indication. The bars and restaurants by the Danube or in the main square weren't dissimilar to home in terms of cost. But walking 5 mins from there you can easily find pubs where you'd be paying less than a quid a beer and reasonably priced restaurants.

Culturally and historically there's plenty to see as well. Sadly, we rarely ventured far from a beer tap so you'd be better reading up on it than going on my recommendations.

 

Cheers,

The plan is Saturday - Monday in Budapest then heading up to Kiev Monday - Wednesday. The main activities in Budapest will be walking and drinking, cheap hotel room, cheap flights, no fancy meals. Just a good old eastern european pi$$ up really