Can /trv/ recommend me some fun stuff to do in Budapest?
I just watched Rick Steves' episode on Budapest and it looks like a beautiful city with amazing buildings, but I was really only interested in two things; the House of Terror museum and statue park.
What else is there to do in Budapest? I'm 24 years old and I will travel there with my girlfriend during July. She is not interested in nightlife stuff such as clubbing or drinking at all.
Maybe we should go somewhere else?
>>1073506
Maybe throw in Prague and Krakow? I am 26 and my wife and myself just visited Prague and Krakow for a week, it was the perfect amount of time for those two cities, we wanted to get to budapest however time constraints would not allow. I am pretty sure I saw a train in the station that went from Krakow>Prague>Budapest. Even if it didnt I am sure it would be simple to organize.
>I should mention neither of us are into the Clubbing/bar scene either, mostly just old shit
i should save my bp recommendations once.
to do list if you end up going:
go to a spa (széchenyi is the biggest, veli bej is the coziest)
get rose-shaped ice cream at basilica
lunch at a market hall (any market hall except the main market hall, which would be a full-on tourist trap if it wasn't for the nice architecture. hold utcai market hall maybe?)
it's just a social place in general, so even during the day you'll find plenty of nice cafés, tea houses, you name it, places where you don't have to consume alcohol. oh and in july they will all have places to sit outside.
depending on what you find fun.... for me the caves (and the old cave hospital) is also kind of fun during summer, nice places to cool down.
Go to Szentendre (little town) with HEV (local train). Its half an hour,and its pretty awesome
Go to the usual stuff,parliament,heroes-place,museums.
At city sight seeing buses, look after the company HOP ON - HOP OFF. You can buy a ticket for 10 euro,for 1 circle in the city, and the route have more stops. So if you want to wander around the highcastle, you stop the ride, drink a caffee, and an hour later, you join to the next bus.
I recommend the cave-hospital too, if you are interested in the communist era. The statue park isn't that big thing (for me).
(Sorry for my bad english)
>>1073506
walk up to the Citadella on Gellérthegy
hike up to Normafa and check out the Elizabeth viewpoint
see the Budapest History Museum in Buda Castle
the spas are always nice (Gellért is my favourite)
check out Aquincum, the nearby Gázgyári lakótelep and the two amphitheatres in Óbuda
take the H5 suburban train to Szentendre and stroll around the downtown area
do a pub crawl in the Jewish District (Kazinczy-Király-Wesselényi streets)
make a visit to Heroes' Square and the City Park behind it (it has a great zoo and a nice fake-castle built for the 1896 Millennium Celebrations)
stroll along the Danube Promenade (the pedestrian zone stretching from Lánchíd to Szabadság híd)
check out the garden of Várkert Bazár
spend a day walking around on Castle Hill, discover all its nooks and crannies
do all the bridges (except for Árpád híd, it's nothing special and the adjoining areas aren't too much of a spectacle either)
go to Margitsziget and have a cotton candy or a lángos or something, see the ruins of a medieval monastery and the petting zoo
take the stairs to the top of St. Stephen's Basilica and take in the view
check out one of the market halls (the most popular one is the Grand Market Hall on Fővám tér, but my personal favourite is the market hall in Hold utca, situated near the Parliament)
visit the Thermae Maiores in Óbuda near Árpád híd: it's basically the unearthed ruins of a 2,000 year old Roman bath, it's free to visit and most tourists don't even know of its existence since it's under an busy overpass
check out Budapest Zoo in City Park, amazing architecture and lots and lots of animals
so-called escape rooms are pretty popular in Budapest, the main idea is that you and your friends are locked up in room (or a series of rooms) and by solving little puzzles you have to escape before the time runs out. look them up, there's literally thousands to choose from, it's a fun experience if you like mysteries
>>1073541
Sounds like a good way to die in a fire.
>OMG I CANT FIND MY WAY OUT THIS BURNING BUILDING lol sorry gotts solve the puzzles!
>>1073506
Terror House is interesting, and not understated.
Széchenyi baths are absolutely out of this world.18 baths in total, some inside, some outside, of various kinds, temperatures, and sizes, plus sauna and a steam room. Astounding place
Get some good food, as good Hungarian food is very fine. I recommend Kacsa Étterem on Fő utca. (I think they may include their menu on their website - duck is their speciality, but they do lots of other things, not expensive, live music, utterly charming and Habsburgian)
See both Buda (and the national gallery up there) and Pest.
testing
>>1073506
Hospital in the Rock (under Buda) is a nice afterhours alternative to clubbing, it's got evening museum hours.
I took a walk down Andrassy after the museum, and maybe it's adventurous for a single day, but I combined it with the spa experience for an end of day massage and dip.
There is multiple "famous" cafes from the cafe culture (think Viennese level of culture). Some are quite beautiful, with signature pastries and chocolates. Take a respite in them as you do the neighborhoods.
The gems in parliament or Buda castle isn't a bad day tour to do. For an alternative to drinking, consider getting dinner reservations at Spinoza or another jewish restaurant with klezmer music during dinner. A roving violinist or some cimbalom is kind of cool.
I was there during a wine festival in the castle grounds which had world class musicians from the country and all the good street foods both. There were concert rehearsals going on while I was touring the cathedral which featured a nice glimpse of evening show. Go up to the top of the bell tower, and view the black madonna painting.
Inside my hotel, the hilton, which used to be an old monastery/abbey (sucks the govt sells property like that), there were burial stones, and wine cave worth a little walk through....so stop in when you do the Fisherman's Bastion. There were a couple historic buildings within the castle walls which historical plaques, and of course Hospital in the Rock. All fine at night for safety's sake.
>>1073564
lol reminded me of the time when my relatives from the us noticed how a budapest hilton was more expensive than the hiltons they had over there in the us. their brains would not process how staying at an 'old building' would cost more than staying at a new one, i gave up with the history lecture after a while. (the following year they ended up staying at that hilton in the castle and loved it obviously.)
>>1073531
they taste good, too. they also have some diet ice cream, it's budapest after all, so there has to be a hipster aspect.
last time i've been in that area, i bumped into a green tea house, too. ran by white people, full of japanese customers. only in eastern europe, lol.
>>1073833
that hilton is only 40 years old, tho, not an old building by any measure.
>>1073837
wtf is this comment, go inside. it's built on a 13th century monastery.
>>1073844
it has some parts of that monastery, yes, but the Hilton building itself was constructed in the 1970s - apart from the Dominican courtyard and the lower segment of the church tower adjoining the hotel, there are no "old" parts to talk about
>>1073833
>lol reminded me of the time when my relatives from the us noticed how a budapest hilton was more expensive than the hiltons they had over there in the us. their brains would not process how staying at an 'old building' would cost more than staying at a new one, i gave up with the history lecture after a while. (the following year they ended up staying at that hilton in the castle and loved it obviously.)
The price is not based on anything like cost of running it. It's a nice view and locationlocationlocation, and despite what I said about the historic nature of some of the property, it's kind of a basement thing, with a building built up around a central core or subterranean thingt (reminded me of the ruins inside Mexico subways, desu, but the rooms were basic, quite overused, and kind of shabby in a 70s kind of way, esp the peeling gold and velvet flecked wallpaper down the halls, and the old fashioned bedspread most hotels of this price range replaced with duvets. You will find a lot of oooh ahh hiltons in name alone are like that.One thing for sure about Hiltons is that they aren't catering to the business traveler and will not provide wifi, business services, water and other things to every single guest as complimentary. You do far better going _down_ a level in hotel when those things matter to you. It's archaic to pay for wifi by the minute, but they're all doing it like we're back in the AOL days. It's not my favorite chain because of separate ownerships and inconsistent ideas like that, but the properties were _once_ quite nicely located much as Ritz Carltons can exclaim the best property.
>>1073837
>that hilton is only 40 years old, tho, not an old building by any measure.
There are two 13th c. dominican buildings within its walls. You'd have to see inside to understand, but there is also a 16c jesuit (defunct) monastary that was incorporated into it. The connection of all the buildings and an exterior facade is 70s
>>1073851
>there are no "old" parts to talk about
The entire infrastructure underneath is old, as is the attachment to the castle walls. If the argument is that it would be expensive to maintain and that is reflected in prices, then there is an argument to be made about the age of the building.
Despite that, I posit that the price is based on unique location, and that if the interior were better, and the stay more "luxury" it would be justified. In this case, it's sadly another bad Hilton and the price is for the view (and safety).
>>1073858
I am a Budapest native, I've been to the Hilton for a wedding reception a few years ago and I know that church nave, too, drank there with friends several times. I know the connections, I only have a problem with the argument that the Budapest Hilton is so expensive because of its age, when in reality the actual hotel is only a couple of decades old.
>>1073862
>I posit that the price is based on unique location, and that if the interior were better, and the stay more "luxury" it would be justified. In this case, it's sadly another bad Hilton and the price is for the view (and safety).
agreed.
