Budapest is a great city with many things to see with a lot of history and tasty food.
After my honeymoon (more than 15 years ago! ) we lived in Budapest for a few months until I was 8th month pregnant and wanted to live close to my family. We visited Budapest a few times during these 15 years and it’s unbelievable how fast the city has become modern.
We arrived to Budapest from London (yes, it was one of those cheap flights that it was better to fly from London to Budapest and then back home to Tel-Aviv, rather than London- Tel Aviv ).
Getting there – Getting from the airport to the center is a bit complicated (bus and then a cable car ) so we took a taxi .
Currency –The official Hungarian currency is the Hungarian Forint (Ft, HUF).
Transportation in the city – The city is full with possibilities – bus, cable car or their local subway. We WALKED and WALKED all the days we were there.
Hotel– we slept at 7 seasons apartments. The location is GREAT . It’s on the Pest side of the city but our room , which was very modern and suited us, was above a bar which meant loud noise throughout the night. Also, someone tried to enter the room in the middle of the night. Luckily, the door chain was locked and the inner alarm turned on and the burglar ran away.
Shopping – Vaci street is Budapest’s famous street, with many brand stores like Zara, Mango, Bershka, H&M, C&A and more.
You can always go the Westend shopping mall (Váci út 1-3, 1062) if you prefer malls or if the weather doesn’t allow you to shop outdoors.
On our last day in Budapest, the Christmas market that is situated on Fashion Street (Deák Ferenc utca) lit up and added to the festive atmosphere. Here you can buy local goods and crafts , food and wine .
Food – the internet is full with recommendations. I’ll mention here ONLY the good places I have been to –
* Pub for Sale – this is one of the strangest pubs I have been to.The floor is covered with straw and peanut shells. On each table there is a big bowl of peanuts for you to eat and throw the shells on the floor .The second special/ strange/ different (choose with adjective you relate to…) is that you can pin anything on the wall. All walls and even the ceiling is full of little papers. They serve an EXCELLENT Goulash soup that is suitable for two.
Address:
Vámház körút
District 5, 1053 Budapest
* Duran Szendvics
They serve the best sandwiches ever! They have about 30 different bite size cold sandwiches. You can eat there or take them in a box. We eat there three times . Once at the shop, the other day we took 10 sandwiches and took them up to Buda and had a small picnic while enjoying the view. And (!) since we had an early low- cost flight back home, we bought a box at night and ate them in the airport before departure.
They have three branches –
Address:
VI. district Bajcsy-Zsilinszky
út.7.
District 5 October 6, u.15.
II. district Retek u.18.
* Momotaro Ramen – Great Chinese restaurant serving dim sums, noodles, ramen and more.
Address:
Széchenyi u. 9,
Budapest, 1054
*Japanika – Great Japanese restaurant. Prices are a bit high but the sushi we ate was very good.
I’m sure you won’t miss it since it’s next to St. Stephen’s Basilica.
Address:
Szent István tér 7
*Good morning Vietnam – I think you already noticed that I love Asian food.
On our way from the Downtown market (not the Central market), we were getting hungry. A quick search brought us to a very small restaurant ” Good morning Vietnam ” with a simple menu that offers Vietnamese spring and summer rolls, soups and main dishes. The waiter (the owner’s daughter was very friendly and we chatted about Vietnam). We definitely recommend this place!
Address:
Nagysándor József u. 1, 1054
ָ*There are lots of trendy restaurants in The Jewish quarter. Just pick Italian/ Hungarian, /Chinese etc etc
* Grab a bite of local food (2nd floor) at the Central Market hall.
Free walking tours – we took a tour from this company. The tour seemed very impressive, but, unfortunately, the streets were closed due to a VIP in the city so most monuments we wanted to see were out of our reach. I’m sure we will take a tour next time we’re in Budapest .
For more info on Free tours, go to my homepage
Since this post is only about TIPS I won’t mention the beautiful Danube, the BUDA side, Margaret Island , the Thermal spas , the Big Market and more places that you MUST see while you are in the city.
SZIA!
*Szia – Hi and Bye in Hungarian
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