Fantastic city break with plenty to do, good weather and nice food. (Budapest (Hungary))

Member Name: SapphireSunflowr

Product:	Budapest (Hungary)
Date:	04/02/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great sights, hearty food, and the baths are fantastic!

Disadvantages: Be careful of dodgy hostel owners with suspicious moustaches and false teeth...

I visited Budapest in 2007, arriving on train from Vienna, which was actually a reasonable pleasant trip, and a very budget friendly way to travel. We booked a hostel through Hostelworld, the Basilica Hostel, located in a lovely central location.

However, on arrival we were whisked away by the owners who informed us we were being moved to a private apartment, one of apparently 25 properties they owned in Budapest. I wish we'd said no there and then, but we duly followed our hosts to this new place. Disappointingly, this property was on a bad street, very noisy and in run down flats, and had none of the features we had booked to get from the hostel. The kitchen consisted of an ancient electric hob, the microwave was broken (we were not told this and didn't find out until our food was in the microwave and it wouldn't cook, waste of money there). The bed was stained, and the lights and wall fittings were coming away from the walls. Yuk.

Anyway, this was a lesson learned, but not Budapest's fault. We set out for food, and ended up in a local restaurant for a set menu of spicy stew and a traditional pudding - pancake folded with what was basically cottage cheese. Odd, but very tasty! Finding little restaurants in the side streets helped keep food cheap, and Hungarian food seemed to be very filling and hearty. We also cooked a lot of supermarket bought food on our "stove", as at the time the food prices were very cheap indeed.

So, what to do? Well, as well as the usual sights such as the Parliament, bridges and Castle Hill, we really enjoyed a trip underground into the Buda Castle labyrinth - don't expect anything historical but a very atmospheric, sometimes even scary, trip through different eras and legends, including one room with a wine fountain.

The absolute highlight of our three days was the baths. We chose to go to the baths nestled within the park, an eye-catching yellow building. Inside, once you've worked out a slightly confusing payment-and-then-get-some-back-if-you-leave-within -a-certain-time system, and how to get a locker key, you get to soak in an outdoor heated pool, enjoying the sun and the warmth, and also enjoy the benefits of the various mineral enhanced baths inside, all at specific temperatures for maximum effect.

I would certainly advise a visit to this city - there's so much we couldn't fit in that we wanted to, so if you can I would advise at least 4-5 days.

Summary: Well worth a visit, plenty to see and enjoy