Topic: Budapest Fans Feedback

[FSF]

We're looking for feedback, as ever, from anyone who's been away. Did you have a shocker of a hotel, or find an absolute bargain of a restaurant? Did you get in any grief with the police, or find the best and cheapest bar in the history of mankind?

I know the trek to the stadium wasn't the best and the lack of signs not entirely helpful, but any and all feedback about the trip would be much appreciated so we can keep our guide up to date and full of accurate, relevant info.

Cheers

[rhylred]

Cracking place to go,some of the lads on the other threads were saying they were overcharged in the Irish bars,whats new?found a couple of belters,frank Zappa cafe bar,open till 3 in the morning,another one with great food,drink and atmosphere is called the stex bar,food served till 2 in the morning,drink till 4,{bad decision if you've got an early flite home...stayed in the pallazo zichy,brilliant hotel,no 2 on tripadvisor,did the nite boat tour along the Danube,cost about £15 with a free beer ++ champagne thrown in,also did the city bus tour,you can get off and on anywhere you like,got the day metro ticket,cost about a fiver,which includes use of the tram system,some of the lads went to see the ferencvaros ground,had a great welcome and tour of the ground,8 of us got the    shuttle mini bus from the airport,cost again fiver each,asked the hotel to call a taxi back to the airport,took about 20 minutes from the centre,cost for 4 of us again a fiver...some great res taurents,including 2 boats moored in front of the intercontinental,had a brilliant meal there,if your lucky enough to go in the winter try the goulash soup,before i went was a bit weary hearing about dippers,muggings e.tc but like any other city if respect it, it will respect you, Budapest thanks,had a fantastic time...

[Istanbulievable]

Cracking place to go,some of the lads on the other threads were saying they were overcharged in the Irish bars,whats new?found a couple of belters,frank Zappa cafe bar,open till 3 in the morning,another one with great food,drink and atmosphere is called the stex bar,food served till 2 in the morning,drink till 4,{bad decision if you've got an early flite home...stayed in the pallazo zichy,brilliant hotel,no 2 on tripadvisor,did the nite boat tour along the Danube,cost about £15 with a free beer ++ champagne thrown in,also did the city bus tour,you can get off and on anywhere you like,got the day metro ticket,cost about a fiver,which includes use of the tram system,some of the lads went to see the ferencvaros ground,had a great welcome and tour of the ground,8 of us got the    shuttle mini bus from the airport,cost again fiver each,asked the hotel to call a taxi back to the airport,took about 20 minutes from the centre,cost for 4 of us again a fiver...some great res taurents,including 2 boats moored in front of the intercontinental,had a brilliant meal there,if your lucky enough to go in the winter try the goulash soup,before i went was a bit weary hearing about dippers,muggings e.tc but like any other city if respect it, it will respect you, Budapest thanks,had a fantastic time...

......and breathe!

Glad you had a good time mate, I did too.  Didn't get about as much as you did which was a disappointment but I would recommend Morrisons club.

[steelersmark]

The best bar we found by a country mile was Caesar's Soroko on Kiraly Utca.

[dobbouk]

we stayed in central backpacker hostel. round the corner from deak ter metro station. so had easy access to the whole city. £7 a night. free coffee and lockers so worked grat for us as we only really wanted a place to sleep. free welcome shot on arrival as well and plenty of good advice.

morrisons club 1 and 2 were class. really good atmosphere to the place . about 430ft a pint.

also went Széchenyi Baths wednesday morning to cure our hangovers. 3000 ft in isnt exactly cheap(you get money back if you dont stay for the full time you paid for\0  but was well worth it for what we got told where the best baths in budapest.

for airport transport think we paid 6800ft from the airport on the way there but then got the metro(its hit and miss whether you get asked for tickets before and after youve got on) on the return journey and a free bus so recommend you do this if your struggling for money

[FSF]

Cheers for that everyone - the more the merrier, it'll all go on the site in some form or other.

[steelersmark]

I thought I'd expand on my input.

Budapest is a beautiful city. The best advice in how to enjoy this beauty would be to look up. Everywhere you go, look up at the buildings.

We had a nice day of sight-seeing as well. We took the funicular train up the hill in Buda, then after getting the Mskva Ter tram at the top, got on the Cog Wheel railway, which took you pretty much out of Budapest (certainly off the tourist map you pick up) and to the Children's Railway.

This Children's Railway has to be seen. Not only does the train run through the absolutely stunning countryside to the west of Buda, but the entire opporation (apart from the driving of the train itself) is run by kids. It runs on the hour from 10 till 4, autumn to spring. A real little gem.

For drinking, like I said, we found ourselves spending the majority of our time in a bar called Caesar's Soroko, which was pretty much right in the middle of Kiraly Utca. The beers start at 290 HUF for a Kozel and nothing really gets pricier than 350 HUF. Friendly staff and some barmaids in there with lovely personalities! You also get locals drinking in there, which makes for a good laugh.

Haven't really got much input on the food front, I'm not really what you'd call adventurous with food, but there were plenty of your regular food chains you have here, Burger King, Maccies, Subway, Pizza Hut, so if you're like me, there's something there to eat.

Getting around the city is a doddle. The all day travel card, which costs 1550 HUF gets you on all buses, trams and metros, which gives you comprehensive coverage of everywhere you'd need to go. It doesn't include the funicular or children's railway, but it DOES include the cog wheel railway.

Tram in the city are the easiest bunk ever, second only to the train from the airport. Not that I condone that sort of behaviour!

Trying to think what else. It's not anywhere near as bad as some of the pre-trip horror stories made out. We had absolutely no sniff of bother in 3 days, but we did hear of one lad going to a strippers and ending up paying an arm and a leg for his bevvies. It's really all just common sense - if it seems seedy and dodgy, or too good to be true, then it is. Just look for the bars with a price list on the wall outside, as all the reputable ones do, and you'll be sound.

[steelersmark]

for airport transport think we paid 6800ft from the airport on the way there but then got the metro(its hit and miss whether you get asked for tickets before and after youve got on) on the return journey and a free bus so recommend you do this if your struggling for money

It's 330HUF single for the train from right outside the airport into the centre of Pest. Pick up your tickets from the arrivals side of the airport or on board, I'd recommend that myself. As I've said, it's the easiest bunk ever.

[blurred]

We paid 320HUF from the machine I think it was, and were checked by a clippie almost as soon as we'd left Ferihegy station.

[Swoop]

Stadium signs non exostant and despite being body searched 5 times the ticket checks were virtually non existant and all 7 in my lot had complete tickets inside the "Pens", plenty of others around us the same.

[steelersmark]

Agree with that swoop, you could have got it flashing a fag packet. Like you said, we were searched many times, sometimes more than once by the same bundle of people. I nearly got a bollocking when a guy searched me 5 yards in front of his colleague who had just done the same. I told him I had been searched and he sort of grabbed my shoulders and went, "Problem?"

Looking at the trouble there was getting in at the back of our section (there was a bad bottleneck and there was a bit of pushing and shoving) there might have been a few people who did flash the aforementioned fag packet.

[Lee J]

I was searched 3 times by 3 lads all lined up with nothing else to do, hilarious.

We stayed in the Ibis Centrum (as usual) on Raday Utca, cheap as chips accomodation but leave the bar well alone, more expensive than Rigbys!

There are 40-odd bars and restaurants along Raday varying from a hole-in-the-wall chippy to some pretty outstanding restaurants.  We settled on "Paris Texas" for cheap ale and cocktails  , a large enough and friendly venue although service wasn't as quick as we have come to expect in the UK.  Many of the bars close at 1am but PT is open until 3.

The Buda side castle district is a bit touristy and I couldn't find the bar I had been to before at Fishermans Bastion (with fantastic views over to Pest) but there's a lovely little bar tucked in behind the main road on Uri Utca.

[love:the:game]

One bit of advice that I'm sure everyone heard at some point was to always ask for a Price List or Menu before ordering a round of drinks. Just to add to that, make sure you read any small print at the back as well. We stumbled into some random club on one of the nights, asked for the price list and were quite pleased to see 600 Forint for a pint. We sat down and ordered a round, but then one of lads happened to notice a small line right at the back of the Price List saying there was a Minimum Spend of 18,000 Forint per person. Got out of there pretty sharp-ish...

[Shazz]

Ah, Paris Texas and Jager bombs 

Oh and the Sofitel hotel!

I was searched 3 times by 3 lads all lined up with nothing else to do, hilarious.

We stayed in the Ibis Centrum (as usual) on Raday Utca, cheap as chips accomodation but leave the bar well alone, more expensive than Rigbys!

There are 40-odd bars and restaurants along Raday varying from a hole-in-the-wall chippy to some pretty outstanding restaurants.  We settled on "Paris Texas" for cheap ale and cocktails  , a large enough and friendly venue although service wasn't as quick as we have come to expect in the UK.  Many of the bars close at 1am but PT is open until 3.

The Buda side castle district is a bit touristy and I couldn't find the bar I had been to before at Fishermans Bastion (with fantastic views over to Pest) but there's a lovely little bar tucked in behind the main road on Uri Utca.