Hungary
Check out Sopron (on the Austrian
border), Lake Velence rather than ueber-touristy lake Balaton, Gyor, Szentendre
(could be done as a daytrip from Budapest, though we did it the other way
around) or Szeged (near the borders with Serbia and Romania - I wouldn`t go out
of my way for it, if I recall correctly there`s busses to Arad, which would be
cheaper than taking a train across the border).
Budapest
budapestindex.com
Places to Stay
Backpack Guest House - http://www.backpackbudapest.hu/
The
Bohemian codes are still alive and well in this hostel. The staff as well as the
highly-decorated rooms are warm and friendly. The 10-bed room I stayed in,
called the "Bob Marley Room," is decked out in green, red and yellow and
completed with a large mural of Bob Marley. I'm not joking when I say that they
have the best bathroom in Eastern Europe. Bring a pen when you go so you can
sign their "bathroom guestbook." The quality and comfort of the Backpack Guest
House makes up for the long distance from the center of town. (it's located in
Buda).
Hooray for Bori&Attila!
Haller Camping
A short ride on the metro from the city centre. Surprisingly few
people staying here considering the number of tourists in Budapest.
Budgeting
Budapest isn't super cheap anymore. I spend at
least $30/day there (but more like $40 usually).
I went there the
first time in 1995 I think, and remember we everything cost twice as much as
anywhere else in Hungary - it was still cheaper than western Europe, but I
wouldn't have called it super cheap even then.
Things to Do
I really really liked Budapest. It
was just a mellow, nice beautiful place to hang out.
I liked
Budapest much more than I liked Prague. Specifically, I liked the food and
architecture better. It seemed more like a Grand Old Dame.
The tour of
the Opera house is neat.
Take the metro/train to Szentendre which is an
art town and catch a ferry ride back to Budapest on the Danube. The ferry
provides a nice venue for picture taking.
The trains through Budapest
are excessively slow. My recollection was that it took about 18 hours. That
includes the 4 hour stop at the border in the middle of the night while they
were hassling people.
My biggest regret about Budapest was not
going to the public bath in the park up by heroes square. They were renovating
the building and were almost done, and it was beautiful. we just didn't get it
together.
Places to Eat
Special restaurant
mention goes to Bagolyvar. Really Fantastic Food. it's pricier than what's usual
in Budapest, but really just amazing, you'll need a reservation but they all
speak English. You can reserve on line on their website - bagolyvar.com. They
also run cooking classes that look like fun.
Day Trips
On the train from Budapest to Bucharest we met a couple from Bucharest who
had been on their Honeymoon in Eger, which is Hungarian wine country. I've heard
it's nice but as I didn't get there, I can't make a personal
recommendation.
From Budapest it's 6-8 hours to Belgrade by train, then
another 8 hours to Bar. Take the sleeper. Waking up, brushing your teeth
while seeing the Montengrin coast is one of the most enjoyable moments I've ever
had.
There's other great places in northwest Hungary - Sopron,
Györ, Lake Velence and Szentendre. It is nice to see Vienna and Budapest
right after one another.
