In This Book 16 Need to Know 17 18 Neighbourhoods 19 Arriving in Before You Go Getting Around Budapest Margaret Island & Need to Your Daily Budget Most people arrive in Budapest by air, but you Budapest has a safe, efficient and inexpen- Budapest Northern Pest can also get here from dozens of European sive public-transport system. Five types of (p84) Know Budget: Less than 15,000Ft cities by bus and train and from Vienna by transport are in general use, but the most Neighbourhoods This unspoiled island Parliament & Danube hydrofoil. relevant for travellers are the metro trains on in the Danube offers Around (p72) X Dorm bed: 3000–6500Ft QuickStart four numbered and colour-coded city lines, a green refuge, while Takes in the areas For more information, X Meal at self-service restaurant 1500Ft A From Ferenc Liszt International blue buses and yellow trams. The basic fare northern Pest beckons around the Parliament Óbuda (p50) with its shops and see Survival Guide (p145) X Three-day transport pass: 4150Ft Airport for all forms of transport is 350Ft (3000Ft building and the equally Minibuses, buses and trains to central for a block of 10) allowing you to travel as far This is the oldest part of lovely cafes. iconic Basilica of Currency Midrange: 15,000–35,000Ft Budapest run from 4am to midnight; taxis as you like on the same metro, bus, trolleybus Buda and retains a St Stephen, plus lost-in-the-past village Hungarian forint (Ft); some hotels quote X Single/double room: from 7500/10,000Ft cost from 6000Ft. The cheapest (and most or tram line without changing/transferring. 1DJ\PH]łXWFD in euros (€) time-consuming) way to get into the city feel; here you’ll find the Budapest’s Broadway. X Two-course meal with drink: 3500–7500Ft remains of the Roman centre is to take bus 200E (350Ft; on the bus m Metro ] Top Sights Language X Cocktail: from 1500Ft settlement of Aquincum 450Ft) – look for the stop on the footpath Budapest has four underground metro lines. Parliament Hungarian (Magyar) between terminals 2A and 2B – which The M1, M2 and M3 converge at Pest’s central and some legendary Top End: More than 35,000Ft terminates at the Kłbánya-Kispest metro Deák Ferenc tér (only), while the M4 links eateries. Basilica of St Stephen Visas X Double in superior hotel: from 16,500Ft station. From there take the M3 metro into to the M2 at Keleti train station and the M3 ]A City Generally not required for stays up to 90 X Dinner for two with wine from 12,500Ft the city centre. The total cost is 700Ft to at Kálvin tér, both in Pest. The M2 reaches Castle District Park days. 800Ft. Between midnight and 4am night bus central Széll Kálmán tér in Buda; the M4 Worth a Trip X Spa ticket: adult/child 3600/1600Ft (p22) Guide 900 makes the run. serves south Buda. All four metro lines run Castle Hill, nerve centre Erzsébetváros & ] Top Sights Money X Cover charge at popular club: 1500–2500Ft from about 4am and begin their last journey of Budapest’s history the Jewish Quarter From Keleti, Nyugati & Déli Train Memento Park (p48) ATMs are everywhere. Visa, MasterCard L at around 11.15pm. and packed with ]A (p92) Stations Parliament Aquincum (p58) and American Express widely accepted in important museums, is This neighbourhood J Bus Buda Hills (p60) many hotels and restaurants. Useful Websites All three are connected to metro lines of the here, as is ground-level offers the lion’s share of same name and night buses call when the An extensive network of regular buses runs City Park (p118) Budapest Info (www.budapestinfo.hu) One of Víziváros, with some Basilica of Budapest’s accommoda- Mobile Phones metro is closed. from around 4.15am to between 9pm and A the better overall tourist websites. excellent restaurants. ]St Stephen tion, restaurants serving Local SIM cards can be used in European 11.30pm; from 11.30pm to just after 4am a ] Top Sights every cuisine under the and Australian phones, as well as most Budapest by Locals (www.budapestbylocals. J From Népliget & Stadion Bus network of 41 night buses (indicated by three Royal Palace sun and the city’s Southern Pest com) Excellent and very useful expat-driven Stations digits beginning with ‘9’) kicks in. Royal Palace North American ones. ]A ]A Great hottest nightspots. (p108) site full of both glaringly obvious information Both stations are on metro lines (M2 and M3 Synagogue that impress even us. U Tram ] Top Sights Traditionally working Time respectively) which go to Deák tér, and are class, this is an area Hungarian Central European Time (GMT/UTC plus Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/ served by trams 1 and 1A. Faster and more pleasant for sightseeing Gellért Hill & Tabán Citadella & A Great Synagogue Your keys to under- ] National to wander, poking your than buses; a network of 30 lines. Tram 6 (p36) one hour) budapest) Destination information, hotel Liberty Museum nose into courtyards bookings, traveller forum and more. NFrom International Ferry Pier runs overnight. The Citadella and the Monument and small, often Vienna hydrofoils arrive at and depart from Liberty Monument gaze A Plugs & Adaptors ] traditional, shops. Plugs have two round pins; electrical current the International Ferry Pier, which is between K Taxi down from atop Gellért A Top Sights is 230V/50Hz. Elizabeth and Liberty Bridges on the Pest Taxis in Budapest are cheap by European Hill on the neighbour- ] ] Advance Planning Gellért side. It’s on tram line 2 and close to the standards, and are – at long last – fully hood of the Tabán. Belváros (p62) Hungarian National Two months before Book accommodation if Baths Tipping Fłvám tér station of the M4 metro line. regulated, with uniform flag-fall (450Ft) and ] Top Sights The ‘Inner Town’ centres Museum travelling in high season. Check ‘what’s on’ Hungarians are very tip-conscious and nearly per-kilometre charges (280Ft). on touristy Váci utca, and English-language media websites. Citadella & everyone in Budapest will routinely hand Liberty Monument with its shops and bars, gratuities to waiters, hairdressers and taxi One month before Reserve seats for big- and Vörösmarty tér, standing the city – Gellért Baths drivers. ticket concerts, musical or dance perfor- home to the city’s most mances; book top-end restaurants. celebrated cukrászda One week before Ensure your bookings are (cake shop). we help you decide in order and you have all booking references. what to do and how Need to Know Neighbourhood s to do it Tips for a What’s where smooth trip 8 Top Sights 9 12 Local Life 13 Budapest Top Sights Budapest Top Sights Local Life Local experiences and hidden gems ALEKSEI LAZUKOV/SHUTTERSTOCKS © Royal Palace (p24) to help you uncover the real city The focal point of Castle Hill in Buda and the city’s most visited sight, the enormous Royal Palace contains two important museums, the national library and an abundance of notable statues and monuments. After taking in Budapest’s fabulous array of sights, it’s time to get behind what eve- Explore ryone sees in order to discover the Budapest local people know and love: the superb restaurants, the quirky shops and markets, and the bars and clubs that never say die. Cog railway to Budapest Palace Other great places to experience the Farmers’ Market in Budapest city like a local: Touring the Buda Hills (p60) Exploring Váci utca & f Clear air Vörösmarty tér (p64) Szimpla Farmers’ fQuirky transport f Top shops Market (p106 ) They may be short on sights, but the fBeckoning cafes Fortuna Önkiszolgáló Buda Hills are a welcome respite from Follow us on a walking tour of Buda- (p32 ) Budapest the hot, dusty city in summer. Perhaps pest’s premier shopping street that their biggest draws are their unusual eschews the chain stores and brand- Károly Garden (p70 ) forms of transport: a 19th-century name shops in favour of more upscale narrow-gauge cog railway, a train run local emporiums, notable buildings Pump Room (p46) by children and a chairlift that will get and smart cafes, including the iconic you back down to terra firma. Gerbeaud, the capital’s finest cukrászda Laci! Konyha! (p89 ) (cake shop). WILL SANDERS/LONELY PLANET © Bar-Hopping in BÁV (p83 ) Erzsébetváros (p96) From Market to Market in Pintér Galéria (p83 ) f Craft beers Southern Pest (p112) SARAH COGHILL/LONELY PLANET © fWorld-class wine f Local specialities fLiving history The best things to BRIAN KINNEY/SHUTTERSTOCK © Don’t just follow the herd when day becomes night in this super party town. In this tale of two markets – one a We have the low-down on where’s the visitor’s paradise, the other where Gellért Baths (p38) most fun with the least amount of auntie shops – we walk the backstreets, hassle in the very heart of the nightlife discovering everything from antiquar- ‘Taking the waters’ is very much a part of everyday life in Budapest and area: Erzsébetváros. ian bookshops and cool cafes to ghosts soaking in the art nouveau Gellért Baths, with temperatures of up to 38°C, of the 1956 Uprising that still haunt the has been likened to bathing in a cathedral. see and do, neighbourhood. neighbourhood by Top Sights Local Life neighbourhood Make the most The insider's city of your visit 124 Castle Hill 125 140 Best Thermal Baths & Pools Best Thermal Baths & Pools 141 1 Vienna Gate as merchant stalls). The church and a baroque Sándor Palace (Sándor Walk up Várfok utca leader of the 1848–49 Jesuit college. palota), now housing from Széll Kálmán tér War of Independence, the offices of the presi- Best Best Walks Lajos Kossuth, was held 5 Former Ministry dent of the republic.