Budapest in July

Together with August July is one of the hottest months of the year in Budapest. An average day will give you 30 Celsius during daytime, but you will often experience warmer temperatures as well. You should therefore prepare with some bathing trunks packing your suitcase before arriving to Budapest in July.

What do I need bathing trunks for, you might wonder? Good question, after all swimming in the Danube is something you should not do. But, if you want to take a swim, here are some of the places where that can be done. However, do not forget the sun lotion!

Szechenyi Furdo
This is a thermal bath with three outdoor pools. However, since this is natural hot springs, the water is a bit to hot, at least for a warm July day. If you want to visit this thermal bath, do it on the day with the worst weather during your stay. After all, swimming in 37 Celsius is not to enjoyable if the temperature in the air is 37 Celsius as well.

Palatinus Furdo
If you want to enjoy life on a hot summer day in Budapest the Palatinus Furdo is probably the best option and best place. This bath is located at the Margaret Island and here you have lots of outdoor pools and water activities, much more enjoyable at a warm summer day than in the Szechenyi thermal bath.

Dagaly Furdo
The Dagaly bath is located not far from the Arpad bridge, on the Pest side. This is a beautiful outdoor complex with both thermal water and normal pools. This is not the place most tourists go, so if you want to mix up with the locals, this is the place to go for a cool outdoor venue with nice pools.

Dagaly Bath – a great place to be in the heat

July activities and festivals

The most important event in Budapest in July is the Formula 1 race. This is normally arranged at the last weekend in July at Hungaroring, just outside Budapest. Because of the Formula 1 all hotel prices are raised with 20 percent and the city is packed with people for a weekend. Or, the truth is that the invation starts for this weekend, and one week later (some days into August) the Sziget Festival takes place, and then invasion number two takes place.

Formula 1 Budapest 2014: July 25th-27th

During the summer there is a summer festival with different concerts taking place at the open-air stage on the Margaret Island and at the open air stage at Varosmajor (quite far outside the center). There will be quite a lot of programs worth checking out in July because of this festival, for example the Madame Butterfly Opera at July 28th at the Margaret Island.

If you visit the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park there will be a music festival there available from July 11th until the start of August.

On July 18th there will be a concert in the Dominician court in the Hilton hotel. The performance will be made by the 100 Member Gypsy Orchestra.

In 2013 visitors have a great chance to visit the giant ferris wheel in the center of Budapest. It will only be there until July 31st, and then it will be moved away and taken to the Sziget Festival before it leaves us forever. You should therefore use this opportunity and travel with the giant wheel while it is still here.

What to do in the July heat?

When it gets to warm in Budapest in July there are some things that might be useful to do.

  • Visit the St. Stephen’s Basilica. On the inside the temperatures are much better than on the outside.
  • Drink the Hungarian spritzer, a mixture of wine and bubble water.
  • Book a room in a hotel with air-condition
  • Sleep during the warmest hours and stay up later in the evening

These were just some thoughts on what to do in Budapest in July. Feel free to share further insights and thoughts as you write a comment! We wish you all some beautiful days and weeks in Budapest!

Wine trip to Eger on June 8th

Bolyki winery
Bolyki winery

We have created a new wine excursion and it will be launched for the first time on June 8th. The destination will be Eger and it will be a great way to get to know the city better, and of course to get to know the wine production of the area.

This excursion will be available for groups from 4 persons and up in the future, but on June 8th we invite you to come on the maiden trip which is open for everyone at special price. Departure from Budapest is around 9.30 in the morning and as we arrive in Eger we will visit Gal Tibor winery and Janos Bolyki winery. The latter was selected to be the gourmet winemaker of the year in Hungary in 2012 and both wineries have won lots of awards for their wines. During both wine tasting sections you will be served some small snacks to eat, and between the two wineries there will be a lunch in Eger followed by spare time to walk around and get to know the city of Eger.

The program will end in the Szepasszonyvolgy, a wonderful valley packed with wine cellars and small restaurants, making those still thirsty and hungry able to enjoy one of the greatest place in Hungary for some hours before departing back to Budapest.

The price for the excursion on the maiden trip on June 8th will be 24,000 HUF per person. In the future this price will be somewhere between 30,000-40,000 HUF. If you want to join in on the trip, contact us!

Ps: There will be a Scandinavian guide joining in on the trip, meaning that the information will be available in both English and Norwegian/Swedish…

Szepasszonyvolgy in Eger
Szepasszonyvolgy in Eger

Report from Budapest Palinkafesztival 2013

The Palinkafesztival (Palinka Festival) in Budapest opened yesterday (May 16th) and it will be open until Sunday evening (May 19th). The weather forecasts do not promise beautiful weather, but if you are in town, make sure to check out what’s going on. I was there yesterday at the Erzsebet square and I liked what I saw!

Often the biggest and most popular festivals in Budapest are arranged in the Castle area. However this time the Palinka festival is arranged in the middle of Budapest, at the Erzsebet square, in front of the five star hotels Le Meridien and Kempinski, and next to the popular club Akvarium. My first comment is that I really liked the venue and the fact that it is in central Budapest. At such a location it is hard to miss out on the festival, and it is really easy to get to and from the festival at any time. Much easier than when it is located in the Castle area.

Another bonus with the location is that the festival feels much more intimate and the visitors are gathered at the same place, without giving you the feeling that it is overcrowded. Of course the wine festival could never be arranged here, because the area is to small, but for a Palinka festival this square is ideal.

Some more thoughts on the Palinka festival 2013

Inside the area there are lots of stands where you can buy all sorts of Palinka, the Hungarian fruit spirit. If you are a big fan this is an ideal place to taste new brands and get new favorites, and if you have not clue what Palinka is about, then this is a great place to get some basic knowledge.

As you buy your entrance ticket you will get the chance to enter into the festival area. Inside the festival area all payments are made with this electronic card you buy. The price is 500 HUF for the card and then you need to fill this with money. Money is withdrawn from the card whenever you make a purchase, and whatever is left on the card will be returned to you as you give back your card and leave the festival area (you will also get the 500 HUF that you paid for the card itself back). This system is quite easy to use (they used it at the Beer festival in 2012 as well), it only gets complicated if it is crowded and hundreds of people want to fill up or return their cards at the same time. However there are 4 such stands in the area, so it shouldn’t really cause any problems, I think!

The price for the different Palinkas on the inside starts from about 300 HUF, but you will of course find much more expensive Palinkas as well. If you are not a big fan of Palinka you find a DiVino bar on the inside where you can taste and drink wine, you can buy soft drinks in the Moszkva ter stands and hot and cold food at other stands.

Every evening there will be concerts, and some of the artists performing are really great, so worth to take a look and listen when in the concert area. A great plus in the festival area is that they have lots of benches and chairs, making it very easy to sit down and enjoy good company, some food and of course, something to drink.

Conclusion: If you have the chance, visit the Erzsebet square in Budapest before Sunday evening and check out the Palinka festival… even if you don’t like Palinka!

Egon Schiele and his age at the Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts does its best in 2013. There will be better and better exhibitions in the whole year. The newest sensation is the exhibition named “Egon Schiele and his age” will be on display between 25 June 2013 and 29 September.

Egon Schiele BudapestFor those who haven’t heard about Schiele and his contemporaries, here is a little description, so you will feel like you want to see this great exhibition in one of the most amazing museums of Budapest.

The center figure of the exhibition is Egon Schiele, who was born in 1890 and died in 1918. Schiele’s artistic career was pretty short, only 10 years, but the Museum of Fine Arts could show his work on 50 masterpieces. Egon Schiele was only 16 years old, when he became one of the students of the conservative Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and because of that, he was the youngest student of the institution. He left the Academy soon, and founded the Neukunstgruppe, or New Art Group. The artists who influenced Schiele’s art were the Secession’s leading figure, Gustav Klimt, and other artists, who was the part as a guest of the group’s exhibitions (Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Munch). Soon, there was an artist, who joined to Schiele’s group, the Neukunstgruppe, he was one of the most outstanding man of the Austrian art, Oskar Kokoschka (guests could see his work too at the exhibition). The group members – and because of that, the creator of the masterpieces of this exhibition – are Albert Paris Gütersloht, Hans Boehlert and Anton Faistauert too.

Do not miss this fantastic experience, the cream of the culture between 25 June 2013 and 29 September 2013 in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, in the Museum of Fine Arts! Have a great time!

Egon Schiele and his age
June 25th – September 29th
Museum of Fine Arts

Pieter Hugo: This Must Be The Place – Selected Works 2003-2012

Pieter HugoPieter Hugo was born in 1976 in Capetown, South Africa. He chose the photographer profession, and he focuses on Africa’s social and economic conflicts, and the actual problems and challenges of the transforming continent. The artist, earlier working as a photo reporter, won the price of the most prestigious press photo competition, THe World Press Photo, in 2006, and opened an independent show at the Hague Museum of Photography in 2012.

He takes beautiful, real and sometimes sad photos. Those who are curious about Hugo’s work, travel to the capital of Hungary, the scenic Budapest, because there will be a fantastic exhibition about Pieter Hugo’s works between 2003 and 2012 in the Ludwig Museum, or on another name the Museum of Contemporary Art, for 24 May 2013 to 11 August 2013.

The capital of Hungary, Budapest is a perfect destination for everyone. Travel with your family, friends or love to this beautiful city, where something always happens. There are wonderful buildings, for example the Buda Castle or the Parliament. Fantastic hiking places in the city or out the city are the Margaret Island, the Gellert-hill or the Budakeszi Forest. Delicious wines, special dishes invite tourists. And the list contains the culture too, because there will be an amazing Pieter Hugo exhibition at the Ludwig Museum? What do we need more?

Pieter Hugo exhibition
May 24th – August 11th
Ludwig museum