Budapest Archives - Page 4 of 50

Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 – dates and tickets

Posted on May 4, 2017May 4, 2017 by Budapest Guide

The most popular weekend of the year in Budapest is the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. In the end of July the best Formula 1 racers in the world come to Budapest to compete at Hungaroring, so also in 2017.

The main race during the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2017 will be arranged on July 30th. There will be qualification races on July 28th and July 29th, but the big final will be held on July 30th. If you want to be there, then you can buy tickets for the event from Viagogo.

It is worth noticing, that you should book your Budapest hotel as soon as possible, because prices go up and rooms are sold out quickly after the announcement of the dates for the Hungarian Grand Prix. You will for sure find rooms in hotels close up to the event as well, but if you want to find the hotel room of your dream stay in Budapest, then you better hurry up!

In 2016 Lewis Hamilton won the race in Budapest (for the fifth time), but can he do so again in 2017? He is currently the most winning driver at Hungaroring (with five victories), one more than Michael Schumacher. Last year he not only won the race in Budapest, he also won the Grand Prix in total. Are you coming to Budapest to cheer for Lewis Hamilton or some other driver?

What else to do in Budapest?

There are lots of other programs available in Budapest, but you better hurry up if you want to enjoy a river cruise, a brewery visit, a wine tasting or maybe a private guided tour in Budapest during the event. You can read about such activities here in our Budapest Guide, so look around and contact us as soon as possible if we can help you out in any way!

FINA World Championship in Budapest 2017

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Budapest Guide

In the time between July 14th and July 30th Budapest and Hungary will be invaded by the worlds best swimmers and lots of supports.

The FINA World Championships were not actually supposed to be arranged in Budapest, but after the winning bid which was made by Mexico, didn’t want to arrange the event after all, then the sport-loving Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary could fix it instead. Since then a brand new arena has been built, the Danube Arena, just a bit to the north of the Arpad Bridge, and together with the Hajos Alfred arena at the Margaret Island and the Balaton Lake, these will be the venues in use during the event.

Just like during the Summer Olympics, the water events will be divided into two periods. The water polo competitions will be running all the time at the Margaret Island, but in the Danube Arena the World Championship will start with synchronized swimming and diving, and then followed by swimming in the end.

Who will the Hungarians cheer for?

The most popular Hungarian swimmer at the moment is Katinka Hosszu. She won three gold medals during the Summer Olympics in Rio, and the chances are great that she wants to win even more as she competes at home in Hungary. There are even more Hungarian swimmers capable of winning medals during the event, for example Laszlo Cseh.

Be aware of this!

You should be aware of the fact that there will be loads of traffic in Budapest during this event, and this summer the Chain Bridge will also be closed down due to maintenance work. We therefore expect there to be a sort of traffic chaos in town, not only during the FINA World Championship, but throughout the entire summer. If you want to buy tickets for the event, then you should hurry up, at least if you want to grab some good seats for your favorite events. For those who want to stream the event online, the following guide can help you out.

What else to do in Budapest?

Have you thought about what you are going to do in Budapest when there is nothing happening in the arenas? Are you looking for some cool activities? Here are some of our suggestions:

If you like sports (and the FINA World Championship), you might be an athlete yourself. Go for a run around the Margaret Island and enjoy the nice weather and the beautiful running track.
Feel thirsty after cheering for your favorite athlete? Join us on our brewery visit where you can taste Hungarian beers, get lots of local food and taste the Hungarian fruit spirit.
If you want to enjoy a good dinner an evening, then visit a wine cellar restaurant where we arrange a five course dinner with six glasses of wine. This is in the center of Budapest, and is available every single day.
Discover Budapest on one of our guided tours with a private English speaking guide.

You can read more about these and lots of other Budapest activities here in our Budapest Guide. If you have any comments or questions, use the comment field beneath!

Watch out for wrong currencies as you travel with taxi in Budapest

Posted on September 7, 2016September 7, 2016 by Budapest Guide

The taxis in Budapest does not have the best rumor in the world, and that is easy to understand. Watch out for how much you pay and for the change you get back as you use the taxis in Budapest.

Last week we arranged a guided tour for a nice group of Scandinavians in Budapest. They were a pleasant group and we had a great time together as we discovered Budapest together. Along the way the guide told them a couple of good advises concerning taxi traveling in Budapest:

Order your taxi from your hotel or your restaurant.
Do not jump on taxis on the street.
Watch out for the change they give you back, and especially pay attention to receive back money in the right currency.
The fact that a taxi is yellow does not guarantee you anything.

Those were the advises we gave. 48 hours later we met the group again to go on a half-day trip to Szentendre with wine tasting and more cool stuff. They had some interesting stories to tell by then!

Some horrible Budapest taxi stories

First taxi rip-off in Budapest

First of all some of the ladies in the group had traveled alone. They jumped on a taxi on the street and by the time they reached their hotel he wanted them to pay 40,000 HUF (a normal fare in Budapest should cost between 1500-4000 HUF). They did not really know for sure how much that was by then, and the driver looked really scary, so they paid. It didn’t take much time before they knew they had been ripped off heavily.

Second taxi rip-off(s) in Budapest

Then it was interesting to hear that several other people in the group had experienced the same problem that we told them about during the guided tour. They paid for the taxi ride (which had a okay fare), but then it was time to receive the change. Instead of getting back 10,000 Hungarian Forint they receive Indonesian money (which has no value at all compared to the Hungarian Forint). Some others received change in another currency as well. Some of them discovered it and got really made at the driver (who according to the tourists almost peed in his pants), while someone only discovered that they had been tricked a few moments later.

Budapest taxi rip-offs

It is incredibly common with such rip-offs in Budapest. 95% of such things happen when you jump into a cab on the street. Avoiding such will save you from most trouble. But, stay alert and if you jump into a cab on the street, feel free to write down the number plate (before you enter) so that you have something to fight with in case there should be trouble in some kind of way. If you are afraid of a fight, do not jump on a taxi on the street instead.

Big evening for Hungarian football

Posted on November 16, 2015October 3, 2016 by Budapest Guide

Yesterday at exactly 22.40 shouts of joy could be heard from thousands of Hungarian homes and from more than 20,000 people present at the Groupama Arena. The Norwegian fans had already left the field, but the Hungarian players and the crowd remained at the stadium for a long time celebrating their qualification to a world tournament for the first time in 30 years.

This must be looked upon as a great moment in Hungarian football history, because after decades with little to nothing to rejoice in, not on club level and not on the level of national football, the Hungarian team finally managed to qualify for a bigger tournament, meaning that in the summer of 2016 the Hungarian team will travel to France to partake in the European Championship.

The Norwegian team came to Hungary as favorites before the match, even if they lost 1-0 to Hungary in Oslo three days earlier, but starting the match with a dream goal by Priskin Tamas the Hungarians in fact seem to have full control on the match all the way, while the Norwegian guys looked weak and with no guts in them at all. Quite the opposite of the fighting spirit found in the Hungarian players, something that could be seen very clearly as Daniel Bode wrestled with a Norwegian defender after 80 minutes. No need for the wrestling at all, but he still showed that he was on the field to fight!

In other words, we look very much forward to the European Championship in France in 2016 and this will be an event that for sure will give a big boost to Hungarian football, encourage young talents to go for it and follow their dreams, and who knows… maybe the Hungarian team will manage to fight themselves to some victories even in the Euro 2016?

The Box Donut in Budapest

Posted on July 18, 2015July 14, 2015 by Budablogger

Yesterday I went out to grab a burger at the Burger House near Nyugati in Budapest. As I walked towards Burger House I noticed The Box Donut, a new donut house just next to it, so I grabbed a box of 6 donuts to test it all.

The Box Donut is a place for those who want high quality at a quite high price. All donuts cost 390 HUF, which is quite a lot more than a donut in McDonalds, but the quality is also very different. All donuts made in The Box Donut are handmade, they are prepared with the best sort of chocolate, they are fried in nut oil and no conservatives and so are used.

What many people find interesting about The Box Donut is that the donuts do not have the typical round shape, but they are shaped a square. You will find the normal vanilla and chocolate donut here, but there are also much more exotic and cool looking donuts available. What about a donut with vanilla cream, chocolate and Oreo biscuits on the top? Or maybe a Creme Brulee donut? There is also a triple chocolate donut available and several donuts in different colors and with all sorts of fillings and decorations.

I bought six donuts and of course I did not manage to eat all six of them, but I tasted them all and liked every single one of them. I will probably not buy six donuts to eat them myself later, but if I walk in the area and want to eat something sweet and combine it with something to drink, this will work out just as good for me as a coffee house or a confectionery.

The Box Donut
Terez Korut 62

Tasty burgers in Burger House

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Budapest Guide

Would you like to eat a tasty burger in Budapest, but in your mind McDonalds and Burger King is everything else than tasty hamburgers? Why not visit the Burger House located next to Nyugati square, just somewhere between the WestEnd Citycenter and Sir Lancelot.

I visited Burger House not long ago to grab a hamburger with my family. We ordered quite a lot of different burgers, and for some reason making the order and getting it right seemed to be very hard, so the waiter came back several times to fix the order. After quite some waiting we manage to get almost what we ordered, but those who got what they ordered were really satisfied and the taste of the burgers was for sure among the best in Budapest. What was a nice plus was that the chef preparing the burgers noticed that we had a pregnant person in the group, and automatically he prepared the burger so that even the pregnant lady could eat it without fearing meat that has not been well enough prepared.

The prices of the burgers are between 1500-2500 HUF in general, but if you are crazy then you can also go for the giant burgers with 2x450g meat in them and lots of cheese. Of course the prices for these giant burgers are much higher, but if you want to try, then go for it!

All in all we were not completely satisfied with the overall experience because of the mess making the order and so on, but the food that we were served was great, so we would have no problem returning to Burger House in Budapest another time to grab some more burgers.

[stbpro id=”info”]There are several other Burger House restaurants in Budapest. You can also find one in Lurdy Haz, in Duna Plaza and in Óbuda. But the one near Nyugati is for sure the one with the best location.[/stbpro]

We just lowered our prices on guided tours in Budapest!

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Budapest Guide

For a long time we have not made any changes to our prices for guided tours in Budapest, but now we thought it was about time to make some changes, and to be nice we decided to lower our prices on guided tours in Budapest.

If you want to check our new prices you can just check them out in the tours section, and if you want to book a guided tour with us, just contact us using the contact forms on the different pages here in our Budapest Guide.

We look forward to meeting up with you in Budapest and have a beautiful summer!

International Wine festival 2015

Posted on January 17, 2015February 12, 2015 by Budapest Guide

The Budavári Borfesztivál (International Wine festival 2015) will go strong again in the start of September in 2015. Make your preparations and come visit Budapest for the annual wine festival!

The Budavári Borfesztivál (International Wine festival ) is one of the most popular wine festivals in Budapest which is held each year at the breathtaking Buda Castle. This will be the 24th Budavári Borfesztivál which is one of the most visited wine festivals in the life of the city. Hungary is known by its wines and at the festival visitors will have the chance to try the best Hungarian wines from all over the country. At the wine festival over 200 wineries will present their most delicious wines and the festival represents all the Hungarian wine regions and the 140 different grape varieties as well.

The main goal of the festival is to show the great variety of wines to the visitors. Alongside with the wines the festival also hosts the most delicious traditional Hungarian dishes as well. Apart from the wine tasting and eating the festival offers countless programs and activities for all the visitors. During the festival multiple concerts, various performances, games and children activities are waiting for everyone.

The 24. Budavári Borfesztivál will take place in the capital city of Hungary in Budapest at the Buda Castle with a beautiful view over the Danube and the city. The festival will be held from 9th September to 13th September 2015.

Buda Castle
Budapest, Szent György tér 2, 1014

For more information on the festival check the following site. For other wine tasting programs in Budapest check the following site.

Top events in Budapest in 2015

Posted on January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 by Budapest Guide

Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and one of the most interesting and visited cities in Europe. During the whole year there are plenty of activities and programs waiting for the visitors from the different concerts, festivals through the most fascinating exhibitions to the various cultural events in the city.

No matter which period of the year you visit Budapest there will be always something going on in the city. So in 2015 the capital of Hungary, Budapest will host the best events you can imagine. In the beginning of the year visitors can mostly enjoy the different concerts and exhibitions held in Budapest and one of the most awaited concerts of the year in Budapest will be the Slipknot concert which will be on 5th February.

Apart from Slipknot you can also enjoy the concerts of Roxette and OneRepublic as well. If you are more into classical music then the perfect choice is the concert of Andre Rieu which will be in May. When the weather gets better more outdoor programs will take place in Budapest.

In April the spring festival (Budapesti Tavaszi Fesztivàl) in Budapest will open its gates again for the visitors and the festival will be held from 10th April until 26th April. This is one of the biggest cultural festival in the life of the city and at the festival various concerts, opera, ballet and various dance performances will be shown. Another awaited festival in Budapest is the Sziget Fesztvál which is one of the most popular festivals in Europe. Every year thousands of people comes to Hungary to be part of it. Sziget is held every year in the first weeks of August and this year the festival will be held from 10th August until 17th August in 2015.

As the autumn arrives it is time for the annual wine festival, normally arranged in the middle of September, and following this it is time for chocolate and sweets festival, Palinka festival and lots of other festivals, both small and large. Then in the end of November it is again time for the annual Christmas market, so get ready, because there are lots of goodies waiting for you in Budapest!

Apart from these there are countless other things to see and do in the city if you want more on the programs, activities, concerts, festivals, museums and on the night life check the following site for more useful information.

Best films from Budapest on Netflix

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Budapest Guide

Do you have a Netflix account and feel like watching some film with clips from Budapest in them? Want to see the Chain Bridge and other Budapest attractions combined with action? Here are some of the films you can watch from Budapest on Netflix!

Before continuing it is worth knowing that there are not that many films that have been recorded in Budapest, and lots of the films recorded in Budapest does not really try to show Budapest as a city. That is why we will simply highlight a few films on Netflix in which you can see the beauties of Budapest. A film such as Die Hard 5 is not on the list, because you see very little from Budapest in that film, and it can not be found on Netflix.

So, as you want to watch Budapest on Netflix you will of course need a Netflix account, and if you are in Hungary you will need a VPN subscription as well, because you are not yet allowed to watch Netflix in Hungary. However, if you read the following article you will find out still how you can watch Netflix in Hungary easily.

Budapest on US Netflix

If you have a US Netflix account the best films are unavailable for you, but there is one film on US Netflix in which you can at see pieces of Budapest, and that is Evita!

Budapest on UK Netflix

On UK Netflix there are much more to watch, so the best two films available on UK Netflix with scenes and beautiful images from Budapest is I Spy and Munich. I Spy is a really lousy film, but after all it was recorded in Budapest, which makes it nice anyway. Munich is a much more serious film dealing with the terror attack on Israeli participants during the Summer Olympics in Munich. Here you can see some screenshots from I Spy (not too high quality though).

Hotel Gellert I Spy — Hotel Gellert in I Spy

Budapest on Norwegian Netflix

If you want to watch an action film in Norwegian with English subtitles, then you need to watch “Varg Veum: I morket er alle ulver gra” on Netflix. This film is far better than I Spy, and also here you can see lots of beautiful shots and scenes from Budapest. Take a look at the images believe for a little taste.

These are some films that can be watched on Netflix where you can see lots of beautiful Budapest clips. And what is great is that with one single Netflix subscription you can watch Netflix in all sorts of nations. You can read more about that here.