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Budapest Airport parking

Posted on by Budablogger

For many people coming to Budapest the place of arrival is Budapest Airport. The airport has two terminals, terminal 1 and 2, but earlier this year the owner closed down terminal 1 due to few passengers, a natural consequence of the bankruptcy of the Hungarian airline Malév earlier this year. Even though RyanAir immediately launched more than 30 new destinations from Budapest, it still seems that the passenger amount decreased so much that they had to close down terminal one a few months later. This all lead to the closure of Budapest Airport Terminal 1 in the end of May 2012, and since then only terminal 2 has been in use.

A few weeks ago the news was given that the parking lot in front of Terminal 1 would be turned into a P+R parking lot, in which people coming from outside Budapest can park their cars and continue towards the city center of Budapest using either the train stopping at the Ferihegy stop next to the airport, or traveling with bus 200E from the airport towards Köbánya Kispest. From that stop travelers can travel on with metro towards the city center. This is of course nice, but what is going on at the parking lots in front of Terminal 2?

One of the fears of many tourists coming to Budapest deals with the taxi drivers of the city. Can we trust them? Will they trick me? Will they add additional fees for luggage and so on, thus giving me a far higher price than I should pay if I got a “normal” taxi? As a solution to this Budapest Airport Zrt. continuously try to make it harder for the unofficial airport taxi’s to operate at the airport, and so helping Fö Taxi (the official airport transfer company with set prices) to get more passengers. Until now there are lots of drivers approaching you as you arrive in the terminals, claiming to be official taxi drivers, offering you transportation to your Budapest hotel. Their cars have been parked outside the terminal and they simply get some passengers and drive on towards the city. Many warnings have been given against these so called official airport taxi drivers, but they still seem to get a lot of transfers, because they can still be seen.

New parking rules at Budapest Airport from August 8th, 2012

For the last years it has been impossible to park in front of the arrival terminal at Budapest Airport for anyone else than the official airport taxi’s and the airport mini bus. This means that even large tourist groups with buses ordered needed to walk up one floor to the departures part and walk out there, and then they could find their bus. This has been a really stupid solution and none really liked it. Since August 8th there have been changes, and now anyone can drive up in front of both the arrival and the departure part of Budapest Airport, thus with some heavy price changes.

If you want to park in front of the arrival or the departure part of Budapest Airport Terminal 2 they have introduced the so called Premium Parking since August 8th. The price for parking there is 2000 HUF for 30 minutes, but if you leave within 5 minutes the parking is free. It is though interesting that many workers with quite normal wages (500 HUF per hour) will need to work for four hours to be able to park for 30 minutes in front of the terminal. Of course those people with such salaries normally don’t fly so much, but still, this needs to be taken into consideration when setting a parking fee. If you walk outside the terminal building and down some stairs you will get to the big parking lots, and there you can park for 800 HUF if you leave within thirty minutes. If you leave within 10 minutes the parking is free.

I have been outside Budapest Airport several times since the new parking fees and rules were introduced, and it is interesting to see that there are almost no cars to see in front of the arrival and the departure part of Budapest Airport, the so called Premium Parking. In general there have been 3-4 cars parked in the parking lot, and everyone else just drive through picking up their passengers already waiting for them, or dropping of the passengers from the car, and then leaving within 5 minutes, thus not paying any parking fee at all. The question is if this is good for the airport, or not? An empty parking lot where everyone just drivers through, thus making no money, or a full parking lot with lower fees, but still making more money?

With the new system it has gotten much harder for pirate taxi’s to operate at Budapest Airport and that is for sure positive, but they are still there, so if you arrive at Budapest Airport, you should still look out for them, and just walk pass them as you arrive. It is possible to order private airport transfers before arrival, but if you have not done that, then you should walk by the drivers offering their services, and walk towards the official stand of the Airport Taxi or Fő Taxi outside the terminal building. The price of an airport transfer in Budapest with your own taxi driver should probably be between 6000-10,000 HUF, of course depending on where you stay, but if your hotel is in Budapest, it should fit into this price category.

If you would like to park your car at Budapest Airport for a longer period this can easily be done (so called long-time parking), as the airport has protected long time parking available, and at quite nice prices. This summer they have an offer giving you parking for 8 days costing only 9990 HUF, so this should be considered if you would like to leave your car at the airport.

Ferihegy, Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport or Budapest Airport

The airport in Budapest has two terminals, and earlier these have been known as Budapest Ferihegy Airport terminal 1 and 2 (A & B). Terminal A and B are located next to one another, so you can walk between the two terminals in one or two minutes. Not long ago it was renamed (as was lots of other squares, streets and so on in Budapest) to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport or as we know it in Hungarian “Budapest Liszt Ferenc Nemzetközi Repülőtér.” In Hungary many people still use the name Ferihegy Airport, while others use the new name and call is Ferenc Liszt Airport. A third group simply call it Budapest Airport… What is important for you if you arrive to the airport is to know that it is the same airport they speak of, no matter which of the three names they use.

Paprika Hungarian restaurant review

Posted on by Budablogger

Paprika Vendéglő, or Paprika, is a cozy and nice Hungarian restaurant located not far from the Heroes Square and the City Park in Budapest. The restaurant does not look to special from the outside, but on the inside they have a very nice and traditional Hungarian interior. During the warmer months of the year the restaurant also has a nice terrace outside the main entrance where you can sit and enjoy the meals while viewing cars passing by (quite amusing in fact).

Paprika is well known among both locals and internationals, and here you can get traditional Hungarian extreme portions, meaning that you will in most cases not be in need of starter, main course and dessert… the main course is more than enough by itself. On the menu you can find Hungarian goulash soup, fish soup, grilled goose liver, wiener schnitzel and lots of other courses, which will give you a good introduction to the Hungarian kitchen. They also have some fish dishes and dishes specially prepared for vegetarians, so everyone should be able to find something after their taste as they visit Paprika restaurant in Budapest.

Prices at Paprika

The price level at Paprika is not bad at all, and almost all courses cost less than 4000 HUF. A dinner for two, of course depending on the amount of drinks you order, should cost somewhere between 6000-10,000 HUF. Here comes some price examples from the menu at Paprika:

Goulash soup: 1050 HUF
Spicy chicken slices with pasta: 1850 HUF
Wiener Schnitzel with french fries: 2200 HUF
Grilled rumpsteak Lyon style with French fries: 2900 HUF
Creamy Mushroom tagliatelle: 1700 HUF
Cottage cheese dumplings: 790 HUF
Coca Cola (0,2L): 310 HUF
Dréher 0.5l (draught beer): 600 HUF

Appetizer/starter in Paprika restaurant

It might be a bonus and it might be a minus in Paprika, but it is a reality that most Hungarian restaurants trying to create an authentic atmosphere also includes live gipsy music. This is not the fact in Paprika, and you are here able to enjoy your meal in peaceful quietness, only disturbed by your own and the voices of the other guests. After visiting quite some restaurants with gipsy music this is in the eyes of Budablogger a big PLUS!

Restaurant on the inside

Do not expect gourmet food as you come to Paprika, because then you will be disappointed. Expect instead traditional Hungarian food, large portions, good service and nice prices… and hopefully you will be satisfied! Feel free to share your own thoughts on the restaurants using the comments field at the bottom of this page.

To get to Paprika you can travel with the yellow metro to the stop Heroes square. As you look towards the Heroes square and have Andrassy ut behind you, start walking to the right and follow Dozsa Gyorgy ut for a while, until you finally reach Paprika after 3-4 minutes.

Paprika restaurant information

Dozsa Gyorgy ut 72, Budapest 1071
Tlf: +36-20-294-79-44
Opening times: 12.00-23.00

Victoria and Albert exhibition in Museum of Applied Arts

Posted on by Budapest Guide

In London you can find a whole lot of amazing museums, but one of the nicest of them all is the Victoria and Albert museum. But, instead of traveling to London to see the museum we have a better suggestion. Visit the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest instead, and see more than 320 objects from the museum in London exhibited there.

The exhibition is open from today (June 15th) and will be available until September 16th. The subject of the exhibition is among others; What did they consider art during the industrial revolution? What was considered pretty during those days? Is it only now a problem with ugly mass production, or was it a problem back then as well?

This exhibition has not arrived directly from London to Budapest, as it has been exhibited in Bonn for quite a while, and from there they transported it on to Budapest. If you would like to check out this exhibition read more about museums in Budapest and go visit the exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts

Victoria and Albert in Budapest
June 15th – September 16th
Museum of Applied Arts

Where to watch Euro 2012 in Budapest?

Where to watch Euro 2012 in Budapest?

Posted on by Budapest Guide

The European Championship is currently on and if you are coming to Budapest you might be worried about where you are going to see the matches with your favorite team. You have no need to worry, because almost wherever you go in Budapest you will find televisions showing all the matches, both in restaurants, pubs and similar places.

If you would like to see the matches though in a place where people gather together to see the matches, then we have some recommendations for you.

1) The Liberty Square
Just in the area between the Hungarian Parliament and the St Stephen’s Basilica the Liberty Square can be found. There you will find a big screen, places where you can sit, and also a big grass area where you can enjoy the large screen and also a cold beer if you would like to while watching the matches. One of the best places in Budapest to see the European Championship outdoor.

Euro 2012 at Liberty Square
Euro 2012 at Liberty Square

2) Champs Sports Pub
Next to the Great Synagogue the sports pub Champs can be found. Here you can watch your favorite team on one of the many screen located around in the pub. Probably the best indoor place in Budapest to see the European Championship

3) Akvárium
On the Deák Square, or the Erzsébet Tér, the club Akvárium is located (formerly know as Gödör Klub). Here you can also see matches outdoor at a large area with lots of people, and many staying out partying after the matches are finished

4) Next to Alle Shoppingcenter
If you are on the Buda side of Budapest and would like to see you favorite teams in Budapest, then a quite small area has been set aside next to the Alle Shoppingcenter where you can sit down, buy something to drink and watch the matches on a big screen.

We hope these advices can help you a bit, and we of course hope that you favorite team will win all their matches.

Muse Budapest 2012

Muse Budapest 2012

Posted on by Budapest Guide

Muse Budapest 2012The popular band Muse will come to Budapest in November 2012, to perform in the popular concert venue, Budapest Sportarena. This concert will be arranged only one day after the Muse concert in Vienna, and this will be one of the many destinations in Europe this autumn, featuring cities such as London, Madrid, Paris and many more. Muse consists of three constant members named Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard and the tour in 2012 is named The 2nd Law Tour. If you would like to be there at this Muse concert, or maybe at the Muse concert in Vienna or somewhere else, the links further down on this page can be used for more information about the concerts and for purchasing tickets.

The Muse concert is set to start at 20.00. While in Budapest, do not miss out on all the great activities available in the city.

Muse Budapest
Budapest Sportarena
November 20th, 20.00

Tickets: Seatwave.com – WorldTicketShop

Ferihegy 1 has closed down

Posted on by Budapest Guide

As of May 30th all flights arriving and departing from Budapest uses Ferihegy 2, or Liszt Ferenc International Airport Terminal 2 (A and B). The plans are to keep terminal 1 closed for 4-5 years until traffic reaches normal amount again (after the bankruptcy of Malév), and when traffic is back as usual terminal 1 will be opened up again.

The advantage of using Terminal 2 is the fact that you can enjoy the services at the Sky Court with much larger areas for shopping and services after check-in. The disadvantage is the fact that the terminal is located a bit (appx. 4km) further away from the city center.

 

Cheap strawberries in Budapest

Cheap strawberries in Budapest

Posted on by Budapest Guide

The summer is approaching and right now it is high season for cheap strawberries in Budapest. If you visit shops selling fruits and vegetables, or maybe pay a visit to the big market hall, you will find strawberries at very low prices. Yesterday as we visited the big market hall next to the Allee shoppingcenter we bought one kilo of strawberries for only 500 HUF (1,6 Euro), a quite amazing price. So if you love strawberries, do not miss out on the cheap offers in Budapest at the moment!

Cheap strawberries in Budapest
Cheap strawberries in Budapest
Where to live in Budapest?

Where to live in Budapest?

Posted on by Budablogger

Before arriving to Budapest many ask themselves the question where to stay/live while in Budapest. The question will have a different answer depending on the length of your stay and of course what is important to you and what requirements you have. Still there are some general advices that can be given. We will answer the question about where to live in Budapest in three different ways. The first part of our answer will be directed towards those coming to Budapest as tourists (1-14 days). The second part of our answer will be directed towards those who come to stay in Budapest for a reason for a period of between 2 weeks and half a year (short term visitors), and the third part of our answer will be to those who plan on staying in Budapest for half a year or a longer period (long term visitors)!

Where to live in Budapest?

Where to live in Budapest as a tourist?

Budapest is a city divided in two by the river Danube, the beautiful river giving Budapest one of the most beautiful panoramas in the entire world. The first question is therefor whether you should live on the Pest or on the Buda side. In general it can be said that the Buda side is a bit more quiet, greener and with more parks and at times less traffic. The most important places at the Buda side as a tourist is the Gellert Hill and the Castle hill with the Castle of Buda as the main attraction. Some shopping malls can also be found on the Buda side.

The Pest side is where you find the popular tourist areas such as the shopping street Váci Utca, the most popular shopping malls, most of the popular restaurants, quite some museums, the Big Market Hall and of course the Heroes Square and the exclusive shopping street Andrassy út.

Based on the information given here the general tourist will find it preferable to live on the Pest side and rather visit the Buda side once or twice during their stay. If you do the opposite you will often find yourself constantly walking across the Danube (or grabbing a taxi) to do anything at all, and that is time that could be used in a better way. The walk along and across the Danube is of course beautiful, but since most of your time will be spent on the Pest side, our recommendation would be to book a hotel on the Pest side of Budapest.

Where to live in Budapest as short term visitor?

If you come to Budapest as a short term visitor (between 15 days and 1/2 year) you probably have a reason to be here. Maybe you come to work in a special office for a while or maybe you are part of an exchange program, thus having to attend a school in the Hungarian capital for a short/long period of time. There might be plenty of reasons for you to come, but if this is you, then our main recommendation would be to find a place to live near your office or wherever you have to go frequently. It is not so important whether you stay in Pest or in Buda, but look for an apartment near your office. If your office/school or whatever is a bit outside the city center, check the possibilities on how to get there with public transportation and if there are good opportunities, find a place to live near a station which will easily take you to the place you need to visit regularly.

Where to live in Budapest as a long term visitor?

Maybe you have met a beautiful Hungarian girl and would like to get married and live in Budapest for a long, long time (until death do as part)? Or maybe you have received an offer of a dream job somewhere in Budapest and now you need to find a place to live in a hurry. No need to worry, there are plenty of flats available for sale and for rent in Budapest, and if needed, you can easily find a place to live within less than a week (if you have the money ready).

You might ask the frequently asked question; where should i live? In Buda or in Pest? The general Hungarian would often answer that Buda is best and Pest is a bit like it sais… a pest and a plague. Buda is in general a bit more peaceful and on a long term stay that might influence your choice. Compared to many districts on the Pest side Buda also has less crime, stealing of cars and such problems, also a plus and point to the Buda side. If you come to Budapest as a foreigner with children you should consider where the children will attend school or kindergarten. There are quite a lot of great English schools and kindergartens in Budapest, and it is for sure ideal if you manage to find a place to live near any of these. For those coming because of a job you should of course take your office location into consideration and try to live not to far away from it, or at least make it easily accessible with public transportation. You might have a nice sport car, but when the traffic jams come to Budapest, your engine will not help you get quicker to work than if you had an old Lada.

If you want to live in the most luxurious areas of Budapest you should consider buying a real estate at the Rozsadomb, the Buda hills not far from the Margaret Bridge. Another option is to find a nice flat or house in the area around the Gellert Hill, or between the Danube and the Fishermens Bastion.

These are some simple advices, but feel free to share your thoughts on the subject writing a comment further down on this page.

Report from Palinka and Sausage festival 2012

Posted on by Budablogger

Yesterday the Palinka and Sausage festival of 2012 was officially opened and the enjoyable festival will last until Sunday evening. We visited the festival on its first day, and here are our thoughts.

The first impression is that the festival reminds us of the beer festival in many ways. By the entrance you buy the ticket and you also buy an electronic card to which you add money, and later on the inside you use this card for payment everywhere, meaning that it is a moneyless festival. This system works fine, and since the first day of the festival is somewhat quiet, there were not really any lines or waiting time, so perfect!

Inside the festival area I was a bit amazed of the fact that there were much fewer stands than at both the beer festival and the wine festival. The Castle of Buda serves as the arena for the festival, but only the Lion and the Hunyadi courtyard. In these courtyards you could taste a whole lot of palinka, eat a lot of sausage and also taste tequila, which is the guest of honor at this years Palinka and Sausage festival.

The Hungarian fruit spirit normally has an alcohol content between 40% and 60%, so it is quite strong stuff. There were at least 20 different stands from where you could buy different kind of Palinka, and one of my friends tried a quite exclusive and expensive one; raspberry palinka. It was too strong for me, but it is cool to have tried it. Arpad is a famous producer of Palinka from Bekescsaba, and later we also tried some of their production, which tasted better then the previous Palinka (at least I think so… but, that is very subjective).

In the area there are quite some stands where you can buy warm sausages and eat them (like in any traditional Hungarian festival), and then you can buy different salamis and sausages and either bring them home or eat them together with bread at the festival area. One of the special sausages of Hungary is the one made from mangalica (a special hairy pig), so if you visit the area, try some mangalica sausage or ham. You can even buy salami from the Hungarian grey cattle (szürkemarha), which is something you do not get everywhere.

This is what the Mangalica looks like!

If you are not that much into Palinka then you can buy soft drinks at different places inside the area, and there are also two wine shops where you can buy different kinds of wine. They do not have the biggest selection, but considering the fact that it is a Palinka and Sausage festival it is not bad at all.

We visited the festival on the quiet opening day, but if you plan on visiting the festival today, tomorrow or on Sunday you can for sure expect more people (especially in the evenings), lots of strong Palinka, tasty sausages and lots of fun. Worth a visit!

The entrance fee for one day is 2000 HUF.

Lots of Palinka to taste at the festival

Flamingo restaurant (Fészek étterem)

Posted on by Budablogger

Flamingo restaurant (also known as Fészek étterem or Fészek klub) is the place you would normally never find, unless you knew about its existence. It is located in the seventh district of Budapest, not far from popular clubs such as Kuplong and restaurants such as Faustos and Trofea Grill. Still it is very different from these, and since it is so hard to find, it was almost empty as Budablogger went there to have his lunch.

Flamingo restaurant (Fészek étterem) does not look too much like a restaurant from the outside, but once they escort you to the garden inside the complex, it almost feels like a revelation. The restaurant has a really special atmosphere, but that is only valid in nice weather when you can sit outside in the garden and enjoy your meal. On a rainy day it can be enjoyable as well, as you sit in a kind of tunnel with roof above, but still outside „enjoying” the weather and the temperature. If you come during school time you can even enjoy the sound of children doing sports/gymnastics somewhere nearby (I am not sure if that is positive or not, but it wasn’t really disturbing at all).

The lunch menu in Flamingo costs about 1000 HUF, and then you will get three courses. As you come for a lunch menu you got a selection of different soups, main courses and desserts to choose between, making it easier for everyone to find something they like. When I visited the restaurant I started out with a broccoli cream soup followed by a pumpkin stew with pork goulash and an apple pie for dessert.

Flamingo is not among the top restaurants of Budapest, so therefore you do not expect the highest of high quality as you come here. But I at least expected the food to taste well and to satisfy my hunger. The soup came quickly and it was tasty, nice and green – just the way it is supposed to be. The main course came in a big portion and it looked very nice, and tasted even better. After eating everything until then I did not really need a dessert, but since it was in the menu I had ordered, then of course I had to eat the dessert as well (though I only ate one of the two pieces of apple pie).

Lunch in Flamingo – Pumpkin stew with pork goulash

The dessert came quickly and to my surprise I got to quite nice pieces of apple pie. Some sort of apple sauce was placed upon and beside the cake and yet another time I really enjoyed the dessert, except from the fact that I was very full before I took the first bite of it.

All in all I can warmly recommend Flamingo (Fészek étterem) as a place for a lunch. It is probably a bit different during dinner, but if they keep the same standard as they did for the lunch, 80% of all visitors will be more than satisfied with what they are served. On the menu you can find traditional Hungarian courses, and they even have a three course tourist menu costing 15 Euro per person.

If you look for special tastes and culinary wonders, then you should probably go to Onyx, Faustos or Mak Bistro instead, but if you are looking for a quite cheap place to have a bite of food with nice taste and good portions, then this might be it. Feszek means nest, and because of that they have pelicans made out of tree located around in the backyard (garden), and they also have a house parrot which can be seen in the garden on sunny day. When that is present you almost feel as if you are out in the forest somewhere, with birds singing in the background.

This is how it looks – very cool in the evening as well!

Flamingo / Fészek Klub / Fészek étterem

Kertész utca 36 (corner of Kertész utca and Dob utca)
+36 1 342 6549