Budapest

[IggyAce]

Just booked 4 nights in Budapest for mid May so now the planning starts. Any recommendations for restaurants & cafes? Anything not worth the hype?

We were there in december and really liked this place - https://puderbar.hu/

We planned to go to the Museum of Horror but a local we spoke to didn't rate it and suggested the hospital in the rock museum instead, it was really interesting and not far from the fisherman's bastion so you could go to both. I would also avoid the hop on/ hop off bus, its expensive and the worst one i've been on.

The New York cafe gets mentioned a lot but every time we went the queues were massive and you can't book in advance.

We are just back from Budapest but only had one day and night there because then we got the train to Vienna. Not sure if you will have kids with you but we ate in here https://www.vcafe.hu/en/ and it was really family friendly with great food.

I wouldn’t bother with the funicular, we paid but easily could have walked it.

Its a really lovely place though, we all loved it.

We did the hop on hop off bus in Vienna and it was awful, we just got off in the end and gave up!

The museum of terror was incredible, I'd totally recommend it. I learned a lot and the music playing really enhanced it. We also went on a tour with a guide in the synagogue which was excellent. The shoe art memorial on the bank of the river is heart rending. Also recommend a spa, for a bit of light relief. The tube and trams are very cheap, so do use those.

We went at the end of April last year. Chimney cakes are.overated IMO.

Had an outstanding Greek meal at the Dionysos Taverna.

I second the synagogue tour.
You can look inside the New York Cafe for nothing, likewise the opera house, which also does tours

I found my review from the thread i started for advice in 2024. We had 4 nights

murasaki · 26/02/2024 11:57
We had a lovely time!
We got an air bnb close to Kalvin Ter, so 5 mins from a metro and even less to the direct airport bus. 29 quid per night between two with two bedrooms.
On day one we walked to the Funicular, then walked round the site at the top, visiting st matthias basilica, the fishermans bastion, the palace and a couple of galleries, then walked back along the river.
Day two was St Stephens basilica, Liberty Square, where we discovered a protest site undermining Orban's monument claiming that Hungary had been entirely bossed about by the Nazis and had had no input into deporting their own Jewish citizens. Old suitcases and photos of relatives, I suppose he thinks the bad press from removing it is worse than leaving it there. We walked down the river to see the shoes by the river, parliament buildings and took a tram back to the church in the rock.
Day three was the House Of Terror, which was just horrific but incredibly curated. The music was very evocative and the survivor videos heart breaking. Then to Szechenyi spa via metro, 1 pound per ticket (public transport was clean, fast and so cheap!).
On the last day we toured the Dohany synagogue and museums on site including the ghetto museum and the Jewish cultural museum. We had a fab guide who walked the line between horror and humour brilliantly and was super informative. A walk round the Jewish quarter followed by a trip.back to see the hospital in the rock amd the church in the cave as we'd missed them on day one and finally figured out where it was.
Decent enough sauvignon 2.25 in local aldi. Same price as a litre of orange juice. Lots of walking, my sis nearly crippled me, but we could have used more public transport but a pp was right, there's so.much to see architecture wise that it is good to walk.
I still feel that there is more to see!

The chapel in the rock was interesting to see. We liked the funicular as a bit of novelty. Trains/busses/trams are excellent. The Budapest card wasn't good value for us.

Yes, we just paid per ride, it was cheap compared to London!

Make sure you have tickets for all the transport, metro, tram and bus as we were there 2 days and got checked 4 times.
Don’t bother with Ny cafe, it’s just another tourist trap.
There’s plenty to see by the parliament. I went to see the iron shoes by the Duna and paid my respects by going to the 1956 memorial museum in respect to my father.
A boat trip along the Duna is great, evening for the parliament lit up or day time.
Lánc híd/ chain bridge, Fishermans Bastion, St Stephen’s cathedral, heroes square.
I’m not going to suggest restaurants, but try lángos, halászlé, pörkölt, rántott hús, gulyás leves, hurka, zserbo, kalács.

It was all incredibly clean I do remember noticing that. And how white it was. I live in South London, and my sister in Slough, so we did find that a bit jarring, enough to comment on it to each other.