Budapest hotel choice with DC12 and WW2 sights for April trip

[patate10]

I have booked flights for Budapest with ds (thanks for all advice)!

Just about in budget I could book Kempinski or Al Habtoor - any advice? I would like a little pool for us to pootle in a couple of times. As he is below 14 and we are going in April I dont think we will do the baths in the city.

On my list for things to do - cable car to castle, quick mooch in grounds, hospital in the rocks, shoes on the Danube, light art museum, pinball museum and a ruin bar during the day. Thinking Margaret Island hard to fit in on small trip??

Has anyone been to the cave tour - is that good? Is the House of Terror good and would it be ok for 12 year old? I do want to get enough WW2 in as he is interested and gives us a bit of a reason for the trip! Also thinking night Danube river cruise.

He might like this: https://justbudapest.com/childrens-railway-fogaskereku-vasut/ - you can get the cogwheel railway up to it and go down from a different station

Ooh I hadn't found that! Will investigate! Thank you.

Check youtube for the episode of 'Travel Man in Budapest' with Richard Ayoade. I recall them showing the children's train line, among other things.

-Shoes on the Danube takes just minutes and can be incorporated whilst walking to/from something else.
-April will still be chilly. You'd need to find somewhere with a heated pool, or if its an outside one, that its even open in April.
-I found St Stephen's Basilica stunning, but maybe boring for a child. If you go, just get the basic entry. There is another option to include views from the tower, but the lift only took 4 people at once, the queue was very long and it was higher than I was expecting. I'm usually ok with heights, but I just felt uncomfortable up there and wanted to get back down- which then included yet another long wait for the lift.

We went in Nov and stayed here. No pool though. Its gated apartments, but also had English speaking reception which was handy to leave luggage in, book taxis etc. Its in the Jewish quarter and we walked from here all the sites we went to.
https://firsthost.hu/budapest/elisabeth-downtown-apartments/en

House of Terror is fine for 12 year who already knows/understands/is interested in learning more about WW2 (and the communist regime after). There are some scary parts - execution /interrogation rooms, but as far as I remember it is factual rather than graphic so it's only scary if you understand what it is. And you can't really approach that subject without getting into scary territory.

Bike tours are surprisingly good in Budapest, might be an option? Also, make sure you get public transport passes and use the trams, underground etc - it's really easy to use and helpful because it's a pretty big city. The tram circle is also quite fun just for sightseeing when your legs get tired.

Memento Park (where they took all the communist statues) is absolutely amazing. It's a bit of a trek to get there, but we'll worth seeing if your son is interested at all.

Also, Gellert Hill and the citadella for the best views in town!

Thank you all. I love Travel Man, definitely going to find that!

We did the baths in January a couple of years ago. It was minus 5 outside, but it was amazing!

Normally would be top of my list but you have to be 14 to go in the thermal baths and ds is not old enough.

@patate10 - sorry, didn't realise that!

Budapest is amazing though - have a great time.

https://budapestflow.com/hidden-mini-statues-budapest/

This was brilliant! It took us past most of the main sites and was a lot of fun. Some are really tricky.

Oh I love things like that! Thank you!

We went to the outdoor spa on St Margaret Island. There were only one or two pools there that under 14s couldn't go in, and even then it wasn't being policed.
We stayed in the opera garden apartments, which were lovely and very central.

Go up in the tethered balloon in the city park near Széchenyi baths!

https://balloonfly.hu/

I love this. I have no idea how we are going to fit everything in 😂

We took our now 12 year old a couple of years ago and went to Margaret island and the big waterpark which is kid friendly unlike the adults only spas.
it was absolutely fantastic!!
homestly one of our best holidays and places ever. Have fun!!

The waterpark also did amazing and reasonably priced food

We stayed in the Kempton BIM which was walking distance to Margaret Island and the Castle. Loved Budapest. Hoping to go back one day

I went last autumn. One of the best city breaks ever. If you want to stay in the thick of it in terms of places to visit stay in Pest not Buda although trams across the Danube to these places are quick and easy. The river cruise in the evening was the highlight and if you are brave enough sit outside top deck for the best views!

Having got ds excited about the railways and the chairlift I have just uncovered the chairlift is closed on our days! Also panicking as we arrive 4 days after the elections and have seen people predicting carnage. Hopefully will be fine...

I think I would definitely like to an evening cruises, I love city lights by night!

The caves were brilliant. I had a 12 and 14 year old with me at the time. We are wanting to go back. Was easy to get a tram and bus out from the city centre. We also did the Pin Ball museum, Went for a couple of hours when it opened then went out to the circus (very good and fab value) before walking back through the park and grabbing street food before returning to the pinball museum for another couple of hours. The ticket covers all day and you can come and go.

I didn't go into the spas - too many things to do. The ruin bars were great fun and spent more time than I expected enjoying just looking what was in them while we all had soft drinks.

Didn't do Margaret Island as most of the stuff for their age wasn't open (end May).

I tried to persuade them to do a river cruise but weren't interested. The Pinball museum was what they wanted. Have a great time. You'll love it.

House of Terror definitely worth a visit, especially if he has a keen interest in ww2. Fascinating how Nazis used the building to terrorise during ww2 and Communists took over after ww2 but were basically the same people in different uniform, continuing the terror. Smalll photos of the many people who died there surround the building, some of whom were of the age they may still be alive today.

Palatinus Strand on St Margerets Island is defo OK for under 14 if you have a sunny day, in fact I would say it was absolutely made for them with slides etc, and loads of food places and really warm massive thermal pools, and easy to get to (but do check if it is open when you go, and from OPs it may not be). Szenchenyi also lets under 14s in, but only in the outdoor pools - to be honest, the queues for this one, the cost, and the restrictions would not make it my first choice, but it is good, and you may be able to team tag - ie one goes in the proper thermal baths, one lazes about in the properly warm pools outside with teenager. The pinball museum is brilliant, but check the opening hours, and get the longer pass. You can get the normal ferry up and down the river in your travel pass (which you should get), it gets crowded but gives you lots of good sights, St Stephens is probably the most beautiful church I have ever been in, was free to do last time I went, but it may have changed. I have been to Memento park, great, far out, but if you are interested in that sort of thing. Ruin pubs are great, but mainly for adults. There are some interesting eating places to go, we still love Frici Papas, which has changed so much since we first went 12 years ago. Always was a no-nonsense sort of place that slapped down decent Hungarian food for super-cheap, now (probs due to tripadvisor reviews, hidden gem etc. there are queues galore and it is crowded) still good though. It's my favourite European city, and plenty to enjoy xx

There's a less fancy public baths on Margaret Island that kids can go in - we went in January and the outdoor thermal pool was full of families. There's a proper heated outdoor swimming pool next to it if you want do do some proper lane swimming, but you will need to take bathing caps (I got told off as I didn't realise).

https://www.palatinusstrand.hu/en

You can get a bus right up to it, and there's a fab cafe outside for a hot chocolate afterwards. 🙂