Thanks for the reply. The Soul Bar looks nice. I'll definitely be giving it a try next week.

Off to Budapest for the New Year and assumed they use Euros here but having checked some websites for restaurants this doesn't seem to be the case. Can someone please tell me what the local currency is? Many thanks!
Cazz

They use the forint, currently around 333 to pound:

http://www.fxcorporation.co.uk/marksandspencer/ExchangeRates.asp

Have a good time, we enjoyed it at this time of year.

Many thanks for that Maria. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you

Personally I loved the National Museum, but that's me all over. The market hall; take the funicular up to the old town (but walk down - it's all down hill) across the chain bridge; the Fisherman's bastion and old town; shops on the Vaci Utca; a spa at the Hotel gelert. Hold on to your valuables and walk tall, a you would in any big city. The trams and the underground are brilliantly efficient and cheap.

We are travelling in July this year for a week.

I would like recommendations please if anyone has stayed in a 2 bed apartment near or in the city centre. we aren't bothered what star it is as long as the bathrooms are decent and the whole place is clean.

we are considering hiring a car for a few days, if not the whole week, anyone had experience of car hire and know of any decent rental companies.

Thanks

Yippee

We have been to Budapest twice recently and the second time was for a week in may and boy was it hot, very hot. Although the hotel we stayed in had a pool in was an indoor pool. I longed for an outdoor pool to dip into after a day sight seeing. Its only a thought, but when we go again in the summer i will have a place to cool off and chill out.

Have a lovely time, we love it.

We got back last night from our trip to Budapest and had a lovely time.
We stayed at the K K Opera Hotel- great hotel, lovely staff and fab breakfast as well. easy to walk everywhere from- which we did on both days.
First day we walked up andrassy to the House of Terror which while I would not say was enjoyable because of the subjest matter it was certainly an eye opener and quite moving as well. From there we carried on up to the zoo which is great. They are doing a lot of building work as well at the moment so I would only expect it to get better over the next few months.
We then walked back down Andrassy, stopping for a hand thrown pizza on the way back and continued down to the river then along to Parliamnet, an incredibly ornate building and back to the hotel by way of St Stephens Basilica.
We ate that night at a restaurant 5 mins from the hotel called BavariaTanya- great hungarian food, huge portions and good prices.
Yesterday we walked across the Chain Bridge to old Bupa. The view from the hill if great and it was a lovely clear crisp winters day. The funicular railway was a good trip as well. The buildings are beautiful up there We went round the Military History museum which is interesting but they are very funny about you having to put your coat in the cloakroom! My other half got followed around for a start!
We finished our trip with a wander round Vaci street then back for food before we flew home.
A beautiful city, with magnificent buildings, and that faded elegance as well.

just booked a weekend in Budapest for February . flights and hotel £200 for 3 nights staying at the carlton hotel . Cant go wrong for that and the hotel gets very good reviews . Had been undecided on here or Bratislava but thought this would be the better option in february and will leave Bratislava for spring or Autumn.

will be going back over this topic now and will no doubt have loads of questions.

lyn

Have just had some friends return from budapest,they said that as long as you have your wits about you and are sensible you should have no problems.
They did, however, have some problems in restaurants though. The key things to watch out for though which stood out from what they have told me is ALWAYS make sure taxi's are licensed or you may be lumped with a huge fare and be carefull in the restaurants becasue some employ some very sneaky tricks. My friends went for a meal but when the bill came it was almost four times what they expected, the reason for this was that on the menu, a steak for example will be priced per 100g but the one you recieve will be the unspoken minimum of 400g, also the bottle of wine they ordered had a huge mark up to which the restaurant explained by saying the one they wanted was out of stock so the waiter chose a similar wine albeit one that cost four times as much!

Apart from these attempted tricks they all had a great time and plan to go back later this year, so don't completley be put off

Hope that helps people

Thanks for those restuarant tips MM . Looking forward to our weekend in feb .We dont drink wine but hubby does love his steak so I will be studying the menus carefully.

No problem lynwestie, ill long as your careful like i said you should be fine, hope you have a good time

Just returned from a three day trip to Budapest.

We stayed at the carlton hotel right next to the chain bridge on the Buda side . A good choice for £110 total for 3 nights , clean , basic , an excellent buffet breakfast and a great location for easy excess to both Buda and Pest but we were very glad to be on the Buda side .

Overall worth a visit . The 2 sides are completely different . Buda is quieter , more charm and character with winding streets , quiant buildings, lovely views and with a more old town feel. Some good resturants in the evening and lovely on a snowy evening under the old streetlamps.

Now the pest side which for us didnt hold any appeal whatsoever . Maybe different if you have come for bars and clubs but it just seemed a sprawling city with no real focal point like a town square. The only character coming from the shopping street which apparently is one end shops and the other bars. Everything is way too spread out and not conjusive to strolling and mooching . You needed to know exactly where you were heading , even in terms of finding a restuarant and use the buses and trams .There were plenty of fine old buildings and the top ten must do's consistered mainly of art galleries, museums and more gold leaf than you can shake a stick at if you want to do a tour of parliament or the opera house. Unfortunately none of these are particularly our thing . We do like history and can throughly recommend the house of terror which gives a gripping and moving account of communist hungary and the terrible history this country had endured. We felt this should of been a must do but wasnt widely advertised in our guide books . Do pay the extra for the audio guide ,you need it . The old market hall was also worth a visit .
There are still a lot of changes being made to the infrastructure there and some buildings still being restored . You can feel that money has not been spent here in the same way as the likes of prague. It,s clean but lacked charm .

The weather probably didnt help us . We had 2 days of wet sleety snow constantly blowing in our faces so this ruled out most of the green areas . We had intended to spend a day taking the cog and childrens railway into the buda Hills but the weather was against us . There may be a completely different feel to budapest in the summer .

On the plus side we enjoyed the food there and had some lovely meals . The mulled wine was superb , beer good and It was probably one of the cheapest cities we have visited.

overall , worth a visit but we wont be rushing back .

lyn

Sounds a bit like our trip to Riga Lyn. We're glad we went, but I can't see us returning. Budapest was on our "to do" list. I'm not so sure now. Thanks for all the info.