Extra days in Budapest

[CincyAL]

Many thanks!

[Tennessee Traveler]

Hi Cincy Al,

Ruth & I toured the Parliament in Budapest. It was quite impressive! We were on a Go Ahead tour - not a river cruise. That was prior to our river cruising days.

Next week at the Nashville Film Festival, we're seeing a movie called Up The Yangtze. It's about a river cruise through the Three Gorges & focuses on the Chinese staff aboard the ship and how their lives are so different from the lives of their families ashore. I wonder if Eddie & Olivia will be in the film. Hi from Nashville, TT

[MartiniWabbit]

I am just checking in to read what other suggestion for Budapest people have posted. We are still going to stay at the Kempinski hotel, we are fine with walking although we will be there the end of October and hope it is not too cold or rainy. We realized weather/temps the time of year we are going may be a little colder than we though about when we booked. But the ship I think is almost sold out so others aren't concerned. We will have 2 full days and 2 1/2 days in Budapest so I see we will have plenty to see/do and keep us busy. I will keep checking back to see if more posts.

 

We will be on Amadeaus......Buda to Paris........the 21 day trip.

 

Lynne

[agabbymama]

Another great one is the Astoria Hotel, it's just a short walk to the river and to Vaci Ut, right in the historic heart of Budapest.

[Trash Queen]

:confused: Yukonld, you've said several times that you'll be on the Amadante, Budapest to Amsterdam in August, but have not said which day in August you'll board the riverboat.

 

There are three couples of us who will be on the Amadante, boarding in Budapest August 10th. Is that your cruise, as well? I started a thread on the Roll Call board sometime last summer, but so far nobody else has posted, and we're still looking for others who will be on our cruise.

 

We and one other couple will arrive on Wednesday and stay at the Hilton in the castle (adjacent to Mattias Church) till boarding the Amadante on Sunday. The other couple will arrive on Friday and stay at the Marriott for two nights. We all plan to do go to dinner together the night before boarding, and you and your mother would be welcome to join us. So if we'll be on the Amadante at the same time, please say so.

 

Mike and I spent five days in Budapest a couple of years ago. There's a lot to see and do; there are also a couple of good tour companies that you might want to investigate since your mother might not be up to walking around the city a great deal in the daytime. We were there in August, and thought it was really hot, temperaturewise!

 

Charlotte

[yukonld]

Hello Charlotte - Thanks so much for the invitation to join you for dinner in Budapest. Unfortunately, we are on a different trip - we are taking the Amadeus Amacello departing Budapest on August 23rd. We are going Budapest to Prague, but arriving early in Budapest on August 20th and planning our own pre-trip days. I would love to hear which tour companies you used and if you would recommend them. I have read the names of a couple companies and looked at their itineraries on the internet, but a personal reference is always more reassuring. We do plan to take some guided tours since neither one of us wants to do too much walking if it is really hot.

Lynn

[Trash Queen]

After posting, I realized that you most likely were on a different ship. However, it was too late to edit. Ah, well, that's life!

 

Mike and I used Cityrama bus tours to go out to Santender (bus out/boat back) and also for an out-of-town dinner with folk dancing and music. If you book ahead, they'll pick you up at your hotel for no additional charge. Or you can meet them across the street from the Intercontinental Hotel. They have quite an extensive menu of tours. Amadeus does provide a 4 hour bus tour of the city pre-cruise, but from the description it sounds like you'll just pass by and see 'way too much, with no time for going inside. For larger sight seeing, I'd recommend Cityrama, www.cityrama.hu

 

On the other hand, if you want to be completely on your own and just want transportation from one sight to another, I recommend City-Circle Sightseeing, which is a hop-on/hop-off bus that stops at all the sights on a schedule. You can complete the entire trip on one lap while staying on the bus, or you can get off to see something and then board the next bus to see the next thing. www.eurama.hu

 

You'll want to be sure to get up into the castle. The palace, itself, contains several galleries: art, history, etc, but is no longer used as a palace for the head of state, or even decked out as we think of palaces. At the other end of castle hill is Mattias Church, which is adjacent to the Fisherman's Bastion on one side and the Hilton on the other. Climbing up to the castle area is strenuous, and I'd advise that you and your mother either take the funicular at the base of Gallert Hill to reach the palace, or use the hop-on/hop-off bus.

 

For those who might be tempted to chime in on hoofing it on your own, I'll add that Mike and I exercise at the YMCA for 90 minutes 5 morings a week, and are pretty fit; we climbed the stairs up to the castle at least once a day because we were at a budget hotel in the castle--and we thought the climb was strenuous, especially during the heat of the day. We live in southern California, and thought it was mighty hot; those who live where the temps and humidity are higher than ours might not be bothered by the heat as much. However, if you and your elderly mother live in the Yukon, you might feel the heat as we do.

 

One more thing I highly recommend is the national museum, but ask at the entrance if they have an elevator. It is a wonderful museum not far from the market, and wonderfully cool at mid-day.

 

This time I plan to get out to Godollo, the summer residence of Hungarian Queen Elizabeth. We also plan to go to dinner at Matyas Celler restaurant, in the Matyas Hotel. On Wednesday and Thursday nights they have folk dancers; on other evenings they have a Gypsy band playing music. Address is Marcius 15 Ter 7-8.

Charlotte

[agabbymama]

Budapest is an absolutely fascinating place to visit. I hired a private tour guide and was glad I did, it was so nice having her drive, knowing her way around, and never getting lost. We did a 4 hour tour of Budapest itself.

 

http://www.tourguide.hu/review.htm She is a licensed guide

 

I also used Cityrama for a visit to a Hungarian puszta (farm or ranch), they dresss in typical Hungarian garb and put on quite a show. Lunch was included for a typical Hungarian meal. They are really fabulous horsemen.

 

Szentendre (St. Andrews) is a small artist tourist town outside of Budapest and Visegrad is another town at the Danube Bend. We included both of these towns in one day.

 

I spent 7 days my first visit to Budapest in 2001, then went back for another 10 days in 2005. The second trip we traveled further afield and stayed overnight in other towns in the mountains and at Lake Balaton. Lake Balaton (is the largest fresh water lake in Europe outside of Russia)was another trip we did, but that was a full day excursion and could be quite costly. Herrend porcelain is another excellent place to visit.

 

And as already mentioned Godollo was the summer residence of Queen Elisabeth (Sisi) beloved queen of the Hungarian people. It was an absolutely beautiful palace.

 

So much to see and do, even though Hungary is a small country, I could go back many times more. I loved the green countryside and forests.

[Trash Queen]

Before going all the way out to Santender, though, see if the ship stops there; ours does. Since you'll only be in Budapest a short time, no need to duplicate sites.

 

Charlotte

[skylinelinda]

I've been in Budapest several times (lots of dental work - implants). I love the location of the Marriott and the Intercontinental. You are right on the river and can walk to several restaurants.