Links

A Link to Links --- Caboodle’s excellent list of Budapest links


An Excellent Online Hungarian-English (and vice versa) Dictionary

(actually, it also does German, French, Dutch, Italian, and

Polish translation to and from  Hungarian; to change direction to Hungarian-English, just click on the heading English -> Hungarian)


Guidebooks (links to purchase our favorite guidebooks)

Budapest a Critical Guide by Andras Torok

     (unfortunately, not available in the USA at this time)

Granta Guide to Budapest

Only in Budapest

TimeOut Guide to Budapest


and the websites for some others:

Fodor’s (Eugene Fodor, the founder of Fodor’s Guides and reputedly a CIA operative, was Hungarian through and through)

Rough Guides

Lonely Planet

Frommer’s

Michelin


a tongue-in-cheek memoir of Budapest between the wars:

Strictly from Hungary by Ladislas Farago

and a more sober memoir of Budapest at the end of World War II, with recipes from Lang’s less daunting later career as a restaurateur

Nobody Knows the Truffles I’ve Seen by George Lang


Tourist Information

Budapest Tourist Bureau

Hungary Tourist Bureau

xpatloop.com

Budapest Pocket Guide

Budapest Funzine

BudapestAgent

SecretBudapest

Best of Budapest Awards

BudapestTouristGuide (slightly quirky, locally-edited guide to the city)

and also another one: BudapestTravel

BudapestNavigator (hip guide to Budapest, in Hungarian)

FrancoFun

Guide to Jewish Budapest


Web Travel Forums

TripAdvisor Budapest forum

Virtual Tourist Budapest forum

Frommer’s


Places to Stay in Other Cities in Central Europe

Dubrovnik Apartment Source

Prague-Stay.com (recommended by one of our guests)


Getting Around Within the City

public transit: BKV (buses)

public transit: main site

public transit: Budapest Card

taxis: Alajos Pulai, the driver we use for Airport pickup and hourly trips (this link should open an email window so that you can email him to make a reservation or ask questions)

taxis: City Taxi this link and the next two will take you to the websites for taxi companies that we have found reliable and inexpensive, and have English-speaking dispatchers, for short-haul trips within Budapest)

taxis: Fotaxi

taxis: Radiotaxi

parking regulations

web essay on parking in Budapest

bicycle rentals

segway rentals


Maps

Hot-maps (our favorite; interactive)

Budapest Culture Map (interactive)

Talking Cities map (interactive)

Continent Holiday (static, downloadable jpg)

Mappy (excellent UK-based interactive mapping website)

Michelin (interactive)

MapQuest

Budapest Street Finder

GoogleMaps

Budapest CityLive Webcam (a remarkable webcam that allows you to control its direction and magnification)


The Definitive Guide to Public Toilets in Budapest:

The Bathroom Diaries - Hungary


Getting Around Beyond the City:

Searchable train timetable to Hungary and Europe

Eurolines International Bus Timetables & Booking

Volánbusz Bus domestic inter-urban timetables and booking

Orangeways Bus Company, International Buses

Hungarian National Airline: Malev (offers direct flights from many countries)

Delta Airlines (offers direct flights from USA)

Aer Lingus: Direct flights from Ireland

Norwegian Air (Oslo, Stavanger)


Budget Airlines: Overview

Budget Airlines: Easyjet (Berlin Schonefeld, Dortmund, Geneva, Bristol, London Gatwick, London Luton, Newcastle)

Budget Airlines: Skyeurope (Brussels, Bulgaria, Copenhagen, Paris Orly, Nice, Athens, Thessaloniki, Catania, Milan, Naples, Rimini, Rome, Venice Marco Polo, Venice Treviso, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Malaga)

Budget Airlines: Wizzair (Brussels, Bulgaria, Paris Beauvais, Frankfurt Hahn, Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Thessaloniki, Rome Ciampino, Eindhoven

Budget Airlines: Air Berlin (Paris DeGaulle, Germany, Rome Fiumicino, Milan, Moscow, Ibiza, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Zurich, London Stansted, Manchester, Gothenburg Save, Malmo Sturup)

Budget Airlines: Sterling (Copenhagen, Stockholm Arlanda

Budget Airlines: Meridiana (Catania, Florence)

Budget Airlines: Blue1 (Finland)

Budget Airlines: SmartWings (Prague, Barcelona, Madrid)


Hydrofoil &  Boat trips to Vienna, Bratislava, Szent Endre...


Sightseeing

Introduction

Overview

Sightseeing Guide

Bus tour list

Bus tour operators: Barbiebus

Bus tours: Eurama

Bus tours: Cityrama

Walking Tours: Absolute Tours

City Segway Tours

A Tram-hiker’s Guide to Budapest -- Seeing the city by taking its trams

Off-the-Beaten-Path Walking Tours of the 8th District

Gabriella Török--Individual Guided Tours

Pal Street Tours--Interesting Expat Tour Guides


Exchange rates

Live market midpoints

Understanding the system

Table Comparing ATM and Bankcard charges and fees for foreign use


Foreign Language Newspapers

Caboodle

Pestiside (humorous)

Budapest Sun

Budapest Times

BudapesterZeitung (German)

Budapest Week

Journal Francophone de Budapest (French)


Baths

Guide to Budapest Thermal Baths

Bed, Bath and Beyond in Budapest (NY Times 10 Oct 2004)


Cultural Offerings:


Listings:

BudapestSun

BudapestInfo

BudapestWeek

xpatloop.com

BudapestPanorama

Budapest Funzine

Budapest Cultural Directory



SPRING (and other Budapest) FESTIVAL(S) 2008:

The major cultural festival is March 14-30; but others are coordinated here as well)


CHRISTMAS FAIR:

2007 Photos

Background information from the Tourism Office

Food and Flavors at the Christamas Fair in Vörömarty tér


Venues:

National Concert Hall (MUPA/Bela Bartok Concert Hall); English and German options available at top right)

Opera

Operetta Theatre

National Theatre

Merlin Theatre (English) (not current program, but contact information)


Orchestras:

Hungarian National Philharmonic

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (aka Hungarian Symphony Orchestra (website in Hungarian))

Budapest Philharmonic (Hungarian)


Museums:

Talking Cities’ Museum List

Museums homepage

Budapest Museum of Fine Arts (English option at top right)

Hungarian National Museum

Museum of Applied Arts (slow...)

Museum of Ethnography

Natural History Museum

Holocaust Memorial Center

Statue Park (public statuary from the communist era)

Citadella

books: Public Library (admittedly not exactly a museum but worth a visit)


For Kids

BudapestInfo children’s page

Frommers on kids

Frommers guide to parks and playgrounds

Family Outings in Budapest

Budapest Tourist Guide for kids

Budapest Family Calendar


Shopping

antiques: auction calendar: http://www.taylorartadvisors.com/auctions.htm

antiques: Pinter Antiques

antiques: BAV (national pawnshop with sales outlets)

antiques: Belvarosi Auction House

antiques: Maj Gyorgy (in the Jewish district)

books: Talking Cities Guide to Budapest Bookshops

books: The Red Bus (English language used bookshop)

books:  Tree Hugger Dan’s (English language used bookshop and Cafe)

books:  Bestsellers English language bookshop

computers (Apple): iStyle

design: monthly design market - WAMP

posters & paper ehermera: Hodobay Auction House (site is in Hungarian)

shoes:  Istvan Toth bootmaker

shoes: Vass Shoes

toys: Two Teddy Bears (great crafted toys)

toys: Fakopancs (in Hungarian)



The Almost Useless English Language URL for the Hungarian Postal Service

http://posta.hu/object.f76cdb9a-7633-4d8f-b9d1-5746e2d1d49d.ivy



Restaurants, Food, and Drink

guides and listings:

Chew.hu’s Top 33 (best restaurants in Budapest, and Budapest restaurant reviews and news)

Chew.hu blog

Caboodle’s list of bars

BudapestWeek Online Restaurant Reservations

Culinaris foodie Budie (cooking classes and listings)

Kashmir Restaurant (Indian cooking classes)

Chowhound.com (international food bulletin board)

Chili & Vanilia (food blog in Hungarian)

Tejben-Vajban (food blog in Hungarian

A website with numerous, often engaging, personal restaurant reviews by a British frequent traveler to Budapest (Jason Curtis)whose expense account appears to sustain wide-ranging sampling of food and drink


a restaurant reservation website for Budapest (I’ve never tried to use it)


food shops:

Culinaris -- Gourmet Foods

Szamos Marcipan

ChefParade

Astoria Delicatessen (Hungarian language website, but has store hours, etc)...decent selection of gourmet ingredients


cooking classes:

ChefParade -- Cooking School and Shop

Cooking classes taught by an English-speaking Hungarian 'grandma'

Cooking classes for 5 or more guests can be arranged at Bagolyvar Restaurant (owned by Gundel's)


wine:

Bortarsasag

Chocolates & Selected Wines (in Hungarian; great shop)

Janos Árvay Hétfürtös Winery (perhaps the finest Tokaji in Hungary today)

Istvan Szepsy Winery (the other major contender for finest Tokaji wine)

Gál Tibor Winery (surely the most distinguished winemaker in Eger, Gál Tibor died in a car accident in South Aftrica in 2005, but his winery continues)


restaurant websites:

Gerloczy Cafe (our favorite casual café, breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Cafe Bouchon (John’s favorite dinner)

Segal (Jeanne’s favorite dinner; she may be right)

Cafe Central (great Budapest-between-the-wars feel; good food, good prices, central location)

Cafe Alibi (lovely sidewalk caf´with excellent Alibi Salad, fresh orange juice, great coffee and teas)

Károlyi Etterem

Muzeum Etterem

LouLou (over the top opulence, first-rate food)

Baraka (tasteful, lavish. lovely, not as wonderful as it was when Viktor Segal was cooking there, and the portions are on the small side for the unusually high cost)

Trofea Grill (all-you-can-eat; all-the-locals-you-can-watch the range of well-made Hungarian dishes is near-limitless)

Océan (first-rate seafood restaurant in the heart of a landlocked country; creative chef)

Toscana (the first serious Italian restaurant in Budapest, its Tuscan chef left to start Océan and it is not as good as it was)

Fakanal (in the Central Market) surprisingly good given the touristy look and feel, but check out the steam tables lining the mezzanine as well -- Barbara Somlo’s find

Cafe Kör (excellent food, often crowded, heavy on tourists, but never a bad meal)

Búsuló Juhász (excellent, if kitschy, Buda restaurant in a huge garden with gypsy violins and traditional dishes)

Manna Lounge (Great location on top of the tunnel up to the Castle District, beautiful interior design, lavish terrace, quite good food, and service bad enough to louse it all up; still, a lovely place to go to watch a beautiful summer’s dusk

Soul Cafe (a cozy place on the Raday strip; food is good; the service can be slooowwwww...)

Vapiano...slow fast italian food (inexpensive, high quality)

Tom-George (trendy, tasty, moderately expensive, first high quality sushi in Budapest, eclectic fusion cuisine)


Off-the-beaten-path cafes/bars/hangouts:

http://www.szimpla.hu

http://www.west-balkan.com

www.tuzraktar.hu

www.zoldpardon.hu

www.cafedelrio.hu

www.a38.hu


Beyond Budapest:

Var Vendeglo - Sarospatak

Gróf Degenfeld Castle Hotel near Tokaj

Hotel Palota, near Miskolc, in a beautiful wooded setting

Hotel Azur in Siofok on Balaton, Barbara Somlo’s pick


Culture, Politics, History, Religion (in English)

Buksz (the Budapest review of Books in Hungarian)

Hungarian Quarterly

European Cultural Quarterly

Diplomacy & Trade

BabelMatrix (index of web-available translated literature into and out of Hungarian and other European languages)

Mult es Jovo (Past & Future, a Hungarian journal of culture and Judaic studies) Budapest Review of Books (no longer published in English, for archive, click ENGLISH button)

Central European University

Hungarian Government Publications

Centropa (‘Jewish Witness to a European Century’)

Hungarian Catholic Church

Hungarian Reformed Church

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary

Mormon Church in Hungary

Jewish Community of Budapest

NYC Hungarian Cultural Center

American Hungarian Foundation

not to be confused with:

Hungarian American Foundation


English Speaking Real Estate Offices We Have Used

at Duna House, we have found Argi Gyermán very helpful (Duna House is probably the largest network of realty offices in Budapest)

at Otthon Central Bogi Horvath has had an excellent eye for finding places we liked from the mass of multiple listings (also a very large network of offices)

Gabriella Haas has been great on follow-through; a much smaller office


Embassies, etc.

Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office

Address List of all Embassies

Unted States

Canada

Britain

Australia

France (French Trade Commission)

Germany

Netherlands

Italy


Newspaper Articles

Hungary is Stealing Some of Prague’s Spotlight (NY Times, 3 Sept. 2006)

Where Once an Empire Flourished, Nostalgia is for Sale (NY Times 8 June 2006)

Budapest’s Pendulum Swings Again to the East (NY Times 11 December 2005)

New York to Budapest: Where Celluloid Dreams Beckon (NY Times  20 Feb 2005)

Bed, Bath and Beyond in Budapest (NY Times 10 Oct 2004)

Budapest Winter’s Tale (NY Times 21 Oct 1990)

Nora Ephron on Strudel (NY Times 28 Dec 2005)

NY Times Article on the Rebirth of the VIIth District

NY Times Article on Dental Vacations