My Budapest

The whole city is one big highlight. What more can I say?

Quick Tips:

Come for a few day, stay for a few weeks, remember it forever.

Best Way To Get Around:

Very easy and affordable public transportation system.

To-ma Tour is a travel agency which also deals with short-term apartment rentals. If you are travelling in a group, this is a great alternative. For about 15 USD a night per person, you can get your own apartment in the heart of Budapest. Check out: click here. This is where I got accommodations for my friends who were visiting from abroad. And they loved it. I can vouch for apartments 002 and 014 where they stayed. Both were clean and well-located. If you don't want the hassle of a hostel or are staying for a lengthier time, this is the smartest thing to do. Apartment 014 is big enough for like 9 people (bed-space-wise). And the people we dealt with at the agency were very nice and helpful too.

The 4 Tigers aka Chinese Market ("Piac") is Budapest's most infamous outdoor market. Infamous but also best and largest. If you're looking for trendy clothes, cheap shoes, brand-name knock-offs, suspiciously low-priced pricey perfumes, wigs, jewelry, toiletries, etc. this is the place. The market is huge and like at the Louvre, it's impossible to see everything in one day. On weekends, the narrow paths are crowded with shoppers and reckless immigrants shouting "kocsi" (cart) with various accents, racing along with their merchandise and trudging on your feet. Watch out for them and pickpockets - apparently they too are plentiful. Also remember to bargain - 100 forints is a 100 forints. And have a good time.

There are quite a few thermal baths in Budapest. One of them in particular I've always wanted to visit (Rudas) but it's off-limits to me as woman. *BaH* to male chauvinism. Here are the ones I have experienced first hand.

Gellért Baths
Very famous, very pretty, very everything. There are separate spa sections for women and men and some common swimming pools. The spas are very beautiful and tranquil. It's the norm to go naked (in the spa section ONLY, of course). A very liberating experience. Just a tad gross when you see pubic hairs floating in the water. *gag*

Széchenyi Baths
Very huge, very popular, very oh-look-the-old-men-are-playing-chess-like-in-the-photo. This is a pretty good bath too, but I found it rather impersonal. It's in the Varosliget, near the zoo and everything so maybe you could make it part of your day there.

Kiraly Baths
Near Batthanyi Metro (which my friend thought was Hungarian for "bath" :)). It is alternatively open to women and men (call to find out). It's small and in bad need of renovation, but it's a "charming" example of Turkish architecture. The 4 of us had a splendid time and all got massages. My foot massage was oh-so-delicious but the whole-body massage I heard was painful rather than relaxing.

While at a bath, do try the 1) hot-bath, 2) freezing-cold tub, 3) sauna cycle - it's good for circulation and rather addictive after the first time. Trust me.