A Magyar Experience

Use the Funicular to descend from the hill to Chain Bridge (Lánchíd, or save yourself the walk uphill and take it on the way up). It costs about each way. Walk over the Chain Bridge to the other side of the Danube – you are now in Pest.

The Vaci Utca is a charming shopping district in the Pest side of the city, and definitely worth the visit.

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The accommodations were sparsely furnished but adequate. The beds, though, were very small and extremely hard, and the air-conditioning was turned completely off every time we left the room.

The advertised 7/24 food service was a misrepresentation, as the kitchen closed at midnight (and only the most meager snacks were available at the bar up until midnight). There was no room service. The hotel's only restaurant was really a cafeteria, and the food was not very good.

The towels (only one per person allowed) were small and rough, and the only bathroom amenity provided was an all-purpose liquid-soap dispenser on the bathroom wall. I was forced to find a market where I could purchase shampoo and bath soap.

We found the location to be advantageous, right on the metro line and within walking distance to the City Park. The hotel had only one computer terminal for Internet access. It was located in the lobby and closed for a full day while they repainted the wall over it.

There were several stag parties, so the noise level was always high. When we approached the front desk for directions or to book a taxi, few of them understood English and were rude and uncooperative.

I definitely would not recommend this hotel, nor will I stay here again.

This restaurant offers Transylvanian and Hungarian cuisine with dishes such as crisp roast goose leg and a range of soups and stews.

We found the food to be overpriced and ordinary, compared to comparable restaraunts in the city, but the atmosphere almost makes up for it. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine is $150.

A very high-ceilinged room allows space for a balcony from where the view is not as good as from down below, but you will at least be able to converse over the background of opera tunes. The coffee cream walls and white linen tablecloths are elegant and understated.

The dishes have themed titles such as Tournedos à la Rossini, Opera steak and Belcanto salad. I enjoyed the Tournedos à la Rossini, which was a wonderfully tender filet topped with foi gras. The food and atmosphere are excellent...you'll want to linger long after you've finished your dessert.

With no knowledge of Hungarian, the name 'Fatal' on a restaurant's door might make you think the chef was poisoning the soup. Fatal actually means 'wooden plate', on which many of the dishes are served.

Portions are extremely generous and reasonably priced.

Pork knuckle and a sliced beef dish named after Brassov in Romania costs HUF 1080. Cabbage stuffed with minced meat and rice is a traditional Hungarian dish, while fried cheese keeps the veggies quiet. Traditional fish soup from Szeged costs HUF 1190, and trout is HUF 1690. Half a roast duck with dumplings and cabbage costs HUF 1580. Add on another HUF 800 per person for drinks.

Who ever heard of sushi in landlocked Budapest? Although I was a bit leery, it was very fresh and totally wonderful.

After a very filling meal made up of sushi appetizers and a Hungarian dinner for each of us, we lingered over a delicious apple strudel and cappuccino. The goulash with spaetzel here was excellent.

The restaurant offers a wild selection of beverages including several varieties of Hungarian wine, malt whisky or French cognac. Besides all these You can enjoy a nice selection of Cubaian cigars too. They have a well ventilated cigar bar.(We did not partake) The menu is written in 6 different languages. The pleasures of romantic dinner at FRESCO are further enhanced by live music with a different band each night.

Since the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny for May, we opted to eat at one of the inside dining rooms, as there were no available tables with an umbrella on the outside terrace.The atmosphere was a charming mix of old and new Hungarian, and the wait staff was courteous and friendly and spoke enough English for us to get by.

The location is ideal: the restaurant is situated between the Vaci Utca shopping boulevard and the Chain Bridge, which leads to the Buda castle. The restaurant's website is at http://www.fresco.hu.

The main street of the district--Tárnok Street--ranges from Dísz Square to today's district centre, Matthias Church. Colourful little houses border the square and the neighbouring streets.

The medieval street network remains unaltered and although most of the buildings have been thoroughly restored (the war damage was severe) many retain their original features.

You will be able to see the remains of the Dominican monastery; the Plague monument outside Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom); walk along the castle walls on the Buda side and see the Turkish tombstones at the north-western corner

The Palace itself was gutted during the Second World War. Today, it hosts several distinguished institutions: the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest History Museum, National Széchényi Library and the Ludwig Museum.

The staircase is embellished with fine frescoes by Károly Lotz and sculptures by György Kiss. Since 2000, the general public has been able to view the Hungarian coronation regalia here: St. Stephen's Crown, the sceptre, orb, and Renaissance sword.

Like so much along the Pest bank of the Danube, the best views are actually from across the river (especially from Batthyany ter). Guided tours are available when parliament is not in session (go to Gate X to the right of the main entrance).

With an impressive number of decent venues, chances are that whatever time of year you travel to Budapest, it won't be difficult to plan a great evening out.

The main season here runs from September to mid-June and includes over 50 major productions, many of which are familiar to opera lovers abroad. For tickets, it's advisable to book a couple of weeks in advance, though cheaper seats are often available at the last minute. Performance listings (which are posted in the main box office) are easy for foreigners to decipher, unlike, it has to be said, the official State Opera House website, which is currently in Hungarian only. It’s best then to book online via Jegymester (Ticketmaster) at online.jegymester.hu (English and Hungarian).

Even if you can't get tickets for a performance, you must tour this incredible example of magnificent architecture. Designed by Miklós Ybl to commemorate the Hungarian millennium celebrations, Budapest's magnificent State Opera House was completed in 1884. Regarded as one of the most important historical buildings in Hungary, its elegantly styled neo-Renaissance proportions fit in perfectly with neighbouring buildings on Andrássy ut.

The façade of the building is decorated with statues of 16 of the world's greatest composers, including Monteverdi, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Bizet, and Tchaikovsky. There are also representations of the muses of opera, together with sculptures of Franz Liszt and Ferenc Erkel (the composer of the Hungarian national anthem and director of the opera house when it opened in 1884) on the ground level. The interior of the building is equally lavish. Karoly Lotz's frescoed ceiling in the main auditorium, which depicts "Olympus, home of the Gods," is particularly breathtaking. What's more, over 7 kilograms of gold were used to decorate the horseshoe-shaped auditorium, which seats over 1,200 people.

We also attended the opera in Vienna, and it's obvious that the Hungarians love opera even more than the Viennese do. Even though everyone died in the end, we experienced a heartfelt flawless performance of Othello that we will never forget.

For instance, no. 9 used to be an inn (it was rebuilt in 1840 by József Hild), in the banquet hall of which the 11-year-old Ferenc Liszt once gave a concert. Today it houses the Pest Theater. The façade of no.11 is covered with Zsolnay ceramics. Kristóf tér leads to Martinelli tér, where the Art-Nouveau ornaments on the house at no. 5 strike the eye, and behind the baroque façade of the Serviette Church, we can see the beautiful baroque building of the Town Hall (9-11 Városház utca, V). It was built between 1727 and 1735 to the designs of the Italian architect Martinelli to house disabled ex-service men. Since 1894, it has been the Central Municipal Town Hall. The 190m (210 yards) long façade, with its 47 windows surmounted in the centre by the tower of the former chapel, is an impressive sight. The neoclassical building at no. 7, Városház utca, now the Pest County Hall, was also built in the first part of the 19th century. In its artistically designed courtyard, open-air concerts are held.

As for shopping, Vaci utca was the only place Eastern Europeans could enjoy Western goods during the Communist occupation. Today, it is still a major shopping mecca for this part of the continent and is sometimes called the "Paris of the East."

Smaller shops tend to close for 1 to 2 hours at lunchtime. Frustratingly, some outlets even shut while the owner pops to the post office for 10 minutes. Rest assured, however, that he/she will return a couple of hours later, having met friends who insisted on a quick visit to the local pub or café. Look for a sign saying Azonnal (or Rogton) Jövök on the door. It’s up to you whether you wait!!

There are many outdoor cafés where you can enjoy a glass of wine or cappuccino while you rest your weary feet and enjoy the art of people-watching - just be sure to check your bill. Some of the cafés make a habit of charging tourists double.

It's home to Heroes Square (Hosok tere), with its monument to the 1956 Uprising and the Millenary Monument that depicts the Angel Gabriel offering Stephen the crown to the Kingdom of Hungary, surrounded by statues of the seven leaders of the original Magyar tribes.

The City Park also contains the Museum of Fine Arts, the Palace of Art, the City Zoo, the Szechyeni Bath, and the Municipal Great Circus. Also in the park is the Vajdahunyad Castle, located on an island in the lake. The park is full of playgrounds, sports fields, small gardens, and a manmade lake.

A word of warning for the prudish--even the not-so-fit lillt old men lie around the park sunbathing in very little clothing.

Outside the nearby Jak Chapel is a statue of a hooded monk called Anonymous, who chronicled the activities of the early Magyar tribe.

A Disney-like tower dominates this stone wall with seven turrets representing the Magyar tribes who once populated the country. A majestic statue of Saint Stephen marks the entrance near Matyas Church.

This is a lively area both day and night since the area surrounding Bastion boasts gypsy music, a restaurant, wine cellar, and bar and disco. It's a very popular place with the tourists and locals alike, and it enjoys the notoriety of serving as the site of many marriage proposals and weddings. We witnessed three different wedding parties in only 2 hours!

The neo-Romanesque structure has only ever had a decorative role and was created specifically as a tourist attraction. It is a popular place to look out over Pest - and what a view! The glorious views of parliament and Pest beyond are simply breathtaking. Standing on the parapet of this structure, you get a magnificent view of the Danube River and the streets and buildings of Pest beyond. From this vantage point, you can see the magnitude of the parliament as well.

The view alone is definitely worth the trek uphill.

It's colorful, noisy, and full of both wares and people. The many sights, sounds, and smells can be a little overwhelming.

The local merchants sell their wares from brightly colored stalls and expect you to bicker over the price. You can buy anything from a handmade chess set (personally engraved on the spot), hand-tatted lace, and embroidered linens to a sampler of Hungarian paprika and sausages.

It's also a great place to stop for a quick, inexpensive bite to eat. At one end, you'll find several Hungarian "fast-food" stalls, which sell various sausages, pastries, sandwiches, and goulash. Seating is in the open food-court style. Be forewarned: this area of the building is rather warm, and there is no air-conditioning.

Although the existing tower itself is mostly a post-war reconstruction (completed in 1997), the building has a very rich history.

A garden of ruins behind the tower portrays the history of the church, beginning in the 13th century. During the Turkish occupation, it continued to hold Christian services for multiple denominations, with the Catholics using the chancel and the Protestants using the nave. Then, like other places of worship in the city, it too was converted into a mosque until the Turks were expelled in 1686, when it reverted back to a church. Franz I was crowned here in 1872. It even served as a chapel for the army at one point.

Today, the tower is open to the public as a lookout tower, although it was not open when we visited.

Completion of the bridge sparked the economic revival that led to the Golden Century for Hungary. It was also a prominent factor that allowed the provincial towns of Pest and Budato combine into a fast-growing metropolis.

In 1989, people demonstrated on the chain bridge for freedom and independence. It has since rightly become a symbol of both Budapest and Hungarian liberty. The bridge, however, did not escape the perils of war. As they retreated, German troops blew up the bridge in January 1945. The bridge was restored on the 100th anniversary of its inauguration, in 1949. New floodlights were installed in 1999 to mark the 150th anniversary of the bridge.

The stately lions at either side are symbols of strength and fortitude. Views of Pest from the bridge are spectacular, and the bridge is best traveled on foot. Bring plenty of film to takes lots of photographs as you cross the bridge on your way to the Buda castle district.

Although it attracts a lot of attention, most tourists stop and sit at the base to rest their weary feet, or take snapshots of the monument without realizing its solemn meaning. I would not have had any idea myself if I had not been within earshot of a group tour whose guide spoke English. What I heard stunned me.

This striking alabaster column was erected by Buda's Council in 1713 to serve as a lasting memorial to those who died in the devastating plague of 1691. There were not one, but four outbreaks, and so many people perished that they could not be buried properly, so they were buried in mass graves.

At the top of the column is the golden Holy Trinity (hence the name), while the main portion of the statue depicts a multitude of angels and saints. At the foot of the column, King David is depicted praying for an end to the plague.

In Medieval times, the square was the main marketplace of Buda. It's the highest point of Castle Hill.