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)
and the websites for some others:
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
BudapestTouristGuide (slightly quirky, locally-edited guide to the city)
and also another one: BudapestTravel
BudapestNavigator (hip guide to Budapest, in Hungarian)
Web Travel Forums
Virtual Tourist Budapest forum
Places to Stay in Other Cities in Central Europe
Prague-Stay.com (recommended by one of our guests)
Getting Around Within the City
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)
web essay on parking in Budapest
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)
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: 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
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
Table Comparing ATM and Bankcard charges and fees for foreign use
Foreign Language Newspapers
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:
SPRING (and other Budapest) FESTIVAL(S) 2008:
The major cultural festival is March 14-30; but others are coordinated here as well)
CHRISTMAS FAIR:
Background information from the Tourism Office
Food and Flavors at the Christamas Fair in Vörömarty tér
Venues:
Merlin Theatre (English) (not current program, but contact information)
Orchestras:
Hungarian National Philharmonic
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (aka Hungarian Symphony Orchestra (website in Hungarian))
Budapest Philharmonic (Hungarian)
Museums:
Budapest Museum of Fine Arts (English option at top right)
Museum of Applied Arts (slow...)
Statue Park (public statuary from the communist era)
books: Public Library (admittedly not exactly a museum but worth a visit)
For Kids
Frommers guide to parks and playgrounds
Budapest Tourist Guide for kids
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)
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 restaurant reservation website for Budapest (I’ve never tried to use it)
food shops:
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:
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)
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:
Beyond Budapest:
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)
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)
Hungarian Government Publications
Centropa (‘Jewish Witness to a European Century’)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary
not to be confused with:
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
France (French Trade Commission)
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)
