heading away for a few days in each city, non bike trip with mrs zinaru.

any cool recommendations for stuff to do beyond the obvious tourist stuff?

Nobody has replied because this has been done SO may times. Just search on Budapest; nothing much has changed since the last “what to do?” post.

Evening. I lived in budapest for a few years – I’ve copied below what I normally recommend to people. Missing from the list, if you have time go out to Memento Park – it’s about 25 mins out of Budapest – it’s a collection of a lot of the communist era statues (big!) that used to be scattered around the city. We went to Vienna a few times when living there – the amusement park area (forget the name) I thought was a dump, whereas around the zoo and palace are much nicer. There’s a high speed train between Budapest and Vienna. Enjoy!

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Get a taxi from the airport… Will cost about 8k HUF (£25). The bus / train option is cheaper but a real pain the…

Gozdu Udvar is good for drinks- a pedestrianised area with lots of bars and cafes. The two wine bars – spiller and ?? – are pretty good as is the Bluebird cafe for coffee, but it food / service is quite hit and miss. 2 Spagghi is on the same strip and does great takeaway (or eat in) fresh pasta.

Szimpla Kert is the most famous of the ruin bars. best to go later in the evening just for drinks. There are others but may as well go to the biggest and most famous.

Taxis are regulated but we’ve not had great joy with them. Definitely don’t hail a taxi anywhere around Szimpla Kert or the area you’re staying. Not knowing the area they will try it on and take you a long route. Also be careful that you get the right change and avoid paying with large notes. If you do need a taxi I recommend you use Budapest Taxi on +3617777777. They have English operators and I never had a problem.

Better still to get a multi day BKK ticket that is valid on all trams, metro and busses. There are a few routes I really recommend for sight seeing on the cheap – I think getting the public transport around is much more fun than the tour busses.

1. Number 2 tram along waterfront on pest side. It runs around the parliament building. You should hop off and watch changing of the guard which happens quite frequently.

2. Number 1 metro runs beneath Andrassy avenue – it’s protected as part of world heritage status, still an oldy worldy carriage and worth getting up all the way up to city park

3. The cog railway up to normafa. My favourite place in Budapest – you can get the 51 tram (check… Think this is right) to the cog railway and then get the cog up to the top of normafa. It’s a big open park up in the hills with gentle ridge walk with views down to the city. Worth walking all the way to Erzebet tower about 1.5 miles along the path with great panoramic views. You can get cog railway back down or there are plenty of busses which are quicker (but less fun). You’ll probably see a load of downhillers piling on to the cog railway for the blast back down through the woods.

Spend time in city park, you can hire pedallos or boats on the boating lake. Szechenyi spa is in city park. It’s the most touristy but I still think the best one to go to. If you want a massage don’t get it from the people hounding you as you go in- they’re a private company that charge twice as much. Ask when you’re paying for your entry tickets.

Definitely go to Margit island. It’s a largely pedestrianised park island in the Danube. You can easily walk there from this centre – the bridge nearest the parliament takes you there. On Margit island you can hire quadricycles that take up to 6 people. Great fun, good way of seeing the island. If you want to escape the heat there is an outdoor spa on Margit island called platinus strand. A great place to spend a half day in the sun.

Cafes… There are two I live on the buda side.
1. Deryne Bisztro – go for breakfast, sit outside in the sun. Eat lots. Try the shakshuka.
2. Villa Bagatelle – again, good for breakfast or lunch. Everything is great.

If you fancy a slightly more upmarket dinner, still a good prices (Budapest doesn’t really do uber expensive…) go to Bock Bistro next to the Corinthia Hotel. Bock are a large wine producer, treat yourself to a bottle of good Kekfrancos or Bikaver wine (‘Bulls blood’).

There’s a little art / print shop near where you are staying called Printa. You wouldn’t spend long there but worth calling in for a few mins. Good coffee shops round the corner from there too.

Definitely go to the Bascillica. Don’t bother going on the Ferris wheel in the centre, pay to climb up above the dome in the Bascillica. Really well worth doing.

If you fancy being cultured the opera house is amazing and ridiculously cheap. You can get a private box for £20 per person, other seats are much cheaper.