Budapest TOP 10

Budapest-"the Paris of Central Europe"

1.The Castle Hill and the Chain Bridge

The Castle Hill The castle hill is part of the World Heritage, contains Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and museums. The hill’s appearance has changed much since building began in the thirteenth century. The main street still follow their medieval courses, with Gothic arches and stone carvings in the courtyards and passages of 18th and 19th centuries.

Today the complex houses the Hungarian NationalGallery (Wings
b, C and D), the Budapest History Museum (E) and the National Széchenyi Library (F).Before the Royal palaceyou can be found the statue of Eugene of Savoy,overlooking the Danube and Lánchíd. The most well known of bridge is the Chain Bridge (Lánchíd), the first permanent stone crossing over the Danube.
Without doubt, the bridge's construction helped to draw Buda and Pest ever closer. Ite was constructed between 1839 and 1849, today still themost recognizable symbol of the city.

2.Gellért Hil and the Citadella

Gellért Hill is the perfect vantage point to view Budapest. At the top are the Liberation Monument and Citadella. The hill itself is named after Bishop Gellért who had been invited by St. Stephen to help convert pagan Hungarians to Christianity.
The Citadella is the most beautiful location of Budapest, with sweeping views of of the city from this fortress. It was erected in 1854 by I Ferenc József, the Habsburg emperor, after the suppression of the 1848-49 Hungarian revolution and war of independence.
The Gellért Hill along with the Castle District and the panorama of the banks of the Danube was adopted as World Heritage in 1987.

3.Hõsök tere

Hõsök tere was originally designed to symbolize the millennium. It is a vast and grandiose symbol of 19th-century
Hungarian nationalism. The imposing 36-metre high column which supports the winged figure
of the Archangel Gabriel (György Zala 1896) is encircled on its pedestal by statues
of the seven conquering Hungarian tribal chiefs on horseback. The square is flanked on either side by the Szépmûvészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts) and the Mûcsarnok (Palace of Art).City park includes the Vajdahunyad Castle and a small artificial lake, too.
Széchenyi baths, Vidám Park and the famous Gundel restaurant is also just a few minutes walk away.

 

4.Óbuda and Aquincum

Óbuda (meaning Old Buda) was a separate town that used to be the main settlement; now it is usually thought of as a suburb. Óbuda's old Main Square is its most picturesque part of the district. The square has been spruced up in recent years, and there are now several good restaurants and interesting museums in and around the Baroque Zichy Kúria (Zichy Mansion), which has become a neighborhood cultural center. Among the most popular offerings are the summer concerts in the courtyard and the evening jazz concerts. During Roman times, Budapest was known as Aquincum, (nowadays it is part of Óbuda). Today you can see the ruins of the garrison town in Aquincum Museum (III. district, Szentendrei út 139, HÉV Aquincum stop, Open: 9am-5pm Apr 15-30 and Oct 1-31, 9am-6pm May 1 Sep 30, closed Nov 1-Apr 14, Budapest Card accepted, Website: www.aquincum.hu).

5.Normafa and the Elizabeth observation tower

Normafa and surrounding are located on the Western ouskiets of Buda, on the top of the Sváb-Hill, on the border of the Nature Protected Area of Buda, in a picturesque environment. Most of the area is covered by forest. It offers a beautiful scenery with a splendid view of Budapest. You can see all of Budapest from different spots all around Normafa. Tradition has it that an old beech tree was planted in the 15th century in the timeof the great Hungarian king, King Matthias. In 1927 the old tree fell, today visitors see a beech that was planted in 1962.
Not far away from the famous beech tree, the Elizabeth observation tower offers an excellent panorama of Budapest and surroundings in clear weather.The observation tower stads proudly on the top of Janos Hill, the highest peak of Budapest.

6.Budapest-"city of spas"

Budapest has been famous for its thermal springs and bathing culture for centuries. It's really gained its reputation as a city of spas in the 1920’s, following the first realization of the economic potential of the thermal waters in drawing in visitors. Indeed in 1934 Budapest was officially ranked as a “City of Spas.”One of the reasons the Romans first colonized the area immediately to the west of the River Danube and established their regional capital at Aquincum (now part of Óbuda, in northern Budapest) is so that they could utilize and enjoy the thermal springs. There are still ruins visible today of the enormous baths that were built during that period.
The ruins of Aquincum give evidence of Budapest's first steps towards becoming a "Royal Spa". In the course of the city's history many crowned heads made use of the stylish spa facilities: Frederick Barbarossa, the Hungarian Kings Sigismund and Ludwig and Edward VIII in the 20th century. Under Turkish rule lasting 150 years in the 16th and 17th century spa culture continued to flourish. Today, Budapest is the only city in the world with more than 100 active thermal springs and fountains.
The city is fortunate to have some of the world's finest Turkish baths. Not only do they boast original Ottoman architecture (consisting of wonderful octagonal pools, cupolas and colored glass windows) but offer a unique - and sometimes hedonistic - bathing experience.
There are 118 springs and boreholes altogether, supplying the city’s spas and baths with 15.4 million gallons of water daily ranging in temperature from 21-78°C.
Gellért Baths (Gellért Gyógyfürdo)
http://www.gellertfurdo.hu, XI. Kelenhegyi út 4, Trams 18, 19, 47 to Gellért tér, Open 6am-7pm daily
Király Baths (Király Gyógyfürdo)
http://www.kiralyfurdo.hu, II. Fo utca 84, Metro: M2 Batthyány tér, Open 6:30am-7pm (Men only Mon, Wed, Fri; Women, Tue, Thu, Sat)
Rudas Baths (Rudas Gyógyfürdo)
http://www.rudasfurdo.hu, Döbrentei tér 9, Tram 18,19, Bus 7 to Döbrentei tér, Open 6am-6pm weekdays, 6am-12pm Sat-Sun
Széchenyi Baths (Széchenyi Gyógyfürdo és Strandfürdo)
http://www.szechenyifurdo.hu, XIV. Állakerti körút 11, Metro: M1 Széchenyi fürdo, Open 6am-7pm daily
Lukács Medicinal Baths
http://www.lukacsfurdo.hu .(II. Frankel Leó u. 25-29.)

7.City of Festivals

Sziget Festival
The green island of Óbuda in the Danube River just north of Budapest is the venue each summer for what has become one of the largest open-air rock and pop gatherings in Europe. Thousands gather on the island for a week-long music extravaganza with more than 1,000 performances across 60 venues. The island is equipped with basic camping facilities and numerous pubs and restaurants, which cause it to become a ‘festival city’ for the duration of the event. Literary events, classical music, theatre, dance of all genres and art exhibitions also add spice to the happening festival scene which has something to offer all age groups.
www.szigetfestival.com

Budapest Spring Festival
What began as a city cultural event in 1981 has now spread its wings and grown to become a nation-wide celebration of Hungarian culture and talent, drawing thousands of appreciative classical, opera and jazz fans from all over Europe. The Academy of Music and Budapest Convention Centre plays host to most of the classical concerts on the programme, opening with the National Philharmonic Orcestra and Choir rendering Wagner and Berlioz. The city resounds with chamber music recitals and church concerts, while opera buffs feast at the State Opera House. Other Hungarian towns and cities where festival concerts and events are held include Sopron, Szombathely, Pecs and Szentendre.
www.festivalcity.hu
Budapest Autumn Festival
On the other side of the seasons to the Spring Festival is this Autumnal celebration of contemporary arts. A wide selection including music, arts, dance, theatre, photography, film and computer-generated art take place at various venues throughout the city. The festival opens with a sculpture competition along the streets in which the general public is able to partake. On the dance side, choreographer Ohad Naharin and the Batsheva Dance Company perform the highly anticipated Mamootot. The film side sees strong selections from Finnish artists and American composer David Shea. Closing the festival is a performance by the Vienna Art Orchestra.
www.festivalcity.hu
Open air Summer Festival
The open-air theatres of Margitsziget and Városmajor offers a vide variety of opera,- rock-opera-, operetta-, musical-, jazz- and light summertime theatre plays, children’s concerts, family programs.
www.szabadter.hu

 

8. Budapest - centre of Hungarian Art

Within the often changing borders of Hungary during its history, fine arts developed in strong interaction with European art, and although they always reflected European tendencies, they retained a strong character of their own. All artists, irrespective of origin, who worked in the country, contributed to their formation. In addition, Hungarian artists who spent a significant part of their career away from the country but retained contacts with Hungarian art and artists, also participated in the development of fine arts in Hungary. In spite of the abundance of invaluable artworks, Hungarian fine arts are somewhat underrated outside the country. It is, therefore, our objective to present a full range of painting and sculpture in Hungary to a world-wide general public by introducing artists and their most important artworks.

Hungarian National Gallery.Website: http://www.mng.hu
Vasarely Museum, III. Szentlélek tér 6
Museum of Fine Arts,Website: http://www2.szepmuveszeti.hu/index.htm
Museum of Applied Arts, Website: http://www.imm.hu

 

9.Don't know what to eat in Budapest?

The great traditions of Hungarian cuisine have, in the last ten to fifteen years, successfully mingled with modern sophistication. Hungary’s reputation as a food centre dates partly from the last century and partly from the communism.
Classic Hungarian gastronomy has had many outside influences. Slav neighbours introduced native cooks to yogurt and sour cream, while the influence of the Turks, Austrians and Germans is apparent in a variety of sticky pastries and strudels. Another influence was that France revolutionized Hungarian cooking in the Middle Ages and again in the 19th century. After the World War II Hungary’s gastronomic reputation and food was “ a bright spot in a culinary black hole”, as one observer noted, everything else in the region was so very bad. Hungarian cuisine is ingenious, flexible, imaginative, and full of flavour, based on pork, lard, goose fat, paprika, sour cream, and vegetables. Hungarian cooks make excellent use of whatever nature provides in their fertile country, a few special ingredients which give it its own inimitable and original flavour. These are first of all red pepper, fresh green peppers and tomatoes, sour cream and lard.
The first thing that people recall about Hungarian cuisine is goulash, which is, contrary to popular belief, not a stew but an artistically prepared thick soup. Sour cream is often used to soften the flavor. You must try fish soup, chicken paprika, a good home-made pörkölt (stew) and the excellent fresh-water fish: grilled pike-perch, trout with almond. Also compulsory is goose liver. Whether fried or grilled, cold or hot, it is simply unforgettable. The most delicious desserts are strudels, Gundel pancakes, somlói dumplings, strudels (retes) and gesztenyepüré (cooked chestnuts mashed, topped with whipped cream). Specialties include salty and sweet pastas, of which túrós csusza (pasta with curd and sour cream) is warmly recommended. Christmas and New Year usually is highlighted with a roast of suckling pig. Crisp and golden, with an apple in it's mouth. It is served with vinegary red cabbage as a main side dish, naturally with potatoes and many different kinds of steamed vegetables.


A typical New Year’s Eve menu would be cabbage soup (known as korhely leves - drunkard’s soup, probably the only thing they can get down at this time of year). If anyone is still hungry, they can probably expect sausage or frankfurters on the menu followed by more pastries and cakes.
Hungarians wash it all down with the New Year’s Eve punch called bólé, which is made from canned fruit mixed with lashings of potent alcohol and vaguely resembles the Spanish sangría.
A traditional Easter meal is smoked ham, spiced with sweet herbs and oven cooked to perfection. It is served sliced with fresh spring vegetables of spinach, onions, radishes and peas. When eating the finished ham dipped in a little horse radish makes this a magnificent and unique meal according to Hungarian traditions.

10. Wine Festivals in Budapest

Wine has a great part in our life: muse, gift, consumer goods, part of a collection, work of art, etc. The world would be poorer without wine.
Hungary's annual wine production totals 4.2 million hectolitres mellowed in 22 historical wine regions.
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was such an admirer of world famous Tokaj wine that he termed it the "Wine of kings, the King of Wines". The choice of good wine is available in Hungary has increased dramatically over the past few years. Most popular styles include: dry white Chardonnay and Riesling, medium-dry Zöldszilváni, Harslevelu and Szürkebarát, medium-sweet Tramini and the aromatic Muskotály. Among red wine, the dry Kékfrankos, Burgundi, Oportó, Cabernet and Pinot Noir are popular. Eger is well known for its wine and the robust red Egri Leányka and the dry red Egri Bikavér will show you why. There is a special type of wine called Tokaji, which is adessert wine. Its bouquet and flavour come from mould that grows only in the fork of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers and the volcanic soil in which the vines grow. There is sweet, dry, full-bodied and rich. Hungarians enjoy drinking refreshing spritzers. This is basically a proportion of wine with a proportion of soda water.You can find more information about the Hungarian wine at http://www.friendsofwine.com.

Wine Village

After last year's great success the "First Hungarian Wine Village" will be organized this year again at Felvonulási square, Budapest, Hungary from 31 Aug to 4 Sept 2005. Winemakers can present their wines to the leading international officials of the Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency, to embassadors, to the representatives of tourism offices,retailers,
wholesalers, vinotheques and shopping centers as well as to VIP guests and the supporters of the Wine Village.
www.borfalu.hu

International Wine Festival
Over 170 Hungarian and foreign wineries are showing their best wines at this prestigious wine trade events. The traditional Wine Festival attract many people to Budapest from all around the world to taste the best wines of the Hungarian wingrowers. On the Wine Exhibition and Fair more than hundred exhibitors introduce their over thousend wines. The main events take place at Buda Castle: the exhibition Hungarian National Gallery about the history of wine-growing and drinking in Hungary, the Vintage Procession with the various wine regions parading in folk costumes, dancing, music and performances on Festival Stage, concert Budapest Convention Centre.
www.winefestival.hu

First Spring Wine Festival
The Spring Wine Festival is organised by the Budapest Chamber of Agriculture on the renewed Városháza Square in order to present the wine culture of Hungary, as well as Hungarian SME’s producing high quality products. The gastronomical, and cultural events of this festival are intended introduce Hungarian wine to the international public, while raising consciousness in the Hungarian audience.
www.springwinefest.hu
www.tavasziborfesztival.hu