Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Panu on April 12, 2010, 10:05:57 AM
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I´m heading to Budapest at the end of the April for a short vacation. Could you recommend some must see places nearby?
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We have a few Hungarian Forumists : Kata, "Katherine J " lives in Budapest and
Kovács Pál (http://sedum.uw.hu/ ) lives around 40kms away... they may be able to suggest good places to visit.... :)
There is also Erika (Arykana but she is away right now and I'm not sure whwere she lives.
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Hello Panu!
There are many places, it depends on how long du You wish to stay, and what are You interested in: culture or nature (or both :D)
I'm just making an international conference brochure, in which the organizers say:
"Must see sights:
• Buda Castle with the Fishermen’s Bastion, Matthias Church and the Royal Palace
• Gellért Hill viewpoint on Budapest – UNESCO World Heritage site
• Chain Bridge
• Parliament - inside visits are also available
• Saint Stephen’s Basilica
• Andrássy avenue – UNESCO World Heritage site
• House of the Opera – inside visits are also available
• Great Synagogue - inside visits are also available
• Heroes' Square"
I agree with that. And the sequence is also good. :)
Also interesting:
"• Thermal bathes of Budapest (Gellért, Széchenyi, Rudas)
• High class cafés of the Monarchy period: New York, Gerbeaud, Lotz Hall of the Paris Mall (on Andrássy avenue)
• House of Hungarian Art Nouveau
• Jewish district with Gozsdu Court
• House of the Terror
• Memento Park – statues of the communist era (outside of Budapest)"
But if You are interested also in plants, and nature, You can go easily to Buda Hills (János-hegy, Hárs-hegy, Hármashatár-hegy). If You are not too late You can see fields of Corydalis bulbosa, Iris pumila in many colors, Polygonatums and maybe also other beauties.
Send me a PM if You would like to, maybe we can take You to see Iris pumila and/or Linum dolomiticum.
Ask me freely if You have any questions (although it's not absolutely shure I can answer ::) ;D)
Kata
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Hi Panu,
We had a short holiday in Budapest a few years ago and agree with Kata on the most important places to go. There are so many interesting things to see in the city that we did not go any further away.
When we arrived we bought a travel pass for a week (even though we were only there for 5 days) which was very good value as we could then travel on all the good public transport around the city without having to buy tickets. We took the railway up into the Buda hills then rode on the Children's Railway (not included with pass) through the hills which was good fun.
If you like opera or ballet then the best way to visit the Opera House is to go to a performance. The tickets are very cheap compared to here and the performances are of a very high standard. We got the best seats in the house - a box next to the 'Royal box' - for less than the price of a seat behind a pillar at the back of our local theatre!
www.opera.hu (http://www.opera.hu)
There is a brochure for the Budapest card which we found very useful with information about opening times and prices for all the attractions. We did not buy the discount card as most of the places we wanted to see were free or not discounted, but the information in the brochure helped us plan our visit as many museums are not open every day. You can read the brochure online - go to the following page and click on the brochure picture.
http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/budapest_card (http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/budapest_card)
We also enjoyed the Central Market Hall and the Transport Museum.
You will have a great time :)
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Hello Panu,
If you don’t mind to visit other places near to Budapest I can offer you Szentendre (with an outdoor village museum) and Visegrád at the Danube bend (with a castle, museum and with a nice panorama). These are about 40 km from Budapest. In Budapest I can offer the ZOO (http://www.zoobudapest.com/english) and Tropicarium (http://www.tropicarium.hu/index.php?a=welcome&lang=en)
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Thank you all for the tips, a lot of interesting places to choose from. Buda hills sounds interesting besides the cultural attractions. Kata, your offer sounds really tempting, is the I. pumila / L. dolomiticum place hard to reach and how long does it take? Of course, I have to ask my wife´s opinion too... ;)
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Panu,
The Iris pumila is in full flower now, we were yesterday to see it. I'm afraid it will be over in a week... It takes about 3-4 hours from Budapest to go, see it and be back. You must go at first by bus or car, then to walk, and finally to climb a rather steep but not too long slope in the woods.
The L. dolomiticum flowers generally at about 1st May. It is a little longer to go, with car or bus about 40 min - 1,5 hour (depends on traffic) and then by foot. It takes about half a day at least, but it deserves :).