Berlitz Pocket Guide Budapest (Travel Guide eBook)
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About this ebook
Berlitz Pocket Guide Budapest is aconcise, full-colour travel guide that combines lively text with vividphotography to highlight the very best that this stunning spa-city has tooffer. The Where To Go chapter details all the key sights: Buda's Castle Hill,with its cobbled streets and quaint houses; the Hungarian National Gallery,filled with masterpieces from the Hungarian Impressionists; the Liszt Museum,home of Hungary's greatest composer; and of course the Royal Palace and itsfine museums. There are also excursions to nearby Szentendre, Visegr d andEzstergom and further afield to Hungary's seaside at Lake Balaton. Handy mapson the cover help you get around with ease.
To inspire you, the book offers a rundownof the Top 10 Attractions in the city, followed by an itinerary for a PerfectDay in Budapest. The What to Do chapter is a snapshot of ways to spend yourspare time, from taking to the waters in the myriad spas and wellness centresto catching a performance at the Hungarian State Opera House.
You'll also be armed with backgroundinformation, including a brief history of the city and an Eating Out chaptercovering its hearty cuisine. There are carefully chosen listings of the besthotels and restaurants, and an A-Z to equip you with all the practicalinformation you will need.
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Berlitz Pocket Guide Budapest (Travel Guide eBook) - Berlitz Publishing
How To Use This E-Book
Getting Around the e-Book
This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Budapest, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.
The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Budapest, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Budapest are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Budapest. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.
About Berlitz Pocket Guides
The Berlitz story began in 1877 when Maximilian Berlitz devised his revolutionary method of language learning. More than 130 years later, Berlitz is a household name, famed not only for language schools but also as a provider of best-selling language and travel guides.
Our wide-ranging travel products – printed travel guides and phrase books, as well as apps and ebooks – offer all the information you need for a perfect trip, and are regularly updated by our team of expert local authors. Their practical emphasis means they are perfect for use on the ground. Wherever you’re going – whether it’s on a short break, the trip of a lifetime, a cruise or a business trip – we offer the ideal guide for your needs.
Our Berlitz Pocket Guides are the perfect choice if you need reliable, concise information in a handy format. We provide amazing value for money – these guides may be small, but they are packed with information. No wonder they have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.
© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd
Table of Contents
Budapest’s Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction #1
Top Attraction #2
Top Attraction #3
Top Attraction #4
Top Attraction #5
Top Attraction #6
Top Attraction #7
Top Attraction #8
Top Attraction #9
Top Attraction #10
A Perfect Day In Budapest
Introduction
Geography
Contemporary Budapest and its people
Eminent Hungarians
City attractions
A Brief History
Enter the Romans
Magyar migration
Trade and culture
The Habsburgs
Rapid growth
The early 20th century
World War II
Soviet rule
Into the EU
Historical landmarks
Where To Go
Buda’s Castle Hill and Old Town
The Royal Palace
Hungarian National Gallery
Mátyás Church
Fishermen’s Bastion
Touring the Old Town
Buda riverside
Viziváros (Watertown)
Gellért Hill
Óbuda
Buda Hills
Crossing the Danube
Pest
The Inner City (Belváros)
Churches and university buildings
The Little Boulevard
Jewish Budapest
Leopold Town
Basilica of St Stephen
Houses of Parliament and Ethnographic Museum
Andrássy út
Heroes’ Square
City Park
The Great Boulevard
Holocaust Memorial Centre
An historic café and a panoramic view
Margaret Island
City outskirts
Statue and Rail Heritage Parks
Excursions
Szentendre
Skansen
Visegrád
Esztergom
Lake Balaton
What To Do
Spas and baths
Sports
Spectator sports
Shopping
What to buy
Entertainment
Opera, classical music and ballet
Theatre
Pop, rock and jazz
Traditional music and dance
Clubs and bars
Children’s Budapest
Calendar of events
Eating Out
Reading the Menu
To help you order
menu reader
Restaurants
Buda and Óbuda
Pest
A–Z Travel Tips
A
Accommodation
Airport
B
Budapest Card
Budgeting for your trip
C
Car hire
Climate
Clothing
Crime and safety
Customs and entry requirements
D
Driving
E
Electricity
Embassies and consulates
Emergencies
G
Gay and lesbian travellers
Getting there
Guides and tours
H
Health and medical care
HOLIDAYS (hivatalos ünnep)
I
Internet
L
Language
Left luggage
M
Maps
Media
Money
O
Opening hours
P
Police
Post offices
Public transport
R
Religion
T
Telephones
Time zones
Tipping
Toilets
Tourist information
Travellers with disabilities
W
Websites
Y
Youth hostels
Recommended Hotels
Buda
Margaret Island
Pest
Dictionary
English–Hungarian
Hungarian–English
Budapest’s Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction #1
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Parliament
Neo-gothic home of democracy and the crown jewels. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #2
Getty Images
Liszt Museum
Visit the home of Hungary’s greatest composer. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #3
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
New York Café
Take high tea in grand style. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #4
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Opera House
Book seats for a night to remember. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #5
Getty Images
Royal Palace
Visit the palace’s fine museums. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #6
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Great Synagogue
Explore the city’s Jewish Quarter. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #7
Neil Schlecht/Apa Publications
The Castle District
Cobbled streets and quaint houses lend a fairy-tale feel. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #8
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Széchenyi Baths
Relax in the palatial surroundings. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #9
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
House of Terror
Learn about the totalitarian regimes of the past. For more information, click here.
Top Attraction #10
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
City Park
Visit the park’s zoo, circus and castle. For more information, click here.
A Perfect Day In Budapest
9.00am
Breakfast
Have breakfast in the old-fashioned ambience of the Centrál Kávéház at Károlyi Mihály utca 9 in Pest’s Belváros or ‘Inner City’.
10.00am
Hungarian National Museum
Walk a couple of blocks east to Múzeum körút to find the Hungarian National Museum. Take a quick tour of the nation’s history, viewing exhibits of the Avars’ gold jewellery, St Stephen’s coronation mantle and communist propaganda posters.
11.00am
Food Market
Follow the Belváros ringroad south to the vast Central Market Hall, built by Eiffel. Only the best produce is on sale here.
11.30am
Shopping on Váci utca
Cross the road and stroll up the city’s premier shopping street. On the way, look out for handicrafts emporium, Folkart Centrum, and the magical window displays of florist Philanthia. Emerging in Vörösmarty tér at the end, you will find a stylish shopping mall on your left.
1.00pm
Gerbeaud
Take a light lunch at this café institution on the far side of Vörösmarty tér. Sit in the grand interior with its chandeliers and fine plasterwork, or lounge on the terrace watching people go about their business. Be sure to save room for Gerbeaud’s cakes, as these are the café’s speciality.
2.15pm
Great square
Take the metro direct from Vörösmarty tér to Heroes’ Square, at the head of Andrássy út and at the gates of City Park. In the centre of the square is the Millennium Monument, with the Archangel Gabriel at the top. Flanking the square are the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art.
2.30pm
A zoo, a circus or a funfair
Entering City Park, you have a wide choice of amusements. Visit the zoo, extravagantly designed in Art-Nouveau style, and see the huge Palm House or enjoy a show with clowns, acrobats and jugglers at the Grand Circus at 3pm on Wed–Sun (also at 11am and 7pm on Sat and 11am on Sun).
5.00pm
Széchenyi Baths
Also within City Park is the palatial neo-Baroque complex of the Széchenyi Baths. Relax in the pools, indoor and outdoor, play a game of chess or have a massage. Afterwards, drink a glass of the health-giving waters at the little pavilion just outside.
7.00pm
Gundel
When you’ve rested at the Baths, take an easy stroll to Gundel, Hungary’s most famous restaurant on the eastern edge of the park, where you can dine in style. Alternatively, take the metro a few stops back to the Opera House and take in a performance.
Introduction
‘Budapest seems a wonderful place…the impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East. The most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule.’
The opening lines of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) convey author Jonathan Harker’s sense of entering truly unknown territory when he reached Budapest on his journey to Transylvania. In his day, Budapest was considered the limits of the civilised world – exotic, but rather frightening. Many things have changed since then, and Hungary is now very much part of Europe. Its capital, Budapest, is a busy, increasingly cosmopolitan city with a growing tourist trade. New routes opened up by budget airlines ensure that Budapest is more accessible than ever before, yet, for the moment at least, it still retains much of its old-world charm.
Founding principle
In AD 1036, the wise King Stephen wrote to his son, Emeric: ‘Make the strangers welcome in this land, let them keep their languages and customs, for weak and fragile is the realm which is based on a single language and culture.’
Geography
Budapest is a city of two distinct parts, divided by the Danube, which, despite the waltz written in its honour, is murky and definitely not blue. The river separates the medieval streets and Roman remains of Buda and Óbuda (meaning Old Buda) from the late-19th-century boulevards of Pest. On the west bank, in Buda, the hills rise above the river. Over a period of 800 years, Castle Hill has suffered 31 sieges and been reduced to rubble on numerous occasions, yet enough has survived for it to remain one of Europe’s most appealing medieval enclaves. On the flat ground of the opposite bank lies Pest, a busy city with broad, leafy boulevards and handsome baroque, neoclassical and Art-Nouveau buildings. Only in 1873 were these distinct areas united to form one city.
Café culture
Until World War II Budapest was known for its coffee houses, opulent places where the bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia congregated. Sadly, most have gone, but a few gems remain, joined now by modern counterparts.
The view of the Parliament from Fishermen’s Bastion
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Contemporary Budapest and its people
There’s a lot more to the city than the historic sites and thermal baths for which it is famous. Since the end of the Soviet period, Budapest has embraced consumer culture and Western brands. The city is also renowned for its friendliness. If Hungarians speak English and they see you looking at a map, they will often volunteer help; if they don’t speak English, they’ll try their best to help.
Eminent Hungarians
Hungary has produced many great musicians, the most famous of whom is perhaps Franz Liszt (1811–86), who became president of the Budapest Academy of Music. Writers include poet Sándor Petõfi (1823–49), who became a hero of the European revolutions of 1848, and Arthur Koestler (1905–83). George Soros, businessman and philanthropist, was born in Budapest, as was conductor Sir Georg Solti, who is also buried here. Seventeen Hungarians have won Nobel Prizes: holography was developed by prize-winning physicist Dennis Gabor, and the Zsigmondy crater on the moon is named after Nobel laureate Richard Zsigmondy, who won the prize for chemistry in 1925.
Hollywood in its heyday was full of Hungarian talent, including a number of the great producers and directors – Korda, Fox, Zukor – and the revered Michael Curtiz who directed Casablanca. Actors include Béla Lugosi (best known for his role in the 1931 film Dracula). More recently, director István Szabó has won an Oscar for Mephisto (1981), György Pálfi