Haven't thought about there Lyn, but we really enjoyed Tallin & when we go back it will definitely be Autumn/Winter. It was freezing when we were there, but the atmosphere was warm.

We are heading to Budapest for a 40th birthday. I was wondering if someone could tell me a couple of things:

1. are there plenty of bars in all areas or is there more a centralised bar/restaurant area? I'd prefer to stay within walking distance of wherever the late night action is.

2. What time does the tram/bus run until?

3. Is it easy to get tickets for the opera while there, or do you need to book in advance?

Thanks.

planning a holiday to budapest the end of september,can anyone reccomend a good reasonably priced hotel in the city centre,give me a idea how much food and drink are budapest,also how easy is it to get about the city using public transport and how much.any help would be great thanks

A word of warning for visitors following directions from guide books and websites.

Moszkva Tér has recently been renamed to Széll Kálmán tér . This is one of the biggest transport interchanges in Budpaest and your directions may say take a tram heading for Moszkva Tér or catch a regional bus there.

At present (May 2011, 2 months in) few of the destination signs on trams etc. have been changed, nor have all the maps at stops or on board. And if you can actually find the map sold by BKV that may not be right either! The BKV website is even mixing them up, eg the route 4/6 timetables use the new name but click on the map link and you get the old one. So bear in mind that either name may be used - probably for quite a while!

How far is centre from the airport and how much will it cost to get there?

Has anyone been to Budapest recently? We're thinking of going in July and would welcome any up to date advice.

As promised, here's my (rather long) review:

Budapest, July 2013

We spent 4 nights in Budapest in July 2013. Here’s an account of our trip.

The journey

We flew from Manchester to Budapest with Jet2 Holidays - we booked a package as it worked out cheaper than booking our flight and hotels separately. Normally we park off-site but we were due to return in the late evening so though we would treat ourselves to something closer. We ended up choosing the Terminal 1 Meet and Greet, which is actually a drop-off car park literally opposite the terminal building. It all went smoothly and we will almost definitely do the same in future. Check in with Jet2 was equally smooth and we were sat in Bar MCR, eating some delicious burgers, a mere 30 mins after dropping our car off. The outbound flight left pretty much on time and the return flight landed nearly half an hour early. We didn’t bother with the in-flight catering as there were plenty of places to pick up food at Manchester and Budapest. Having read about the various taxi scams in Budapest, we decided to book a return taxi trip with Pulai Alajos from http://budapestairporttaxi.com as he had lots of good reviews on Trip Advisor. I’m pleased to say that both journeys went by without a hitch and we will definitely use him again if we go back.

The hotel – Hotel Palazzo Zichy (INVALID URL

We hadn’t been to Budapest before and found it quite difficult to work out which would be the best hotel/area to stay in. In the end, we picked the Palazzo Zichy as it had excellent reviews and had air conditioning and free wi-fi. Even before we arrived, the staff were excellent, helping me with some sightseeing queries and taking a note of our room preferences. We ended up in room 512, a standard double with a lovely view of the church and square opposite. The room was very well appointed though we would have liked a little bit more storage space. The bathroom was great as well, especially the shower and we were very thankful for the air-conditioning. The whole hotel felt like a lovely little oasis of calm in a hot and hectic city and was near to various tram, bus and metro stops which helped us to get around easily. There is also a small supermarket nearby.

The breakfast was also excellent – lots to choose from and constantly replenished by the staff. I would agree that the seating area seemed a little small in relation to the size of the hotel but it was only ever half full when we had breakfast at about 8:30 each day. The free drinks and snacks in the lounge bar were a nice touch, but we only got to make use of them once as the rest of the time we didn’t make it back to the hotel before 5. Since we’ve been back, we’ve had a couple of emails from the hotel, thanking us for our business and referring directly to the comments we made on our feedback form. It’s nice to know that some businesses actually take notice of what you’ve written! All in all, we had a fabulous stay at the Palazzo Zichy and would definitely consider staying there in future.

Money

The rate of exchange was roughly 333 Ft for £1 sterling which made mental currency conversion rather challenging! We got round this by printing off a cheat sheet from the internet, which proved very useful. Over the 4 days we were there, we spent around £230, which covered all our meals and sightseeing, excluding breakfast and our return taxi transfer from the airport. We used Visa to pay for our travel passes, everything else was paid for in cash which we changed at one of the many exchange bureaux. Make sure you check for commission charges before you commit to an exchange.

Restaurants

Huszar Etterem (http://www.huszaretterem.hu/en/index.html)

This is a really good traditional Hungarian restaurant, not far from Keleti station. We both had a main courses of breaded pork, stuffed with cheese & sausage and served with potatoes and a side dish of cabbage salad. It was so good that we both cleared our plates and only had room to share some cottage cheese pancakes for pudding. The drinks were very well priced and there was entertainment in the form of a violinist & accordionist, along with the very amenable waiter. The bill came to less than £30 between us and we were stuffed. We would be happy to go back there any time. It was nearly full on the Thursday night when we went so I would suggest emailing to reserve a table for large parties or at the weekend.

Hungarikum Bistro (INVALID URL

This was our favourite restaurant of the 3 we visited. We went on a Friday night and they were fully booked so I was pleased I had already reserved a table via their website. I ended up having the duck legs for my main course and my husband went for the pork loin with dumplings. The food was gorgeous and the portions were pretty big so we were nearly too full for pudding but ended up sharing a cherry cake anyway. Drinks were well priced and the service was very good, including a complimentary shot of a local liqueur at the end. Our final bill came to about £30. Our only complaint was that it was boiling in there with no air conditioning or any fans – hopefully this is something they will address in future but we’d still go back anyway.

Zeller Bistro (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zeller-Bistro/486188564780604)

I really wanted to love this restaurant as it had so many good things about it, such as the complementary arrival drink, table mats you could draw on and the obvious enthusiasm of the staff. Sadly, it was the food that let it down – not the quality but the quantity. My pork main course was tiny and didn’t come with any potatoes or rice, just some cubed celery and a spoonful of spinach and mushroom. My husband’s main was more substantial, but he still wasn’t that impressed. I was hoping that pudding would make up for things but my ‘Chocolate duo’ only consisted of a sliver of chocolate brownie, a scoop of chocolate mousse and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. We both left still feeling hungry and slightly ripped off as it was the most expensive of the 3 restaurants we had eaten in (about £35 in total). We won’t be going back.

Bars

Szimpla Kert (http://www.szimpla.hu/en)

The most iconic of the famous ruin pubs (http://ruinpubs.com/). It was really quiet when we went there and we didn’t make it beyond the front bar but it had a nice atmosphere and we’d like to go back and explore further some time.

The Rocktogon (http://www.rocktogon.hu/)

Despite going at 10:30pm on a Saturday night, we were pretty much the only customers. Not sure if this was due to the 300Ft entry charge or the DJ who was fixated on AC/DC. I doubt we’d bother going back to see if it was better on another night.

Instant (http://instant.co.hu/en/)

Another ruin pub and quite an experience! Loads of different bars, rooms and dancefloors with crazy and inventive decor and loud music. Nice atmosphere too, although we did feel a little bit old. We were a bit tired on the night so it would be nice to go back again at some point, maybe during the day, to get a proper feel of the place.

Things to do

Before you do anything else – get one of the free tourist maps and then a travel pass to cover you for the whole length of your stay. We were only there for 4 days but bought a 7 day pass and ended up using it loads (it was only 800 Ft more than the 72hr pass). In addition to the trams, buses and trolleybuses, you can also use the pass on the D11 and D12 local ferries on weekdays (see http://www.bkv.hu/en/boat for timetable and stop details), which was a very cheap way of getting on the water. Major transport routes are marked on the free city maps and we got quite used to hoping on and off things to save ourselves from getting exhausted from too much walking. Don’t bother with the tourist sightseeing buses unless you like recorded commentaries and being stuck in traffic jams.

Castle District

As long as you are reasonably fit, you won’t need to use the Siklo funicular. The quickest way up the hill is to take the path to the right of the tunnel by the Siklo terminus. Alternatively, you can take the longer and less steep path on the left or catch the 16 or 16A bus. If you don’t want to pay to eat in one of the restaurants at the top, there is a supermarket opposite the small Tourist Information centre by the Matthias church.

Gellert Hill

The no 27 bus gets you most of the way to the top for some great views over the city from the Citadel. You can then take the paths down to the Gellert Monument or the Gellert Baths.

Medveotthon Bear Sanctuary (INVALID URL

The sanctuary is not difficult to get to but it will take quite a large chunk out of your day. On a hot day, it’s better to go in the morning or late afternoon as the bears are less active around lunchtime. The best way to get there on public transport is to take a train from Nyugati station to Ivacs station. We couldn’t find a ticket office there but the automatic ticket machines had an English option. As it was a weekday, under the conditions of our travel pass, we were able to buy single BKK transit tickets for 370 Ft each. I think the standard fare was about 560Ft. Trains leave from Nyugati on the hour and take around 45 mins to get to Ivacs. It’s then an signposted walk of about 30 mins to get to the sanctuary itself. The entrance fee is 500Ft and then you can buy honey at the restaurant to feed to the bears. It’s probably best to just buy one bottle to start with as we bought 2 and ended up having to give them away as we hadn’t used it all up in 2hrs! Feeding the bears was enormous fun, although we did get a bit sick of swatting the wasps away. It was also nice to see the other animals, such as the wolves, but we did find the forested areas had mosquitos, so best to take some repellent. The return train leaves Ivacs at 14 mins past the hour, so all in all our trip took 5 hrs and we were able to buy our return tickets on the train (involving a lot of smiling and pointing as we don’t speak Hungarian). It was a really great trip and we would definitely consider doing it again. You can get the full train timetable (route no 71) at http://www.mav-start.hu/utazas/vasuti_menetrend_letoltese.php.

Central Market

Definitely worth a visit just to see the building, even if you don’t normally like markets. We accidentally got ripped off at one of the food stalls though – it was really chaotic and different people were shouting different prices at us so we ended up paying twice. Just make sure you ask for individual prices for everything that you buy so you can make sure you aren’t paying over the odds. It’s closed after 3pm on Sat and all day on Sun.

Margaret Island

We spent a lovely half hour sat with an ice cream, watching the fountains, followed by a stroll along some of the island’s paths before hopping on the no 26 bus to rest our weary feet. A nice break from the hecticness of the city itself.

The Danube shoes memorial

If you walk along the riverside from the Chain Bridge to Parliament, you’ll come across this memorial. Very poignant – a lovely idea and worth seeing if you are passing.

Saint Stephen’s Basilica

Even if you aren’t very interested in churches, this is worth seeing for the splendour of the decor. We went in the late morning and it was crammed with tour groups so probably better to go at the start or end of the day.

House of Terror Museum

If you have any interest in Naziism, Communism or war history then you will love this place. They have really tried hard to find unusual ways to present what happened in the Budapest of the past. You can just walk around the many rooms and take in the sound and visuals, or you can also read the information sheets. These were informative, but a little too detailed and sometimes lacked context. Nevertheless, we found the museum fascinating and ended up spending 3 hrs there. There is a cafe, a free cloakroom and plenty of toilets. Highly recommended!

Budapest Zoo

Without doubt, this is one of the best zoos we have been to. It’s massive and we only managed to cover about half of it in the 5hrs we were there. There are loads of shows and demonstrations during the day and you can even go into some of the enclosures with the animals – it was an amazing experience to end up literally nose to nose with a sloth! There are lots of restaurants and cafes on site but also plenty of picnic areas if you wanted to bring your own food. If we ever go back to Budapest then we will definitely make a return trip.

Thanks for the reports Corinne. It's over 25years since I visited Budapest . I'm hoping to visit again in the not too distant future and i'm sure I'll find a lot of your info very useful.

Thanks so much Corinne