Budapest

One of Europe's most beautiful city's has come out of the limelight and shed its lesser-known status as a travel destination. Effortlessly beautiful and awe inspiring, this bustling city has a rich historical past that is evidenced along almost the entire length of its Danube location among its residents, attractions and architecture.

Budapest Traditions & Culture

Divided into two sections by the Danube River, the Pest district on the east and the hilly Buda on the west are almost two different cities. But it is in Buda that houses the predominant collection of tourist hotspots, compared to the largely commercial Pest counterpart.

Despite its location in among the Baltic and Slavic regions, Hungary is very much regarded as a western holiday destination. Nowhere is this more so in Budapest, where the predominant majority of Hungary's populations have taken resident.

Budapest Recommended

Visually stunning destinations like Budapest don't often seem to need holiday information for attractions - buildings like the neogothic Parliament Building and St Stephen Cathedral tend to stake their own claim for essential viewing.

Other lesser known treasures such as the historically significant Heroes Square and its Millennium Monument, or the Vajdahunyad Vara castle, are not to be missed either.

The castle also doubles as the city's largest ice rink at colder times of year, where there is little more satisfying than cosying up by the frozen lake with a flask full of one of the national goulash-style stews, onion Porkolt or fisherman's Halaszle.

Budapest's place to be at the start of the year is most definitely the Spring Festival. Ordinarily taking place during the second half of March and often comprising in excess of 200 national and international cultural events, there is little better way to experience the county's classical and contemporary music, dance and performance art.

In keeping with its alignment with western contemporaries, Budapest vies with both France and Italy for the coffeehouse mantle. Referred to as Kavehaz in Hungary, a brief stop at the coffee shop to enjoy a drink and delicate pastry should definitely form part of any tourist's itinerary in Budapest, if not part of the daily routine.

Eating out in Budapest is also a must do, but if quality and value for money is one's intention, then avoiding tourist traps such as Gundel and Matyas Pince in Pest is advisable.

Budapest Weather

Summer in Budapest tends to be the warmest period, reaching temperatures to rival the warmest European cities at 28 degrees C. But outside of the summer months between June and August, the weather can get very cold, often as low as -2 degrees C in the coldest month of January. Rainfall is expected throughout the year.

Budapest Check list

Seasonal clothes

Holiday Guide with attraction details

Hungarian-English Dictionary

An equivalent of £70 in Forint (HUF) is more than enough - excluding accommodation - for daily expenses.