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Where to Take a Proper Bath in Budapest

You already know that hitting the bath is a must-do activity in Budapest. But which to choose?

On our recent trip, we decided to go with the Gellert baths, since a Hungarian friend had told us they were the most beautiful. Had it been summer, though, we might have chosen the Szechenyi baths; they’re bigger, and a large portion of them is outdoors. And another time, we’d also go for the newly refurbished Rudas baths, which we were told on our last day we should hit up.

Anyway, back to the Gellert. The baths are indeed beautiful—a gorgeous main art deco pool, and lavish thermal sections off either side of it. The main pool is just a swimming pool, and is co-ed; people mainly swim seriously or do aqua aerobics and stuff in here. At the foot of it is a small, separate thermal section. This is also co-ed.

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Hungary Travel / Budapest Travel / Opera Travel / → All Tags

A Night at the Opera in Budapest is Cheaper Than a Tour of the Opera House

A night at the opera is normally one of the most expensive, OTT things you can do. Not so much in Budapest, though. A tour of the incredible opera house costs 2900 HUF ($13) per person, but show tickets start at just 300HUF—that’s right, $1.33. We know which we’d prefer.

On our recent trip, the cheapest opera ticket we could buy on the day was 4400HUF ($19.50) for a seat in a box. Luckily, we decided to shell out. Luckily because even though we’re not opera buffs, it was one of the most incredible productions we’ve ever seen (Mephistopheles, since you ask).

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Budapest Certainly Knows How to Mix History with, um, Popular Culture

There's nothing quite like the mixture of the old and new in Budapest. Art Nouveau and Communist architecture. Medieval cobbled streets, and fast-moving dual carriageway thoroughfares. Cutting-edge modern opera staged in a beautiful 19th century theater.

And a sex shop in a gloriously frothy old building.

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Wish You Were Here: Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest

Budapest in winter: somewhere we've always wanted to go, but somewhere we've never quite dared—the snow! The biting cold! Could the beauty of winter really be worth getting frostbite for?

This year, we bit the bullet and booked. The good news: we didn't get frostbite. The bad: there was no snow! We found ourselves in a January so mild it was unheard of.

On the plus side, we got to cut our Budapest teeth without freezing, with barely any other tourists, and with that stunning stark winter sun lighting up our photos. Like this one from the Fisherman's Bastion next to the Matthias church in hilly Buda, looking down at the Hungarian parliament.

Now there's a sight that beats Capitol Hill.

[Photo: juliab]

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Angelina Jolie's Daughter Travels Softly, Carries a Big Stick

So last week, Japanese news reported that Apple CEO Steve Jobs wasn't allowed to take ninja stars onboard his private plane, but this week, the news is that Angelina Jolie's daughter Shiloh was allowed to bring her wooden sword toy onboard a commercial flight.

Angelina, with her daughters Shiloh and Zahara, were in Budapest, Hungary scouting locations for Jolie's next movie, reports The Daily Mail. When it came time to fly from Budapest back to Los Angeles (that's one heck of a long flight for two young children), Angelina bought the girls toys. Shiloh got the wooden sword and brought it onboard with her. The only people making a fuss about it are the tabloids.

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Wizz Air's Balloons Pop Prematurely

Poor Wizz Air. What started out as a sweet little marketing idea to celebrate the Eastern European low-cost carrier's fifth anniversary turned nasty this week, and we feel bad for them.

The airline set up a press conference and speaking event in Budapest, and the final act of the day was going to be the release of 1,000 balloons, each with a 10,000 forint ($50) coupon attached which the lucky finder could redeem on a Wizz Air flight.

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Adventure Travel: Caucasia Comes Alive!

So it's too late to join the Gumball 3000, but you still have time to participate in the Caucasian Challenge, a come-as-you-are rally splashed across Eastern Europe from Budapest to Yerevan, Armenia.

"Remember world history in school? We bet they missed some stuff," proclaim the organizers, who are also responsible for an LGBT-themed race called the Rainbow Rampage (isn't that from MarioKart?) and an Indian rickshaw tourney. This year's 4,700-mile competition includes the thrilling potential of tooling along the outskirts of Georgia's still-simmering conflicts--and that's after you've made it through hot spots in Kosovo and Turkey.

It appears that they are still taking reservations--what, there weren't 100 teams willing to figure out a way to get across the Bosporus? Haven't any of you seen "The Great Race"?

Related Stories:
· Caucasian Challenge [Official Site]
· Dictatorship Travel: Bam Margera in the DPRK [Jaunted]
· Gumball 3000 Makes A Pit Stop In Pyongyang [Jaunted]
· Off Limits Travel: Fighting Breaks Out Between Russia and Georgia Over South Ossetia [Jaunted]

[Photo: Caucasianchallenge.com]

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HOWTO: Chew Your Way Around Budapest

There's just a month to go until the Budapest Spring Festival kicks off, so we thought it time to tell you how to find a place to eat in this pretty city. We suggest trying a neat website called Chew.hu.

We're already quite taken with the name, but the content is also terrific. Chew.hu has a Top 33 list which they describe as a "No-PR, No-BS List of Better Budapest Restaurants." The list--and, no, we can't figure out why 33 is the magic number--features a large variety of cuisines from Indian to French to Hungarian to Bavarian, and each restaurant is linked to Chew's sister site Caboodle where you can read what others have to say about the place.

Chew.hu also publishes regular blogs and updates about the wining and dining industry of Budapest. They're not afraid to pursue what they think is right, having recently got pretty upset at a popular restaurant that was including large "suggested tips" on the bills. They also keep an eye on where scandalous rotten meat is ending up--it's an ongoing saga--and tell you where you can get your jellied pigs' feet.

Related Stories:
· Chew.hu [Official Site]
· Spring into Budapest in 2008 [Jaunted]
· Budapest Travel Stories [Jaunted]

[Photo: dogra]

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Spring into Budapest in 2008

In many parts of the world it might still feel like winter is dragging its feet, but inevitably spring will arrive--and with it, the annual Budapest Spring Festival. As the grand old city of Budapest gradually steals tourists from Prague, its cultural offerings are getting more and more attention on the international scene, and with good reason.

This year the Spring Festival kicks off on March 14, 2008 and runs through until March 30. With dance, operetta, jazz, folk music, theater and orchestra concerts, every arts lover can find an event to love. There are also a few performances labeled "crossover" which seem to have an eclectic mix of stuff going on.

But if crossover is still too mainstream for you, don't forget the Budapest Fringe Festival on the final weekend of the Spring Festival: That's where the really way-out artists play.

Related Stories:
· Budapest Spring Festival [Official Site]
· Budapest Fringe Festival [Official Site]
· Budapest: Now More Than Ever! [Jaunted]

[Photo: geese]

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Siestas Yes, Free Beer No

Travelers around many parts of Europe at the moment might be stuck in a heat wave: and the Hungarians want to do something about it. Unable to find a way to control the weather, they're thinking of adding a siesta to their day instead.

This mid-afternoon shutdown is commonplace in more southerly European nations, and the National Election Committee in Hungary have approved a possible referendum question about introducing a siesta. Supporters need to get 200,000 signatures and then the whole nation will be asked to vote on the idea. The same committee didn't agree, however, that a proposal to make all beer in restaurants free was such a good idea. That's a pity, since an afternoon siesta and free beer could've been big business for tourism in Hungary.

Related Stories:
· Hungary Approves Referendum on Introducing Siesta [Reuters]
· Lying Politicians in Hungary [Jaunted]
· Budapest Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Daquella manera]

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Budapest: Now More Than Ever!

We were never as enamored with Budapest as with Prague--it's tough being the ugly sister--but we can recognize that Budapest deserves a fairer shake in the New York Times than this. While this is ostensibly an article about how far the Hungarian capital has come in the days when people went there and wished they were eating, uh, Czech knedliky instead of chicken with paprika, it comes off as rather out-of-touch: There are malls! There aren't as many weird scams anymore! People come here from Vienna, not on the way to Prague!

Great, that's certainly true, but of course they take credit cards--Hungary's part of the EU, and has been since 2004. Bucharest--with a delightful combination of inexpensive adventure and feral dogs--may be "stealing some of Prague's spotlight", but we're sure that Budapest is capable of standing on its own merits by now.

[Image via buckofive/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Budapest is Stealing Some of Prague's Spotlight [NYT]

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Slavic Simians Sozzled

Is it just us, or do the Hungarians spend all their free time drinking? Even their monkeys are in on the act. The Budapest Zoo reports that their anthropoid apes, in particular, work their way through 55 liters of red wine a year. Zoo employee Zoltan Hanga said:

They get it in small amounts mixed in their tea. And it's not ... some expensive wine that they're getting, but simple table wine, as it's good for their blood cells.

What the other animals think about the luck that their monkey colleagues have is open to speculation. Perhaps the swallow-bellied woolly pigs (as they call them over there in Budapest) and bold-necked hens in the ancient Hungarian livestock display prefer specially preserved rum?

[Image via Nagy David/Flickr]

Related stories:
Wine Keeps Apes Feeling Fine [CNN]
Drunk Monkeys Mirror People [Discovery Channel]