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Budapest Travel / Nitty Gritty City Guides / Winter Travel / Wizzair / Thermal Baths / Hungary Travel / Europe Travel / BUD / → All Tags

Jaunted's Nitty Gritty City Guide to Budapest in the Winter

Sometimes you've only got a few days in a city, and you want to make it worth the while. Our new series of Nitty Gritty City Guides gives you the basics, and what we most loved, fast and quick and so you're ready to get a move on.

It may be better known today as Budapest (with a "sh" sound instead of a regular "s"), but the Romans originally called it Aquincum. And to be honest, the name fits. Aqua means water in Latin. And no other city in Europe is as rich in thermal waters as Budapest.

Though Budapest's attractions are numerous (sipping espresso on Franz Liszt Square, riding the funicular to the top of Castle Hill, frolicking around on Margit Island), the baths were undoubtedly a big part of why we showed up last month en route to visit a friend in Poland. We weren't looking for drunken nights out (though Budapest specializes in those as well) or lavish boat dinners on the Danube (certainly not on our budget!); we were looking for a quiet, relaxing few days exploring the Hungarian capital during one of the coldest months of the year.

And lucky us, because that's exactly what we found.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Hyper Chocolate Bar of Hungary

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

From just two days in Budapest the other week, it seems like we could fill six months worth of Foreign Grocery Friday features. Offensive, weird, funny-sounding...who knew snacks and candy could be so odd?

The best of the bunch, though, was the Hyper chocolate bar—or, as the packet has it: "The wafer for big people."

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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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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Chimney Cakes of Hungary

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Hold up your arm and look at your forearm. Imagine a twisted masterpiece of dough that's roughly the length of it, and about as wide. Sure, it's hollow inside, but the magic in a Hungarian Chimney Cake is that doughy diameter. It's like what would result if a pretzel and a cinnamon bun got romantic.

Of course if you're actually over in Hungary or Romania and hungry for this massive sweet—revered as the most historical pastry in Hungary—you should know it's called Kürtös Kalács. Cooked over an open-flame hearth, the sugar-crusted rings of yeast pastry are traditionally coated in sugar, but other topping options are coconut, cinnamon, walnut, almond, chocolate and sprinkles.

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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]