Hot springs, elegant architecture and good food abound in Budapest. You'll come away from the Hungarian capital with an appetite to visit again, writes Quentin Fottrell
THIS WAS MY second trip to Budapest. On my first flying visit, in early winter, I found this elegant city quite dour. Just as I was warming to it, I had to leave. So I went back with an open mind.
Buda was the old Turkish capital and Pest the town across the Danube; they joined with the city of Óbuda in 1873 to form Budapest. Known by some travel guides as the Paris of the east, the city has several Unesco World Heritage sites, including the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, the tree-lined Andrássy Avenue and the Millennium Underground, the Continent's first subterreanean public transport system. (Warning: the doors open and close super-quick; the drivers wait for no man.)
The flight over was full of Irish going to visit and Hungarians going home to family.
This was not intended as a low-budget weekend, and we embarked on a packed itinerary, staying at the Corinthia Grand Royal Hotel.
We planned to take moonlit walks by the Danube, near the parliament buildings; to visit the ancient thermal baths; to spend an evening marvelling at the magnificent Hungarian Opera House, where one ballerina left her lover stranded during one scene and took off on a motorbike; to climb Castle Hill; to eat chocolate cakes; and to pay our respects at the House of Terror, the former communist and fascist headquarters. It was a lot to do in four days, but we managed it.
Budapest lies on a geological fault, with 120 thermal springs. We visited four baths in four days, as our hotel pool was on the blink for three of them.
The Hotel Gellert's natural spring, which was known about as early as the 13th century, is probably the most family- friendly. The Széchenyi is one of the biggest bathing complexes in Europe; its hot spring, discovered in 1879, is both the hottest and the deepest in the city.
Reportedly, the calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluoride, sodium and other minerals in thermal spring water have curing powers for muscular ailments. Either way, this is where men and women of Budapest get together for a natter, to leave the world outside and to read the papers (soggy though they may be). Failing that, you can get a smack-down by one of the grumpy old men in the massage parlour. They will lay you out like a slab of meat and grind their knuckles into your flesh; you are the picnic.
Hungarians also love their food. This was a trip where we browsed, bathed and - "Is it really that time again?" - ate . . . like medieval kings. Rabbit. Veal. Duck. Goulash. Stews. Pike. Cabbage. All with lashings of paprika. It's supposedly not good etiquette to clink glasses, as this is said to be how the Habsburgs celebrated the defeat of Lajos Kossuth in the 1848-9 war of independence. I wasn't sure whether to believe it, but we stopped just short of clinking all the same. And we spent a lot of time carousing and being merry, as the Hungarians live the not-so-good-for-you life as much as we do.
You can feast out for €20 a head. An étterem is a restaurant with a wide menu, including international dishes (but if it has too much of everything, give it a wide berth). A vendéglo or kisvendéglo serves regional food. A bisztro is theoretically cheaper still.
The value and quality - if you like your grub hale and hearty, which I do - put Dublin to shame.
As for cultural perceptions, Hungarians are reserved, unlike their sentimental Slav or gregarious Romanian neighbours. This city and its inhabitants are worth the effort to get to know.
Where to stay, where to eat out and where to go if you're heading to the city for a weekend away
5 places to stay
• Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal, Erzsébet
kör 43-49, 00- 36-1-4794000,
www.corinthia.hu. This
five-star hotel, with an elaborate pool area and spa, is in one of
the busiest restaurant districts. Double rooms from €120 per
night online.
• Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, V, Roosevelt
tér 5-6, 00-36-1-2686000,
www.fourseasons.com/budapest. The 1906 Gresham Palace, which
overlooks the Danube, has been restored with stained-glass
stairways, gold-tiled mosaics and cocktails priced to take your eye
out.
• Hotel Gellért, XI, Szent Gellért tér
1, 00-36-1-8895500,
www.danubiusgroup.com/gellert. The nicest rooms have balconies
overlooking the Danube. The best reason for coming here is the
famous art- nouveau Gellert thermal baths and swimming pool.
• Hotel Pest, VI, Paulay Ede u 31,
00-36-1-3431198,
www.hotelpest.hu. Just two
blocks from the Opera House, this three-star hotel is in an
18th-century building with an ivy-draped inner courtyard,
reminiscent of quiet old Pest.
• Büro Panzió, Dékán u 3,
00-36-1-2122929,
www.buropanzio.hu. This is a
cheap sleep recommended by Lonely Planet. Its 10 bedrooms, each
suitable for two or three people, were renovated in 2005.
5 places to eat
• Menza, VI. Liszt Ferenc tér 2,
00-36-1-4131482,
www.menza.co.hu. Apparently,
the same people who run this hip bar-restaurant exported
communist-era shoes to the west as an exotic faux-fashion item.
It's got a lively vibe.
• Gundel Étterem, XIV, Állatkerti u 2,
00-36-1- 4684040. One of Budapest's best-known restaurants, where
you can eat the Gundel pancake or roasted goose liver while
listening to gypsy folk music. You'll need a jacket for dinner.
• Klassz, Andrassy u 41. Too Klassz-y to give a
telephone number. Critics are divided over this new venture, but
come here for the 130 wines. It's better than its name.
• Lou Lou, V Vigyázó Ferenc u 4. Tel:
00-36-1-3124505.
www.loulourestaurant.com. This French restaurant near the
financial district fancies itself . . . with good reason. We pushed
the boat out but the bill only came to €90.
• Bock Bistro, VII, Erzsérbet krt 43-49.
00-36-1-3210340. On my first night we walked out of the Corinthia
and straight into this place. It's part of the hotel but operated
independently, and it's full of locals.
5 places to go
• Hungarian State Opera House, 1065 Budapest
Hajós u 13-15, 00-36-1-3328197,
www.operavisit.hu. Designed
by Miklós Ybl in 1884, this neo-Renaissance building is one of
the most spectacular in the city. There are guided tours during the
day.
• The House of Terror, Andrássy u 60. 00-36-1-
3742600,
www.terrorhaza.hu. In 2000
the Public Foundation for the Research of Central and East European
History and Society purchased this former communist and fascist
headquarters to create a visitor's centre and museum that bring you
through two bloody periods in Hungarian history. A Soviet tank
stands in the foyer, symbolically dripping with black oil, and this
is only the beginning.
• Ludwig Museum of Modern Art, Komor Marcell u 1,
00-36-1-5553444,
www.ludwigmuseum.hu. The
museum, founded by the Hungarian cultural government in 1989,
houses arguably Hungary's most important collection of contemporary
art. It is housed in the Palace of Arts, just opposite the National
Museum.
• The Great Synagogue, Dohány Street,
www.bh.org.il/ Communities/Synagogue/ budapest.asp. Also known as
the Tabac-Schul, the Yiddish translation of Dohány (or
tobacco). It is a magnificent restored architectural jewel with
2,964 seats. Moorish in style, it combines elements of Byzantine,
Romantic and Gothic periods. The Holocaust memorial, by Imre Varga,
is a metal weeping willow, and its leaves bear inscriptions with
some of the names of the 400,000 Hungarian Jews murdered by the
Nazis. The inscription reads: "Whose agony is greater than mine."
• Hungarian State Circus, 00-36-1-3438300,
www.maciva.hu. The permanent big
top in Varosliget, between the zoo and fun fair, has performances
Wednesday to Sunday at 3pm. The stone circus building is not
affected by the weather, so it is open all year.
Cool coffee
Lukács Cukrászda, VI, Andrassy u 70.
00-36-1-3730407,
www.lukacscukraszda.com. Here since 1912, but it no longer has
1912 prices. You will pay through the nose for pastries, coffee and
ice cream. Go, but not more than once.
A good night out
Szoda, VII. Wesselényi u 18, www.szoda.com,
00-36-1-4610007. The windows are lined with soda bottles, and
the Japanese manga cartoons and 1970s retro furniture draw in a
young, hip, arty crowd. It serves great cocktails.
Go read
Raoul Wallenberg: The Man Who Stopped Death by
Sharon Linnea, about a Swedish humanitarian who went to Budapest
under diplomatic cover to rescue tens of thousands of Jews from the
Holocaust by handing out Swedish passports. He was arrested in 1945
by the Soviets, likely under orders from Stalin, and never heard
from again.
Go shopping
Try the antique stores along V Falk Miksa u. The
City Park Flea Market on XIV Zichy Mihaly u is also worth a
look.
Go there
Aer Lingus (
www.aerlingus.com) flies to
Budapest from Dublin and Belfast. Ryanair (
www.ryanair.com) flies from
Dublin.