Festival of Folk Arts – 2023

Every year, at the end of August some of the great Hungarian folk artists have a special opportunity to put on display their talent and products: the folk art festival in the Buda Castle district. Visitors can watch and also participate in activities, such as sewing, lace or embroidery making, wood carving and many more. It’s a great occasion to meet local craftsmen and craftswomen, observe their techniques and tricks and also to buy local folk products. I loved the little old ladies teaching me sewing, trust me, they are very patient with visitors much less talented and experienced than they are.

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20th of August – St. Stephen’s Day in Budapest

The 20th of August is the only Hungarian national holiday in the summer, celebrations usually go on for days and the city is filled with visitors from all around Hungary and from abroad. The most special attraction every year is the fireworks on the night of the 20th, that can be seen from the banks of the river and the hills around it.

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Heroes square

Heroes square truly is the alpha and the omega of all Budapest tours, driving or walking. It’s beautiful, monumental and the entire Hungarian history is on display. It’s the entrance to City Park, where there is so much to do or to see: the Zoo, Széchenyi bathhouse, the open-air ice skating rink, the Vajdahunyad Castle, the city Circus, some museums and great playgrounds for kids. It is very rare to see it as empty and deserted as it was this morning.

Heroes square, Budapest
Heroes square, Budapest

Roman ruins in Budapest

The ancient Roman Empire was the largest empire of the world, at its peak the greatest territorial extent of the empire was almost 2 million square miles with a population from 50 to 90 million people. From the 1st century Romans created settlements along the Danube river to protect the empire from the east. There were several settlements created in the actual territories of Hungary, some ruins can be seen in the Northern part of Buda even today.

You can visit the ruins of an amphitheatre or Aquincum, the centre of the settlement with the remains of the governor’s palace and many residential buildings.

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Szentendre – the postcard village full of charm

Here are a few pictures I took visiting Szentendre with my travellers yesterday. The photographs don’t do any justice to the spectacular little village, but they give you an idea about what you can expect. Szentendre is only a 20-minute drive from Budapest, also, you can take a local train to get there. I’m offering multiple tours to visit the village, the full-day driving tour to the Danube Bend and the half-day Szentendre driving tour. Book now!

 

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Easter in Hollókő

I was very lucky this Easter Monday because I could take my travellers to Hollókő, one of the cutest and most traditional Hungarian villages where people still cherish old traditions. Most of the village people are beautifully dressed up in locally designed costumes.  There is music, great food and drinks, plenty of locally crafted products.

One can also participate in the festivities. The most cherished Hungarian Easter tradition is the “watering”, young men tossing buckets of cold water on girls, to keep them fresh all year long. In exchange they are given hand painted and decorated Easter eggs. Visiting tourists might also get wet if they don’t avoid young men carrying buckets of water :).

Hollókő is a very special village all year around, it was a very special treat to be there and celebrate Easter with locals. Book a tour with me, so that I can tell you more about the village and its traditions!

 

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Budapest Museums

My travellers often ask me to recommend some great museums to visit during their stay in Budapest. I’ve put together a list of the museums that I like and that I think would be a great addition to your Budapest experience.

History lovers:

Hungarian National Museum – all about Hungarian history from the ancient times to nowadays. the most significant item on display is the coronation robe of the Hungarian kings from 1000. The interior of the museum is just magnificent.

Hospital in the Rock – a museum in the cave system of the Buda Castle District that served as an underground hospital during WW2. Amazing stories from the war and a very detailed presentation.

Budapest History Museum – dedicated to the history of the Buda Castle complex and Budapest. You can visit the old parts of the castle as well as the newly renovated royal halls.

Memento Park – although it’s located outside the city centre, it’s worth a visit. The cemetery of the old statues of the communist era puts on display Hungarian history in the second half of the 20th century.

Glass House – former Swiss consul Carl Lutz saved the life of thousands of Hungarian Jews during WW2. The museum is dedicated to his amazing work and to all people who found peace and safety in the Glass House of Budapest.

Art lovers

Fine Art Museum – hundreds of thousands of pieces from all the different periods of European fine arts. Plan to spend a couple of hours to see them all.

National Gallery – an amazing collection of Hungarian art form the Middle Ages to nowadays. The museum is located in the Royal Palace of Buda and offers magnificent views over the city.

Ludwig Museum – the contemporary art museum started from a private collection and is expanding dynamically year by year. You can admire art from the late sixties to present time.

Don’t forget that most of the Budapest museums are closed on Mondays, always check the opening hours before your visit! Feel free to get in touch with me for further details and more information.

 

A Must-See: Rumbach Street Synagogue

The recently renovated Rumbach Street Synagogue is part of the synagogue triangle in the Jewish district of Budapest.

The building was designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner and was built in the 1870’s. The Moorish Revival style of the synagogue is stunning, you can admire the combination of vivid colours (reds, blues, purples and golden), the craftsmanship and the richly ornate interior. The unique octagonal shape of the interior has eight sides, it was designed as an homage to the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.

The synagogue belonged to a smaller local community before WW2 but unfortunately lost its function after the war was over, most of the community was killed in the Holocaust. The building became neglected and after decades of decoy became renovated and reopened in 2021.

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Happy New Year from Beautiful Budapest

I would like to wish you all a very happy new year! These are my favourite pictures from 2022. I hope to meet you in Budapest in 2023!

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Another great wine tour in Eger

You might have noticed that the Eger Wine Tour is one of my favourite daytrips from Budapest. I love Eger, it’s a charming little town with beautiful Baroque architecture and its castle is still considered as a national symbol of Hungarian patriotism. The tour is topped by wine tasting both in the city centre and in the Valley of the Beautiful Woman, where you can taste Bull’s Blood, the local cuvée.

The weather is getting more and more beautiful day by day so we enjoyed our time in Eger in beautiful sunshine and I can tell you that everybody loved the red wines we tasted. I hope I’ll have the chance to go back to Eger many times this year.

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A Must-See: House of Hungarian Music

A new museum opened in the City Park of Budapest, the museum of Hungarian Music. We had a private tour in the museum last week and were truly impressed by both the design of the building and the museum’s programmes and exhibitions.

The building was designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, to me it looks like an extremely ornate spaceship abandoned in the woods. For example I love the 12m high glass windows and panels and the hundreds of golden stylised leaves decorating both the interior and the outside. As a result it looks like a huge forest of gold, which is even more beautiful in the sunshine when the lights are nicely reflected on each and every gold leaf.

In the sound dome you can enjoy a unique audio-visual experience with sounds and music coming from all directions. I loved when all the sounds and music came together by the end of the show. It really felt like as if we witnessed a special chemistry experience in a musical laboratory. As an addition the permanent exhibition offers a musical journey in space and time. You must take some time to explore it, because you can easily spend hours in this underground musical maze. Music lovers should plan to spend some 2-3 hours in the building. Visitors can expect to get a better understanding of Hungarian music from the different periods of our musical history.

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(On a personal note I have to add that I’m very much against all new constructions in the second largest public park of Budapest. The reason is that I think we should preserve and enlarge the green spaces in the city. However, I like the modern approach and the fact that the building is supposed to use sustainable and climate-friendly solutions.)

Private Cooking Class at Borganika

Last week we had the chance to meet and cook with chef Zita from BORGANIKA. Zita has an amazing gastro space in Klauzál market in the Jewish district. She offers cooking classes, all sorts of gastro events and she also hosts private dinners. She is amazing and is truly in love with Hungarian culture and food, all of my guests were fascinated by this unique culinary experience.

We cooked green pea soup, chicken paprikas with nokedli and strudel, it was a lot of fun, we enjoyed cooking and eating together and we also tasted some great Hungarian wines.

It’s a great experience for smaller and larger groups and her enthusiasm and professionalism will most probably brighten your day and contribute to an amazing Budapest experience.

Private cooking class at Borganika
Private cooking class at Borganika

15th of March – Independence Day

We celebrate Independence Day on the 15th of March, the Hungarian freedom war against the Habsburgs started on the 15th of March in 1848.

I collected some Hungarian flags from all around Budapest for celebration. On the Hungarian flag RED stands for life, blood and passion, WHITE stands for honesty and GREEN stands for hope.

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Independence Day Hungary 15th of March

War in Ukraine

I know that many of you who are planning a visit to Europe are now concerned about the war in Ukraine. Personally I’m more concerned about the people who are at great risk, those who stayed in Ukraine and those who decided to flee their homeland. This is sad, this is awful and I hope that Russia’s leaders will held responsible for this unscrupulous aggression.

For you, as a traveller, there are no risks when you come to Europe. Yes, by now over 100.000 refugees arrived to Hungary, they are being taken care by local NGOs and charities. The volunteers of these organisations work 24/7 to provide refugees with shelter, food, transport tickets and hope. You won’t see crowds of refugees at the borders or at the train stations because of the heroic work of the volunteers and local people who offer to share their homes with people fleeing the war.

We’re supporting local charities and I’m also supporting a tour guide in Ukraine because I cannot imagine how it feels to lose your ground, your home, your entire life from one day to another. There are many charities to support, they need all the help they can get.

From the bottom of my heart I wish that the heroism of the Ukrainians defeats the aggressor and peace will be restored.

Your reviews

Your reviews on TripAdvisor or on my website are highly appreciated and I’m always very glad to read how much you enjoyed your tours. This is a recent review from my TripAdvisor profile:

Julia is the best tour guide I ever had
Our PR agency spent one weekend in Budapest – a team of 5 people – we wanted to celebrate a challenging business year in this beautiful city so close (and connected) to Vienna. We contacted Julia as we wanted to get some really good insights for Budapest, yet we did not have so much time – so we booked 3 hours with her. Julia took us on an outstanding tour in Budapest – I have never met such a dedicated, experienced and in the meantime passionate tour guide / a person loving her home country – every minute with Julia was interesting and exciting, she gave us such a vivid impression of Budapest from its interesting history / culture / architecture – connecting to todays story .. To be with a tour guides like her is pure luck, thank you Julia for this wonderfuld day – we would book her again and can only recommend to anyone who really wants to get a great insight to Budapest.
Thank you very much!

Winter in Budapest

Yes, it’s relatively cold and some days may be foggy and gray but Budapest is still the most beautiful city of the world. However, I’d recommend to book shorter tours if you don’t want to stay out in the cold for a full day 🙂

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Merry Christmas from Beautiful Budapest

Merry Christmas from Beautiful Budapest! #merrychristmas #boldogkarácsonyt #budapest#beautifulbudapest #christmas

 

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