Year: 2020

I’ve started offering virtual tours over a week ago and I’m very grateful for all the support and kind messages I got the last few days. I know this situation with COVID-19 is difficult for most of us but I didn’t expect to see that there are so many fantastic people around the world who would like to help us. I’m grateful and I hope I can give each one of you a real big hug in the very near future.

As far as I can see the most popular virtual tour I’m offering is the cooking class. We’ve made Lángos, Pogácsa, Goulash soup and Chicken paprikás together and I also delivered a general foodie tour. I think it really is a great experience and I hope you all loved the food we made together.

I’m continuously reviewing and editing the list of available dishes, this is the actual list, but feel free to ask for a special dish you always wanted to prepare:

• Cold fruit soups
• Hungarian tomato and pepper ratatouille
• Egg spaetzle
• Layered potatoes
• Potato paprikás with sausage and frankfurter
• Vegetable pottage dish (a very thick vegetable soup eaten as main dish in Hungary, can be made of green peas, beans, potatoes or any other vegetable)
• Potato pancakes
• Pogacsa – potatoe bread snacks
• Pancakes/crepes
• Smarni, Kaiserschmarrn: the Kaiser’s Crumble
• Cottage cheese dumplings
• Goulash soup
• Chicken paprikas and beef stew
• Langos – fried bread

Please book a tour online or contact me for further details, I promise to deliver a very special Budapest Foodie tour for you!

Our industry has so badly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, most of my friends, colleagues and partners aren’t just worried about the pandemic, they are also worried for the future of their business.

I created the new Virtual Tours to support all my partners and friends as all the donations will be shared among those who need it the most. Please book a virtual tour with me and maybe if we stand together our businesses will survive, too.

I know this is a very difficult situation for all of us and difficult times call for difficult measures.

Thank you!

I’ve been very hesitant about publishing this post but I’m getting so many worrying messages and cancellations that I think the time has come to publish what I think and what I, as a private Budapest tour guide can do to reassure you. This post is written on the 9th of March so all the information in it is from today, although things are changing very rapidly.

As for now there are 9 cases in Hungary. I’m checking the updates of country specific COVID-19 Information of the US Department of State. According to the updates Hungary is not listed among countries to where travelling is not recommended:

https://hu.usembassy.gov/covid-19/

I’m also monitoring WHO’s dashboard on the COVID-19 situation in Europe:

https://who.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/ead3c6475654481ca51c248d52ab9c61

These are the facts. I know that personal sentiments and concerns are different from the facts and that many of you are worried. To be honest, I’m worried, too. Not because of the virus, as I’m sure we’ll be over it very soon, now I’m more concerned about my business and the business of my tour guide friends and colleagues in different countries of the world and I’m also worried about my partners, drivers, tour operators and travel agents. We are in trouble and can’t even calculate our losses yet.

What I can do for you taking into consideration saving my business is that from now on all the tour requests have to go through my website and only tours booked on my website are confirmed. As you know the deposit is only EUR 30, which is probably not a big amount of money in your travel budget but it gives me some reassurance about your travel plans. The deposit is non-refundable if you cancel the tour within 30 days of the actual tour date. If you decide to cancel the tour because you’re concerned about COVID-19 and book a tour with me within the next 12 months, I’ll deduct it from the tour price. Please note that future bookings are subject to my availability!

Again, this policy is only valid until the situation changes, I’ll of course re-evaluate it when necessary. I hope this is acceptable for all my dear travellers and that we’ll have amazing tours together the next couple of months and later in 2020!

I’m delighted to see how many people explore my beautiful Budapest as part of their river cruise. I know that while on a cruise travellers have very limited time to discover each place.

That’s the reason why I offer Shore Excursions, fully customisable driving and walking tours, so that each and every visitor can make the most of their time in Budapest. I know what the cruise companies offer on their tours, and I’ll make sure I see you much more when you decide to book a private tour with me. The tours include driving and walking tours in both Budapest and the beautiful Hungarian countryside.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me for further details or to book a tailor-made tour!

The last few years I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries for tours including the visit of the magnificent Houses of Parliament. I decided to create a customised tour including the visit of the Parliament.

The iconic building of the Parliament is one of the most visited attractions of Budapest and the interior is so beautiful, it’s highly recommended to all travellers.

Although I have a contract with the Parliament Visitor Centre and can very often get last minute tickets for the visits, there is no guarantee I can book tickets for the requested dates, so please always get in touch with me prior to booking the tour.

This really was a very popular tour but unfortunately the Trabant car is so terribly polluting that I decided to stop it. Now the same tour is available by car, I’m happy to offer the same experience with less impact on the environment.

This was not an easy decision for me, especially after my tour was featured in a French travel TV show but our planet’s and our kids’ future is more important than some business opportunities.

The first line of the Budapest underground was opened in 1896 and has transported tens of millions of passengers ever since. Most of the stops are authentic from the late 19th century with the colourful ceramic tiles and elaborate woodwork.

Taking the metro is like a time travel and I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it.

My new passion is to collect the sounds of Budapest, recording local music all over the city. This is the first recording of my collection, we were extremely lucky to hear a short organ recital in the Matthias Church of the Buda Castle district.

I try to publish beautiful pictures of my beautiful Budapest as often as I can, still, I don’t think I reach many people via my Instagram feed. Never mind, this is the selection of my favourite pictures in 2019.

Lonely Planet has just published a list of the “Best destinations, journeys and sustainable travel experiences” for 2020. I am very proud, because Budapest is listed among 10 destinations in total, we’re number 2. It’s a great achievement, I only wish they didn’t include “Budapest is one of the most rewarding on your pocket” as I don’t want travellers to visit Budapest because it’s cheap. Come and see my city, because it’s beautiful! 🙂