I keep revising and changing this list as I often try new places. I’m a big foodie and I’m happy to take you to a Budapest Foodie tour so that you can taste the best local treats.
These are my personal favorite restaurants in April 2019:
Working as a tour guide I often get the question whether I find my job boring, doing the same thing every day. Well, no. First of all, I spend all my time in Budapest, my favorite city, the place I lived all my life and I’m the most proud of. And of course I meet so many different people, you, my travellers make sure that every tour, every moment is unique and special.
Have a look at some of my favorite Instagram pictures from last year to see how many different shapes of Budapest I’m fortunate to see every single day.
There’s something I’ve noticed recently: wherever I go in Budapest, there is love. Come and join me for a tour if you want to see it for yourself!
I’m starting a new series to introduce you the most famous statues of Budapest and some of the hidden gems, too. These are the beautiful monuments of Budapest we usually see on our walking or driving tours in Buda and Pest.
The statues and the WW1 exhibit are near the Royal Garden Bazaar at the Danube River. I very often say that we know so much about WW2 but very little about WW1, this exhibit shows everything you need to know about the Great War which also defined the rest of the 20th century.
With over 250 tours I delivered last year I can’t tell how fortunate I am to show my travellers around the city and the country I love the most. This is my home, my birthplace and I’m looking forward to introducing it to even more people in 2019!
I’ve just had a look at which my most popular tours were last year:
Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year from the top of the Buda Castle district!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays from beautiful Budapest!
Take a look at how Budapest looks like now, all white and snowy. It’s such a special period of the year, as unfortunately we’re getting less and less snow every year. Come and see for yourself!
https://www.europeanbestdestinations.com/christmas-markets/
Every year hundreds of thousands of travellers vote for the best European Christmas Markets. This year my favorite Christmas Market in Budapest was voted the second best, that’s the one in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica. It’s easy to understand why this particular market got so many votes, it is all about food and drinks, local handicraft products and the videomapping show over the main facade of St. Stephen’s Basilica is magnificent.
Don’t forget to try local hot wine and chimney cake (kürtöskalács), the most delicious treat at our markets.
I’m very fortunate to have special requests all the time to customize Budapest tours according to my travellers’ preferences. Today we had the chance to visit the Pálvölgyi caves, which is actually the longest cave in Budapest. The visit is about 60 minutes and you can see different stone formations, unique dripstones and prints of primeval shells.
Another advantage of hiking in the caves is that the temperature is constantly 11 degrees Celsius / 52 degrees Fahrenheit, so it’s relatively warm in the winter and pretty cool in the summer.
The wine region is very often named Budapest’s vineyard because of its closeness to the capital city. It was officially formed in 1997 although local wine production originates from the Middle Ages. Due to calcareous clay soils the region is famous for the production of high acid sparkling wines.
Because of the region’s ecological environment the most important characteristic of the wines are their imparting, vibrant acidity. The best-known white types are Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Gris. Red wines are still an exception in the region but you can taste some interesting Pinot Noir and Cabernet, too.
Local winemakers are absolutely charming and would be happy to offer you not only their best selection of wines but a light lunch, too, join my “Etyek Wine Tour” to see and taste more!
Don’t forget to check out the Spring and Easter Fair on Vörösmarty square, it’s open until the end of April. You can buy local, artisanal handicraft products, pottery, ceramics, jewellry and leather products. There are workshops and concerts every weekend. Also, you can taste the most fantastic treats of the Hungarian cuisine, traditional Easter dishes as ham and knuckle, and great cakes, including of course the festive chimney cake.
Let me tell you about the funniest Hungarian Easter tradition. That’s the so-called “watering” of Easter Monday. According to the old traditions water or more preferably perfumed water is sprinkled on girls. Nowadays men usually use perfume but a few decades back they poured large buckets of ice cold water on the screaming ladies. It’s a nice tradition, also, it helps women to remain fresh and beautiful all year long. In exchange the men get nicely decorated, hand painted Easter eggs.
Hungarian people named the lake Balaton the Hungarian sea almost a hundred years ago. That’s where most of us spend at least a few days in the summer, go camping for a school excursion or ice skating in the winter. That’s also where many of our friends from East Germany spent their summer vacations during the communist era, but that’s an entire different story.
The lake is about 80 km long, it’s the biggest freshwater lake in Central Europe. The water is of a very beautiful green, and is smooth and silky, no wonder that the neighborhood is the number one tourist destination of locals. It’s a holiday resort, the paradise of sailers, windsurfers and kiters, the venue of a few great summer music festivals and a perfect quiet place for chilling out.
The Lake Balaton Tour takes you to the pretty Northern shore of the lake, a mountainous region with extinct volcanoes, highlands and several wine regions. The tour also includes rarities of the Hungarian architecture, I show you around the medieval castle of Nagyvázsony, the castle-town of Veszprém and the elegant Festetics palace of Keszthely. We visit charming little towns, like Tihany, which is said to be the richest Hungarian town and Balatonfüred, where we can take a little walk at the marina. let’s not forget about food and drink, I’ll introduce you to local farmers of the Kál basin and winemakers of the Badacsony wine region.
Why do I like Art Nouveau so much? Because it’s probably the one and only architecture being different in the different European countries. Every country has a special, unique and very characteristic style and it’s nicely reflected in the cities’ architecture.
I very often guide tours of Budapest Art Nouveau buildings (Art Nouveau walk), I find their architecture, their ornaments and their stories absolutely stunning. The most important caracteristics of the Hungarian Art Nouveau are the asymmetrical shapes and curved lines, floral and plant-inspired ornamentation, animal patterns and the rich use of mosaics and ceramic tiles.
Although the period of the Hungarian Art Nouveau didn’t last too long, the colorful and richly ornate buildings looking like jewellery boxes dominate our cityscape even today. The most beautiful furnitures, tea sets and pieces of art can be found in the House of the Hungarian Art Nouveau – Magyar Szecesszio Haza.
The Eger region’s wine culture has a history of over a thousand years, and essentially it has always determined the life of the local people. The most recognized red wine of the region is the Bull’s Blood (“Bikavér”) but white wine is also produced due to the favorable environment.
The climate is characterized by relatively late spring and is rather dry. The soil is varied, the most typical is brown forest soil covering volcanic rhyolite tuff.
By the beginning of the Communist era, as a result of nationalization quality production got replaced by quantity production and led to producing unpretentious wines. Because of the terribly poor quality of the wines both domestic and international reputation declined considerably. By the end of the 1970’s the Eger wines became in fact high acid, often bitter and astringent, even dilute. The renaissance of the region’s wines and wine production started in the mid-1990’s and it’s time to be very proud of them, again.
One of the best-known Hungarian wine brands is the Bull’s Blood of Eger. It ‘s medium-bodied and is characterized by a deep ruby color with relatively high acidity. Its smoothness is due to the extended ageing (12 months) in oak barrels. Bull’s Blood is a cuvée, and officially it has to contain at least three different grapes.
As for the local whites, one can taste a great variety of Riesling, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, Traminer, and Zenit wines.
Book an “Eger and wine tour by car” with me if you’re interested in taking a walk around the vineyards, talking to local farmers and winemakers and learning about all the secrets of the magical Bull’s Blood!
The Great Synagogue is one of the most beautiful buildings of Budapest with unique architecture. It looks like a Mosque from the outside, the interior is very similar to the interior of a Christian church, still, it’s the most important cultic and cultural center of the Budapest Jewish community. Don’t miss to visit the interior and the Jewish Museum together with the garden and the park of the Synagogue with moving Holocaust monuments. I’m happy to show you around the building and the neighborhood as part of the “Jewish Quarter Walk“.
I very often tell my guests to walk as much as they can, walking around is probably the best way to discover a new place; you have enough time to admire even the smallest details and to absorb the atmosphere of the city.
But, if you feel you’re too tired to walk, you can also choose public transport. Here is a list of some of the best options if you’re about to explore the everyday life of locals. And, don’t forget to validate your ticket!
Metro #1, the 120-year old metro connects the city center with the City Park. Taking the metro is a real time-travel, some of the stations are authentic from the end of the 19th century.
Tram #2, the streetcar or tram (short for tramway) rides all along the Pest side of the Danube river between the Margaret and the Petőfi bridges. Famous for the best view over the Parliament and the beautiful Buda hills.
Bus #16, the one and only bus taking to you to the historic old town of Buda, the buses are small and usually very crowded. It crosses the river on the 170-year old Chain Bridge and the journey ends on the cobblestoned streets of the Buda Castle District.
Funicular: it’s exactly like the one that appears at the beginning of ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, it’s great fun although very busy, take it from the top of the Castle hill to the Chain Bridge if you want to skip the line.
My most popular countryside tour is around the Danube Bend, probably because it’s very close to Budapest and includes the visit of three very different towns. The Bend of the Danube is to the north of Budapest, it’s a curve of the river where the Danube turns south in the direction of Budapest.
During the tour we visit Esztergom, Visegrád and Szentendre. Esztergom was Hungary’s first capital and is the center of the Catholic church with the biggest Basilica of the country. The Basilica is 170 years old but one of its chapels is older, it dates from the 16th century and is an amazing example of the Hungarian Renaissance. One can climb 380 steps to the top of the Basilica in order to enjoy the view over the town and its neighborhood.
Visegrád is the smallest Hungarian town with a population of 2.000 but it’s of great historical significance. The town’s fortified castle is from the 13th century and overlooks the Danube Bend, by visiting the ruins of the 800-year-old castle you’ll also enjoy the spectacular view over the river.
Szentendre is a little jewelry box, a little town with Mediterranean atmosphere, cobblestoned streets, colorful buildings, small cafés and art galleries. It’s very often named an artists’ town because the neighborhood inspired many generations of great Hungarian artists. You might also would like to visit the sweet Marzipan museum. You have the option to take a boat to get back to Budapest at the end of the tour.
Yes, the Trabant is noisy and it smells. Every time I get in the Trabi I feel like a child again. It was our family car, our holiday car, I can’t count how many times our precious little car took us to the lake Balaton or to the Mátra mountains. It was the only treasure we had as the communist leaders didn’t really allow people possessing much.
There are some parts of Budapest where the time stopped 30 years ago when the last few Trabants rolled down the assembly line. I’d like to show them to you during the Trabant tour, I’ll tell you about the not that glorious decades of socialism, I’ll share with you funny and poignant stories from behind the Iron Curtain. I’m sure you’ll shortly realize that freedom is one of the most valuable gifts and we have to learn to appreciate it.
