A Must-See: the Gellért baths

Bathing and bathing culture have always been an important part of our everyday life. According to a survey I’ve just read 30% of the locals go to the baths regularly. It’s fun, very relaxing and has healing effects, too. I can show you some of the most authentic Budapest baths if you join me for a tour.

The Gellért bathhouse is the most elegant bath complex of Budapest. The building is one of the most amazing pieces of the Budapest Art Nouveau and  opened in 1918. When you have a look at the richly ornate facade of the building its hard to imagine that before the construction of the elegant hotel, the place had been referred to as to the muddy baths, where both people and animals had their regular bath.

The thermal baths are fed by the mineral hot springs of the Gellért hill. The water is rich in  calcium, magnesium, hydrocarbonate and sulfate. The water temperature varies from 35 °C to 40 °C.

Don’t miss the Turkish section where the walls are so nicely decorated with colorful mosaics. The bath can be visited throughout the year, if you happen to be in Budapest in the summer, you can also take advantage of the outdoor wave pool.

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Pictures of Budapest and Hungary

My two greatest passions are tour guiding and photography. I’ve been involved in photography in a way or another my entire adult life and I always try to catch the beauty I see walking around Budapest every day. Some of my pictures are on Instagram, too: – https://www.instagram.com/kravianszky/

 

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Happy New Year

Wishing you a very happy and prosperous new year from the top of the Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The truly amazing atmosphere of Budapest during the Christmas holidays, all the beautiful lights, gold and glitter of the city I love so much.

 

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TH Awards – Private Tour Company of the Year

I’m the extremely proud winner of Travel and Hospitality Awards’ Private Tour Company – of the Year 2018 in Hungary. This is an award I appreciate a lot and it’s also a great feedback showing that my guests are happy with my services as their private Budapest tour guide. It’s time to celebrate!

Budapest by night

Budapest is beautiful day and night, surprisingly it’s like a totally different town when darkness falls. I enjoy very much touring in the city when one can enjoy its amazing lights especially looking at them from the Buda hills. Join my “The lights of Budapest” tour, so that I can show you the nicely lit buildings and tell you more about the stories of my city.

 

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Celebrating the National Day – 23rd of October

We decided to celebrate the National Day by hiking around the beautiful Buda hills. We hoped to enjoy some splendid view over Budapest from the top of the Elisabeth tower but couldn’t wait until the fog eventually lifted. It was a beautiful day shared with many other hikers who visited the area despite the sad weather.

 

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A Must-See: Sándor Presidential Palace

I’m not exactly the person who gets invited to the Presidential Palace very often but we were very lucky with my guests last weekend when the doors of the Sándor Palace were open and the public could walk around the beautifully designed interior.

Compared to the relatively simple outside the interior is surprisingly richly ornate, at times I felt like walking around the Versailles Palace. The building is from 1806 and was the residence of the country’s prime minister from 1867. That’s when Queen Elisabeth or Sisi visited the handsome count Andrássy several times after enjoying a performance at the Castle Theatre next door.

The building was restored and became the seat of the offices of the President in 2003, the actual furnitures are reproductions of the originals. The entire restoration was conducted in accordance with the original blueprints. The garden is absolutely stunning with a great view over the Pest side. There is no guarantee we can tour the interior when you book a tour in the Buda Castle district but I’ll find a way to show you something just as beautiful as the Sándor Palace.

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Pécs tour with a lot of sunshine, history and diverse architecture

Yes, Pécs is one of my favorite destinations so I’d like to encourage you to book a tour at your earliest convenience. Once you have a look at the pictures below I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the city, too.

Pécs is very unique because the entire Hungarian history is on display in the city’s architecture, spirit and charm. You can learn so much while just walking around the cobblestoned streets.

We start the tour discovering the 1700-year-old Early Christian Necropolis, the well preserved burial chambers of the Romans fron the 4th century. We continue in the 11th century Basilica on Dóm square, an important symbol of the continuous fight of the Hungarians for Christianity. We tour the ruins of the Turkish baths, the only Turkish age mosque in Hungary that has remained intact together with its minaret and the 13th century Catholic church converted into a mosque in the 1540’s and reconverted into a Catholic church in the 1680’s. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to notice the special combination of the Muslim crescent moon and the Christian cross topping the church, reminding us of the peaceful coexistence of different religions. We admire the harmonious Baroque architecture and also have a look at the Vasarely museum.

After the city tour I take you to the Zsolnay quarter, the completely renovated and restored Zsolnay factory buildings where the most beautiful Hungarian porcelain and ceramic products have been manufactured since 1853.

 

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Szentkút – the Holy Fountain

We visited this cute little village last week as it was part of a family research I was working on for my guests arriving from Australia. I’ve never been to Szentkút before but I’m very much impressed by this enormous pilgrimage site, it’s just too bad it was deserted this part of the year. I understand it’s much more crowded in August when open air masses are held for hundreds of thousands of people.

The fountains have been famous for their healing power for some 700 years now and is declared a National Shrine since 2006.

 

 

Before You Go

A few general and helpful information before you arrive to my beautiful city.

Money Exchange: the local currency is HUF (Hungarian Forint), you can pay with credit card in almost every shop and restaurant and in taxis, too. Don’t exchange money at the airport, there are dozens of small exchange offices in the city center (don’t forget to check the exchange rates first) and you can also use the hundreds of ATM machines.

Transportation: don’t be afraid of using public transportation, it’s simple, convenient and cheap. You’ll feel like a local. You can buy tickets at the metro stations, don’t forget to validate your ticket when you start your journey.

Cabs: all the local cabs are registered, they’re yellow. Taking a cab is safe, make sure that the driver puts the meter on at the beginning of the ride, don’t negotiate the price. Feel free to get off the cab if the driver refuses to put the meter on.

Tipping: tip is generally 10-15%, it might be included in the price, always check the receipt to see if the service fee is included.

Safety and security: Budapest is a very safe city, you can walk around during the night without experiencing any problem. There might be pickpockets in crowded places, take care of your belongings!

Tap water: drinking tap water is safe, the water is of great quality and delicious at the same time.

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