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The historic Chain Bridge has been under structural renovation for a year and a half. The bridge reopens later this week for public transportation and cabs. It will be fully reopened for pedestrian traffic in late summer 2023.

The oldest bridge of Budapest was opened in 1849 and has been the favourite bridge of locals and travellers ever since. The renovation was very much needed and was completed in a relatively short period of time, however, every day when we cannot cross the river on the Chain Bridge is considered a sad day. We’ve been missing you Chain Bridge and can’t wait to see you again very soon!

I would like to share with you this little video I took last weekend when we visited the Gödöllő Palace. This beautiful Baroque palace from the 18th century is included in my Gödöllő and Hollókő tour and the visit is always a special experience. I very much love being lost in the past, in history, it’s a real time travel and history comes to life.

I keep posting about Eger wines and wine tasting tours, and it seems to me that wine tours are becoming more and more popular. My personal opinion is that exploring local food and wine is a defining part of our travel experience. I’m so happy to realise how much my travellers enjoy the local wines and traditions.

Eger is a very cute Hungarian little town with a lot of history and culture and with amazing red wines. Let me know if you’re interested in a tour, so that I can send you more details. We can include as many different wineries as you wish, we can do wine tasting, we can walk around the wine cellars, it is the best way to explore local food and local wine.

Here are some pictures of our last tour to give you more ideas.

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I’m taking a lot of pictures on my tours in Budapest and around Hungary, however, I always forget to post on my Instagram. Especially during high season it’s difficult to post on Facebook, Instagram or my own blog, but believe me, I’m trying hard. Here are some pictures I’ve posted recently.

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We were on a tour near Parliament when we heard some music from in front of the building. When we walked closer we noticed that a military band was playing and were surprised to recognise the song they were playing: Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode.  Budapest really is a musical city, you can hear street musicians at the most popular tourist spots and sometimes you’re just lucky to be at a special performance.

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Thank you so much for sharing your reviews, it’s always a pleasure to see how much you enjoyed your tours in my Beautiful Budapest. I’m grateful for all the reviews shared on Google, TripAdvisor or on my website.

Here are a few ones of the most recent reviews:

My wife and I have been using private tour guides for many years as we have traveled the world. We consider it the absolute best way to experience, as fully as possible a new city, region or culture. Julia is one of the best private tour guides that it has ever been our pleasure to work with. Charming, witty, knowledgeable, professional, thorough and kind are just a few of her positive attributes. She greatly helped bring the Budapest area to life for us. We recommend her most highly.

We had a wonderful time with Julia. She is proud of her city and happily took us around to see it. She is knowledgeable, happy and very experienced. I would not hesitate to use her again. Recommended!

Julia is an outstanding tour guide! She is extremely knowledgeable, and very accommodating and flexible. We would highly recommend her tours if you are planning a trip to Hungary!

It really is a great time to visit Budapest, the colours of autumn are simply magnificent and there aren’t big crowds of tourists at the hot spots. Book a tour or let me know if you’re interested in a custom itinerary!

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It’s always great to read reviews and to learn about how much travellers enjoyed their tours with me. Here are a few ones from September.

FULL-DAY BUDAPEST TOUR BY CAR

Having Julia show us around Budapest was the experience of a lifetime. She was so knowledgeable, so interesting, and so much fun we didn’t want the tour to end. It is obvious that she loves her city, and her enthusiasm and insight made us love it too. I cannot recommend Julia more. She is a gem. Get her if you can. Richard E. U.S.A.

Thus was a fantastic tour by a Budapest local. Julia was an amazing guide…prompt, friendly, courteous and full of information about her hometown. She took us to a local hangout for a traditional lunch and to “off the beaten path” sights to see. Definitely recommend Julia….5+ stars!!!

DANUBE BEND TOUR BY CAR

Julia was an exellent tour guide.We would rate her a high 5 and recommend her without reservation.

What a real pleasure to meet Julia via her virtual tour of Budapest. My sister and i were introduced to the Buda side of Budapest and Julia did an amazing job of being our virtual tour guide. Her detailed knowledge of history and her city was excellent and we felt we were walking along with her on the tour. Plenty of time for questions and she is a beautiful person….thanks so much Julia ��

It was informative and interesting. Participants were positively surprised how good a virtual guided tour can be.

My old-new passion is to collect the sounds of Budapest, recording local music all over the city. This is the third recording in my collection, a short organ recital in the Cave Church. Hopefully soon enough, I’ll have enough materials to create my Budapest Symphony.

This is probably the number one Instagram spot in Budapest, a cool place to take your selfie when you visit my beautiful city. It’s usually very crowded and sometimes you have to wait to get to the best photo spot but there are times of the day when it’s really quiet and you can have it all for yourself. Visiting the Fisherman’s Bastion is part of my Buda Castle walk and can be included in the itinerary of other tours as well.

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I’ve had received today some inquiries about how the new recommendations issued by the European Union might affect travels from the US to Hungary. The US is one of the five countries that have been removed from the EU safe travel list.

What is important is that this is a guidance and each EU countries decide individually about travel restrictions. As for Hungary, you can enter Hungary if you come from the US with a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours – no PCR test is needed when you get to Hungary by road, rail or waterway.

What is even more important is that Budapest is as beautiful as always, it’s not overcrowded with tourists, so it’s still a great time to come and see. Let me know if you have questions, or book a tour! Also, don’t forget that a private tour is safer than being in large tour groups, myself and the drivers I work with are fully vaccinated and can’t wait to meet you!