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.

Musical Budapest

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!

I’ve had the chance to visit the interior of the State Opera House shortly after it reopened after long years of renovation works. The interior is just magnificent. I’ve always felt overwhelmed by the style and grandeur of the building, and I wasn’t disappointed. I love the colours, the smells, the amazing Neo-Renaissance design and ornaments. Visiting the building is like a time travel to the late 1800’s.

I’d highly recommend to buy a ticket for an evening performance or to buy a ticket to visit the Opera – there are guided tours in English every day at 1.30 PM, 3.00 PM and 4.30 PM. Private tours are also available, please let me know if you’re interested, I’m happy to include the Opera visit in a driving or walking tour.

Many of us have been surprised earlier this year to learn that visitors need to buy a ticket to see the interior of St. Stephen’s Basilica. So far the general opinion was that the house of God is open for everybody and visitors only had to pay a small amount of donation at the entrance.

You need to buy the tickets in advance at the ticket office, which is located to the right of the church. The ticket price is HUF 1.200 (about EUR 3) per person. Be aware that during wedding ceremonies you are only allowed to a small part of the interior and the church is closed for visitors during church services.

I’ve had a group of interior design students from the US who booked an Art Nouveau tour with me. I thought they would be interested in seeing the villa of György Ráth, first director general of the Museum of Applied Arts of Budapest.

His home is an amazing source of inspiration for art lovers. One really feels like visiting a family with great sense of art and culture. The British, Austrian and French Art Nouveau are all on display and one can also admire the Oriental influence, as well as the Transylvanian roots appearing in Hungarian art at the turn of the century. The 600 pieces of art in the exhibition represent all branches of applied art: jewellery, furnitures, Zsolnay ceramics, Tiffany glassware, amazing paintings and sculptures.

The museum is open for the public from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM.

 

You know that I love Budapest and I love the public transportation of the city. Some of you also know that my personal protest against the Russian aggression in Ukraine is that I refuse to buy petrol and haven’t driven my car for a while. The video below shows what I experience and see every day while I’m riding the local metro and trams.

I don’t really share posts on politics or my own political views. This post is different though, because I’ve just started to realise how politics affect travellers’ choices. I’ve just received two cancellations because travellers decided not to visit Hungary because of the country’s prime minister’s political statements and approach.

I think generalisation is dangerous. I think that it’s impossible to form an opinion about a country by this country’s politicians’ statements or approach. That won’t tell you anything about the country’s people, its culture, its architecture, its history. Also, it’s just a temporary state, a snapshot in Hungary’s history of over a 1000 years. And none of the election results shows what all the Hungarians think or how they feel. I think that’s the same all around the world and many of you agree with me.

My travellers are always encouraged to ask questions, I’m happy to discuss everything and anything and I think I always succeed in changing preconceptions or clarify things. I just love to spend time with open minded people who try to understand our country and our  culture and also what led to the actual political status quo.

Again, I respect other people’s choices and I don’t want to change them. But the cancellations meant to me that the travellers formed an opinion about me and my country without actually knowing us and it hurts a lot. And, more importantly, Budapest is Beautiful no matter what the politicians do or say. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing it for yourself!

The Citadel on the top of Gellért hill is being renovated, and unfortunately the entire area is closed because of the construction works. It also means that a truly popular tourist attraction of Budapest is closed and it’s impossible to enjoy the most magnificent views over Buda and Pest. The very bad news is that it remains closed for another few years and it’s impossible to estimate when it reopens. It’s just my personal opinion that they could have left a little path open for the tourists to enjoy the view, but that’s not the case.

You can still take a walk on Gellért hill, and you can climb to the statue of Saint Gellért from where you’ll have a great view over the Pest side of the river.

It’s always nice to watch the fireworks from the balcony – the advantages of living on a beautiful hill in Buda. St. Stephen’s Day (20th of August) is a national holiday in Hungary and the day’s celebrations are crowned every year by amazing fireworks at night.

I love my Gödöllő-Hollókő tour for many reasons, one of those being that I’m truly fascinated by the beauty of the Baroque Palace of Gödöllő. There are so many things to fall in love with: the architecture, the style, the colours, the details. It really is special because throughout the tour one has the impression to travel back in time to the 19th century.

On our very last visit earlier this month we were being guided by Queen Sissi – the wife of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef which has made our tour even more remarkable.

Finally, the moment has come, as of the 7th of August, travellers from outside the EU can enter Hungary by air. The rules are:

“persons who are able to present an English or Hungarian language document containing the results of a molecular biological test (SARS_CoV-2 PCR test) not older than 72 hours, conducted in conformity with professional medical regulations in one of the following countries:
a Member State of the European Union or in a candidate state of the European Union,
a member state of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,”

It means that all you need is to have a negative PCR test (not older than 72 hours). We’ve been waiting for this for such a long time, it’s such a great news and I really hope that many visitors will want to visit my Beautiful Budapest these coming weeks.

I get a lot of inquiries about travel restrictions related to COVID, it’s actually still not easy to find out who can enter Hungary.

The basic rules:

  • The citizens of the EU who have the EU green card (EU Digital Covid Certificate) are free to enter Hungary by plane, by car, by train or by boat.
  • Travellers coming from outside the EU are free to enter Hungary by car, by train or by boat.
  • There are no local restrictions so you can go to any museum, restaurant, café, bar, hotel or bathhouse without any proof of vaccination and wearing a mask is no longer obligatory.

Hopefully very soon the same restrictions will apply to travellers coming from the EU and from outside the EU, it’s basically a political decision and there is nothing we can do to help visitors.

The good news, is that if you are in Vienna or Bratislava, you’re very close to Budapest and can easily plan a daytrip to visit my beautiful city. The train connections between Vienna and Budapest and between Bratislava and Budapest are great and it’s easy to book tickets. I can also help you to arrange for private transportation if needed.

I’m happy to customise any of my walking or driving tours so that you can have the perfect Budapest experience. I can pick you up at the train station or meet you in the city centre of Budapest and you’ll see all the main attractions and the most beautiful parts of the city in a couple of hours. Please let me know if you need more details or have further questions.

 

Rumbach street synagogue, one pillar of the famous synagogue triangle in Budapest was closed for renovation works for almost three years. From the 19th of July the synagogue is open for visitors, so that you can admire the interior of the building designed by Otto Wagner in the 1860’s.

The synagogue is of moorish architecture and surely you’ll be amazed by the abundance of colours: blue, purple and golden. There will be concerts, performances, exhibitions and conferences held in the building and you can also have some coffee and snack in the cafeteria.

I’m happy to show you the building when you book a Jewish Quarter walking tour with me.

 

The lake Balaton is the number one destination of Hungarians in the summer months. It’s the greatest freshwater lake in Central Europe and is famous for its wine regions, cute little villages, beautiful castles and of course the magnificent views over the lake.

You can book the tour or contact me for further details. I’ll make sure to include in the itinerary all the sights you would like to see.

Unfortunately the Great Synagogue (or as we call it the Dohány street Synagogue) is not yet open for visitors, however, we were fortunate enough to visit the building. It was unusually quiet and empty without the hundreds of tourists but it was a very special tour as you can see in the pictures. The synagogue will reopen in August and hopefully you’ll include a visit when you are in Beautiful Budapest.

Book the Jewish Quarter tour with me to explore all the sights and history of the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.

 

 

I was surprised to see that two cruise ships are currently docked in Budapest and I also met real tourists in the Buda Castle District and the City Park.

I’ve just checked the official website of the Hungarian Police. It says: “Except in the case of entry by civil aircraft, entry into Hungary from Croatia, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, regardless of nationality or protection against the coronavirus, is possible without epidemiological restrictions, but providing other general conditions of entry (eg valid travel document) is necessary.”

I’d think it means that travellers can enter the country without restriction except in case of entry by civil aircraft. However, I read the entire article and found this: “Foreign citizens arriving from abroad in passenger traffic – unless otherwise specified by law or government decree – shall not enter Hungary.” 

It’s hard to tell which rules apply to those who would like to get into the country by car. By the 1st of July the all travel restrictions will be lifted for those who have the EU COVID-19 Passport (when travelling, every Digital Green Certificate holder will have the same rights as citizens of the visited Member State who have been vaccinated, tested or recovered). I’m really looking forward to it and to welcoming travellers in my Beautiful Budapest.

The iconic Chain Bridge is closed for renovation works and will hopefully reopen at the end of 2022. We’ll of course miss it and our walking and driving tours will be a little bit different but we all agree that our Old Lady has needed these renovation works for a very long time.

I know that many football lovers arrive to Budapest to watch the matches. There are of course several restrictions regarding border entry (more details here). Once you comply with all requirements and have your EURO 2020 wristband, it’s time to discover Beautiful Budapest! I’m happy to offer you a customised tour or help you with tips and recommendations, get in touch with me for more details!

If you’re about to explore Budapest on your own, don’t miss any of these beautiful parts of the city:

Ticket holders who have their EURO 2020 wristband can visit all monuments, museums and bathhouses, it’s really a unique chance to see Budapest as you’ve never seen it before.

Matches at Puskás Aréna, Budapest:
Tuesday 15 June 2021 – Group F: Hungary vs Portugal (18:00, local time)
Saturday 19 June 2021 – Group F: Hungary vs France (15:00, local time)
Wednesday 23 June 2021 – Group F: Portugal vs France (21:00, local time)
Sunday 27 June 2021 – R16: 1C vs 3D/E/F (18:00, local time)