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A Great Way to Enter Budapest

Posted by (Magyarország / Rep of Texas ) on

I'm proud of myself for this one. We have a friend arriving in a few hours. She has never been here before and I want to start her visit as dramatically as possible

So we hired a driver to take us to the airport to greet her. Then we go directly to Szentendre. It's about 15 min further than downtown Pest. The driver takes her bags on to The Lions Locker, so we dont have to drag them around, while we wander Szentendre. At 5pm we get on the boat to Budapest. There is absolutely no more impressive way to Enter Budapest than on the Danube, watching the Parliament and Castle Hill rise before you as you round the bend of Margaret Island.

Posted by
15582 posts

How lovely. Kudos to you. Enjoy her and your time in that beautiful city.

Posted by
148 posts

How long was that ride from the airport to Szentendre?
Nice touch taking the boat into the city - must be nice to get your first view of the city that way.

Posted by
148 posts

How long was that ride from the airport to Szentendre?
Nice touch taking the boat into the city - must be nice to get your first view of the city that way.

Posted by
427 posts

boat ride is pretty amateurish, prerecored tape. the only good thing is the view.

Posted by
17908 posts

No tape on our boat. Just the view. Its the 3rd time i have done it in 15 years. As a way of giving someone their first view of the city, its hard to beat. The weather here has been hot, but the river was much cooler, the views very good till you come around Margaret Island and see the Parliament on one side and Castle Hill on the other. Our guests eyes got very big, and we heard beautiful or something equivelent in several different languages from the others on the boat. We wanted to blow our guest away with her first view of Budapest and it was a sucess.

Posted by
987 posts

Now I’m going to want to do that when I finally make it to Budapest. It sounds like a great way to first see it. What a nice thing to arrange for your friend!

Posted by
532 posts

Yes James, I think this would be a fabulous way for all of your guests to be introduced to Budapest!

Posted by
17908 posts

Peter, this is the first time I have played tour guide in nearly 10 years. I am exhausted.

But I have proven a point. Our guest walked into the BUD Arrivals Hall about 2pm on Friday; it is now Tuesday and possibly by late this evening she will have seen the major sights and sites. That's a 5 night stay if one were to catch a plane or train out on Wednesday. I tell people it's a 4 night minimum to do Budapest justice. I guess I need to start saying 5 nights.

Fortunately she will be here until Friday so we can hit a few of the secret places.

Posted by
532 posts

We'll have to replicate that boat trip in September. Sounds wonderful.

Posted by
532 posts

That, and Gellert hill with a bottle of Kekfrankos at sunset.

Posted by
17908 posts

We went to the Citadella Lookout on Gellert Hill the night before last. It was my first view of Budapest 15 years ago. Still stunning, but now the tour busses go there with hundreds of tourists. Fortunally we arrived as the last bus was leaving. Plan on going after 10pm to miss the crunch and get the most out of it.

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