Budapest and the impact of the F1 race in July

Hotels are quite full because it is July AND the F1.

July records about 1 million guest nights. I believe the race seats 35,000. I've been there during the race and only realized it because some of the race crews liked one of my favorite bars.

But yeah, will be a few more tourists. But Budapest doesn't have a dense tourist zone like Prague and more spread out than Vienna too.

A bigger impact is the Sziget Festival in August.

We had tentatively ruled Budapest out, but perhaps that was too hasty. I appreciate the information. :-)

I seriously don't think it will be an inconvenience. If I did, I would be honest about it. The track is a ways out of town and the people who came to see the race will be at the race during the day. Maybe why I didn't notice them.

Look at some hotels and if you find something interesting, let me know, I may know something about them or the location.

A quick look at Expedia turned up Hotel Rum and Hotel Parlament, as nice looking hotels, central, and with rooms available. The Corinthia, which I think I saw you mention on another post, does not have space.

Ehhhhhh, not a first choice for location. The Hotel Rum, better than the Parliament though. Neither bad, but you might be able to do better.

I dont know your dates or I would look for you. But try

K&K Opera
Callas House
Hotel Alice
Moments Hotel
Hotel Casati
even the Thai Hotel on Andrassy .... i know, not "Hungarian" but the location is good.
The Hard Rock Hotel is sort of nice (but I bet booked)
and there is a Hilton Garden in on Lázár u. which doesn't look too bad.
a few RS folks have stayed at Medosz Hotel and report good, and I like the location
then the Ambra. Ive done it a few times for cheap and easy (and near my home)
Eurostars Ambassador is well located
MaMaison Residence Izabella
Oktogon Hotel

Each of those is wildly different, so if they have availability you have some style and cost to choose from. You will notice that they are all within a block or two of Andrassy ut and that's sort of what I think is the best place if you are spending 3 nights or more. Andrassy ut is the prettiest street in town. Directly under it is the old M1 metro line which is more like an airport shuttle train between terminals than a metro line. Very easy.

For shorter stays, then District V can be okay, but only if you get close to the river. The Sofitel, Intercontinental, Marriott and Four Seasons. But there are a few others, let me know if its a short stay and i will send some to check.

If an short-term rental apartment (Airbnb) works for you there are a lot in town. I have never had the occasion to rent one in Budapest, but from time to time someone on the forum will send me a list of the ones they are considering and I help track down the exact location and tell them if I know anything about the street or neighborhood.

Wait a while I bet we get some more ideas.....

I did a quick search on both Airbnb and booking.com for July 21-24 (3 nights, exact dates of the F1). There is a lot of availability but prices seem high. Then I used July 23-26, 3 nights with only 1 night of overlap. Still lots of availability but total price for 3 nights was down. Booking.com will show you both hotels and apartments - and there are a lot of apartments available.

I haven’t used Expedia in ages, so I don’t know about cancellation policies. Both the others are clear on their policies, often with booking.com having more flexible cancellation policies. But you always have to check.

I am far from an expert on Budapest (just an enthusiast) but for several nights, I like an apartment - more space, generally cheaper, and a little more “local” feeling.

It will be a short stay. Probably the 19th for two nights. We could/would do three, but the availability drops off for the 21st, I guess reflecting weekend visitors.

Look at these if you are staying 2 nights. They put you pretty close to the top 10 things and the views at the river in the evening will stay with you for life. What you will miss is the "the city" as these are pretty much in the heart of tourism and Budapest is a lot better than that. But if you enjoy, you will be back.

Hotel Zenit Budapest Palace
Millennium Court, Budapest – Marriott
Aurea Ana Palace Hotel
Hotel Vision
Marriott
Sofitel
Intercontinental
Four Seasons LOL
Moments
Andrassy Thai

I know that the Hilton Garden Inn hosts the McLaren team, so I would assume that other big hotel "chains" will be booked. Look to more local hotels and you should be okay.

Chrsty, a McLaren team groupie? Good for you.

I want someone to stay in the Eurostars Ambassador and tell me how it is

Ha, no. I'm team Hilton. :)

During a stay, they shared that the team stays at their location.

(I am an F1 fan, however.)

Thanks you all for great tips! I've got myself and 3 friends who want to go to the F1 race, the list of hotels is helpful. We were afraid this late everything would be booked out.

Any tips for buying tickets in europe? (to the race) I keep finding big websites that have tickets, but are obviously resellers with high markups (just like ticketmaster). There must be person to person sites? i.e. Craigslist or a facebook like market site? (I've got a search going).

Looks like there is a train from the city that gets close to the track then a nice walk. Rick would approve I think.