MUPA area Budapest

We never eaten there yet (maybe next week) but on a different travel forum a small restaurant next to the market was recommended to us called Pipa Etterem. Not gourmet but modestly priced Hungarian food. Here's the link.

http://www.pipaetterem.hu/index_en.html

If you go there please! post a review here.

There are a couple of nice places at the Balna (Balna is Whale I believe). Its an interesting shopping area. One restaurant has a nice outdoor area with a view across the river.

It is located at the first stop on the 2 Tram once you pass the Market Hall. Remember the Market Hall stop (actually Fővám tér) is located under Szabadság Híd (Liberty Bridge) so you wont see the market hall. http://www.balnabudapest.hu/

Thank you both for your suggestions. It's nice to have options!

Yes, James, we were delighted to find yesterday that the tram stopped in a tunnel when we needed to take refuge from a sudden fierce thunderstorm. There were about two inches of hail collected at the bottom of the escalator going down into the subway!

James, your input on Balna proved very useful to me. After a couple of days on our own, we're joining a river cruise and pictures of Balna happened to show ships from that company. Although no guaranteed, I suspect that's where we'll board after a day of sight seeing on our own.

One question, I know there is a Tram 2 stop next to the Intercontinental, but where can we buy tickets?

Any metro station has either a window or a machine. The end stop of the M1 is at Vorosmarty ter just behind your hotel. Some of the tram stops have machines.

Thanx James. I'm kinda of the unofficial organizer of our group of 6 so trying to get a handle on the set up there before arriving all jetlagged/ brain dead.

With a group you might consider a couple of these https://bkk.hu/en/budapest-24-hour-group-travel-card/

oh, I bet your river cruise is further up river. Close to your hotel. The few I've taken over the years are.

James, thanx.

Nice website for transport. Better than anything I'd found yet for Budapest. Actually had maps with the tram stops. The group ticket says 5 people so not real useful for 6 but I think a packet of 10 At 3000 florints might work.

I've looked at hundreds of photos showing the waterfront and river cruise ships but only the Balna had ones showing Scylla ships (Tauck is our tour company). Scylla's are very distinctive - white, green trim/writing and a round brow. The only reason I care is it makes planning our time that day easier i.e do we want to return to the hotel for pickup by the company or head ourselves to the ship directly.

individual tickets are the expensive way to go. I am going to guess 2 group travel cards will be cheapest and give you some flexibility. A typical day of tourism will take at least 4 tickets each person if you use the trams and M1 metro to your advantage. And the trams are sort of fun and part of the experience. Second choice would be individual travelcards for the period of time you will be there. They come in different time periods. The other problem with tickets is validating them every time you use one, then keeping it till you get off and are 100 yards from the tram. Inspectors will be checking from time to time and even if you are off the tram they can follow to check your ticket. With the travel card you just show it when asked. So much easier than 6 people trying to reach the orange validation box on the tram.

4 tickets x 6 people is 24 tickets x 300 is 7200 forints per day. And that is conservative. You could use more per day if you hop on and off a lot .... and I do, love the freedom.

So the group card is 3300 Forints (HUF) x 2 = 6600 Forints per day, and no hassle with validation or loosing tickets or running out and having to buy more.

Individual 72 hour (3 day) travel cards are 4150 forint x 6 = 12450 forints / 3 days = 4150 per day if you are staying 3 days. This appears to be best for you guys and you dont have to get a new one every day. I generally find that if I am staying 5 days, the 7 day card is still the cheapest.

Just avoid the BudapestCard. It's expensive and only pays off if you love museums or are going to the zoo. Love the Budapest zoo!!!

James, I get your point but we likely won't have a big opportunity for much use of transport. If all goes as scheduled, we arrive Tues mid-afternoon so just a few hours to sight see and find dinner before jetlag does us in. Wed we're booked on an all day private Danube Bend tour. So maybe transport to dinner and back. Thursday we board the ship at 3ish. Friday we'll be sight seeing with the tour so they provide transport. Those sights include Heroes Sqr, Fisherman's bastion, free time in Buda, general drive around.

My thoughts to fill in some of the holes:
Tues - check in to hotel, walk to St Stephens, maybe visit Memories of Budapest store, find dinner, walk over to Shoes on the Danube. Walk or tram back to hotel.
Wed- find dinner or eat at hotel
Thursday - tour Hospital in the Rock then head back to Pest to see the Synagogue, find lunch, Great Market, shopping- this is probably the day we use more transport

All depends on what the weather looks like and what the rest of the group wants. We'll all meet at Schiphol airport and can start finalizing then.

Thanx for the help. I do appreciate your expertise.

My thoughts to fill in some of the holes:

Tues - check in to hotel, walk to St Stephens, maybe visit Memories of
Budapest store, find dinner, walk over to Shoes on the Danube. Walk or
tram back to hotel.

Walk to St Stephens, pass the entrance to the M1 along the way, go down and purchase some sort of metro ticket.

Memories is an excellent store.

Eat at Lugas https://www.facebook.com/Belv%C3%A1rosi-Lugas-%C3%89tterem-247073648655935/ or Hachapuri http://hachapuri.com/ Both located behind St. Stephens, both very, very good.

Walk to the shoes? Thats a 15 minute walk at best (if you know where you are going) but it does go through some pretty parts of Budapest. From the shoes take the 2 Tram back to the hotel. If its late and dark, it will be beautiful. All told you will be walking 30 minutes.

Wed- find dinner or eat at hotel

This is you all day Danube Bend tour day?

The all-day Danube bend trip is just that ... ALL DAY. Take a look at seeing Buda in the morning, then taking the suburban train up to Szentendre, then the boat back to Budapest. Really is a beautiful way to spend half a day. Boat back is at 5pm I believe.

Dont eat in the hotel. At the very least go to one of the restaurants on the Corso. Better yet, take the M1 a few stops to the Opera and eat at Calas and follow that with drinks at Kadarka. Walk home. Andrassy is pretty at night.

Thursday - tour Hospital in the Rock then head back to Pest to see the
Synagogue, find lunch, Great Market, shopping- this is probably the
day we use more transport

Again, you are bouncing around a bit. The Hospital in the Rock is 2/3rds interesting and 1/3 strange at best. You will understand when you see it. Bring good directions as its hard to find. To get there walk across the chain bridge and take the funicular up.

To see what you want to see the next logical stop is the Market Hall. Walk down (or funicular) and get on the 19/41 tram to to the Gellert Hotel, then the 47/49 tram across the bridge to the market.

From the market the 47/49 one more stop and a short walk to the Synagogue. Lunch in the market hall if the time works for you or http://www.pipaetterem.hu/ was recommended by someone recently.

If its not 2 or 3pm yet, what did you have in mind for the rest of the day? I might be inclined to spend it in the District VII (the Jewish neighborhood) or walking up Andrassy ut. Sure the tour boat will drive you there, but not the same. Actually, I don't think you will have time for more than the Hospital in the Rock (but nothing else in Buda) and the Market Hall and lunch.

To be fair, its not really the way I would spend the time. My biggest gripe is coming to Budapest just to leave it to spend a day in 3 towns that you will be too rushed to enjoy. But there are no wrongs and no matter what, its a great trip.

We've had the Danube Bend tour booked for months. It's all day - they pick us up at the hotel, provide lunch, go to Visegrad, Esztergom & Szentendre, then the boat ride back which I'm really looking forward to after reading lots of comment on the view of the parliament.

By "Corso" what exactly do you mean? We're staying in the Intercontinental and will be eating breakfast at their restaurant the Corso which is what I meant. If we're all feeling energetic we'll likely go out somewhere else. My list of possible restaurants keeps being edited. Will add those you recommended that aren't already on the list. Pipa Etterem was my suggestion based on someone on the Tauck forum and the person I recommended it to sent me a private message back yesterday that they had gone and it was good "mom & pop" food.

Yep, Thursday is pretty up in the air. The only reason I included Hosp in the Rock is one of our group is a WWII history buff and because I want to ride the funicular. It's hard to plan too firmly at this point. Trying to herd cats - 2 planners currently 2000 miles apart and 4 others who (sort of) go along for the ride.

Agree with you on short visits to cities with lots to do - which is why we took this particular cruise ending in Amsterdam. We'd done a Rhine/Moselle cruise a few years ago and felt we didn't get enough time in Amsterdam.