Pre-Viking Cruise- Budapest Itinerary Advice needed! May 2024

You need to share where your Viking cruise starts and sails, which river. You finally give some clues near the end of the first paragraph. It would be helpful to add it to the title.
We took this cruise from Nuremberg to Budapest,
also with Viking.

I updated my title as suggested, thank you!

Ohhhh, here it is. Okay, well, I sent a PM. Work throgh it a bit and then post an updated plan and we pick that apart. Maybe we can get a few of the other yearly visitiors to Budapest to chime in.

That link is Beer Week. Really not a tourist friendly location. Way down river on the Buda side. You can do your own Beer Festival in the Ruin Pubs.

Sunday - don’t eat at the hotel. It’s fine but Dunacorso is better. Not a mistake to skip the inside of the Parliament if you are on the fence.
Monday - you can definitely stroll Andrassy at you own pace and book your own tour of the opera house - might have to do that quickly. There’s also a 6pm organ concert at St. Stephen’s - and you could eat at nearby Porc & Presli, as an additional option.
Tuesday - just note that the New York Cafe may be an hour or more. Make a reservation so you don’t have to stand in line quite as long. If you have time after Buda Castle and Ruszwurm, you could add in Hospital in the Rock if you have time. This area might take your whole afternoon and you put the Jewish tour on Wed. afternoon.

Whatever you wind up with will be wonderful!

We were fascinated by the Hospital in the Rock and so glad we did it. We were on the Viking River Cruise that went from Budapest to Amsterdam, and arrived a couple of days early, so the overview tour of Budapest was disappointing. Budapest was so easy to navigate on our own that we had already seen the sites that the tour covered.

We made frequent use of the tram system and it was so easy. The one hiccup was buying tickets since we thought we could by them at any tram stop and that didn’t work out. Maybe Mr.E or TexasTravelMom could advise you.

Thanks all, I have been away all day, going to digest the suggestions here and via the pm from Mr. E (thank you - my post somehow got put into a spam area...my last name is trouble!)

Thanks so much for the input. Here's my current thinking, incorporating much of your suggestions, and a few questions in bold. LMK your thoughts on this plan?
1. Where to buy the metro TravelCard – airport?
Should we download the Bolt and CityTaxi Apps while in the US or wait till we get there?
2. TY for advice on Parliament and Hospital in the Rock!
3. Cooking class/foodie tour reco? i see tours for the Great Market Hall - is this reco'd?
4. Where to buy great pastries/chocolates for our ship?
5. Kadarka wine bar - when to fit in?
6. Weather to expect in mid-late May?

Day 1 - Sunday: check in at Intercontinental on the river/drop bags off, approx. noon. Lunch at Dunacorso (reservations required?). Is this walking distance from Intercontinental? We will be jet lagged, having flown overnight and likely not able to get into room upon arrival.
Option 1: if hotel room not ready, take the tram up river to the Parliament. Shoes on the Danube. After the antique shops on Falk Miska utca take the 4 or 6 tram across the river. Take photos at both the mid point of the bridge where the tram stops or a little down river from the stop on the Buda side of the bridge. Take the 19 or 41 tram to the chain bridge exit and take funicular up to the Castle District. Tour around by foot. Castellum for souvenirs. Dinner at Ruszwurm (reservations required?) behind Matthias Church. Return to hotel via Chain Bridge (I believe there’s a faster way by tram than by foot?)
Option 2: if we get our room early, grab quick nap. Walk across the Chain Bridge on foot, double back and stop at Gresham Palace on way to St Stephens to see/tour. Do they have concerts every night or just Monday? Dinner at Porc & Presli – reservations required?

Day 2 - Monday: morning -Follow parts of Rick Steves Downtown Pest walk. Check out Vaci Utca. Stop at Parisi Udver Coffeehouse then Great Market hall via Tram. Buy wine or snacks for cruise, drop off purchases at hotel. Grab bathing suits/flops/Ziploc for Baths.

Lunch reco? i see several places Mr. E reco'd on another feed for Andrassy ut area.
Afternoon - Andrássy Avenue/Opera House Tour booked with Viking (Thank you for the feedback - i am seriously going to look into cancelling) I read that the English Opera House tours are available about 3-4 weeks in advance so not sure my dates are available yet, will look into. Take 47/48/49 Tram to near the end of Andrassy ut, walk on own. Veranda of the W for view/drink?
Book Opera House tour. Then walk up to the bath house. I think we need to allow 2 hrs for the baths? Might be too full of a day.
Hungarian /live music/Dinner: http://www.rezkakasbistro.hu/ -on way to hotel (reservations needed?). Then to pedestrian area in front of the Basilica for drinks in any number of bars with outside seating.

Day 3 - Tues: Hotel check out/Boat checkin day. Decide if go in morning to Sczechenyi Bath (if didn’t get there on Mon). Afternoon: Jewish Quarter/NY Café/Ruin Pubs on Kazinczy ut. Dinner on ship. Book Jewish Qtr tour (https://jewishtourhungary.com/hu/jewish-quarter-tour)

Day 4 - Wed: Viking provides an overall tour of Budapest - 4 hrs - Thank you for the feedback - i am seriously going to look into cancelling. Return to Buda side (if didn’t do on Sunday) for Matthias Church/Buda Castle/ fishermans Bastion. Castellum for souvenirs.

You can buy the TravelCard at the BKK office in the Airport arrivals hall or you can use the BudapestGO App.

You will not need City Taxi or Bolt on your trip. But if it gives you confidence, download when ever you want. Use City Taxi before Bolt.

Great Market Hall tour not required and you haven't got time for a cooking class.

Dunacorso takes reservations, so yes, make one. It is a few hundred feet from your hotel.

Day 1, option 1 is a lot for an arrival afternoon all pooped out. OPTION 2? Go to Goofke maps and put in your destinations, then decide. Porc & Presi make a reservation. Organ concerts? Don't know, but think so. Google.

Day 2 and 3 actually a nice plan. Yes to dinner reservations, yes to booking the Opera tour yourself.

Kadarka? Or any nice wine bar. Generally open at 4pm and close at midnight. Kadarka is right up the M1 from your hotel.

Looks like a good plan! General rule, if you care about where you are eating, is to make a reservation. It doesn’t hurt. Good food isn’t in short supply but sometimes your particular place can be full at the particular time you want to eat. Since I am usually solo, I often don’t but i also don’t mind heading to my next choice.

I think the organ concert is only Monday at St. Stephen’s.

For Ruszwurm, I do see they have a few “food” items but it is primarily a bakery. Nothing wrong with a couple of pieces of delicious cake for dinner, though. I don’t know if reservations are possible here. If you ARE up by the castle area, another option for dinner might be Marischka, about a 10 minute walk from Mattias Church and then afterwards a few minutes from the M2 at Déli pályaudvar. Might be a lot for a first day.

City Taxi? Yes, download ahead of time. It works like Uber and is nice to have as a backup. (If you will have data.)

Great pastries and chocolate? This will not be a problem.

Kadarka fits easily on Tuesday after the Jewish tour. As Mr. É said (and listed on a couple of recent threads), there are others also nearby. The W for elegance, the smaller wine bars for local ambiance. Both are good.

Day 4? By this time you will feel like a pro, so the overview might be boring (but I have not done it so don’t know for sure). But after having walked and trammed for 3 days, I have a hard time imagining a bus ride for 4 hours.

If you will have data and prefer using your phone for a metro pass, I can give directions on it - but won’t bother if you think you will use paper. And if you need directions on taxi from the airport, Mr. É can provide them. 🤣🤣

I love how you have the trams on your plan. One of my favorite activities. Sometimes I just get on one and go to the end or near - just to see different things. For specific directions, I find Google Maps does a good job.

You guys are just the best! I knew you would help me firm this part of our trip up.I feel so good about the plan for Budapest. The pdf shared by Mr. E is super handy too, along with his advice. I printed some of the pages, very concise and less bulky than my Rick Steves book (which i may still tear out portions to take).

Next i have to focus on the Prague few days after the cruise. I will tap the forum for help on that unless anyone here has lots of experience, i can always pm you.

Thanks again from Chicago-based Julie! (happy to return the favor of advice if you are traveling here)

I used the Budapest Go App from BKK (the transit authority) to buy all of my Budapest transit tickets, so I'll put in a plug for it. I was able to buy each of my tickets in advance, including my 15 day transit pass, tickets for the shuttle bus to and from the airport, and supplemental tickets for trips I took outside the center.

So, I didn't have to fiddle with anything when I arrived at the airport. Having said that, the BKK office couldn't be more convenient, in the arrivals hall at the airport. The staff are super friendly and I was able to speak with them in English.

I'll give 2 cautions, if you decide to use the app:

1) don't wait until the last second to buy a ticket; the first time I tried to buy my transit pass (while waiting at an airport) the app was not working. I had to wait until my next layover to try again.

2) the app has its quirks when you try to display your transit pass, as required by ticket inspectors. But they are very patient and know how to help you display it, even if you can't connect to data.

I much prefer to not carry a physical ticket, so even with its quirks, I will continue to use the app. If you are on the fence and get easily annoyed with technology, just buy your ticket from the BKK office at the airport or at stations.

On the positive side for the app, you can buy your tickets a day or two ahead and have them ready for when you need them. If you don't end up using any tickets, they are quickly and easily refundable. Just find the ticket in the app, click the refund button. Done. I refunded 2 unused tickets in the app and had the money back on my credit card within 24 hours.

i appreciate the tips and insight on the app!

CWsocial is a pro here and spends a lot of time here so she goes out wandering the fringes. SHe is also very young and deals with new technology better than I do.

Do know that in your short stay that with a 15 day travel card it is very unlikely you will need anything else. So one piece of paper or one purchase on the App. For the paper I put mine in a small clear ID badge sleeve that is on my keychain. Most people put them in the back of a clear cell phone case. When I see people getting inspected I still think its 2 to 1 paper that i see being used by locals. But I use the app to check arrival times for buses and for directions to places. Works very well. Its a good app actually.

Okay, why a 15 day pass?

24 hour travel card (too short for you) is 2.500 ft ($7)
72 hour travel card (still too short for you) is 5.500 ft ($15)
15 day travel card is 6.300 ($17)

You could get by with the 72 hour (depends on what time on the first day you buy it) but you might end up buying a few tickets at the end ($1.25 each)

EDIT: Just read that 1 March the price of the 15 day price is going DOWN. Couldnt find to how much, but I suspect not more than a few hundred forints. Even at that, It puts it at almost the same cost as the 72 hour card. Why? The 24 and 72 hour cards are marketed to tourists. The 15 day pass is sort of hard to find as its listed under monthly passes. Thank you tourists for subsidizing my 8.950 forint (also now cheaper) monthy pass (82 cents a day)

Granted, most people will take a taxi/Uber to and from the airport (and the OP will be departing on a cruise, not a flight) but for those (like me) who take the ever so convenient Airport Shuttle Bus 100E, that's a separate ticket, not covered by the ever so convenient and inexpensive transit pass.

You can buy the Airport Shuttle Bus Single Ticket (those who are flying need two, for to and from the airport) in the app or at the airport BKK desk or at the ticket machine at the bus stop.

The transit pass price is going down? It was already an amazing bargain, even if you're only buying it to use for a few days! The convenience of the pass is worth it, and especially if you use the trams for sightseeing along the Danube. Best sightseeing value!

CWsocial, I am pretty sure the new pay with a credit card machine gadget is on the airport bus now. https://bkk.hu/en/news/2023/06/the-pilot-period-of-budapest-pay_go-launched.10165/

ANd the shuttle bus isnt a bad option from the airport to the OP's hotel. Its maybe a 10 minute walk from Deak Ferenc ter where the bus stops to the OP's hotel and it will save about $15.

And apparently the Budapest Passes will now work outside of Budapest to some degree ..... need to read more on that.

I think you really do have it down the right way. I am just going to fight it as long as I can. Old habits are hard to break.

I'm not 100% firm in this recollection, because I had bought my bus tickets ahead of time while I was whiling away the hours in the Frankfurt airport, but I think the helpful Bus 100E attendants at the airport were requiring that passengers buy their tickets before boarding, so as not to hold up the line.

When I arrived at the queue, the attendant checked my ticket with her little machine, before I boarded. Same on departure, though that may only be during peak times.

There is an advantage to your paper tickets in that you don't have to pull out your phone and risk it being snatched. But then that isn't really an issue in Budapest!

You see, my problem is that I don't have a handy place to put a ticket, like you do. I'd be forever trying to remember if it's in my pocket? Or my outside purse pocket? Or my inside purse pocket? Or my wallet? If only I had a habit of a single place! But I'm not clever in that way 🤣🤣

And apparently the Budapest Passes will now work outside of Budapest to some degree

This probably won't be relevant to the OP, who isn't likely to venture outside the limits of the transit pass, but for others...

For excursions outside the transit pass boundary, such as to Godollo Palace, my transit pass took me to the boundary and then I just needed to buy a supplement ticket for the additional distance. As if the tickets weren't cheap enough already, the supplement ticket was even cheaper.

The tricky part was knowing which supplement ticket to buy. I got it wrong and, hence, learned how easy it was to refund the incorrect tickets that I'd purchased in the app the night before. I had to go to a ticket window and talk to the nice lady to buy the correct tickets because.... the app wasn't super helpful in figuring it out 🤣🤣

The last time I went to Szentendre some how I managed to buy the supplement ticket from Szentendre (not to it). The inspector wanted to fine me. A few of the other passengers, Hungarians, got up and put him in his place. The only time I have ever seen anyone get out of a fine.

They probably argued that the supplement tickets were so confusing that even they couldn't figure it out, so how were you supposed to!!?!?

There is an advantage to your paper tickets in that you don't have to
pull out your phone and risk it being snatched. But then that isn't
really an issue in Budapest!

You see, my problem is that I don't have a handy place to put a
ticket, like you do. I'd be forever trying to remember if it's in my
pocket? Or my outside purse pocket? Or my inside purse pocket? Or my
wallet? If only I had a habit of a single place! But I'm not clever in
that way

Theft happens in every large city. But in 20 years I have never met anyone that was victim and you know I come in contact with a lot of tourists. I even know this one woman who left her purse hanging under a bar .... but you know her too. A week ago I left my scarf in a sort of dive bar deeper down in VI. The scarf was a gift. I realized a day later and went back. They had it neatly folded in a drawer for me. I sit in bars with my phone next to my beer glass while I talk to friends. Looking around, everyone does. This isnt Barcelona or Paris.

When my kids were young i had clear covention style ID laynards with the metro pass in them.

Here is my solution https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ai7Zk-szxfTJi716o02LyABIbDELcw?e=lQkE72

I love that feeling of safety in Budapest, and so many places in Central Europe.

I read the recommendations for some destinations and I cringe. Money belts, neck pouches, phone lanyards, pants with zipper pockets. Purses with steel straps, traveling in pairs for an extra set of eyes, no ATM outside of the most controlled environment. It's worth it to see a few things out there, but it's nice to come here and relax too.