I have been looking on line at all the Rick Steve’s sleeping suggestions in Budapest and I cannot find one for a family of four adults (2 parents and 2 adult - children 24 and 26 years old. )
Our trip is for 4 nights - June 16 check in with June 20 check out. Any suggestions? I rather stay in Pest but willing to compromise. Thanks for your help!!
Hi natique2,
It would help to know what kind of accommodations are you looking for. Do you want an apartment or hotel?
I did a quick search on booking.com for your dates and found a lot of two-bedroom apartments that might work. It's critical to check what kind of beds are available (I assume no one wants to sleep on a convertible sofa for four nights) and consider whether one bathroom would be sufficient. Many, many hotels will be able to provide two rooms; some even have family rooms that will sleep four adults. However, be careful about bed configuration and bed size. The prices displayed are for the entire four-night stay.
There are lots of filters on booking.com that can be set to narrow down sector of the city, availability of air conditioning, etc. I would not book a place for mid-June that didn't have air conditioning.
Others (especially James E) can give you guidance on preferred areas.
A two bedroom apartment through Booking.com or AirBnb should be easy to find. Or I bet the two kids would want a an apartment of their own? Many side by side apartments in Budapest too. A nice 2 bedroom might set you back 100 euro, two one bedroom apartments maybe 130 euro. Recently a lot of the apartments have gone to 3 or 5 day minimums but if you are staying shorter, offer to pay a cleaning fee (that's really their issue).
Dont compromise on location. You want to be in Pest. Generally speaking, if you look at a map find Andrassy ut (ut = blvd). Then you want to be 1 block north of Andrassy ut (O utca) to 2 blocks south of Andrassy ut (Dob utca); and from the lower end of Andrassy ut (Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út a major ring road that divides District V from all of the other Districts) to the first major intersection (Terez krt, - also a major ring road, the intersection is called Oktogon).
This puts you near Andrassy ut which is sort of the Champs-Élysées of Budapest (only I think more attractive and interesting than the Paris version). Andrassy ut is where the Opera and the House of Terror is located and at the other end Hero's Square and one of the better (and more interesting just to see) bath houses. The M1 metro runs right under Andrassy ut making getting around easy. A lot of us who grew up without a metro system are somewhat nervous about Metros, but this one, the oldest on the continent of Europe, is fun). Also puts you within an easy walk of the Danube Corso without having to stay in the center of Tourist Central (District V) and gives you easy access to the 47 Tram and the 4/6 Tram. Between the two tram lines (fun too) and the M1 you can reach everything but Buda. Well, Buda too with a short walk from the 4/6 Tram stop in Buda. But buy a TravelCard on day one.
The Buda Castle District is interesting and worth the see, but once you have done that, if you are staying in Buda, you will spend an hour on every return trip visit to Pest where most of what there is to see is located. So Pest works better and its why every trip i get an apartment in Pest (stayed in Buda twice in 20 years).
If you find apartments or a hotel that seems interesting, send me the name or location and maybe I can tell you about the neighborhood. If you strike out, let me know.
I am driving to the airport at 5am tomorrow so it may be a day or two before I get back to you.
And one other tip. A lot of the apartments are not taking reservations for next year yet. Or have restricted their availability on some of the platforms. They are waiting to see what COVID does and want to avoid bad reviews over lost deposits, non-cancelation terms. Often they get stuck with a fee from the platform if there is a cancelation and its just a bother all the way around. If you see a place you like and it says not available for June, that far out it probably is available you just need to go to the owner or management company to book it. That skirts the platform fees and the prices are generally better. There are ways of tracking that down too.
And since I am on it. I personally trust dealing with management companies as opposed to Bobby who is renting out dead aunt Lilly's apartment. With a management company odds are its done professionally, odds are greater legally.
For a hotel, look at the K&K Opera. My guess is two rooms about 200 euro a night, maybe a tad more. Good location, good service, pretty nice, but not a 5 star.
Thanks everyone. booking.com was truly helpful. I sent James E the apartment I booked for confirmation that it is a good location and value. I truly appreciate the feedback and help. I’m not the best at tech, therefore, if I missed a thank you or a response back to you, please accept my apologies. Please know your feedback was all very valuable!
Maryanne
Hope you dont mind, I will respond here. Maybe someone else can use it.
Kiraly utca 57: King Street #57.Oh yes, I know the area very well. I stay in a place about 200 feet up a side street at Kiraly u. 45. Down street is towards the river, up street the opposite direction. I will throw out a lot of names, they all have webpages, so look them up.
Down Street
So, down street in the next building is Frici Papa just about a real and local a Hungarian restaurant as you can find in town. Very simple but traditional and good. They will serve you, but you have to pay the cashier on the way out. Nice folks. Full of locals.
A bit further down street you will find Rossmann. In Hungary the grocery stores only sell groceries for everything else you have to go to Rossmann or DM.
The next building down houses the OTP Bank. That’s a good ATM location. If the door is locked, swipe any credit or ATM card to open it.
Across from that is St. Teresa of Avila Parish Church and apparently they have an elementary school there too as I always see children out playing in the yard.
A bit further down on the same side as the church is Palotai Pékség és Pizzéria perfect for morning pastries.
Next to it is Kadarka Wine Bar. You can not do better in Budapest for a place to waste the evening away with good (cheap) Hungarian wine and pretty amazing food; and Amazing staff. They have been very good friends over the years.
Across from Kadarka is Spar Grocery. You may need that.
At this point you are at Vasvari Pal utca (where I stay). If you turn right down Vasvari Pal u. you will find The Lion’s Locker. Great family owned breakfast place (and luggage storage oddly enough). Mom, Dad, Sis and Bro work the counter and love tourists. They will talk your ear off.
You will also pass an interesting old Synagogue / Religious School on Vasvari Pal u. (Vasvári Pál Street Synagogue Shas Chevra Lubavitch Shul) More often than not you will see the members walking to and fro … hard to miss them since they are orthodox.
Oh! In case you need it there is a laundry/dry cleaning service across the street from the synagogue. They don’t speak a word of English but there are prices in English on a board on the wall … just point and smile. Look closely its a small unassuming door with steps down into the half basement in the newest building near the corner of Kiraly utca.
If you were to continue on down Vasvari Pal u., around the building being renovated you would find yourself on Andrassy ut facing the Opera House.
Forget Vasvari Pal and continue down Kiraly. Next on your right at Kiraly 26 is a doorway that leads to an amazing courtyard restaurant open for breakfast and dinner. Called TwentySix
Further down, on the opposite side is the entry to the Gozsdu Courtyard. Then beyond that on Kiraly u. is the loop road and the end stop of the 47 Tram. (to Great Synagogue, Great Market Hall, 2 Tram Stop, Gellert Hotel and Bath House in Buda. Continue across the loop road and you hit Vaci utca and eventually the river.
Okay, up Kiraly utca.
First on your left is Liszt Ferenc tér (square) full of restaurants and the Liszt Academy of Music (take a tour, worth it).
Then further up is a stop for the 4/6 Tram. Go right on the tram to reach the New York Café and left to reach Andrassy ut and then the Nyugati Train Station (by Eiffel). Stay on till the last stop before reaching the river (3rd after you get on) and you will see the 2 Tram on a side street to your left. That will take you to the Parliament the Danube Corso and the Great Market Hall (where the 47 Tram mentioned earlier is waiting for you). Or stay on the 4/6 Tram and it will get you about a 5 minute walk to the Castle District in Buda.
Any side street, across Kiraly utca from your apartment will get you to Andrassy ut. There are M1 Metro stops at the Opera and at the Oktogon (walk up street to the 4/6 Tram and turn left and walk about two blocks to he Oktogon). The M1 Metro in one direction will get you to the Opera, and Vorosmarty ter (the entrance to Vaci utca shopping street and about 300 m to the Danube Corso), or in the other direction to the House of Terror, Hero's Square and the szchenyl bath house.
So you will need a TravelCard to make getting around easier. All the trams and the M1 are a pleasure to hop on and off.
When you are ready for dinner, I know a place you will enjoy (but $$$) at 100 Kiraly utca.
Thank you James E! Wow! Thank you for all the tips! That is so amazing you took the time to respond in such detail.! I truly appreciate it!
Also, to everyone else who responded, thank you! The booking.com tip really set things in motion and was a life saver!
Its fun. I have been going there for 20 years now; and staying in one of two apartments on Vasvari Pal utca for the last 15 years. Its my neighborhood.
The Bold words are things you can google and learn more of.
A bit more. Not the house you will be in but two across the street are yellow star houses (#54 and #60). Also keep in mind, if you take a side street off Kiraly utca (opposite direction from Andrassy ut) and walk more or less halfway to the next cross street (Dob utca), you have reached a line where the Jewish Deportation Ghetto Wall once stood. Beyond that point the history is beyond horrible. You will find stolpersteine all over Budapest as a reminder. There are two at Kiraly 34 and two more at Kiraly 51.
G-d willing, I will be back in March, and again sometime in June (and September and December) so if you see me, wave!
Thank you so much for the tips. Although I've stayed in Budapest before it was 1987 and it was some random zimmer that a women at the station found me LOL. Its my partner's first time to central Europe and I've got a good idea on the part of town to stay in. We aren't into apartments but the K-K Opera hotel looks good
LIssie;
The K&K was the first hotel I ever stayed at in Budapest and that was in 1992. Dont worry, its been renovated a few times since then. Still very nice.
So, since I am a bit bored .............. the K&K is located behind and a bit to the left of the Opera House. So its a short block to Andrassy ut. At the corner is Callas Cafe wich is pretty good and very convenient if you are going to a performance at the Opera or Oprett (lets hope it reopens in the Spring).
At Andrassy ut you will see stairs down to the M1 Metro. Sure you should walk the full length of Andrassy ut at least once, but after that you have so much to see you will want the metro. The stairs in front of the Opera will take you to the M1 heading towards Vorsomarty ter and the Danube Corso. Across the street the stairs take you to the M1 going towards the House of Terror, Hero's Square and the Bath House.
Located directly across the street from the Opera is an impressive old building currently undergoing extensive renovation (and has been for at least 5 years now). If you walk around that building you will find a street that dead ends into the rear of the building. That is Vasvari Pal utca. Now go to my ridiculously long post above and work backwards to see where that will take you.
I just book 4 nights at 12 Revay Hotel, which is on the same block as the K&K. Both looked great, both get great guest reviews, but Revay has 3 one-bedroom apartments with a terrace with a price that was similar to K&K. I love all the Jame E information and have printed it all out. James, you should write your own Budapest guidebook!
RovingCarole; write a guide book? I did. But I like the Eyewitness Guide to Budapest better.
Nice choice and a short block from the Cat Cafe! (cant stand it but my kids love it) and Belvárosi Lugas Restaurant is nearby on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út for typical Hungarian food (with outside tables with a good view of the basilica). A bit further up Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út is Hachapuri which has some very good Georgian food (no, not fried chicken, the country of Georgia); also with outside dining.
Révay u. where your hotel is located isn't a friendly walking street. Very narrow and its a short cut for traffic wanting to access Andrassy ut at one of the few locations where you can turn left onto Andrassy ut, so it has a lot of traffic. But right across the street from the hotel is a side street that will take you out on to Andrassy ut. Looking from Andrassy ut towards your hotel: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5011935,19.0572723,3a,75y,322.59h,91.23t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfV132yY9tRn8SDDYyxaSdg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DfV132yY9tRn8SDDYyxaSdg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D70.76657%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Kadarka wine bar http://kadarkawinebar.com/
Hachapuri https://hachapuri.com/
Belvárosi Lugas https://www.facebook.com/belvarosilugasetterem/
Lion’s Locker https://www.lockerbudapest.com/
Cat Café http://catcafebudapest.hu/
You know there just isn't a lot of must have take home souvenirs from Budapest. But two are paprika and palinka. The paprika they sell in the souvenir shops and at the Great Market Hall are wonderfully packaged, but i suspect not the best quality and may have been on the shelf for a long time. So buy one for "presentation" but buy some good paprika too at The Spicery http://webshop.fuszeresz.hu/ Its an interesting little store in the courtyard of a building on the inner loop road. Just finding it is a great experience.
For the palinka, if you checked a bag go to a place like Kadarka where you can sample and buy a bottle. Otherwise the stuff in the souvenir shops isn't half bad and its sold in small 100ml bottles that you can put in your toiletry bag when you go through security. I've been known to toss out the toothpaste and deodorant (TMI) and fill the quart size bag with 6 or 8 bottles as gifts when I get home.
We FINALLY tried James' Kadarka wine bar http://kadarkawinebar.com/ last year in September and we loved it. It will be a regular visit for us from now on. James has never failed me on a suggestion.
I agree that paprika is a must. It doesn't take up much space but it does have a strong scent. I bring a zip lock bag just for paprika.
For anyone looking for a special souvenir, I recommend Matyodesign: https://matyodesign.hu (full disclosure: I know the owner). These are lovely pieces that can be purchased from the web site or found in many different shops throughout Budapest. Even some of the shops in the airport have Matyodesign pieces. I was lucky to tour the shop before Covid and it is a really special place.
Christy, beautiful. Wish I still had a woman in my life so I could send them some business ... LOL.
If anyone makes it to that spice shop I mentioned look for Leves Lelke. My translator says it is Soul Soup .... hmmmm Probably lost something in the translation. Anyway its soup seasoning and its amazing with almost any soup. I am still eating Christmas Turkey soup made with this stuff. Next trip I buy a lot more.
