Spend a few hours at one of Budapest's nearly 80 thermal springs and spas, like the Gellért Baths, the Széchenyi Baths or the traditional, separate sex Turkish Rudas Baths, which are perfectly designed for overloaded, exhausted filmmakers to regain energy for the forthcoming shooting days. There is a chance you will run into us there.
Got 10 minutes? Get moving! Ride the trolley bus in a rush hour, it's noisy, shaky and very cheap, but so Hungarian. Or eat a 'Lángos' at the Vásárcsarnok market - lángos is yummy and the Vásárcsarnok is beautiful, the two make sense together.
Markets are very bubbling places in Budapest - apart from their architectural beauty, their unique atmosphere is worth seeing once.
Join us in our memorable bar hopping in the following areas of Budapest: Ráday street, Liszt Ferenc square, Andrássy boulevard, or the Jewish dowtown in the 7th district of the city, especially if you are interested in the world famous Hungarian medicines, such as Pálinka or Unicum, the famous bitter made of 100 herbs. Come on, be a man!
Tasting Hungarian cuisine on a less hectic day is a must - it is a multi-super-varied cuisine, so picky eaters are just as likely to find something that suits them as omnivorous ones. If you are up for tasting real Hungarian dishes, we would suggest visiting traitional pre-war quality Hungarian restaurants, such as Sipos, Kéhli Mama, Náncsi néni and ordering a nice plate of 'halászlé' (fish soup), 'túros csusza' (pasta with cottage cheese and bacon), 'goulash soup' or 'somlói galuska' (dumplings á la somló style).
If you rather fancy international cuisine, Budapest is fully supplied with Thai, French (Chez Daniel), Greek (Taverna Dionysos), Mexican (Iguana), Italian (Trattoria Toscana), Russian (Arany Kaviár), Serbian, etc. restaurants, all with acclaimed kitchens.
Good to know: Hungrians tip hairdressers, waiters, taxi drivers, hotel staff, etc. at about 10% of the actual price. If the food was good and the waiters were pleasant, you can indicate your satisfaction by leaving a bigger tip. Bear in mind that tips are expected but not obligatory!
Organise part-time or full-time outings within the city: Római beach is the longest riverbank of the Danube in the city, which you can reach by boat from downtown in 20 minutes. A jolly good atmosphere, small restaurants (fried fish + wine-and-soda), beautiful girls and authentic keyboard music await you here.
In the outdoor Statue Park Museum you can see a collection of monumental public statues that once stood in various districts of Budapest during the Socialist era. Just imagine, a five-metre-high Marx and Engels statue! Budapest Zoo is situated in the heart of the city and attracts visitors with its beautiful Art Nouveau palm-house, elephant-house and other buildings. Oh and there are animals too!
Relics of the past centuries can be found at the Ecseri Flea Market where, due to its size and abundant stock, you are sure to spend at least half a day. If you fancy antiquity, in the centre, in Falk Miksa street, you can find the best shops one after the other.
The Opera House is an architectural treat in itself and world-famous Hungarian and foreign artists appear regularly on its stage. Contemporary dance and theatre is widely appreciated in Budapest.
Every week there are international groups performing in the Trafó - House of Contemporary Arts. The nicest example of recycling a Russian battleship into the most dazzling party place is A38, where you can dine, listen to a very good concert and dance with your colleagues after a tiring day on a pitching boat in the town center.
In August 'Sziget' the Island Festival is a week-long party with several concerts performed simultaneously on a river island in the heart of Budapest.
If you have had enough of cultural events and sightseeing there are also many elegant and trendy clubs (Oscar, Tom and George, Martinez), cool bars (Eklektika, Sark, Bambi - even to have breakfast!).
pubs (Castro, V. Bejáró), and alternative sidewalk bars(Szóda, Szimpla, Sark, Corvin tető) to check out at night. Even at 3-4 o'clock in the morning you can find good places, just go to Piaf, Nincs Pardon, or Miniatűr.
