Budapest Travel Tips

This is the first in a series of posts in which I share with you specific tips and contact information for people and companies I have dealt with personally while travelling. These will be living documents -- I will update them as I learn new, relevant information about each destination.

Tour Guide: Horváth Zoltán (Rinett Guide Bt.)
rinettguide@freemail.hu
(36) 30-996 0826
Rinett Guide - Private Guided Driving Tours, Excursions, Sightseeing Tours in Budapest & Hungary

If you're in Budapest, Hungary, and would like a driving tour of the city or its surroundings, contact Zoltán. Zoltán is Hungarian and speaks excellent English. He works regularly with the Four Seasons Hotel Budapest and drives a Renault van that seats up to six. I can't recommend Zoltán highly enough. It was a real pleasure to be driven around the city by this friendly, knowledgeable tour guide. He took my parents and I to all of the must-see sights in Budapest, and we really enjoyed having the chance to talk with him about Hungarian history, culture and language. Zoltán is a smart guy - he'll give you as much or little information as you'd like, knows his history, and he will tailor a tour to meet your specifications. Rates: ~40 Euros per hour for city tours, and 30-35 Euros per hour for longer tours in the countryside.

Lodging: Private Apartments
(booking center across the street from the Marriott)

Forget staying in expensive hotels or ratty hostels when you visit Budapest. Stay in a private apartment for the best combination of price, comfort, location and experience. I spent a couple of nights in a private apartment right in the center of town. The rooms in this communist-style building were luxuriously furnished (huge four-poster beds, antique furniture), and the proprietors were very friendly. For a wake-up call, one of the proprietors' neighbors tapped on the window over my head. I woke up with his friendly, inquisitive grin right in my face. Breakfast was served in the kitchen, where the table was laid out with all manner of fresh bread, jams, cheese and meat. The owner also cooked me a few eggs, made to order. I paid around $20 per night for my room, and was very pleased with the whole experience. I will try to get more specific information on private apartments in Budapest, but the lodging booking center across the street from the Marriott can set you up with this kind of room.

General Budapest Travel Tips:

- Pay as you go. Do not run tabs at bars in Budapest. On my first visit there, and against my normal rules, I ran a tab in a bar for about 30 minutes. When my bill came out, I owed $300. They didn't accept credit cards, and I didn't have that kind of cash on me. The bar's bald-headed beefy bouncer grabbed my shoulder firmly and walked me to the nearest ATM, where I was fortunately able to withdraw the money. This was one of my most unpleasant travel experiences, ever.

- If you need tourist information, check with your hotel, an official tourist information center, or one of the expensive luxury hotels in Budapest. Don't ask your taxi driver for advice, as he is likely to steer you to places that will pay him a kickback - often places that will try to rip you off (see above).