practical information
- How to get to our apartment in Budapest? »
- Some advices on your stay in Budapest »
- Your arrival at budapest »
- Where to change money »
- Taxis in the city of Budapest »
- Restaurants, cafes, bars in Budapest »
- The Thermal Baths in Budapest »
- Cultural life in Budapest »
- Architecture in Budapest »
welcome
Our apartment of Budapest which we call « Mini Loft Opera » is located in the heart of the city of Budapest, in the District of the National Opera of Hungary and very close to the Liszt Ferenc Square ‘’Liszt Ferenc Tér’’ known for all its new designed restaurants, coffees and bars. It is also very close from the famous Andràsi avenue.
The apartment which we propose you to rent is located on the opposite side of the Musical Academy of Budapest in the middle of the Nagymezö street which enjoys a peaceful atmosphere while it is one of the main street of Budapest. Our Budapest apartment is appreciated for its calm. It is an ideal accomodation for your week-end, your short or medium stays in Budapest.
The apartment is located in a building of « Art Nouveau » style classified as historic building by the relevant secretary of the Hungarian Authorities. It will offer you a comfortable accomodations in the district also called the « little Broadway of Budapest »
If you choose our Budapest apartment, you will not necessary have to have a car ; you may browse by walk all the city center as the main places making the fanstastic reputation of Budapest. You also may have the possibily to use the bicycle which you will find in our apartment, to make beautiful tours around the center of Budapest and in all the beautiful city parks.
The rental price of our apartment are fixed throughout the year unlike must of other rentals who applies progressive rates depending the tourist season in Hungary.
The city center of Budapest
The city of Budapest is divided in two by the Danube « Buda » and « Pest ». Budapest main center is concentrated on Pest, the more commercial side of the town. This is on this side of Budapest that you will find our apartment which is located between the Kiraly street ,famous for its many Hungarian and Foreigners designer's shops and the prestigious Andràsi Avenue also known as the ‘’Champs Elysée’’ of Budapest. On Andràsi Avenue you will find the prestigious brands as Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Gucci, Nespresso, Escada, which are all present in Budapest, much appreciated by a certain category of tourists in Hungary.
Not to get lost in the city of Budapest, you have to identify the various bridges that separate Pest from Buda. The main bridges of Budapest are the Lànc Hid "Chain Bridge, the Margit Hid "Margit Bridge", the Erzsebet Hid "Elisabeth Bridge" and the Szabadság Hid "Bridge of Freedom" which is in front of the hotel Gellert, the prestigious hotel in Hungary although it has now been overtaken by other large palaces opened in Budapest during the last years.
If you choose to rent our apartment in Budapest, you will be staying in the heart of the city and you will appreciate it as all the tenants as we have already hosted in Budapest.
How to get to our apartment in Budapest?
From the airport you should take a taxi. The cost of the transfer is about 22 Euros (which is a fixed rate). The airport is located at about 16 km from our apartment in Budapest. To take a taxi, you will find a kiosk just outside the airport where you’ll just have to give the address of our apartment in Budapest. The payment of the transfer will be done directly to the driver at your arrival to our apartment.
You will of course have the possibility to take public transport like bus or train connecting the airport to downtown Budapest, but if you do not know the city this might be a bit more complicated.
The other alternative is to take the mini bus that runs between the airport and directly to the address you gave to the counter to purchase the ticket. The price of this shuttle is about 2,500 Forint which represents about 10 euros / person. The counter to purchase tickets is inside the airport.
To go by public transport during your stay, remember that you can buy a pass card "Budapest Card" directly at the information desk of the airport that will allow you to take any public transportation in the city of Budapest (tram, bus, subway, ...) without having to buy tickets.
Some advices on your stay in Budapest
The beauty of the city of Budapest, the many sites and monuments, the atmosphere that reigns in the city, the different thermal baths you will visit, the various cafes, restaurants and bars that you will find without fail to meet the hospitality of the majority of Hungarian will make your stay unforgettable. However, as in any big city in Europe, certain rules must be respected. We give here some;
Your arrival at budapest
When you are at the airport, at the railway station, in a subway, a bus, a tram, never leave your luggage and bags unattended. Like anywhere, you will come across occasional thieves who spend their time monitoring the movements of tourists.
Where to change money
If you want to change money (Hungary is not yet in the Euro zone, its currency is still the Forint), do not change all your budget in exchange offices at the airport or train stations that perform extremely unfavorable rates. Change just a few currency and then proceed to one of several exchange offices that you will find downtown Budapest which practice very beneficial exchange rates. You will find at least three exchanges offices around our apartment in Budapest on Andràsi Avenue or around Oktogon square.
Taxis in the city of Budapest
Even if from our apartment you can easily walk to the main sights of the city, you could need to take a taxi to go somewhere too far away. For those who are unfamiliar with the city of Budapest, taxis are the means of transportation easier. They are cheap compared to taxis in France, Switzerland or elsewhere. Avoid taking any taxi in the street. A lot of drivers take the advantage of the ignorance of tourists and applies exorbitant rates! The safest way is to order a taxi by phone in indicating your name and the address where you are. We recommend you to use the company "Taxi 2000" whose phone number is 00.36.1.2000000
Restaurants, cafes, bars in Budapest
In most restaurants, bars and cafes of Budapest, the waiters speak English and the menus are translated into at least three languages. Always check the bill. In principle, we leave a tip of 10% of the bill but check on the bill if the service was not included (as is increasingly the case). In this case, it is of course no need to leave 10% tip. In our neighborhood, you will be amazed at how many various type of restaurants, bars, cafes you will find and how the hungarian kictchen is good !
Here are some places that we recommend to our tenants which are located at 2 steps from our apartment;
- http://www.ketszerecsen.hu/cms/?page_id=113
- http://www.menzaetterem.hu/
- http://www.szimpla.hu/budapest/pictures?Itemid=35
- http://www.eklektika.hu/magunkrol_uj_en.html
The Thermal Baths in Budapest
Budapest is known for its wonderful baths and for the high quality of the thermal water. Most baths are not mixed. Men and women are separated. The baths we recommend to our tenants are the following;
Szécsényi Fürdö, this bath is mixted (men and women can be together) with outdoor and indoor pools. The Szécsényi Bath is located in the park behind the Heroes’ Square (Hörsök Tér) and it is open until 10:00 pm.
Rudas Fürdö, mixed bath only on Saturday and Sunday. This is a beautiful old turkish bath. It was recently renovated. It is located very close to Elisabeth Bridge, on Buda side.
Gellért Fürdö, bath with indoor and outdoor pools during summer. Some are mixed some not. It is located inside the Gellert Hotel ; an architechtural jewel !
Cultural life in Budapest
You do not know yet Hungary but you know that in the past Budapest was one of the major European capitals of culture ?
We can say that today Budapest has caught his past and becomes an inevitable cultural center in Europe. It is surprising to discover the number of theaters, concert halls and cultural centers that exist in Budapest and elsewhere in Hungary.
By renting our apartment in Budapest, you will be close to the most prestigious cultural venues in the city of Budapest.
Many festivals are held throughout the year in Budapest and Hungary. We can even say that every season has its own festival.
SPRING
Budapest Spring Festival ‘’Tavaszi Fesztival’’ is organized between March and April of each year. It was created 31 years ago and attracts renowned artists from around the world. It was officially classified as top cultural festivals of international renown. This prestigious festival in Budapest is a popular destination for cultural tourism in the early spring of each year.
http://www.festivalcity.hu/btf2011/index.php?l=fr
SUMMER
The Margitszigeti Szabadtéri Szinpad – Budapest Open Stage Summer Festival offers many concerts between June and August of each year in the beautiful natural and architectural environment of the Margit Island located on the Danube between Buda and Pest and between the Arpad Bridge and the Margit Bridge. It is easy to access by public transport or by shuttle boat.
The Sziget Festival - it is a festival held in early August of each year. It's a big European event on the island of Óbuda. This particularly well organized festival presents concerts, dance, movies and more. This is one of the finest festivals in Budapest visited by a public that comes from all over Europe.
http://www.szigetfestival.fr/blog/
http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english/video/2011/sziget_new_venues.11110.html
The Jewish Festival of Art takes place from late August to early September of each year. This is an annual event held throughout Hungary and the opportunity to enjoy the many aspects of Jewish culture local.
FALL
The Budapest Autumn Festival takes place in October. The festival focuses on contemporary art (music, dance, film, photography and digital art).
The first Fall Festival was held in 1992. He has since been renewed and has taken an important role as a mediator between artists and the public
ARCHITECTURE IN BUDAPEST IS SIMPLY EXCEPTIONAL
Monuments in Budapest show a wide variety of architectural and eventful past of Hungary where every time since the Roman presence to the grandeur of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Ottoman influence enriches the city of Budapest a unique atmosphere mixing style and eclecticism of profound originality.
The Danube, the circular boulevards and the architecture "Art Nouveau" suggest a "Little Vienna". The structure of the city of Budapest is formed by the joint meeting of Buda (residential area on the right bank of the Danube) and Pest (more shopping, located on the left bank). These two towns are connected by seven bridges over the Danube. The Chain Bridge was the first to have permanently connected the two sites.
Buda has the remains of the old Turkish occupation, the Royal Palace houses now several museums and a library, the Fishermen's Bastion and the St. Mathias Church.
Pest, the heart of the city of Budapest, has grown in the plain. It is organized around a central core, housing density, between the Danube and the "Small Boulevards". There are neo-Gothic Parliament of architect Imre Steindl (1896), the Academy of Sciences, the Palace of Justice, Eötvös Loránd University (1635), many museums and the main ministries, banks and major shopping areas. There is also the old Jewish Quarter of Budapest and the Vajdahunyad (castle representing all architectural styles of the country), built in 1896 during celebrations of the millennium of Hungary.
Architectural styles are varied in Budapest, such as the Baroque (St. Anne's Church) the Neoclassical (Chain Bridge, Keleti Railway Station, Museum of Fine Arts), the Romantic (fear of Pest), the Ostentatious (New York New York Palace), historicism (Heroes' Square), the late Baroque (Royal Palace), Art Nouveau (museum of Decorative Arts, Nyugati train station built by Eiffel, the Bridge of Freedom, the savings post, Zoo), the Gothic Revival (Parliament), Modernism and Socialist Realism from after the war.