lormarscribs

A friend and I will be in Budapest in April for a Viking River Cuise. We are looking for a hotel ($130 - $175 USD) near the Viking River Cruise dock - short taxi ride get to the dock to pickup cruise. Also, from the airport, what is the best method of transportation to get to the hotel??

Thanks

globetrots

You should find 30+ hotels for that price that are within walking distance or a very short taxi ride of the dock. There are a lot on both sides of the river. You won't get the Four Seasons, but a lot else is in that range very close. Check a meta-search site like Trivago or HotelsCombined and use the map feature.

A taxi is more than it should be from the airport to the center (going the other direction is half the price), but you're probably looking at $35 or so.

globetrots

Obviously if the hotel has a shuttle service, factor that in to the price when making comparisons.

Peter_krynicki

Look at the Gerloczy ---> http://www.gerloczy.hu/ All of their rooms are the same price except the two attic rooms which are 75 euros but which are still nice. Depending on your amount of luggage you could walk there but a taxi would be your best bet. FO Taxi.

Pjk

Snowflake25

We stayed at the Marriot and booked it through Priceline and got an excellent deal. It was a fantastic location, great hotel and the front desk staff were very helpful. It is a short walk to public transportation and shopping an we felt very safe in the neighborhood after dark!

Bobandco

In Rome or maybe Paris there is a pretty good reason to look for a location close to some next goal (the docks for instance). Budapest is such that nothing is very far from much of anything else in time or money. Assuming like most river boat travelers you only have a night or two I would suggest that you stay close to all day, all night activities. And because I love Budapest I suggest you stay in a buffer zone between Tourism and Real Hungary. I’ve sent dozens to the K&K Opera and have gotten a lot of thanks. It puts you in the UNESCO World Heritage Andrassy ut corridor close to the Opera, the Jewish Ghetto. By a short ride on the historic M1 metro you can be at the bath houses in one direction or the river in the other. Even the Great Market is relatively convenient.

The same general area has a lot of other hotels of all prices and descriptions. I am not going to say one is better than the other or THE BEST because I would have to stay in each one to be able to make that sort of judgment. I’ve only been in maybe 5 over the years. Get a map and find on that map Andrassy ut, then an intersection called (and looking like) The Oktogon. Now draw a line down the center of Andrassy ut to its end and on to the river banks. Now look on Google Maps for a hotel no more than 2 blocks above that line or three blocks below that line. You will find hostels to five stars and some real nice vacation apartments with two night minimums well within your budget; and I have never heard anything bad about any of them. Look up their websites and choose the one that fits your personality, cost and style.

Best way from the airport. Depends on style and comfort. The worst way in my opinion is the public transport system. Generally I love the Budapest metro but from the airport it’s a pain. For the equivalent of about $30 you can pick up your bag, walk about 100 feet to the arrival halls exit doors, step into a cab and be in that zone I just described in 30 to 45 minutes depending on the time of day and the traffic. If there are two of you, you can save maybe 40% by using the shuttle busses that take you and everyone else in the bus on a road trip as they drop you off at your destination one at a time. Count on one hour plus unless you are the first stop. What not to do is a private driver or private cab as it just isnt worth the trouble. They aren’t allowed to park at arrivals so you either have to wait for them to fetch a cab or you have to walk with them out to the parking lot. Might be $5 cheaper but you get what you pay for.

The taxi from the zone I suggest to the boat dock? Maybe $10 to $12.

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