Budapest Trip
 

Hi everyone, My fiance and I are going to be in Budapest for 3 days in May and I have a question regarding our itinerary. Should we spend all 3 days seeing the sights of Budapest or use one of the days for a side trip to Bratislava? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

i don't think you have enough time to go to bratislava, .. a side trip to szetendre would be feasible.

we went on public transportation. it was quite easy and fast.

Terms that come to mind re Bratislava:
grimy; gritty; style-less; a model of Soviet architecture
Stay in Budapest!!

Agree. Don't bother with Bratislava but definitely consider a cruise on the Danube to Szentendre if time permits.

ozarksbill (was there 6/05)

How about a daytrip to Eger?

3 days for Budapest is barely enought for visit interesting sites plus some museums. If you would like to try day trips, Esztergom and Szentendre could be visited in one day by buses. Eger is very interesting, but takes about 2 1/4 hours one way by train.

Another vote to spend the limited time you have in Budapest. You will be surprised by how beautiful it is - and how much it has to offer. It's very easy to get around using public transport. A day trip to Szentendre by train would be a nice way to spend a good part of your day, then return and enjoy a nice dinner on the Embankment overlooking the Danube. ENJOY!

Hmmm...I was in Budapest for three days, and I think you could work in a daytrip, but not to Bratislava. I took the train to Pecs in the south and thought it was a very interesting, very pretty town.

All these suggestions for side trips are meritorious. But having spent 5 days in Bratislava and having visited Szentendre on a gloomy Sunday, I would say: Stay in fascinating Budapest.

I have spent much of this evening figuring how to squeeze in 5 days in March in Budapest, after Rome and Venice.

In other words, we are about to ditch Tuscany for Budapest, in our trip planning....

If you really WANT an easy day trip from Budapest, I would take the royal summer palace at Godollo, over Szentendre.

Both are accessible by the HEV -- the surburban railway that serves the outlying districts of Budapest.

Another interesting though challenging suburban trip is to Nagyteteny (Nodj-tay-taynyh), a small palace that shelters an important furniture collection....

Thanks everyone for your input, looks like I should probably just stick to Budapest! Would anyone recommend the Statue Park, it looks like it is kind of off the beaten path?

My spouse found it quite disappointing.

There is no dearth of great museums and galleries in central Budapest:

1.Two big galleries in Heroes' Square
2. A wealth of national museums and the national gallery in the Palace
3. The applied arts museum -- under renovation when I was there 2 years ago -- the central court was used as the fencing exhibition ring in the film "Sunshine"
4. The Parliament and the Opera
5. etc etc

Statue Park is definitely a no-frills site - and, yes, it is somewhat out-of-the-way, but then again, half the fun of seeing something, IMHO, is getting there. The name says it all - this is the final resting place of communist-themed statues that were in and around Budapest. They are BIG! If you have an interest in this sort of thing, then you will find Statue Park interesting. You might want to consider The Terror Museum (located in Pest). It's quite moving. You can easily spend a few hours here, while maybe an hour or so at Statue Park. We did both on our trip last summer, but we also had more than 3 days for our trip. It's refreshing to read that you've done some homework for this trip rather than the usual - what's there to do - questions! ENJOY

You do know about the traditional bath houses like the art nouveau ones at the Gellert hotel? They are definitely a worthwhile adventure!

Yes we definitely plan on giving one of the local baths a try. I think we have decided on the Szenchenyi Bath, but are always open to suggestions.

at the szencheny (sp?) baths NO ONE spoke ANY language except Hungarian. Needless to say we couldn't even figure out HOW one paid, nor what was included.

i kept asking a group of french tourists what the deal was.. and they had no clue but were just handing over bills.

seems to be you PRE pay an amount, and then INSIDE the baths, they punch off what you use and return the difference when you leave.

but not 100% sure.

there were so many differnt booths to pay at and each had a different sign.

the gellert baths probably have english speaking personnel, although these seem more "local".

Yes, the Gellert was pretty user friendly. And I still dream about my "foosmassage."