we may be in budapest in june. are the towns of szentendre and/or worth a day or two? can we go there by boat?

I liked Szentendre but haven't been back inabout 5 years. A bit artsy, a bit touristy but a nice change from Budapest. I am not sure about the boat, but you can take the tram up pretty easily.
Cheers,
Jan

We spent an afternoon going to Szentendre, looking around and returning in September 2004. The trip up the Danube was 1.5 hours, we spent 1.5 hours looking around, and then we spent 1.5 hours returning, so 4.5 hours in all.

The time we had in which to look around obviously was not very much. I felt we could have done with a bit more, so that we could have looked at more churches, etc. I would have liked to have had, say, 3 hours in the village. We had only a cup of coffee there, but if we'd wanted to include lunch, my desired 3 hours could have expanded to 4 hours.

The couple of streets that effectively served as the village's main streets were <b>packed</b> with visitors and with shops and stalls selling traditional Hungarian embroidery, etc. I still think it was worth visiting the village, which I found cute. When we walked even a couple of blocks away from the &quot;main drag,&quot; we had the streets to ourselves.

But going to Szenendre does not take one to the Danube Bend. To do that, one has to go further afield, as far as Esztergom. We later passed Esztergom when we took a boat from Budapest to Vienna. The boat did not stop at Esztergom, but we saw the splendid basilica that overlooked the Danube. It's the biggest church in Hungary. I should have loved to have gone inside it.

Another lovely town that is feasible as a day trip from Budapest is Eger.

In Budapest itself, be sure to visit the Citadel at night, so as to get the magnificient view of the Danube and the city.

On the Buda (west) side of the river, the other must see things are the Royal Palace and the Matthias Church. On the Pest (east) side, the must do things are a tour of the Houses of Parliament and a visit to St. Stephen's Basilica. Another must do is right in the middle - a walk around lovely Margaret Island.

I would give the city of Budapest itself (not counting external day trips) a minimum of two days, and ideally three or more days. These are all just my opinions, of course.

If you like antiquing, try Falk Miksa utca right across from the Parliament.

Ditto to everything Judy said!
Cheers,
Jan

Don't have a clue about the question, but just LOVED the title

bodhijack: The Danube Bend (Duna Kanyar) traditionally starts just South of Esztergom ,runs past Visegrad, Vac (on the Slovakian side) and ends at Szentendre. You can take the trip from Budapest by boat (five hours to Esztergom) and return by bus or train, both of which are faster. Don't take the hydrofoil because, while it is faster, you cannot see anything with seating arrangement low in the vessel.
Szentendre is fun and charming, even the very touristy marketplace which stretches about three blocks of side by side tented tables offering all manner of crafts and embroidery. Walk a block off the stretch and the village is very medieval with churches, art studios and museums. The river-side ambience is great fun. Szentendre is worth at least a half day.
You can take a ferry across to Vac which is very Baroque due to its destruction by the Turks in the 17th Century. The squares and river-side parks are very elegant. It is worth a short stop.
Visegrad has some fine castle ruins on the hilltop and very interesting palace remains at riverside. Some restoration has taken place at both locations. The views from the Castle ramparts are fantastic. A couple of hours would be fine.
Ezstergom has the massive, very impressive cathedral. Again, most of the original was destroyed by the Turks, so most of what you see is last century restoration. The Chapel survived the destruction and has been incorporated into the new cathedral.
Adjacent to the cathedral is a castle museum in the reconstructed Royal Palace. It is interesting with weapons, pottery, coins and tiles on exhibit.
It is worthwhile walking down to the old town; some interesting architecture and shops.
While one could boat up the Bend from Budapest and bus back in a day, there would not be much time to see anything. It takes two days minimum to travel and see the sights on the Bend. If you go up by boat, you can get off at each stop and catch the next boat when you are ready. Have a great trip.