Hi everybody!<BR><BR>When browsing on this forum I saw people are asking different travel related (not only) questions about Hungary and Budapest in Particular. Many times those questions remain without any comments or answers. I guess this is probably due to their peculiarity (like horse riding) or lack of some not very well-known Hungarian facts. <BR>Being a Hungarian private guide and living in Budapest I have decided from time to time to post some useful information for those who are planning to travel to Hungary.<BR><BR>The recent news is that the Gellert Hotel opened again after being flooded by a broken water-pipe several weeks ago.<BR>Also just recently the completely restored Palace Hotel has been opened on R&aacute;k&oacute;czi st. 43. Now it belongs to the Novotel chain and the building was restored in its former art-nouveau style. I consider it one of the most beautiful hotels in Budapest. Its restaurant is also planning to regain its former, before the WWII glory.<BR>Continue with the hotels there are some grand openings in the nearest future.<BR>The former Gresham palace is due to be opened in November as a member of the Four Seasons hotels. It has to be restored in its former splendor and considered to be the most lavish hotel in Central Europe. When it was built 100 years ago, the architects were told that “money doesn’t matter”, so it got to be restored that way as well. Anyway the location of the hotel is superb, opposite the Chain Bridge and the Royal Castle, right in the heart of the city.<BR>Continue with the hotels another opening scheduled by the end of the Year is the Royal Grand Hotel on Erzs&eacute;bet krt. 43.<BR>By these openings the number and quality of 4-5 star hotels in the city will grow at a much greater scale.<BR>Also good news that reconstruction of some major roads in Budapest is close to its finish and traffic including public transportation is back to normal again.<BR>For example those who stayed at the Gellert hotel during the summer months can tell you long stories about that.<BR><BR>Now a little different information for those who are interested in antiques hunting or any flee-markets.<BR>You have the well-known Ecseri (Nagyk&otilde;r&ouml;si st.) antique market. It is opened year-round from Monday to Saturday. The best day to visit is Saturday. On Sundays people mainly go to Pet&otilde;fi Csarnok flee-market in the City Park, next to Hero’s square. Unfortunately nowadays it is more a mixture of overpriced second-hand clothes and electronics market with some cheap (not in prices) antiques. I don’t mention the food-stuffs and cheap cosmetics items.<BR>The alternative for that one is the not so well-known market near the Keleti rail-road station on Verseny st. This one is opened every day but the best time to come on Sunday. It is much bigger than the one in the City Park and not so commercialized. Most of the vendors are typical one-time sellers with a big number of homeless people. You will realize it on their prices and some (I guess 50%) of them are willing to get rid of their stuff in order to buy that long sought bottle of wine, so you can find real bargains there.<BR>That’s all for the time being, next time I will come up with some other news.<BR><BR>Best regards to all.<BR>

Thank you Bela for all the interesting information you gave us.

Bela,<BR>Thank you for your post. Silly questions, but what is the currency used in Hungary, and what is the general cost for a 4 star hotel room?<BR><BR>Also, what do you consider is the best time to visit Hungary (Budapest in particular), and do the people speak some English?<BR><BR>Thanks.

To Jann!<BR><BR>The currency we use in Hungary is the FORINT.<BR>The current exchange rate is $1.00 = HUF 245.00<BR>The average price for a 4*hotel room is around $150.00. There are of course rooms available for less or for more depending on season.<BR>You can find the current prices on this website: http://www.ohb.hu <BR>I guarantee you can book a room for less online.<BR>Best time to visit Hungary is March-May or September-October but other months are not bad at all. Avoid summer because sometimes we have temperatures over 100 degrees like it was in June this year. My friends from Virginia tried to avoid the scorching heat back home and they came here at the end of June just to have the daily temperature sometimes around 105 F.<BR>People in the tourist business speak English but the main language still remains German however there is a significant change in the last 10 years in favor of English. I guess within the following 10 years people speaking German will be outnumbered by English speaking population.<BR><BR>Best regards,<BR>Bela

Hi<BR>I just returned from Hungary last week. It is probably my favorite country to visit. It is our third trip in 10 years and the differences are so noticible and improved in those years. This time we visited Szeged,Kecskemet, Pecs and Romania briefly. As to prices, I think people should visit outside of Budapest also. We stayed at a 4 star hotel the Novotel Szeged for about $82 USD and food was less expensive also. We also found that 2 star hotels are good also as the Novotel was the only 4 star we stayed in while in Hungary. Enjoyed it very much.<BR>alan

Anyone trying to find reasonable rooms should also go to IBUSZ to find a room. They are like a tourist agancy in Hungary. Almost every tourist type town in Hungary has at least one of these offices. Much cheaper than Hotels and you can rent a flat or apartment as we call it here, or you can stay with a family. I love Hungary so very much! I have gone there every year from 1999 on. I stay in Budapest area, but have stayed at family and friends homes outside of Budapest too. I got sun stroke last year after staying at Lake Balaton a few days. That was in mid June. I do not stay in the sun long ever! But it was brutal last year there. Everyone kept telling me I had food posioning. When my sickness didn't go away after a week, my family made me go to the hospital, I was in very bad shape for two weeks. I can't wait to go back to Hungary in late May or early June again in 2003! I miss Hungary so very much!! Please everyone there tell Hungary hello for me!! Alice