sgny

Leaving for our honeymoon on Oct. 16 to Budapest and Prague. As if the wedding stress wasn't enough, now we have the situation in Budapest. Should we be concered enough to alter our plans? Are these protests contained to Parliament and it is your choice to participate or not. Will things be closed? Will this be over in 3 weeks when we go? We don't want to have any uncertainty and we have to decide soon if we do change our plans. After all the enjoyable months of Fodors research we would hate to have to change. Thanks for the help.

crazychick

It is difficut for people to advise on this. I don't think I would change my plans if it were me, but I can understand your concern as this is honeymoon trip and you do not need the extra stress. If you feel uneasy and you want peace of mind now, then why not swop Budapest for Vienna. How many days were you planning to stay in Budapest? If you did sop when you get to vienna and you think things are settled you could perhaps think about going to Bupdapest for a day with an overnight stop. It is about a 3 hours train ride from vienna to budpest.

jessiejac

Hi sgny,
I just came back from a 5-day trip to Budapest with my husband and the protests had absolutely no impact on our vacation (or stress levels). The protests are peaceful, save for a few rowdy apples rioting last week, and you can easily avoid the entire situation if you like. We arrived at Parliament on this past Saturday at the end of a day of sightseeing and found ourselves in the middle of a protest: we spent about an hour peoplewatching, eating langos, and (touristy as it sounds!) we even bought the protest t-shirt! Locals had their little kids on their shoulders and they all sat or stood peacefully listening and applauding speakers and folk singers. Yes, the people are unhappy and rightly so but it will not in any way affect your happy-factor. There are local elections coming up (this weekend I believe) so chances are this need for public protest will have died down by the time you leave for your trip -- you'll have a good idea early next week.
Budapest is such a beautiful city and we were so glad we did not allow sensational media coverage to affect our plans. You can keep tabs on the situation by reading Hungarian newspapers online (available in English)-- for instance I just read that only 3,000 demonstrated at Parliament today whereas there were 20,000 on Saturday. If I had a chance to go again in October I'd hop to it (and concentrate any stress on the wedding!!!)
Good luck to you! please let me know if you have any other Budapest-specific qusetions that I can help with fresh from my trip.

Ozarksbill

Just a matter of continued interest. Earlier sgny was assuring people to not worry about travel to Budapest. But with this mornings's NPR news about use of tear gas and rubber bullets, I am wondering is it that safe. Also does anyone know how this dispute might be resolved? Sounds different than the 1956 anti-Communist riots but still is a protest against an unpopular government it seems. I am wondering how different actually is the present government in terms of authoritarianism and corruption?

I can picture scenes in front of Parliament and downtown and maybe Hero's Square where we were last year.

ozarksbill

mrrun2fast

I was in Budapest last week. We visited the the Parliament building a few days after their 1956 revolution day. There were fences around the building with flowers and flags on it. Lots of police in the area. I met a few protesters gathered outside of the building, they tried to get my views, but I do not think it's proper for a foreigner to comment on their affairs. About an hour later, an estimated 20 people gathered with them in front of the parliament building. Within a few minutes, 2 busloads of cops rolled in and surrounded the protesters. It's a sad state of affairs when citizens cannot protest peacefully. We left the area since tensions were high.