Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

I was in Hungary last September and visited both Szentendre and Ezstergom during my visit. Szentendre is easily reached by taking a regularly scheduled city bus. Alternatively you can take a tour bus -- not expensive -- which will take you down and back. Szentendre is a very pretty village with cobbled lanes, some interesting old buildings, a fabulous view of the Danube and at the same time a good location to see and acquire typical Hungarian handicrafts. I highly recommend a visit. Because a number of vendors sell similar products -- the fabulous tablecloths for example -- you have a terrific opportunity to haggle for a piece of merchandise that attracts your eye and to get it at a good price. There is also a good amount of nice original pottery, jewelry, childrens toys, women's sweaters and other apparel as well as leather goods worth examining. Some of the stores also sell all the grocery products you are likely to want to bring back as a Hungarian souvenir: the paprika goose liver pate. Do not buy these products in your hotel gift shop -- they are grossly overpriced there -- but buy them either in the grocery stores that dot downtown Budapest, or else, after price comparison shopping, buy them in Szetendre. You can easily spend a good half to a full day wandering around Szetendre, particularly if you plan on going mid-morning and lunching while there.

Re Ezstergom, I chose to go there on a tour bus but the hydrofoils you ask about are a main feature of life on the Danube and are widely used for day trips within Hungarian parts of the Danube and up river to Bratislava, or beyond, to Austria. There are also any number of river cruise ships that will also take you to any of these locations.

At the time of my visit I found Hungary to be considerably less expensive than Germany and Austria (nosebleed prices there)which I also visited, and somewhat more expensive than Slovakia, but then that country has an economy which is on the rocks. In Hungary, convert your money to forints as you need them, and be aware that you will be able to find bank machines to accept your North American bank cards though there are some machines they do not work in. I was able to get money with no trouble in both Szentendre and Ezstergom bank machines, fyi. If you go to Slovakia do not convert any of your money to their currency and instead rely on a harder currency to transact purchases. You will find you get them for a considerably better price using a hard currency. I recommend either German DMs, probably the easiest, or US dollars. Pay major bills, such as hotels with a credit card.
If you have more questions, just e-mail me.

Lanny
fan, as I am, then you should price the little cans at the shops in Szetendre and buy fdr