RSSIn Budapest
Happy New Year!
A friend in Budapest sent me photos of his New Years tradition that I thought would be particularly appropriate for this blog. Just after midnight, he goes to the rail station in Budapest to watch the first trains of the New Year arriving and departing. Here is one of his pictures:
And, because I am in Europe, want to guess what New Years song I have been hearing the most? From the continent that launched them, here they are…
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Benjamin Thomas
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21 comments to “In Budapest”
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About the Eurail Blog
Benjamin Thomas from the USA has been using Eurail Passes to explore Europe. On this weblog he shares his (train) travel experiences. Intro
This blog is recommended by Eurail.Com.
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Hmm, I was hoping that you meant U2…
Hi Thomas,
I am traveling with a gtoup of friends in May and want to split off on my own and head to Hungary (Budapest) for a day trip. We will be in Venice at one point and heading up through Switzerland to Germany – France- London – home. I was thinking Venice would be my best bet to Budapest for a short trip but wanted a little help if you don’t mind giving advice? 1) Is Venice the best city to head there from? 2)do you know hours by train from V-B including stops? 3) This is my first time out of US (other than Canada) and I am 1/2 Hungarian, but due to a wedding in Germany and others traveling with me, I only have 1-1.5 days to see it…… is it worth it to rush through in 1 day or hope I make it back in the future? Thank you for the advice in advance if you have the time to write back:) Happy travels!!
Angela
aahh, now I know you can kick it……ABBA??? Love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Angela – Sounds like a fun trip. Yes, there are direct trains from Venice to Budapest. There is a night train that I think would be your best bet. You can wake up in Budpaest! But there are also direct trains to and from Budapest and Munich, Zurich, and Vienna. You’ll have many options. A great website to check for train timetables is http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml It is in English. Have fun, Benjamin.
Hi Benjamin,
My wife and i are looking to break free of the corporate rat race and take 6 months to a year off and explore the world while the financial markets and credit crunches work themselves out.That being said we want to start this spring in Europe.My wife is from Poland and has lived here in the states for the past ten years. my first trip to Europe was this summer to met friends and relatives( we eloped 2 years ago)and from the day i arrived i could not wait to go back.So to my question… any advise on where to start ,how to plan a trip like this .How do we see the most in a cost effective way,where to stay that’s safe and clean and again wont break the bank. Thanks for your blog and what ever advice you could give.
Hello Tom and Sunny…sounds fun! How long might you stay in Europe? And when you say Europe, do you mean all of Europe, or part of Europe? Because clearly right now there is a cost difference between Eastern and Western Europe. Since you got a taste of Eastern Europe when you visited Poland, and enjoyed it, I would say focus on Eastern Europe to save money. I am based in Budapest, which feels like the dividing line between East and West Europe. Check out what Eurail passes are available for the Eastern European countries, but of the countries that don’t yet use the Euro, I’d recommend: Hungary, Czech, and Croatia. Eastern Germany is still in many ways similiar to Eastern Europe, and prices are slightly less expensive, but they use the Euro. So my advice would be…go east! Benjamin.
Nice of you to reply !We did some research , great advice!!… Eastern Europe is so beautiful and the dollar is much stronger there, perfect.We would love to see every inch of Europe, however i imagine one would need several life times to achieve such a feat.
“Go East” is a great place to start.Here’s wishing continued knowledge and all the best in Budapest !
Tom & Sunny
Budapest is beuatifull city!I was there one year ago with two friends. It is unforgettable travel.We found the very good apartement at Hotels Budapest
Hungary
thank you for a good read
Thanks Tom and Sunny. Yes, sounds like you’re wanting to spend sometime exploring, so I think if you base yourself in some of the East/West dividing cities, you’ll stretch your dollars more. Consider Budapest, Prague and Berlin. Have fun! Benjamin.
I have been in Budapest. I like this city. There are lot of sights, cool coffe shops,restaurants,pubs. Budapest is not too expensive,but the currency is HUF,yet.
I found a cheap accomodation http://www.hungaryrooms.com/hotels/Budapest
I would like to again to Hungary.
Hi Benjamin: My husband and I will be ending a river cruise (Prague & the Blue Danube) in Budapest on May 21st. We don’t have to be back in Budapest until June 9th. Our flight back to the states from Budapest is June 10th. We’d like to travel to Italy and spend a few days in Rome, Florence & Venice and then perhaps do some train or bus travel to see more of Italy. Is there rail service from Budapest to Rome, Florence or Venice? My husband feels train travel would be a nice experience – seeing the country-side, meeting people, etc. What’s your opinion? Also, can you suggest a nice, moderately priced hotel to stay in while in Budapest? Any suggestions for hotels or B&B’s in Italy? This is our first trip to Europe and we’re very excited but we want to keep our expenses reasonable. Thanks for any advise you might have.
Hello Joan and Ted. Sounds like you will have at least several days to travel -that’s great. It’s a wonderful idea to space out travel days. Yes, indeed, you can take a direct train from Budapest to Venice, and then see those cities in Italy. But I might also recommend that to break up your trip a little, to make stops in Zagreb, Croatia and Ljubljana, Slovenia on your way to Italy. These countries don’t yet use the Euro, so you may save a little before heading into Italy, which does use the Euro. I don’t have hotel recommendations, but most hotels in “Eastern Europe” should be moderately priced. Ibis is one chain that you will find in many cities. Have fun! Benjamin.
Hi Benjamin,
A group of us (5 girls) are studying abroad in Valencia, Spain. We’ve got a long break coming up and we’re flying to Prague on april 5th and returning to Valencia on the 15th, we’re just not sure where to go yet. Would Prague-Salzburg-Budapest-Croatia-Venice work? and would that be the select 4 or 5 country pass? The Budapest-Croatia route seems really long, and since we’re looking for some beach time, we’d have to do Zagreb to Split, right? it seems like such a hassle but I hope it works out!…which do you think 5 college girls would enjoy more?
thanks for the help!
Hi – sounds fun, all of those cities are great. You could do all; all are worth seeing. But my only concern is that you write that you want “beach time.” You might just be on the cusp of warm weather in Croatia? Keep that in mind. Yes, from Budapest, you can take the train to Split, transfering in Zagreb. Zagreb isn’t too exciting, so just go along to Split. The train ride from Zagreb to Split is cool also. (You can read my “In Split” blogs here.) Split is a great jumping-off point to ferry to the islands. Once you confirm where you’d like to go, download the Eurail map to see which countries you will cross or viist on your trip. http://www.eurail.com/eurail_railway_map That will determine how many countries you need a Pass for. My only concern with your itinerary is that if you go to Split, on the way back to Venice, you may pass through Slovenia. Just check the map and your plans to be sure you are covered for Slovenia also. Ask if you have other questions. Benjamin.
Hi, I have to be in September in Ukraine, so I’m thinking about extending my trip a little bit.
I want to take a night train from Ukraine to Krakow, sleep on the train.
(day 1)Tour Krakow and Auswitz, than at night take a train (instead of an hotel) to Vienna.
(day 2) Tour Vienna, and than at night take a train to Salzburg.
(day 3) tour Salzburg, and than at night take a train to Venice.
(day 4) tour Venice, and take a train at night to Florence.
(day 5) tour Florence, and at night take a train to Budapest (I have to be that day in Budapest, so I can’t go after Vienna to Budapest).
(day 6 and 7) tour Budapest, and than back to America.
Do you have any tips for me, how to travel,which train to take, which hotels to stay, how to make the trip really cheap, and much more.
Thanks.
Hello – It is an ambitious agenda. I suggest you sit down with a map and figure out which countries you will travel to, and which countries you will need to travel through to get to your destinations. Then use the Eurail home page to figure out which Pass is best for you, and use the Deutsche Bahn website to learn about the train times. You can search my blogs on Poland, Austria, Italy and Hungary for more information on visiting there. Have fun! Benjamin
Thanks a million
We have been to Budapest during new year’s, a smaller group, two couples. The bars and clubs have been very very great. It was last year, we spant the whole night in a club near the railwaystation Nyugati. Luckily we reserved room before (the website was besthotelservice.hu), anyway it would be quite hard, because the city was full of tourists.
i recommend everybody to visit Budapest and have fun.
Hi, i´ll be backpacking across europe using a eurail one month global pass. I need to go from Budapest to Venice in the overnight train, but since Croatia isn´t covered i´d like to know exactly how much will it cost me using my pass.
Thank you!!
Hello Nicholas — Croatia IS covered with the Global Pass. So you will be all set. Have fun, Benjamin.