Top Tips
The Széchenyi Baths
Take a plunge in Europe’s largest thermal baths complex, in the City Park. This has three outdoor and twelve indoor pools, with water of all temperatures from its own springs. A leisure pool was added at the beginning of this century. It is open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day, and it is a favourite with Budapest expat families. Have you ever seen people playing chess on floating boards? You can here. A Budapest speciality.
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Address: XIV. Állatkerti körút
Web: http://www.spasbudapest.com
Cave tours
If you are prepared for adventure and have plenty of stamina, you will enjoy climbing and crawling through narrow passages during the two and a half- to three-hour tour in the twenty-kilometre-long Pálvölgyi-Mátyáshegyi cave system. This protected site is part of the ‘Buda Thermal Karst’ area. Are you ready for this great adventure? If you’re looking for an easier challenge, visit the Pálvölgyi or Szemlőhegyi caves.
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Address: II. Szépvölgyi út 162.
Web: http://www.caving.hu
The New York Café
The café in this beautiful palatial Art Nouveau building was once the meeting place of Hungarian writers and intellectuals for about a century. Legend had it that its keys were thrown into the river, so that it never closed – not even for a night. During the 1950s it was for a time a sportswear store, after which it was renamed Café Hungária. After a complete renovation it has reopened as part of a luxury hotel: superb walls and frescoes.
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Address: VII. Erzsébet körút 9-11.
Margaret Island
Relax in ‘the lungs of Budapest’ on the Danube between Buda and Pest. This is a great jogging and recreation area, with a musical fountain, a small zoo, and a superb, innovative playground. And that’s not all: it also has the largest lido and swimming pool in Budapest. Climb the ruins of the monastery where in the 13th century Princess Margaret of Hungary spent most of her life, and have lunch or a drink in the open-air beer garden. What you don’t have are cars, but what you do have are bicycles, electric mini-cars and bringos (four-wheeled cycles)!
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Address: XIII. Margitsziget
Web: http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/free_time/parks
The Libegő
Look down on the gardens and roofs of houses in the Buda Hills from the Libegő, an eccentric mode of transport in Budapest’s Buda Hills. It takes twelve minutes to make the ascent of 1,040 metres. To enjoy the panorama fully, it is best to walk up and descend with the chair lift. The popular hill-walking destination nearby is called Normafa, a spot with the freshest air in the area and a great view. Have a quick bite at the small strudel pavilion!
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Address: XII. Zugligeti út 97.
Web: http://www.libego.hu
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