Time Out Budapest - 6th Edition (Time Out Guides)

by TimeOutGuidesLtd (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.35

  Forever characterised as two towns dramatically divided by the Danube, Budapest is back at the heart of Europe. This metropolis of ornate spas, opulent hotels and elegant coffee-houses is reliving its glory days as a Habsburg hub. Now, after a century of wars, uprisings and Socialist stasis, the Hungarian capital is gleaming again with luxury options. Away from the five-star hotels along the river and city ring, Budapest is also a-buzz with cultural fire-power and underground energy. While inner-city courtyards bloom as bohemian nightspots for DJs (the same DJs who spin at foam parties in all-night Turkish baths), a high-brow arts agenda thrives in a sumptuous opera house and the prestigious contemporary National Theatre. Gypsy, folk and Balkan styles are regular features on the concert programme. New downtown shopping hubs display the best of today's Hungarian art, fashion and design, distinct from the time-warp tourist traps of yesterday.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.35

  Budapest is no longer just the tatty gem of old, the Danube pearl tucked away behind Vienna, cherished by a handful of curious and discerning travellers. Now an EU capital, Hungary's flagship city has added cosmopolitan luxury to its five-star hotel stock, the latest treatments to its modernised spa centres, inventive reductions, drizzles and sauces to its cuisine, and designer vroom to its cafes. Without losing the charms of yesteryear, nor hiking up the ticket prices (still in Hungarian forints) for a swift transport network, grand opera or a visit to the most ornate of cinemas, Hungary's capital is amiable and affordable. Using a pool of resident writers who have lived through the changes from immediately post-Soviet to EU metropolis, this fifth edition of Time Out Budapest evaluates the contemporary city and suggests how a rapidly increasing number of visitors arriving by budget airline or major carrier, can best enjoy it. The empire strikes back as the classic dream palaces of the fin-de-siecle Habsburg days are being revamped into five-star hotels worthy of any major European capital. The Grand Hotel Royal, the recently opened art nouveau masterpiece Gresham Palace and the New York Palota, (housing the legendary cafe of the same name) set to open in the summer of 2005, offer the most up-to-date spas, kitchens and designer bars in opulent edifices left crumbling for decades. Oddball Hungarians are commonplace in one of the world's most eccentric countries. We celebrate the weird inventors (Biro, Rubik), escapologists (Houdini), fame-seekers (La Cicciolina, Zsa-Zsa and Eva Gabor) and suicidal dramatists (Ferenc Molnar), who have all given the world their own wacky take on popular culture. Disused courtyards, enclosed green spaces and boats moored on the Danube transform summer in Budapest in the hectic open-air clubbing scene. Locals no longer need to tramp off to the tacky delights of Lake Balaton to escape the sweltering metropolis - all over the city, obscure outdoor spaces open up as hot nightlife spots until the first trams start running. Where to find them is the problem - Time Out Budapest provides a full alfresco guide. Alternative art is reviving the rustbelt 90 minutes from Budapest. Take a trip to Dunaujvaros, once called Sztalinvaros (Stalintown), where the Institute of Contemporary Art shows the leading artists of the day in a town built as a post-war Socialist utopia.