Time Out Budapest - 5th Edition (Time Out Guides)

by TimeOutGuidesLtd (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.25

  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.

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.25

  This guide to Budapest has been written and researched by people who live and work in the city. There is information on where to stay, the sights, museums, art galleries and architecture, restaurants, wine bars, pubs and coffee houses. The book also looks at the entertainment in the city, including clubs, cinemas, dance halls, Turkish baths and folk dancing. Budapest is covered by area, from the ramparts of the castle district to the backstreets of the Jewish ghetto. There are full details of opening times, admission prices and transport.