Budapest
Recommended Accommodation:
Hotel Mercure Budapest City Center is located in the historical and business center of Budapest, on the famous Váci utca. Near there are the Danube, museums, stylish restaurants and the famous baths and swimming pools. The hotel offers different room types: a privilege, bio privilege and spacious suites with private sauna, providing full comfort. Internet, Wi-Fi and computers available to guests. Easy access from airports, and public transportation. Parking on site.
New, opened in 1998, a three-star Hotel Ibis Budapest Center is located on the Pest side of Budapest at the Kálvin Square. The hotel is right next to the National Museum, 5 minutes from the famous Váci street in the commercial and cultural center. The most important things to see are near the hotel.
Completely renovated Best Western Art Hotel offers service in the downtown. The historical walls of the modern hotel with the 32 air-conditioned rooms with full amenities are awaiting guests. In the menu of Hargita Grill Café Restaurant all possible Hungarian cuisine can be found. The combined use of the fitness center and sauna will help you relax.
Budapest Map:
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Budapest Points of Interest:
Parliament, which has been described as eclectic and neo-Gothic, stretches over a length of 268 m., between the shore and the Kossuth tér, dominating the surrounding with its façade decorated with figures of 88 Hungarian kings. When there is no session of Parliament, you can watch the interior of the Parliament.
Castle Hill (Várhegy) is the most representative place in Buda. The long plateau, loaded with towers, residences and a huge palace dominates the Water City lying below. Its magnificence and strategic position dovetail with each other for a long time. The Hungarian kings built their palaces here, because this place was easy to defend.
Gellért Hill (Gellérthegy) is as characteristic of the city panorama as the Castle Hill and the Parliament. The precipitous rock, with the Freedom Monument and the Citadel, rises 130 meters above the quay. The view from the top of the hill is stunning. River bends, bridges, monumental buildings, then the Buda hills and suburbs of Pest joining in the foggy, distant horizon.
Fishermen's Bastion (Halászbástya) could be dreamed up by the artist-dreamer Escher. White walls, porches and winding stairways cut storey towers as a place of endless steps. Fishermen from the Water City, it seems, from here defended the hill in the middle ages. The current form is purely decorative and creates a perfect backdrop for Matthias Church and the Houses of Parliament behind the river. Its seven towers recall the seven Magyar tribes that gave rise to the nation a thousand years before. During the day the tower is besieged by tourists, street musicians and vendors.
Budapest residents say that "love begins and ends on Margaret Island" (Margitsziget), and it is because this beautiful green area was a favorite place for lovers of the nineteenth century, although before 1945, the high entrance fees discouraged the poorer visitors. Today it is one of the most popular recreational areas in the city. The local warm springs feed the outdoor pools, spa and elegant hotels. On the south side of the island there are casino and Alfred Hajos swimming pool, named after the winner in swimming competitions for a distance of 100 m and 1200 m during the Olympics in 1896. Further north, right before the rose garden, are the ruins of the Franciscan church from the late thirteenth c. On the other side of the street you will find Palatinus swimming pool. Street theater (Szabadtéri Szinpad) issues plays and operas in the summer.
Located almost in the middle of the hill, the church of Matthias is an example of neo-Gothic splendor: soaring turrets, roof tiles in the shape of diamonds. The building is asymmetrical, and yet consistent in form. Entering the church through the portal of the Virgin Mary, visitors open their mouth with awe because of the richness of the interior. Painted leaves and geometric patterns wrap around the columns and brackets, the rays of light fall through rosettes windows on the gilded altars and statues, creating a stunning effect.