Itinerary

Day 1

• Lunch at Central Market Hall (buy paprika, ate langos)
• Take pics at ruin bar Szimpla Kert
• Street Food Karavan Budapest is next to it
• Dinner at Barack es Szilva etterem (recommend paparika chicken and elderflower lemonade, email reservation)

Day 2

• Széchenyi Thermal Bath - go early in the morning to beat the crowd (at 8am)
• Lunch at Kispiac Bistro (Recommend the wild boar rib rack, 1/2 duck and Hungarian Jewish Flódni Cake, call to reserve)
• St Stephen's Basilica + its outlook
• Dohány Street Synagogue (note the dress code: your top needs to cover your shoulder fully and bottom needs to cover your knees)
• Dinner at TwentySix (Interior design like a greenhouse but food was okay)

Day 3

• Conference

Day 4

• Conference
• dinner at VakVarjú Restaurant (recommend goulash and fat duck liver)

Day 5

• Children's railway + tiny bit of hike
• Elizabeth Lookout tower (reserve)
• Took the chair lift back down
• Lunch at PINGRUMBA (recommend the chicken tazbi)
• Tried to go to Gillett Hill cave but they were closed at 7pm (despite gmap say 7:30pm)
• Dinner on a cruise on Denube river + folk dancing (book ahead, food wasn't that good so you could book without the dinner)

Day 6

• Memento park
• Lunch at Hungarikum Bisztró (comes with paprika paste with slices of bread, recommend the appetizer sausage + dumpling, reserve via online form)
• Parliament tour (book ahead)
• Matthias church + Castle Hill + fisherman's bastion (same area, Matthias church offered tours but we didn't do it)
• skipped hospital in the rock
• spontaneously went to The House of Houdini and watched a live magic show (can skip)
• Took the Budapest Castle Hill Funicular down the hill

Things unique about Europe

• You need to pay to use public bathroom
• Hungary party scene is lively at night...filled with high school kids
• Children's railway in Hungary are operated by 10+ year olds with good grades
• Escalator is too fast in Hungary
• Finland has a designated smoking area indoor at the airport
• Recycling in Finland has 6 separate bins!
• Bathroom in Finland uses reusable towel that gets rolled back, instead of paper towel

What to bring

• Travel plug adapter
• N95 mask
• H1B visa

Travel Plans

• Hop on hop off

  • Optional 1-hour river cruise

The Must Do’s are

• Visit the Parliament Building
• Walk across the Chain Bridge
• Relax in famous Széchenyi thermal baths
• Cruise the Danube River
• Go up the top of St. Stephen’s Basilica

More great sights to see in Budapest are

• Buda Castle
• Central Market Hall
• Great Synagogue
• Heroes Square
• Eye Ferris Wheel
• Shoes on Danube Bank
• Fisherman’s Bastion
• Margaret Island
• Gellért Thermal Bath
• Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden
• Museum of Fine Arts

Bookings

• Parliament for english tour

Schedule

• May 31 dinner

• June 1 lunch + dinner - full day

  • Parliament tour + thermal spring
• June 2 - no activity
• June 3 dinner - no activity

• June 4 lunch + dinner

  • Hike
  • Matthias church - top of tower (buy ticket) + fisherman's bastion
• June 5 lunch + dinner - marketplace
• = 5 dinners, 3 lunches

Food

https://www.whereverwriter.com/what-to-eat-in-budapest-hungary/

• Langos - “deep fried circular dough traditionally topped with sour cream and shredded cheese”

  • Retro Langos. It’s a food stand with a few tables and chairs outside.
  • Address: Budapest, Podmaniczky Frigyes tér 4, 1054 Hungary
  • Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day, except Sunday when they’re open 10 a.m. to midnight.

• Rose-Shaped Gelato

  • Gelarto Rosa
  • Address: 1051 Budapest, Szent István tér 3, Hungary
  • Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, including Sunday

• Goulash

  • Kispiac Bisztro - wild boar goulash, half duck, veal liver, wild boar ribs
  • Tuesday-Saturday 12pm-10pm

• Palacsinta

  • Hungarian crepes.
  • Frici papa kifőzdéje
  • Address: Budapest, VII. ker. Király u. 55.
  • Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday to Saturday

• Nokedli

  • chewy, lumpy Hungarian egg “noodles” or “dumpling”
  • TBD

• Turo Rudi

  • Supermarkets (like Spar grocery store chain)
  • candy bars are covered in chocolate and have curd (dairy, like cheese) filling mixed with other flavors, from blueberry to hazelnut. I liked the hazelnut best!
• Kurtoskalacs- sugar sprinkled cake baked on a slit
• Halaszle - fish soup with paprika, popular at Christmas

Restaurants I want to go to:

• Kispiac Bisztro

  • Open 12-10pm Tuesday-Saturday (Close on Sunday and Monday)

• Hungarikum Bisztró - goulash + pork dishes

  • Can reserve on the website https://hungarikumbisztro.hu/foglalas/
  • 6:00 pm available everyday? Open 12-2:30, 6-10pm everyday

• Barack és Szilva étterem - chicken paprika, roast duck dish

  • Mon-Sat 6pm-12AM (Close on Sundays)
  • reserve by calling https://barackesszilva.hu/indexEN.html

• Central market - fisherman soup, longos, strudel