Bucharest/Budapest
- Thread starter grego
- Start date
I havent been to Bucharest but had a colleague who worked out there for 6months - made lots of friends all called Radu - is apparently a nice enough city with next to nothing to do however
Budapest - have been on a weekend city break - really enjoyed it - slightly rundown but has a certain charm - though watch out for Rowdy stags- Lots of nice restaurants and bars as well as some nice sights in between the former communist drab
Budapest - have been on a weekend city break - really enjoyed it - slightly rundown but has a certain charm - though watch out for Rowdy stags- Lots of nice restaurants and bars as well as some nice sights in between the former communist drab
dominicfiend
New Member
Been to Budapest... Nice city
Clubs: Great
People: (mostly) lovely
Architecture: Good
Price: Great
Food: Not too keen on eastern european food
Clubs: Great
People: (mostly) lovely
Architecture: Good
Price: Great
Food: Not too keen on eastern european food
Buckley
Well-Known Member
That made me chuckle 'The Latch'* well done.
(Although I chuckled more when the other no-marks ganged up and kicked you out of the group in 'Totally Boyband'
)Budapest is a great city and it was very hot, which surprised me. (IT WAS APRIL WHEN I WENT). Stayed just off the main street called Vaci Ucta.
Very friendly local pop. - food rubbish, but there is a great steak restaurant called La Pampas opposite the indoor market which was very nice.
Gellert Hotel Baths with open air baths was a great experience too.
One night me and a friend got lost, and as you can't flag taxis down over there, i ended up walking, which led to me being on the wrong side of the river for many many hours. It all started when we asked if the driver knew any good clubs. He drove us out into the sticks to a brothel, when my mate protested that that wasn't what we had in mind, the driver got upset and drove off. leaving us to walk back.
The next taxi driver said to us "you are the first brits tonight not to ask for coke and girls"
- so you can see the problem.But it has a great recent history and the architecture is great too.
And it's the only place in the world I can think of where you'll hear "Hit the Road Jack" played in the middle of a house music set to the glee of the crowd.
Bucharest
Full of vampires, can't get garlic bread any where.
LiverpoolChick
New Member
Budapest / Bucharest
While neither city could claim to be one of the more forward-moving European capitals at the moment, at least Budapest used to be that in the past...at the time of Austro-Hungarian empire, everyone who is anyone used to send their kids to school to Budapest as well as Vienna and Paris...The high society used to enjoy a nice life there and it also attracted many poets, writers etc.
The old town has some stunning architecture whilst the new town displays the tyipcally communist design (bleak, functional (if that!), uninspired) that we also often see in Serbia.
The people can be moody although they would probably be nicer to foreigners. The food is very spicy although personally I love GOULASH and also in their supermarkets you can buy the most amazing cold meats and cheeses - in good old times, my mum & dad used to cross the border just to buy those goods from hypermarkets.
Some of my Australian friends went recently and were really impressed with the quality of bars, restaurants and felt that it was very Western and getting quite trendy, while at the same time the city still offers its unique geo-socio-historic character (because I don't imagine you want pure Western stuff, or you could just stay at home?)
Bucharest - I haven't been but I know someone who has, I think it offers less Western-type pursuits but it is still ridiculously cheap even for Serbs - but not generally known for any amazing sightseeing or even nightlife - it's worth checking an on-line guide to see what you would actually do there. My mum told me an anegdote of some 20 years ago when her and my dad went on a trip to Bucharest with his work, and were quite excited about going shopping (knowing that it was so cheap), only to find there was NOTHING in the shops and even to get a sandwich for lunch was a real misssion.
In my humble opinion, Budapest might offer a better city break...
Or, if you really want to have fun, go to Belgrade! At my recent wedding we had 40 foreigners, mostly English but also Australians, Irish and American, and they absolutely fell in love with Serbia and some stayed a few days extra to travel round.
While neither city could claim to be one of the more forward-moving European capitals at the moment, at least Budapest used to be that in the past...at the time of Austro-Hungarian empire, everyone who is anyone used to send their kids to school to Budapest as well as Vienna and Paris...The high society used to enjoy a nice life there and it also attracted many poets, writers etc.
The old town has some stunning architecture whilst the new town displays the tyipcally communist design (bleak, functional (if that!), uninspired) that we also often see in Serbia.
The people can be moody although they would probably be nicer to foreigners. The food is very spicy although personally I love GOULASH and also in their supermarkets you can buy the most amazing cold meats and cheeses - in good old times, my mum & dad used to cross the border just to buy those goods from hypermarkets.
Some of my Australian friends went recently and were really impressed with the quality of bars, restaurants and felt that it was very Western and getting quite trendy, while at the same time the city still offers its unique geo-socio-historic character (because I don't imagine you want pure Western stuff, or you could just stay at home?)
Bucharest - I haven't been but I know someone who has, I think it offers less Western-type pursuits but it is still ridiculously cheap even for Serbs - but not generally known for any amazing sightseeing or even nightlife - it's worth checking an on-line guide to see what you would actually do there. My mum told me an anegdote of some 20 years ago when her and my dad went on a trip to Bucharest with his work, and were quite excited about going shopping (knowing that it was so cheap), only to find there was NOTHING in the shops and even to get a sandwich for lunch was a real misssion.
In my humble opinion, Budapest might offer a better city break...
Or, if you really want to have fun, go to Belgrade! At my recent wedding we had 40 foreigners, mostly English but also Australians, Irish and American, and they absolutely fell in love with Serbia and some stayed a few days extra to travel round.
Morbyd
Moderator
Me too! I like Eastern European food...don't know what all these guys are whining about!
Haven't been to either city yet, though... heard lots of good things about Budapest. If you're just looking in that general area, I'm told Sofia is quite nice too.
That made me chuckle 'The Latch'* well done.
(Although I chuckled more when the other no-marks ganged up and kicked you out of the group in 'Totally Boyband'
Why thank you - its moments of praise like this from Buckley that make posting on spotlight so worthwhile!
bucharest is for another time i think, so that has dropped out of the running........but stockholm has made a late surge on the rails.
budapest pips it at the post tho.
we're gonna stay here
8)- http://volll.at.11am.hu/boscolo/en/
bring on the goulash!!
budapest pips it at the post tho.
we're gonna stay here
8)- http://volll.at.11am.hu/boscolo/en/
bring on the goulash!!
budapest was great!! although it was 10 years ago that I was there... good fun.. I remember only planning to stay for 3 days or so but I stayed for a about 10. I'm sure things have changed since there.. I remember going to a 'rave' there... good times!
Have been to the Black Sea coast in romania but not bucharest!
Have been to the Black Sea coast in romania but not bucharest!
WeLuvIbiza
Active Member
I think we must have been in Budapest at totally the wrong time!
We (16 group stag party) were in the city late September last year. At the time the people of the city were up in arms about some political issues. They were marching at night with quite a lot of violence on occasions. Thankfully we missed the violence but saw the stalwarts marching on a daily basis. To cut to the chase.....many bar staff & locals seemed quite hostile. The first ever city I have visted and never wanted to return.
We (16 group stag party) were in the city late September last year. At the time the people of the city were up in arms about some political issues. They were marching at night with quite a lot of violence on occasions. Thankfully we missed the violence but saw the stalwarts marching on a daily basis. To cut to the chase.....many bar staff & locals seemed quite hostile. The first ever city I have visted and never wanted to return.
hi mark, hows things?
i'd missed your comments above (not sure how) but thanks for the advice, i'll bear what you've said in mind. altho clubbing/pubbing/tity barring (?) ,etc isn't really on the agenda so hopefully we'll miss being tarred with the british stag/hen party brush.
gellert baths is, amongst others, defo on the agenda.
Everything's good mate. Love the Gellert Baths. It's great city mate.
WeLuvIbiza
Active Member
Clearly I misjudged the city and it's people and look forward to the review.