Hungary tightens Covid-19 restrictions

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As we are still in the rising period of the second wave of the pandemic, the Hungarian government decided to tighten Covid-19 related restrictions in our country. Let’s see the details.

Latest Covid-19 restrictions in Hungary valid from 11th November

These are the new restrictions for the next 30 days until the 11th of December after which they can be extended:

  • there is a curfew between 8 pm – 5 am
  • all gatherings are prohibited
  • restaurants can only serve takeaway orders and deliver food to people’s homes (factory canteens can remain open)
  • shops (except for gas stations and pharmacies) can be open only until 7 pm, since everyone must be home by 8 pm – shops can open at 5 am the earliest, since that is the end of the curfew in the morning
  • hotels and accommodations cannot have guests except for business travelers or guests that are here for the purpose of economy or education
  • all events are banned including cultural events and Christmas markets as well – religious ceremonies can be held, religious communities can decide on their own about these ceremonies, but they have to keep safe health rules
  • sport events must be held without audience “behind closed doors”
  • people can practice individual sports outdoors, especially those sportsmen that compete cannot be limited in practicing
  • gyms, pools, museums, public libraries, cinemas, zoos, ice skating rinks must be closed
  • daycares, kindergartens, primary schools can remain open for now, special safety measures can be determined by the school principals – secondary schools, universities have to apply digital education, dorms must close too (only foreign students or students who are quarantined can stay in the dorms)
  • private and family events (like birthdays etc.) can be held up to 10 people
  • at funerals there can be 50 people max.
  • weddings can be held, but there cannot be a wedding reception with guests
  • workers who are employed in healthcare, schools, kindergartens, daycares, and social workers must be tested for Covid-19 every week
  • people have to keep wearing masks on public transportations, indoors, and now outdoors on public areas, too (in cities that have more than 10.000 inhabitants) – in parks and nature and while doing sports masks do not have to be worn
  • borders are still closed, there are only a few exceptions

About our daily free tours in Budapest

As we shared in our previous posts as well, our daily free walking tours are not running at the moment until further notice. We cannot accommodate group private tours either since any kind of gatherings are prohibited.

Thank you for your understanding and stay safe, Everyone!

 

Latest news – beginning of November 2020

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Read about the latest Hungarian Covid-19 related news in this post.

Coronavirus news in Hungary

As we wrote in our previous blog post, in Hungary the number of Covid-19 cases are rising at a fast pace during the second wave of the pandemic, hospitals are getting full, so the government has introduced new measures in these last days:

– they have extended the border closure at least until the 1st of December 2020

– starting from this midnight (3rd November) there will be a curfew between midnight and 5am, ‘everyone must arrive home by midnight’ plus pubs and nightclubs will be closed for good

– starting from now there is special legal order in Hungary again, just like during the first wave of the pandemic. It allows the government to implement a range of emergency measures by decree.

– parking will be free in Budapest again

– it is every third seat that can be occupied at events, sporting events, in cinemas, theatres, and wearing a mask is compulsory in all cases

– they are making public transportation vehicles run more frequently during morning and afternoon rush hours

 

About our free walking tours

Please remember that we are currently still not operating our daily free walking tours in Budapest, but you can send us an inquiry at info@triptobudapest.hu about a paid private tour if you happen to be in our city as a traveler.

Stay safe everyone!

Autumn news – end of October 2020

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Dear Travelers, in this post let us share the latest news about our free tours and the Covid-19 situation in Hungary shortly.

Regarding our free tours

Firstly, at the moment we are still not running our daily sightseeing free walking tours, since foreign citizens are not allowed to enter the country, unless they have a special reason. However, if you happen to be a traveler that can enter or is in Hungary, we offer paid private tours. Contact us via our website or at info@triptobudapest.hu if you are interested in more details.

General Covid news

Second, there have been some other news as well lately. The number of Covid-19 cases have been rising in the region and in our country and capital as well, and they have introduced some stricter regulations (in connection with wearing masks and fines if somebody does not wear them and such) and they have also decided to cancel the annual Christmas market on the Vörösmarty square. This christmas market have been organized every year since the 1990s and have been amongst the best christmas markets of Europe these past years. Sadly in 2020 we cannot enjoy it, fingers crossed that in 2021 the situation will be much better.

We are still in the rising period regarding the coronavirus cases, they say that the second wave will be peaking in December/January in Hungary. We hope that most of you and your families are safe and wish you a nice autumn!

Update on the current situation – 25th September 2020

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As we wrote in one of our previous posts, due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Hungary, foreign citizens are not allowed to enter our country from the 1st of September for an indefinite time (there are a few exceptions and special cases).

You can read more about the latest here: www.abouthungary.hu

We run no daily free tours now, but join us for a private tour!

Unfortunately, our daily free walking tours are not running at the moment until further notice, but if you happen to be one of the exceptions that can enter the country, we are happy to organize a private tour for you! For more information and prices please send us an email to info@heedesign.hu or call us +36209605295

You can check our Facebook page as well for fresh information: https://www.facebook.com/triptobudapest.hu/

We really hope that the Covid-19 situation gets better and we can see you soon on our daily Budapest walking tours!

 

 

Stay safe!

1st September News – Hungary closes its borders

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Dear Everyone!
We announce it with a heavy heart that Hungary closes its borders on the 1st of September due to the spread of Covid-19.
Foreign citizens will not be able to enter the country without a special reason. This measure will be active for at least 1 month. We’ll keep you updated about how long this regulation will last. You can read more about this topic here: http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/coronavirus-heres-the-latest/
We will run our free walking tours until the 4th of September, the 4th will be the last day when we operate.
The schedule from 1st Sept. until the 4th:
01/09
General Budapest tour 10.30am
Jewish Quarter tour 3.30pm
02/09
General Budapest tour 10.30am
Communism tour 3.30pm
03/09
General Budapest tour 10.30am
Jewish Quarter tour 3.30pm
04/09
General Budapest Tour 10.30am
Jewish Quarter tour 3.30pm
Communism tour 3.30pm
See you on the Elisabeth square, look for the blue free tour flag a few meters away from the Budapest Eye Ferris wheel! Stay safe!

Current schedule of our free tours

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In this post we would like to let you know the starting times of our free walking tours in Budapest and some recent news about the Covid-19 situation and upcoming restrictions.

The schedule of our daily free tours now

General Budapest walk 10:30 every day & 14:30 as well on Friday and Saturday

Jewish quarter tour 15:30 every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday

Communism walk 15:30 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

Evening Pest walk 18:30 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Here are some photos of our running 1.5 hours long Evening Pest walk 🙂

 

 

Information about the pandemic now

The number of cases have been quite low in Hungary, we are considered to be a safer country.

However, these last days news said that the government is going to announce safety restrictions, probably in connection with travelling as well. We are going to keep you updated about these on our website and Facebook page, too. https://www.facebook.com/triptobudapest.hu

Right now the countries of the world are divided into 3 groups by Hungary: green, yellow and red. If you come from a green country, you are free to enter. If you come from a yellow country, you have to go to 2 weeks quarantine in Hungary OR show 2 negative tests. Entering Hungary from a red country is not permitted (there are only a few exceptions).
Please always look up the regulations before you plan your travels and be safe!

Info about preparing for restarting our tours (late-July or beginning of August 2020)

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In the following post we are going to introduce our new, safe walking tours that you can take during/after the Covid-19 pandemic after we restart our daily tours (probably late-July or beginning of August 2020).

Life is slowly returning, travelling can be done soon with minor restrictions, and we are also preparing for restarting our walking tours. Besides our free walking tours and private tours, we have prepared low-cost, small group walking tours for our guests. The advantages of these tours are the following:

  • We limit the number of participants on these walking tours: the maximum is 12 people in a group
  • Since the group is smaller than on an average free walking tour, everyone can keep 1.5-2 meters distance from fellow travellers and still hear the guide during the walking tour
  • We try to avoid physical contact on these tours: you book online and you can pay in a contactless way online as well (but paying on the spot is also possible); we do not hand out flyers or printed materials (unless someone asks for it)

The walking tours that will be available as a small group tour: General Budapest Tour, Jewish Quarter Tour, Communism Tour. The days, times and prices of these tours will be announced later, when we are sure about the date of starting again (probably late-July or beginning of August 2020).

Until we restart our daily free tours, you are welcome to book a private tour with us here on the website for a fair price. You can also e-mail us at info@triptobudapest.hu or booking@triptobudapest.hu for more information!

You can also follow us on Facebook, we post information regularly about restarting our tours there, too: https://www.facebook.com/triptobudapest.hu/?ref=bookmarks


Stay tuned and safe! 😊

News during the coronavirus pandemic – 01.05.2020.

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Dear Everyone, we hope that you are doing okay as much as things can be going okay during these difficult times.

We just wanted to let you know that we are alive and cannot wait to be with you on our free tours and other kind of walking tours in Budapest again!

We are preparing new options as well for life after the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides our free walking tours low-cost, small-group walking tours will be available as well for those who would like to avoid crowded walking tours. We will guarantee small groups of maximum 10 people, this way everyone can keep distance from fellow travellers and still hear the guide during the whole tour.

During the time when we cannot do walking tours yet, we are also making a photo sequence, we take pictures of statues in Budapest wearing a mask. Here is the first two of these photos:

The Little Princess sitting on the Danube Promenade. The original 50 cm statuette of the Little Princess (Kiskirálylány) in Budapest, Hungary was created by László Marton (1925–2008) Munkácsy- and Kossuth Prize-winning sculptor in 1972.The artist was inspired by his eldest daughter who often played wearing a princess costume and a crown made out of newspaper by her father, pretending her bathrobes were a mantle. This image prompted her father, the artist in the creation of this little statue. A larger copy was placed on the Danube promenade in 1990. The special thing about this version is that Hungary just went through the regime change, Communism ended, and Democracy started in 1989. They removed most of the statues of the Communist period from the inner city of Budapest and this Little Princess on the Danube Promenade was the first statue that did not depict a Communist leader, politician, a Soviet soldier or a muscular worker, but it depicted a little girl without any ideological meaning. You can see a copy of the same statue in Japan – that was donated by the artist – in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space cultural centre’s concert hall. The original statuette (1972 version) is owned by the Hungarian National Gallery.

The next one is Ferenc Puskás or Pancho as they call him in Spain. He was the greatest Hungarian football player ever; with his “Golden team” they were unbeaten for 4 years, between 1950 and 1954 and they won the Olypics as well. In 1953 they played a legendary game against England in the Wembley Stadium and the Golden team won for 6:3.

Later Puskás played in the Real Madrid then he was a coach in many countries like Greece, Australia, Egypt, Paraguay, Chile… In 2004 he was listed as one of the best football players of all times by FIFA and in 2019 he got the posthumous honor of the “World Sports Legends Award”. You can find this group of statues a little bit out of the city centre of Budapest, in Óbuda (Old Buda).

Coronavirus news – 15.03.2020.

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Here you can read about our tours and the latest news and measures in Hungary in connection with the coronavirus situation.

FIRST, LET’S SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH OUR TOURS: 

All our free walking tours and private tours are operating now, until further notice. We update our Facebook page regularly, when there is any news, you can follow us here: https://www.facebook.com/triptobudapest.hu/

Outdoor walking tours are one of the safer activities that can take place during these times and for this reason, we’re not cancelling any of our tours right now, but still taking precautionary measures to try and limit the spread of the virus. 

We also emphasize the following: please limit person-to-person contact, do not shake hands with your fellow travellers for now and try to keep some distance as well.  Buying hand sanitizer has become a serious “sport” and competition in Hungary, too, but if you can please have it with you all times and/or wash your hands with soap and water as often as you can. During our general Budapest free walking tour, there is a bathroom break when you can do this. At the end of our other free tours there are also nearby public toilets.

  • We are flexible with changing the route and other conditions of booked tours. 
  • We ask our guides to stay at home and do not work if they are unwell.
  • We are also limiting person-to-person contact, for example we do not make our guests sign the Disclaimer form in the beginning of our free tours, but we still consider the content of it valid:  Walking Tours Kft. will always strive to conduct a safe and incident free tour, we won’t be held liable for any participant’s safety or personal belongings. I hereby release and discharge not to sue Walking Tours Kft, their employees from all liability, claims demands, losses or damages on my account. Walking Tours Kft. reserves the right to deny participation in any tour or any person for any reason. The Guide also reserves the right to terminate tour service for any client at any time for good cause. We strongly believe in the value of intellectual property therefore any audio & video making during the tour requires our previous approval. Walking Tours Kft. neither shares user information with third parties nor releases personal information about you as an individual to third parties.

MEASURES THAT HUNGARY HAS TAKEN SO FAR: 

  • Hungary declared a state of emergency in the entire country due to the coronavirus epidemic. The special legal order allows the government to halt air traffic or public transportation, order quarantines in certain areas (or even evacuations), restrict usage of public spaces, or even prescribe civil defence obligations or draw companies under temporary state control.
  • Outdoors public events of over 500 people and indoors public events of over 100 people banned – this does not apply to workplaces and malls, but does apply to clubs, bigger pubs, cinemas, theatres.
  • No entry into Hungary is allowed from Italy, China, South Korea, Israel and Iran (except for Hungarian citizens who will automatically be ordered to self-isolate).
  • Schools have to close from the 16th of March, primary and secondary schools will switch over to digital remote education. 

Stay safe and tuned, we are going to keep you updated about our tours continuously!

Historical anniversaries in February

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There are a couple of anniversaries during February as well that are worth mentioning. Let us tell you about the siege of Budapest at the end of WW2 and a great Hungarian scientist.

First let’s see the siege of Budapest at the end of WW2 and the end of it in 1945 on the 13th of February. The siege of Budapest was the struggle for the Hungarian capital between 25 December 1944 and 13 February 1945 between the Soviet Union and Romania, and the Third Reich and Hungary. Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in 1944 on the 19th of March. During the siege at the end of the war, the first Soviet armored trooper appeared on November 3, 1944, and Budapest surrendered after 102 days. The defenders resisted the siege of the Soviets for about 50 days, though most of their supplies were lost in the early days of the clash, as they were stored in suburban warehouses that were soon taken by the siege. The civilian population was not evacuated, and many civilians were victims of the bloody struggle, whose contemporaries compared it to the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Soviet troops first dismantled the resistance on the Pest side, and then began to recapture the Buda side and the Buda Castle. To prevent them from crossing the Danube, the Nazi Germans blew up the bridges between the two sides of the River Danube. The Nazis tried to launch a series of rescues to help the troubled defenders. However, they never reached the city, despite the fact that about half of the Nazi German armor divisions serving on the Eastern Front were based in Hungary. The purpose of these operations was not to rescue the defenders anyway, but to bring new troops into the city. Finally, despite the orders of Adolf Hitler, the defenders decided to break out, and on the evening of February 11, an attempt began, but only a handful of soldiers reached the friendly lines and many of the defense commanders were captured. Shortly afterwards, the city was completely under Soviet control on 13 February. After this Soviet troops were stationed here and a few years after the end of WW2 they established a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship in Hungary. If you wish to learn more about the Communist dictatorship in Hungary and how it changed during the decades until the change of the regime in 1989 join our daily Communism free walking tour! 🙂

And now about another anniversary that is in February: it was in 1920 on the 7th of February that József Béres, the inventor of the Béres Csepp (Béres Drops) was born. He was a biochemist and his product became very popular in our country. Béres Drops is a Hungaricum as well. Hungaricum is a collective term which denotes a value that is distinguished and distinguished by its superiority, its uniqueness, its specialty and its quality in Hungary. The Béres Drops was created in 1972 by József Béres, it is a medicine containing trace elements in complex form. The main motivation was that his sibling had cancer. József Béres assumed that the patient’s body lacks the trace elements contained in the drop, and that this deficiency suppresses the immune system to such an extent that in many cases this deficiency is responsible for the development of the tumor. By releasing these trace elements back into the human body, the immune system is able to fight cancer. For a long time, he struggled with the recognition of the drops with the authorities of the time: although it was a great success among patients (self-made and free on request), the authorities threatened him with imprisoning if he distributed the product. In 1975, a lawsuit was filed against him, but then the Béres Drops was patented in 1976 and marketed as a medicinal product in 1978. It was officially declared a drug in 2000, but was not recognized as a cure for cancer.To learn more about Hungarian discoveries and inventions you can join our daily general Budapest free walking tours at 10:30 and 14:30! See you soon! 🙂