Summer heat and Evening tours

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Dear Travelers,

Summer is here in Budapest, it is going to be very hot this week in the Hungarian capital: it can be 37 degrees Celsius in the second half of the week! Please take care in this weather, hydrate, drink a lot of water!

Tap water is drinkable everywhere in Hungary, also during our free walking tours, we show you public taps, where you can refill your water bottles.

Our free tours in Budapest run as normal in any kind of weather conditions, but if you would like to make sure you are not walking during the hottest time of the day:

We recommend you to take our free Evening walking tours. They are on Friday, Saturday at 18:30, and during summertime on Thursdays, too. (Jun 30, Jul 07, Jul 14, Jul 21, Jul 28). This tour lasts about 1-1.5 hours. The topic of this free walking tour is general, we take you around one of the center parts of the Pest side of the river Danube. See you at the meeting point, the Elisabeth square close to the Ferris wheel and the Danubius fountain.

Cool yourselves down at a pool/Danube, Budapest beach!

Last, but not least, let the Free Budapest Walking Tours Team recommend you a few places where you can chill during the summer heat:

  • Palatinus strand: you can find this place on the Margaret Island in Budapest, which is a very nice green area in the middle of the city and the Danube. Many pools and street food places are waiting for you here.
  • Kopaszi gát, SHO beach: opened in July 2021, this is natural water beach in Budapest next to the Danube with a sandy area. It is close to the center of Budapest, and offers a special location in a premium environment for bathing and recreation. In addition to bathing, the premium beach with excellent water quality in Lágymányosi Bay awaits visitors with sports facilities, culinary experiences and various programs during the summer.
  • Római part (Roman beach): on the Buda side of the river Danube, in the northern part of the city. You can find many open air bars and food places here, as well a free beach. The beach is open near this section: Kossuth Lajos üdülőpart 15-17., from the 15th of July until the 20th of August every day between 11 am and 7 pm.

 

Sightseeing trams of Budapest

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Another way of sightseeing besides free walking tours in Budapest

In this blog post let us recommend you, Dear Travelers, two tram lines in the Hungarian capital city, on the Buda and the Pest side as well, that you can hop on before or after taking some of our wonderful free tours! 🙂

  • Tram number 2 on the Pest side of the river Danube: since 1942 runs from Jászai Mari square, from next to the Margaret bridge, till Közvágóhíd stop. In 2012 National Geographic said that this scenic tramline is the 7th most beautiful one in the whole world! Some sights of Budapest that you can see while riding this tram: Parliament, Chain bridge, Danube Promenade with the little Princess statue, Elisabeth bridge, Castle hill, Gellért hill with the Liberty statue, Liberty bridge. You can hop on tram number 2 every 3-4 minutes on weekdays during daytime and every 5 minutes on the weekend days.
  • Tram number 19 on the Buda side of the river Danube: the tram line runs all year around between Kelenföld and Bécsi út/Vörösváry út stops, but from the 4th of June till the 28th of August in 2022 on weekend days in the mornings you can listen to the description of the following streets, squares and buildings on the tram: Kosztolányi Dezső and Móricz Zsigmond square, Bartók Béla boulevard, Hadik café, Saint Gellért square (and bath), Rudas bath, Castle Garden, Chain bridge, Parliament.

About tickets: a single ticket to the public transport costs 350 Hungarian forints at the moment and after stamping it, is valid for one single ride (use the same ticket on buses, trams, metros, trolley buses as well).

If you know that you will ride public transport vehicles more times during one day, it is also worth to buy a 24 hour pass which costs 1650 HUF.

Ticket machines can be found at all metro stations in Budapest, and in some bus/tram stops as well.

See you soon in Budapest and on our Free Tours! 🙂

Upcoming Events

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Dear Travelers,

Let the Free Budapest Walking Tours and Private Tours Team recommend you a few upcoming events/festival in or around the Hungarian capital. After joining some of our free tours in Budapest these will be fun! 🙂

  • 2-6th June – 1st Wine and Champagne Festival of the city center (1. Belvárosi Bor és Pezsgőfesztivál) on Liberty square (Szabadság tér): after organizing many-many beer festivals, the main purpose of this free festival is making the Hungarian wines and champagnes more well-known and popular.
  • 8-12th June – Czech Beer Festival on the Rooftop of Westend City Center shopping mall: The Budapest Czech Beer Festival, which presents Czech gastronomy and beers, will be held for the 15th time in the Hungarian capital. During the four-day festival, which will be held in the Westend Roof Garden, in addition to small and large-scale Czech beer, we will be able to taste distillery specialties made from Czech beers, other spirits and short drinks, as well as Czech beer skates.
  • 3-6th June – Pork knuckle and Beer Festivalin Gárdony, Lake Velence: Lake Velence is the 3rd largest natural lake in Hungary and a popular holiday destination amongst Hungarians. The lake has an area of 26 square kms, and because of the sunny climate of the area and the shallowness of the lake, it is one of the warmest lakes in Europe: its temperature in the summer may reach 26 to 28 °C. The train can take you from Budapest to Gárdony in about 1hour, leaving from Budapest Déli or Kelenföld.
  • 10th June – Holi Peace Festival in Kincsem Park: Hungary’s original and number one color festival. Since 2014, they  have been organizing the largest color festival of Europe in Hungary. The event, that is organized around colorful Holi powders originated from India, celebrates the victory of good over evil and the beginning of spring.

Hope we could make your stay in and around Budapest in the first half of the first summer month more colorful with our reccomendations, see you soon on any of our free walking tours in Budapest! 🙂

Closures in Budapest & Practical info on transportation

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Dear Travelers!

We, the Free Budapest Walking Tours Team made a blog post about ongoing renovation works and closures in Budapest a couple of months ago, now let us repeat this post about the closures that are still going on:

  1. Chain Bridge: The most iconic bridge of Budapest, also the first permanent suspension bridge connecting the two sides of the river Danube ready by the 1850’s. There is a long renovation project going on at the moment, supposedly it is going to be ready by the end of 2023. Until that you can choose the closest 2 bridges (white Elisabeth bridge and yellow Margaret bridge) or cross under the River Danube by the metro line number 2, which is the deepest metro line in Budapest.
  2. Liberty Statue and Citadel on Gellért hill: The highest point of the city center of Budapest, with the altitude of about 235 meters, it has one of the nicest views as well. On the top you can find the Liberty statue and the Citadel, a Fortress built in the 1800’s. The renovation works will last supposedly until the end of 2023. They are building new paths/stairs leading up to the top, new lookout terraces, new green areas and a huge park, a new lake and café. Do not be fooled by the closures around the Liberty Statue while the renovation is going on, you can still go up to the top of the hill to see the views, just follow any paths going upstairs! Here is a little visual help as well 🙂

    Info board about the renovation of the Citadel on Gellért hill in Budapest

  3. Blaha Lujza sqaure: one of the most important traffic junctions in the city center of Budapest (more precisely on the Pest side), it is a metro station as well, metro line nr.2 runs through it. The renovation works are planned to be finished in the first half of the year 2023.
  4. Metro line nr. 3: they are planning to finish the renovations works by the beginning of the year 2023, until that at some sections of the metro line nr.3 replacement buses are running. There are informative boards at the stops/sections where there are works going and replacement buses are running.

Some more useful information about Budapest transportation

  • From the 9th of May 2022 taxi fares rise by 35-40% due to inflation and high fuel prices. The base fare from now on is 1000 HUF (about 2.6 EUR), the time-based fare unit (HUF/min) is 100 HUF (0.26 EUR) and the distance-based fare unit (HUF/km) is 400 HUF (about 1.05 EUR). Always look for the yellow official taxi cars.
  • There is a new type of pass if you would like to get out of Budapest and see the Danube bend: for 2500 HUF there is a 24 hour travel pass which you can use on trains, ships and buses from Budapest to different cities of the Danube bend. You can buy this pass in train stations or in the MÁV application.

Easter opening hours

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Easter / Pessach holiday opening hours

April  15-18, 2022

 

April 15th – Good Friday  ( bank holiday)

Shops are closed. 

Most museums are open.

Thermal Baths:  – No closures – normal opening hours

Széchenyi thermal bath: 7:00am-8:00pm

Gellért thermal bath: 9:00am-7:00pm

Lukacs thermal bath: 7:00am-7:00pm

Rudas thermal bath: 6.00am-8:00pm and 10.00pm-2.00am
Dohany Synagogue : closed

Matthias Church: 9:00am-2:00pm open for visitors
Parliament is open throughout Easter 8:00am-4:00pm
Central Market and other food markets are closed
Street vendors sell Easter souvenirs and traditional Easter snacks around the center.

 

April, 16th Saturday

Most of the shops are open. 9:00am-1:00pm
Restaurants, shopping malls are all open.
Most museums are open

Thermal Baths:  – No closures – normal opening hours

Széchenyi thermal bath: 7:00am-8:00pm

Gellért thermal bath: 9:00am-7:00pm

Lukacs thermal bath: 7:00am-7:00pm

Rudas thermal bath: 6.00am-8:00pm and 10.00pm-2.00am

Dohany Synagogue is closed.

Matthias Church: closed for visitors
Parliament is open throughout Easter 8:00am-4:00pm
Grand Central Market and other food markets are open 6:00am-3:00pm
Street vendors sell Easter souvenirs and traditional Easter snacks around the center.

 

April 17th Sunday

Shops are closed.

Smaller seven-eleven stores, restaurants and cafes should be open as usual.
Most museums are open. 

Thermal Baths:  – No closures – normal opening hours

Széchenyi thermal bath: 7:00am-8:00pm

Gellért thermal bath: 9:00am-7:00pm

Lukacs thermal bath: 7:00am-7:00pm

Rudas thermal bath: 6.00am-8:00pm
Churches are open all day long.
Dohany Synagogue: closed

Matthias Church: open for visitors: 1:00pm-5.00pm
Parliament is open throughout Easter 8:00am-4:00pm
Grand Central Market and other food markets are closed.
Street vendors sell Easter souvenirs and traditional Easter snacks around the center.

 

April 18th Monday (bank holiday)

Supermarket chains, shopping malls, post offices and plazas are closed.
Restaurants, seven-eleven shops (24 hour shops), pubs and bars are open.
Most museums are open.
Thermal Baths are open as normal. 

Széchenyi thermal bath: 7:00am-8:00pm

Gellért thermal bath: 9:00am-7:00pm

Lukacs thermal bath: 7:00am-7:00pm

Rudas thermal bath: 6.00am-8:00pm

More info here.


Churches are open all day long.
Dohany Synagogue: open

Matthias Church: open
Parliament is open throughout Easter
Grand Central Market and other food markets are closed.
Street vendors sell Easter souvenirs and traditional Easter snacks around the center.

 

Our free tours go on a daily basis, see them here!

Program recommendations for April 2022

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More and more of our Budapest free tours are running!

Firstly, let us mention that more and more of our free Budapest walking tours and paid private tours are running from March and April 2022.

We operate the Free Budapest Walking Tour and the Free Buda Castle Tour EVERY DAY at the moment.

You can read a more detailed summary about this topic in our previous blog post HERE

Program recommendations for this April

  • Budapest Photo Festival: The Budapest Photo Festival is held for the sixth time, and it makes our capital one of the defining centers of photography between March 25th and May 8th this year. In 2022, more than 40 galleries, cultural institutes and museums are joining the festival with 50 exhibitions and different programs.
  • Budapest Spring Fair: between March 26th and April 18th, in the heart of the city center (on Városháza square), family and children’s programs, a craft fair and gastronomic specialties await those wishing to wake up from their winter hibernation.
  • Free Contemporary Fine Art exhibitions in Képező: from 1-13th of April 2022. The exhibition called Gone Viral by youngart showcases works that respond to the unexpected, rapidly spreading, and global phenomenon of our time, whether it is a blessing or a danger, by the means of contemporary art. The word “viral” can be interpreted as a metaphor, referring to the shock and after-effects caused by Covid-19, but there is more to it than that.
  • Spring Festival on Bartók Béla road in Buda: 1-17th of April 2022. World-famous artist groups, genius soloists and special performances will follow each other in April this year during the Bartók Spring International Art Week. There will be no shortage of novelties, surprises, presentations and premieres at the Bartók Spring, and for the first time this year, in addition to Budapest, there will be unmissable programs in some other bigger Hungarian cities like Debrecen, Győr and Miskolc.

Hope you are ready to travel and take our Free Budapest Walking Tours to make the best out of your stay in the Hungarian capital! See you soon! 🙂

 

About the opening of more free tours & the upcoming national holiday

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The Free Budapest Walking Tours Team is happy to announce that as spring is arriving, we are opening more and more starting times for our free tours in Budapest! 🙂

Let’s see some of the changes:

  • The Free Budapest Tour (about and on the Pest side of the river, meeting point: Elisabeth square) will run every day at 10:30 am, from the week that starts with the 28th of March 2022
  • The Free Buda Castle Tour (about and on the Buda side, meeting point: Batthyány square) will also run every day at 2:30 pm, from the week that starts with the 28th of March 2022
  • The Free Jewish Quarter Tour (about the Jewish history and Jewish quarter of Budapest, meeting point: Elisabeth square) will run at 3:30 pm on the 17th & 19th of March 2022 (because there will be a Jewish holiday called Purim). From the 19th of March, every Saturday at 3:30 pm we will have a Jewish Tour in Budapest. From the 31st of March at 3:30pm , there will be a Free Jewish District Tour every Thursdays as well. On the 18th and 25th of April we will also run this free walking tour in Budapest.
  • The Free Communism Tour (on the Pest side, about the Communist dictatorship in Hungary after World War 2, meeting point: Elisabeth square) will run on Fridays at 3:30 pm from the 25th of March. There will be a Free Communism Walk on the 17th of April as well (Easter Sunday)
  • The Free Evening Tour (on and about the Pest side, meeting point: Elisabeth square) will run on the 2nd and 9th of April at 6:30 pm, and then from the 15th of April we will have it every Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 pm
  • The Free Street Art Tour will also start running soon, stay tuned for more info here and on our Facebook page as well!

Hungarian National Holiday on the 15th of March

Every year on the 15th of March we remember the 1848-49 revolution against the Austrian Empire. There will be celebrations in the city center; it is a bank holiday, shops, shopping malls (except for some non-stop grocery stores) will be closed, but museums, bathhouses for example will be open.

See you soon on our free tours in Budapest! 🙂

 

Useful info of Budapest public transport & Newest ease of Covid-19 regulations

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Useful technical information from the Free Budapest Walking Tours Team

Dear Travelers, in this blog post we would like to share some information about new kinds of ticket types from the Budapest Public Transportation Company (shortly BKK) and some of the newest ease of Covid-19 regulations in Hungary and Budapest.

Public transportation in Budapest

The BKK has just introduced some new kind of tickets in Budapest public transportation. These new kind of tickets are only available digitally, in the BudapestGO application which is available in the Google Play store and the App Store as well. (They do not sell these tickets in a printed, paper form at the ticket machines at metro stations and bus/tram stops!)

  • You can now buy a ticket that is valid for 30 minutes for as many changes as you like for 530 Hungarian Forints (HUF) which is roughly 1.4 euros at the moment.
  • Also, there is a ticket for 750 HUF and it is valid for 90 minutes during which you can change buses, trams, metros, trolley buses as many times as you wish.

These tickets must be validated when you get on a bus/tram or when you enter any metro stations. There are QR code vignettes on buses/trams and metro stations that you have to scan when getting on.

These tickets can be used for 2 years from the date of purchase.

We still have the “classic” singe tickets as well (sold from ticket machines at metro stations and bus/tram stops and in the BudapestGO app) which cost 350 HUF/piece (approximately 0.9 EUR) and valid for one single ride on any kinds of public transportation vehicles in Budapest.

When taking our free tours in Budapest, we only walk, you do not need any tickets for public transportation! 🙂

Newest ease of Covid-19 regulations in Hungary and Budapest

The government of Hungary has just eased some coronavirus restrictions in our country from today, the 7th of March 2022. People do NOT have to wear face masks on public transportation or anywhere indoors any more, and no vaccinations certificates are required when entering shops, bathhouses, clubs, cinemas, museums etc.

Stay safe and hope to see you soon on our Free Budapest Walking Tours and Private tours! 🙂

 

Program recommendations for this weekend

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Dear Travelers / Budapest Lovers! Let the Trip to Budapest Free Walking Tours Team recommend you some programs to check out before or after joining our free tours in Budapest 🙂

  1. Indoor Beer Festival – 18-19th February in the InterContinental Hotel : The country’s first winter beer festival is taking place this weekend in Budapest. You can find international craft beers, APA, IPA, stout and they also show you the cultural history of these drinks. If you buy your ticket, you have unlimited consumption.
  2. Carnival (Farsang in Hungarian) – 18-19th in Tompa street : it is Carnival season and this time of the year Hungarians organize parties where people dress up in (funny) costumes. In the 9th district of Budapest, in Tompa street, the catering units (restaurants, bars, cafés like B-terv Kávézó, Crafty bar, Manfred bakery, Paletta, San Ramon Caffee) will have Carnival menus or programs. Other bars in Budapest will also have costume parties for sure in these coming days/weeks.
  3. Freeze Festival – 18-20th February, City Park Ice Rink (Városligeti műlyégpálya in Hungarian) : For three days, the City Park Ice Rink will be the venue for this Food Truck Show, music and sports programs. From February 18th to the 20th, the well-known bands of the Hungarian music industry will give concerts, while the ice skating rink will be a place for the participants of the hockey cup, bubble hockey and curling lessons. You can only pay in cash at the event!
  4. Street Food Station – 14-20th February, Könyves Kálmán ringroad 3., next to the gas station : Have a look at and try the food trucks that offer waffels (WafelLand), pulled pork sandwiches (ZabáljCsak!), thai food (by Chaiyo Thai Food Truck) and pizzaburgers (by Pizz’ Burger). There is no entrance fee or preliminary registration, and there is no mandatory consumption plus the venue is family and pet friendly!

Hope we could help you with these recommendations, have fun and see you soon on our Free Budapest Walking Tours and Private Tours! 🙂

Tips for wintertime in Budapest

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Things to do during wintertime in Budapest

In this blog article, The Free Budapest Walking Tours Team would like to recommend you a few things that you can do before or after taking a free tour with us during these cold days in the Hungarian capital city!

  • Try some Hungarian Wine in a wine bar! Hungary is traditionally a wine making country. Our wines are not very well known world-wide (except for the Tokaj wine which is a sweet white wine), but believe us, you can find some pretty nice ones for not too expensive. Alcohol can heat you up as well after spending some time wondering around the streets of Budapest in the cold 😉 Let us mention a few wine bars for you: Eazy Wine Bar on Hold street, Drop Shop on on Balassi Bálint street, Di Vino next to the Saint Stephen’s Basilica.
  • Have a hot coffee/drink or brunch/breakfast! Take a walk on Bartók Béla road on the Buda side from the green Liberty bridge and from the Gellért bath and discover its many cafés, there are pretty cool places over there, for example Szatyor, Mitzi, Kelet. A couple of brunch spots: Mindenem on Múzeum ringroad, Á la Maison on Szervita square, Czakó kert on the Buda side, on Czakó street.
  • Go Ice-skating! Europes largest open-air ice-skating rink is waiting for you next to the iconic Heroes’ square in the City Park. You can rent ice-skates in case you left yours at home… 🙂 Here are their opening hours! You can also find a few smaller ice-skating rinks for example next to the Bálna market hall (Fővám square 11-12.) with great views to the Gellért hill on the Buda side of the city until the end of February (if the weather allows).

Hope we can keep you warm during these freezing winter days with these recommendations, see you soon on our Free Tours in Budapest!