Hi guys!

Next week I’ll be in Budapest for 5 days with my girlfriend, and I would love your recommendations what I need to see in those 5 days.

Are there any nice vintage watch shops in Budapest?

Best regards
Robert

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-trip-goes-to-budapest.34503/

 

There is a pinball machine museum. It was closed for refurbishment when I was there but apparently it is good. I also enjoyed the miniature model museum and the Jewish museum. There is a communist statue park that is ok if the weather is nice. The secret police museum was not so.good even though it is high up on the trip advisor list. Didn t come across any vintage watch shops only modern watch shops, but I don t go looking around shops on holiday, I can do that at home.

 

Best thing I can reccomend is a guided tour of the city. It’s so spread out. Well worth it. Small passenger van and group is the way to go. Concierge can set it up for you.

 

Or you can use the simple underground system that will take you to all the tourist attractions. Go on the free walking tour. That takes you to all the tourist bits.

 

Walk across the Chain bridge, the first permanent crossing of the Danube in Hungary, finished in 1849. A very early suspension bridge, it was considered an engineering marvel at the time, with one of the then longest spans on record. I actually think it’s as cool as the Brooklyn Bridge, which, in my book, is saying something.

 

Go for a bath, sauna and/or massage in the Gellert baths. And try the chilled cherry soup

 

You can book a tour of the parliament before hand on line then take a walk along the river to the chain bridge.

 

- Szimpla ruin bar
- Communism walking tour


Watch for pick-pockets. They are as good as they come. If you want to go out without carrying a bag, then carry some cash and no wallet.

 

Hi,
I was there few years ago, you can go on a boat ride as well.
And if you get hungry I recommend Pampas stakehouse restaurant.

 

A great place to visit - I would recommend the two restaurants that I mention in my last post in the thread w154 links to. The only place I found vintage watches in an antiques store they were predictably expensive.

 

Would you recommend taking a cheap watch? Didn’t realise it was that bad in Budapest.

 

I have been there 3 times on business. I’ve never felt unsafe. Pick pockets want your cash and phone not your watch.

 

Thanks good to know.

I’ll take my Trilogy Railmaster then

 

Love Budapest, visited many times for work and pleasure. A couple of highlights for first time visitors:

- if you like baths, Gellert is indeed good but so is Szenchenyi - which is also located in a nice park.

- Hero’s Square is cool if you like, well, heroes, and there’s several really good museums surrounding it.

- walk all the way up Gellert Hill to the monument and castle (from Szabadzag bridge / Szent Gellert cross section) for a spectacular view of the city

- visit the Fishermans Bastion: there’s a nice cable cart that goes up from Adam Clark square.

- the Central Market is a nice building and a good place for souvenirs.

- visit one of the Ruin Pubs. Szimpla Kert is a little touristy nowadays but it’s still a great place.

- for clubbing, I recommend Corvinteto. Morrison’s 2 is also nice, but more mainstream and I felt really old there ;-)

Sure, some of these are tourist traps, but there’s a reason for that. If you go to NY for the first time, you check out the Statue of Liberty and Times Square too, right?

By the way, I never had a problem with pickpockets there, but on Vaci Utca (the main tourist shopping street), there can be some people trying a scam on you (usually when you’re alone). No reason to be paranoid though: out of the dozens of times I walked there they tried a scam on me exactly once, and if you use common sense then there’s no problem.

Budapest may well be my all time favorite city.

 

Thanks a lot for all the helpfull tips

 

I would agree totally with this statement.

I would suggest watching the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and then visit some of the places that are filmed in the movie. The opening scene at Fisherman's Bastion is a beautiful place to view the city from above and the cafe scene filmed at the Paris Udvar building is worth seeing.

The Central Market Hall food pavilion is also a must for a huge offering of the best food in Budapest at inexpensive prices.

Lastly, if there is a modern interpretation of a Richard Wagner opera still playing at the Budapest Opera House avoid it at all costs. It is 3.5 hours of you life you will never get back and 3.5 hours in the city lost forever.

Enjoy your trip.

 

You can avoid getting your watch stolen by wearing it on your left hand, most people are right handed and it is more difficult for right handed pickpockets to take your watch if it is on a person' left hand. I read this in a newspaper article so not sure how true it is.
I have been to quite a few countries and the only place anyone tried to pickpocket me, very badly I might add, was in Copenhagen. It surprised me as Scandinavian countries are generally speaking places of low crime.

 

Doesn’t everybody wear their watch on their left hand?

 

Yes, even me, I meant the other one, early morning brain deadness, haven't had my cuppa before posting