Book a flight to Budapest and step into a hot bath. The public baths of Hungary’s capital are a time-honored tradition that helps ease the mind of worry and lessen the ache of tired muscles. Filled with workers needing relief from an intense board meeting or passersby needing a quick mood enhancement, the therapeutic public baths of Budapest refresh and recharge everyone from the weary traveler to the hurried executive. And if the hot soak isn’t relaxing enough, today’s hot baths come complete with a massage.
Once you’ve participated in Budapest’s bathing rituals, take time to explore the city. Budapest is really two cities (Buda and Pest) split by the river and each offers its own character and personality. Buda is the older city and flanked with castles and royal palaces, while Pest is more contemporary with trendy cafes and retail boutiques. Regardless of which “city” you choose to spend your time in, there’s one thing that keeps everyone on the same page in Budapest – the weather. A cheap flight to Budapest any time of year will almost certainly come with sunshine and warm weather – Budapest averages 2000 hours of sunshine a year and even in the winter, blue skies and bright days are abundant for travelers.
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Budapest has long, warm, humid summers and short, cold winters. The city averages more sunshine per year than any other European city. Spring and fall are beautiful here, as is the summer.Early April marks the beginning of spring, and by May the temperature can reach 70 (F). Summer can be quite warm and humid with temperatures in the 80s. It stays warm until October. December through February temperatures are usually in the 20s and 30s. It snows frequently, but the snowfall is light.From April to the end of September, there are about ten hours of sun a day.
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Peak Season:
July and August are the peak season for visitors booking flights to Budapest. The city is hot and crowded and the lake region is mobbed.
Both spring and fall are glorious in Budapest, with plenty to see and do. May through June and late August through September are the best times to visit, and the weather is excellent.
Off Season:
Mid-December is when it starts to get cold and many museums and tourist attractions close for the season. However, it's easy to find cheap flights to Budapest and discounts on hotel accommodations.
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An airport bus leaves for the city center every 30 minutes, and there is an airport minibus service that takes passengers to any destination in the city as soon as the bus is full. Tickets can be purchased in the Arrival Hall at the Airport Minibus counter. Express bus 93 runs to the nearest metro station, or taxis are available from the taxi stand.
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The Budapest public transportation system has abundant trams (villamos) and buses (autóbusz) and is inexpensive and efficient. Public transportation is most crowded during rush hour and the peak tourist season, and stay on the alert for pickpockets.
If you are walking, there are underpasses beneath most of the major boulevards with exits to different parts of the street or square. During the day, underpasses are typically bustling with shops and vendors, but it is safer to stay away from underpasses at night.
Between the public transportation and taxis, there is no need to rent a car in Budapest. If you do, cars are required to at all times have a first-aid kit, reflective warning triangle, and decal for the country of registration. Traffic snarls during the day are common, but evening traffic tends to flow smoothly. Watch out for trams and always have your papers in order and available — the police routinely stop cars checking for drunk drivers and stolen vehicles.
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- There's no point booking flights to Budapest if you aren't going to bathe once you're there. Budapest is the city of spas, but how do you decide which one to visit? There are a total of 118 hot springs in the city, which feed more than a dozen baths. Two of the oldest are the Kiraly Baths, on which building work began in 1565, and the Rudas Medicinal Baths. Both were open only to men until 2005, but there are now women only days available as well. Ensure you check before you visit for the correct days…
- Not quite as old, but often more popular with tourists are the three big baths in the center of town: the Gellert baths in Buda (attached to the Gellert hotel and built in 1918), the Lukacs Medicinal Baths, also in Buda, and the Szechenyi Baths, possibly the most famous, located on the Pest side of the city. All three are open to men and women. The Gellert has a total of nine medicinal pools, so is the place to come for the full spa experience, while the latter two have some wonderful outdoor swimming pools and are therefore more appealing in summer months.
- Hungarian cuisine might not be the first thing to come to mind when you’re thinking of fine dining, but the ever-popular goulash is a local dish worth trying. Goulash is, contrary to popular belief, a thick soup rather than a stew, and is a warming and heartening meal to eat on cold winter evenings.
- A city on the banks of the Danube, Budapest has many spectacular bridges. For a view of many of them, take a walk up Gellert hill. From the highest point, the Citadella, you can see stunning views of the Danube stretching out in both directions.
- The hill is also home to the Gellert Hill Cave, which housed a chapel until it was banned by the Communist regime in 1951. Restored in 1992, the chapel is now open for visits.
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