Őszi kirándulások Budapest környékén

Fél napos kirándulás Budapestről Sződligetre és Vácra

Ez a blogbejegyzés egy fél nap alatt könnyen letudható kirándulásról szól. A túrát kerékpárral, vagy akár gyalogosan is meg lehet tenni, a posztban a kerékpárral kapcsolatos tudnivalókat helyezem előtérbe.

Sződligetet és Vácot érintő kerékpáros túra útvonal a Budapest-Nyugati pályaudvarról indul. Ezúttal a túra Sződligeten szállunk le, és a váci állomáson szállunk majd vissza a vonatra. Ez a főváros környéki kerékpáros túra kezdőknek is tökéletesen alkalmas, kb. 10km a kerékpáron megteendő táv. Sok kalóriát nem égetünk el a kirándulás során.
A főváros és Vác között közlekedő valamennyi vonaton lehet kerékpárt is szállítani. Többségben vannak az alacsony padlós szerelvények, így nagy eséllyel nem lesz probléma felpakolni a kerékpárt a szerelvényre.
Ezúttal az Sződ-Sződliget állomásnál kell leszállni. A peront elhagyva az Új utcán kezdődik a tekerés. Az aszfalt viszonylag hamar eltűnik, átadja helyét egy gödrökkel gazdagon ellátott kocsiútnak. Attól függően, hogy a Sződrákosi-patak melyik partján szeretnénk végighaladni (mi a jobb partot javasoljuk), vagy a patakon átívelő híd előtt, vagy utána kell letérni a földútról egy kb. vaddisznócsapás szélességű ösvényre, ami majd a patak partjára vezet.

A patak partján viszonylag széles földút vezet, bőven akad hely kerékpározásra. Kevesen járnak erre, erős forgalomra nem kell számítani, bőven van lehetőség arra, hogy háborítatlanul szívjuk magunkba a természet adta szépségeket. A patakparti szakasz nem túl hosszú, mindössze 1km-ről van szó.

Sződligeti horgásztó őszi színekben

A hídnál érdemes átkelni, és bekukkantani a Sződligeti horgásztó kapuján. Nem véletlen hívják a helyiek Mesetónak a horgásztavat. A hely egészen rendkívüli hangulata a kapun kívülről is érződik. A bringatúra után lehet menni az legközelebbi horgászboltba felszerelésért utána bejelentkezni a Sződligeti horgásztavat kezelő egyesülethez. Kihalásos alapon lehet csak tagságot szerezni, mire kellő tapasztalatot szerez az ember, akár tagságot is nyerhet ehhez a horgásztóhoz.

Vissza a kerékpározáshoz: a horgászparadicsomhoz vezető hidat követően az első lehetőségnél el kell fordulni jobbra – az a földút visz minket majd a 2-es úthoz, ill. különböző civilizációs vívmányokhoz, lásd étterem, cukrászda, aszfaltút.

Sződligeti kikötő naplemente idején

A régi 2-es úton való pánikszerű átkelést követően nyílegyenesen vezet az utunk a kikötőhöz. Érdemes itt megállni egy fotóra, mielőtt jobbra fordulva elindulnánk Vác felé az EuroVelo6 utat követve.

Sződliget táblánál, illetve a Vác táblánál is akad lehetőség arra, hogy a kerékpárútról letérve megpihenjünk a Duna parton.

Mielőtt beér a kerékpárút Vácra érdemes egy kitérőt tenni az Ártéri tanösvényre is. Az 510m hosszú tanösvény bejáratát semmi nem jelzi, a patak felett átívelő híd előtt pár lépéssel kell lefordulni balra. Infrastruktúra nincs, amihez le lehetne kötni a kerékpárt, szóval csak ügyesen!

Váci Liget-tó őszi pompájában

Az Ártéri tanösvényen kívül a Liget-tó is Vác kevésbé ismert látnivalói között van, ahol a száz színben pompázó fák tükröződnek a tó tükörsima vizén, a tó partján meg helyi horgászok vitatják meg az élet nagy fogásait.

Vác belvárosába érve a kompkikötőnél kezdődő fasor kívánkozik még az őszi fotók témái közé.

Rövid kockakővel borított kaptató után kis kitérő a Mihályi Pattisserie tortapultja felé, hiszen 9km kerékpározás után ez a minimum! Aztán a Főtérről nyílegyenesen vezet az út a pályaudvarra, ahol maximum fél órát kell várnunk egy Budapestre induló vonatra. Menetidő valahol 26-47 perc között szór.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=172brl4kk1W—fS6Mw3yWS4iuvK68oiA&hl=en

A túrához tartozó térképet itt találjátok meg.
MÁV menetrend

Christmas markets in Budapest

Some cities team up with winter and with the end-of-year festivities better than others. Budapest is definitely on the winning side. You can easily get into the festive spirit by walking the illuminated streets in the city centre. It is pretty hard not to bump into Christmas markets around downtown. In this blog post we give you some useful information about the two bigger ones.  

Metropolitan Christmas market at Vorosmarty square

Vorosmarty square is the city’s heart the home of the metropolitan winter and Easter market, its famous confectionery Gerbaud and Szamos is also located here just like the Western terminus of the M1 (aka yellow) subway line.

The square is the gateway to the Danube promenade and also to the sort of tourist trap Vaci utca.

In 2019 after a relandscape and overhaul the statue of namesake poet regained its original sheen, a few new trees been planted and a new lighting installed.

Due to all these changes the well-known Christmas fair got a new layout. On the Western side of the square festive crowds are treated with spicy mulled wine, chimney cake and other festive street food.

Across the square from the food stalls dozens of craftsmen are selling wide range of locally made handicrafts.

As per our experience all vendors accept credit cards and English seems to be spoken by everyone.

What to eat:

• take a roll of chimney cake at Vitez
• flodni at Rachel’s flodni

What to drink:

• spicey mulled wine at Nobilis

More information about the metropolitan Christmas market:

• Duration 8th of November – 1st of January
• Sunday – Thursday 10am – 8pm (food stalls till 9pm)
• Friday – Saturday 10am – 9pm (food stalls till 10pm)

Christmas fair at the St. Stephen’s Basilica

On the 23rd of November vendors set up their stands at Szent Istvan square where the centrepiece is a towering illuminated Christmas tree surrounded by an ice-skating rink for kids. At this fair one can browse the wide selection of stalls offering local merchandise such as glass jewelry, ceramics, different kind of honeys, graphics, leather products while munching Hungarian festive delicacies. At this market the added bonus is facade of the Basilica that shines bright under light paintings in every half an hour from 4pm.   

What to eat:

• updates are coming soon – we didnt have the chance to munch our way through the fair.

What do drink:

• mulled wine at Divino . Divion stalls can be found at multiple stalls at different locations across the market. Go for the one on the corner of Zichy and Nador to avoid crowds
• hot chocolat and punch at the Becherovka stall (on the corner of the Szent Istvan square and Sas utca)

What do buy:

• glass jewelry from Giranelli (on the corner of Szent Istvan ter and Sas utca, in front of 0.75 bistro)
• soaps and other beauty products from Tihany Lavender Manufactory
• postcards, posters from Urban Sidewalker, or from Citygraph Gallery (stall nr. 87)
• photographs from Mypix (Stall nr. 52 in close to the ice-skating rink), or from Otto Kaiser Photography (Stall nr. 95, also by the ice-skating rink)

More information about the Advent Fair at the St. Stephen’s Basilica:

• Duration 22nd of November – 1st of January
• Monday – Thursday 11am – 8pm
• Friday – Sunday 10am – 10pm

Important tips:

• if you decide to pay with a credit card make sure to double check the screen of the POS terminals. At some vendors the basic setting is 10% tip.
• there are hardly no parking places at neither of the two main Christmas markets. Take public transit, or use BOLT, or Taxim cabs

You can get further ideas about possible winter activities in Budapest here and here

Information about Budapest

Practical information about Budapest

Where to exchange money in Budapest?

However Hungary is member of the European Union the official currency of Hungary is the Hungarian Forint (HUF). Nowadays one EUR is around 310HUF, one USD is around 270HUF. The exchange rate varies from day to day. Besides the Hungarian Forint the EUR is also an accepted currency in Budapest at various restaurants and shops.
You can get an up-to-date exchange rate on xe.com  

At all cost avoid Interchange offices (easy to recognise them from their orange colour), and try to avoid exchanging money at your point of entry (airport, train station, etc.).

Most of the other exchange offices offer roughly the same exchange rates. Our pick though is Ibla change.

Where to use ATMs in Budapest?

Our practical information about ATMs is to only use ATM-s at the bank offices. Make sure to avoid ‘independent’ ATM’s like Euronet. Their rates and exchange rates are as terrible as Interchange rates.
All ATMs have Forints, a few like for example OTP’s alond Deak Ferenc utca have EUR as well.

Budapest arrivals

Budapest Liszt Ferenc Int. Airport – terminal 2 arrival and departure level

We wrote a separate post about arriving to the Budapest airport. You can find it here.

Arriving to Budapest by bus, you arrive to Budapest-Nepliget bus terminal. From Nepliget bus station subway line (or shuttle bus) M3 takes you to the city centre, besides taxi.

Coming by train you most probably arrive to Budapest-Keleti railways terminal. Note that arriving from Vienna to Budapest by train the first station where most trains stop is Budapest-Kelenfold and the second stop is Budapest-Keleti.
At Budapest-Keleti take either subway line M2, or M4 to downtown, or call a taxi and tell the driver to pick you up at the Kerepesi ut parking lot.

Budapest Transit (BKK) put together a cheat sheet about the local transportation.

How to get a taxi in Budapest?

Rule nr. 1: never hail a cab, or get into a taxi parking on the street. Avoid freelancer taxis at all cost. In Budapest taxi fares are fixed, but many of the freelancer drivers will mess with the taximeter, or take you on a much longer way. 
Ask your concierge in the hotel, or the restaurant to call you a taxi.

Smartphone apps make travellers life much easier in case of calling a cab too. 
Our recommended taxi companies are Taxim, and Bolt.
Uber in Budapest is not operation any longer.

How safe is Budapest?

Generally speaking Budapest is as safe as most of the Central-European cities. 
Violent crimes are quite rare, however there are a few things that one should not forget. Pickpocketing exists in Budapest hence you should be alert and take care of your wallet and bags in crowded areas like the great market hall.

Do not exchange money on the street. It might look like a good deal, but after your business partner asks for a chance to recount the banknotes you never leave the transaction on the winning side.

Do not gamble on the street and don’t buy anything from street vendors (iPhone, belt, sunglasses, perfume, etc.)

Although one of the nicknames of Budapest is the city of love try to avoid ‘lost girls’ on the streets. It may seem to be your lucky day but we don’t recommend you to follow the ladies to the bar where they invite their victims after getting help from them. 
Speaking of bars, don’t leave your drinks unattended. 

Is the tap water drinkable?

Yes.
In fact the tap water in Budapest has very high quality and has good taste as well. In case you decide to buy bottled water pink cap means still water, and blue cap is for sparkling water means it’s with gas.

Weather in Budapest

Weather in Budapest is something all locals can complain about at all times. To sum it up, the weather is never boring.

Since Hungary lies in the temperate zone, Budapest suppose to have four seasons. Spring and fall are usually very short, in September Budapestians enjoy the indian summer.

For an up-to-date weather forecast we recommend this site.

If you have questions, or you need further practical information about Budapest do not hesitate to contact us!

How to get to the city from the Budapest Airport

Your plane to Budapest Airport will arrive either to Terminal 2A, or to 2B. The two buildings are connected by Terminal 2C.

There are number of different ways to reach the city centre from Budapest Airport, depending on your budget and desired level of comfort. The following list shows the available options from public transit to door-to-door private transfer.

Public transportation – the budget way

Take bus line nr. 200E from terminal 2 to Kobanya – Kispest subway station. The bus ride takes about 25-30 minutes. At Kobanya – Kispest change to subway line M3 in direction of Ujpest. Another 20-25 minutes and you are in downtown Budapest.

The entire ride costs 2 single tickets: 700HUF. You can also buy different day passes from the vending machine, or at the BKK customer centre at the airport.
The machine has a multi language option accepts both credit cards and cash in Hungarian Forints.

Note that subway line M3 is currently under reconstruction and served by shuttle buses on the weekends. Follow the signs to get to the shuttle bus at Kobanya – Kispest.

Public transportation – the budget & convenient way

bus line 100E stop in front of Budapest Airport terminal 2

Bus line 100E operates directly between Liszt Ferenc International Airport and Deak Ferenc ter and runs in every 20 minutes. This is a direct line between the airport and downtown, where it also stops at Kalvin ter, Astoria before terminating at Deak Ferenc ter. The journey takes about 30 minutes.

The ticket costs 900HUF. You can buy the special ticket from the vending machines located at the public transit stop, or at the BKK customer centre at the airport.

Note that the bus can get crowded during the day, thus you might wont be able to board the first bus. Same applies on the way back to the airport.

By airport shuttle

Follow the miniBUD floor stickers from the carousel to the miniBUD booth located to the right once you leave the arrival hall. Fixed priced door to door airport transfer service between Budapest city centre and Budapest Airport.

It costs around 6000HUF/person

By taxi

Fotaxi departure point in front of Budapest Airport terminal 2 (photo credit: bud.hu)

Follow the “Fotaxi” floor stickers from the carousel to the Fotaxi booth located outside of arrival hall. Fotaxi charges a flat rate of 700HUF base fair and 300HUF/km. The same price applies for the other taxi companies as well in Budapest.

Besides Fotaxi, we are happy to recommend Taxim and Bolt (formerly known as Taxify) as well.

Using this link to register on Bolt you get 1000HUF discount on your first trip.

Note that there are plenty shady drivers awaiting at the terminal door looking for first-time passengers. They are not licensed taxi drivers. Avoid them at all cost.

By private car

Your driver will wait for you with your name on the small sign outside the gates after you collect your luggage and passed customs. When exiting the terminal be prepared for a moment of chaos, as dozens of drivers are trying to find their passengers. Good to have the cell number to call the driver in case you can’t find your ride.

A private shuttle costs between 11000 – 13000HUF /vehicle.

7 +1 places for sledging in Budapest

Behind Budapest’s guide to the best sledding places in Budapest

As it seems like this weekend wont be the start of spring in Budapest and it is highly likely that the hills will still be covered in snow. We at Behind Budapest thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of our favorite sledding slopes.

Buda side

1. Anna meadow

Found between the Normafa parkland and the upper station of the Janos hill chairlift. Big advantage is the series of short slopes by the refurbished playground while some longer ones are also available along the walking trail. Take bus nr. 21, or 21A from Szell Kalman ter to avoid parking problems.

2. Gellert Hill

The long gradient slopes are located at the end of Rezada utca. These slopes are perfect for families with little kids as the maximum speed is pretty limited. To save the uphill walk with a sled take bus nr. 27 and get off at Rezeda utca.

3. Taban

The side of Gellert hill next to the Botanical garden is perfect for quick slides. Easy access by public transportation, expect no facilities.

4. Harmashatar Hill

Harmashatar hill is a popular hiking and cross-country running destination. The hill offers 2 sledging slopes right by the lookout tower. The one going Southwest is more for experienced athletes, while the one on the Northern side is much shorter although feature some mounds as well. Great pro besides the breathtaking view is the nearby hütte offering snacks and restroom facilities. Downside is that a car is essential but the parking lot faces capacity problems.

Pest side

5. City park, Kiraly Hill

Classic choice on the Pest side, expect it to be crowded. Each side of the hill offers a different slope and speed. One side for beginners and one for experts. Pro: easy to reach by public transportation Contra: no facilities nearby, high chance of being crowded.

6. Vida Hill

In the suburbs of Pest, close to the city limits. This playground with a small hill is a perfect place to introduce kids to sledding as speeding up downhill is almost impossible. The park and the hill is very popular among families living nearby. Parking can be challenging nearby to the Vida hill.

7. Hajogyari – sziget

The island known for the world-famous Sziget festival offers an off the beaten track hill for winter sport enthusiasts behind the playground.

+1 Normafa

Number one choice when it comes to winter sport activities in Budapest. Several slopes are between the bus terminal and Normafa ut. The slower slopes are closer to the road. The recently refurbished park offers limited number of restroom facilities and even medical staff on site. No need to pack food as both the langos and the strudel is simply yummy. Authorities may close down the road leading up to Normafa. Before driving there check BKK site for up to date information.

To make it easier to choose the right track we put all our suggestions on a single map:

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions regarding sledging in and around Budapest.

Hiking in Budapest – Harmashatar hill

Budapest offers a great variety of hiking trails, which means that everyone can find a suitable one. In this article We recommend you a 4 hours long hiking tour featured by great views of Budapest’s Hármashatár hill.

The tour starts in Óbuda and ends in Pesthidegkút. To get to the hiking trail take bus nr. 65 from Kolosy tér. Make sure you check the schedule of the bus as it runs quite rare. Avoid confrontation by boarding the front door and flashing your ticket, or pass to the driver. You will be at Fenyőgyöngye in no time.

The trail starts right at the bus terminal, right from the tar road running uphill. Just follow the blue stripe. The trail is both well-marked and well maintained, frequently used by runners as well.

After about 700 metres of slightly gradient hike the trail crosses the tar road and continues on the left hand side. Having pike and oak trees on your left and the road on the right, it is very easy to stay on the right track. This goes on for another 1000m when you arrive to a crossroad. In case you would like to continue to the peak to enjoy the view here you need to take the right to cross the tar road again. Those who would like to do a circle pattern hike shall take the left and follow either the green stripe back to Fenyőgyöngye bus terminal, or the blue circle to the Szépvölgy bus terminal. My advice is to follow the green stripe as only every second bus goes to the Szépvölgy terminal.

Where the trail marked with blue stripe crosses the tar toad again take the right and walk a few hundred meters on the tar road. Soon you will see a narrow trail on the left. Follow that and in no time you arrive to the landing zone of paragliders.

When the weather conditions are good several paragliders will gather here for take off and landing. While you enjoy their show make sure you spare a moment for the view as well.

When you are good to go simply walk back to the tar road and follow it to the parking lot. Once you are there walk by the barrier and continue uphill. Soon you will see the brand new Guckler Károly lookout tower.

In good weather conditions this wooden platform offers a splendid view to the hills surrounding Budapest. This is also an excellent vantage point to enjoy the sunset during the summer. Keep in mind that the trail is not illuminated during the hours of darkness, after sunset either call a taxi, or bring your own flashlight.

If you wish to extend the tour follow the blue stripe signs just below the lookout tower and walk down the dirt stairs to the former airfield.

The buildings that once served the airfield today serve as a shelter, an event hall and a restaurant. It is relatively easy to miss the path, look carefully at the trees for the blue stripe sign. It will get obvious again once you walk across the parking lot and the gate.

At the crossroad take the left for breathtaking views. From the so-called Northern viewpoint you can see the airfield to the left where this hiking tour continues and some of the less populated neighbourhoods of the 2nd district like Gercse and Kővár.

Carefully decent from this viewpoint as the trail is not marked by the blue stripe any longer thus it receives less care. Once you arrive to a crossroad at the bottom of the hill, take the left. Shortly another crossroad will follow, where you need to take the right and follow the yellow stripe.

Be carefull while you cross the paragliders landing zone. There are several unmarked dirt roads here, follow the one you prefer and aim the residential houses across the field. Once you managed to cross safely follow Arad utca towards the main road. Time to put your shoulder, you made it!

The bus stop is at the corner of Kossuth Lajos utca and Hidegkúti út. All buses will take you to the Hűvösvölgy terminal where you can change to tram line 56, 59 or 61 to get back into the city centre and to the subway.

We recommend to check the following websites before heading out:

BKK Futar route planner

Openstreetmap for walking trails