Guided city walks
No matter if your visit to Budapest falls on an even or odd day of the week, as guided walks are available on a daily basis. Walks with Hungarian and English speaking guides and including major buildings as well as other sites are being held on odd days in Buda and on even days in Pest. Tours start at 10.30 a.m. and enable visitors to get acquainted with the architectural heritage of Budapest as well as the historical events associated with them or important contemporary sites.
Buda: I., Szentháromság tér 6 (Building of the Hungarian Culture Foundation)
Pest: V., Sütő Street Tourist Information Office (near Deák Square)
Journey into the depths of the city
The aim of the tour guides is to leave the main routes and show the visitors some alternative faces of Budapest, which although less well-known are just as loveable as the mainstream parts. The tours into the depths of the 8th District or the Palace Quarter, also located in the 8th District and gradually opened to tourists are poised to complete your image of the city with some new elements.
Please register in advance.
www.beyondbudapest.hu, +36-20 332-5489, email: beyondbudapest@gmail.com
The original bus adventure
The classic hop-on hop-off solution lets you into plunge into the turmoil of the city over and over again. All you need to do is catch the bus at one of the 16 stops available. The 24-hour ticket is valid for both yellow and red buses, and the combined ticket may also be used for regular public transportation offered by BKV in addition to the sightseeing buses. Hop-on hop-off gives you the best opportunity to make first impressions, to take note of a street with a special atmosphere or to plan your visit to a bar or restaurant in the evening. If you like one particular neighbourhood, you can also hop off the bus to look around, and hop on again at the next opportunity. Major stops: Heroes’ Square, Opera House, Synagogue.
www.hoponhopoff.hu
Make a splash with the amphibious coach
Travelling with one of the most spectacular vehicles in Budapest, it is only a matter of seconds to get into the water from onshore. The residents of Budapest, initially taken aback at the sight of the coach plunging into the Danube, now have had the time to get used to this curious vehicle. However, sometimes you can still hear stifled cries from passengers as they hit the water. The amphibious coach, starting at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (V., Roosevelt Square) offers a unique way of discovering the most important sights of Budapest, including the Parliament, the Opera House and Buda Castle.
www.riverride.com, email: info@riverride.com, individual visitors: +36-1 332-2555, groups: +36-1 354-3939
Cruise on the river
The Danube, which divides Budapest into two parts, is perfect for tourists to become acquainted with the most important sights slightly away from the hustle of the city centre, but still literally in the middle of the city. Of course you cannot see everything from a boat, but that is not the purpose of the cruise. You can select from a wide range of daytime cruises, night cruises or boat excursions of various durations and on boats with different sizes.
www.mahart.info, www.legenda.hu, www.hungariakoncert.hu
Rickshaw — fascination on three wheels
When the weather is fine, the rickshaw offers the perfect way to discover Budapest, making it the ideal choice if you want to avoid crowded bus tours, and if you do not want to fight with others for the best photo positions. The drivers are biking across the city at a comfortable pace, which leaves you enough time to look around. After purchasing a 24-hour ticket, you can get on and off the three wheelers at stops located near major sites, so that you can always stop to take a wonderful picture.
www.budapestrickshaw.com, +36-20 999-2222 You also have a choice between guided rickshaw tours of various durations: www.pedicab.hu, email: pedicab@pedicab.hu, +36-20 350-2522
Trabant Adventures
By offering jazzed up Trabant cars for rent, organisers aim to recreate the atmosphere of daily life back in the days of the Eastern Block. In retrospect, this absurd vehicle of the former GDR may now seem a nice little ride. However, in its pioneering days, even a somewhat steeper slope was enough to put it into a tight spot and to drive passengers into despair. Today, all what is left from that is pure joy and a hip touch. If you embark on a journey driving a Trabant, you are guaranteed to draw amazed looks from passers-by.
www.rentatrabant.com,
email: rentatrabantbudapest@gmail.com,
+36-30 989-0531
Sporty style
If you have sense of balance, you can mix an adventure tour with sightseeing. Just hop on a Segway, and you can discover the city on foot but still in a comfortable way.www.citysegwaytours.com
Trams offering a perfect view
If you cannot choose which attractive neighbourhood you want to visit in Buda or Pest, you should try one of the tram routes running on both banks of the Danube. Trams 19 and 41, both starting at Batthány Square in Buda, as well as tram 2, setting of at Jászai Mari Square in Pest are ideal options if you want to discover the bank area. If you are willing to travel for 40 minutes, all three lines will take you to the outskirts of Budapest: tram 2 to Soroksári Road, once bustling with factories, tram 19 to Kelenföld Railway Station (from which trains depart towards Lake Velence and Balaton), and tram 41 to the adventurous Kamaraerdő. We should equally mention tram 61, which goes from Móricz Zsigmond körtér to Hűvösvölgy, passing Moszkva Square and Városmajor along its route before finally arriving to one of the most popular outing destinations in Budapest.
After the adventures on the hill, it is worth getting on tram 4 or 6, which travels through the whole city, making a spectacular round trip for its passengers. The Móricz Zsigmond körtér stop (tram 6) near the Buda side of the Petőfi Bridge and Fehérvári út (tram 4) are the termini on the one side, while the other terminus is Moszkva tér after the entire Nagykörút or Grand Boulevard (József krt, Erzsébet krt, Teréz krt, Szent István krt and Margit krt) and Margaret Bridge. One of longest tram types in Europe, the undivided Combino Supra is 54 metres long and it is ideal for 353 people.
