Budapest Travel Forum

Has anyone stayed at this hotel on Margaret Island? Is it too far away from main sights? How do you get there from center of town? Also would like to hear from anyone who has been to Ecseri flea market.

Never stayed there. My suggestion for a hotel in Budapest is:

Go to Google Earth. Plug in the coordinates 47 29 59.00N 19 03 14.00E and draw a circle around that point with a radius of 500 meters. Find a place to stay within the circle. This generally puts you close to good late afternoon and evening spots and great places just to wander around in (when i really don't want expend any more effort than necessary and still want to enjoy Bp.) AND it's close to public transport to any place you might want to go in the morning and early afternoon. If you are younger, it puts you close to the night clubs, bars, pubs, etc. AND it provides a pretty good mix of Tourist traps and REAL places.

Think I'd prefer to stay in the mainland part(s) of the city, personally (I actually stayed in Pest).

I'm sure Margaret Island is lovely (didn't manage to visit when I was there) but it's not really 'in' the city, as it were (difficult to explain what I mean).

There are bridges connecting it to Buda and Pest (the island is pedestrianised). Picture here:

http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/budapest/bptour/bpmari.htm

Hello!

There are two hotels at the Margaret Island, both of them four star hotels, with lots of treatments, spa and massage possibilities. But still, if you come to Budapest and your goal is to see the city, I would not live on the Island. I would maybe try to find a more quiet hotel in the center of the city, and rather go for a walk one day at the Island.

If you still decide to live at the island it is a bus going every 10-20th minute from early morning until 23.00 in the evening. It will take you to Nyugati Palyaudvar, and from there you can use the metrolines and so on.

Unfortunately I can not help you concerning the Ecseri Flea market.

Okay, I like the area around the opera house on Andrassy. Just a personal preference. I'm an old fart and in the evenings i sit outside in a restaurant or cafe and watch the people go by, or take a stroll, and i can always get an excellent meal with out a lot of trouble or walking - and its a functioning street all night, but not just packed with people. So...my two preferences are Hotel Pest (when i travel alone) and the K&K Opera when the wife is with me. From that location you can walk to most things in Pest or take the subway and trams if you get tired. On your second trip to Bp stay at the Art 'otel in Buda and get a room with a view. But thats for the second trip. You will love it -- once.

Adress of Ecseri flea market Nagykörösi út 156. 1194 Budapest
Phone: (+36 1) 348-3200
Open: Mon-Fr: 08.00 - 16.00, Sat: 06.00 - 15.00, Sun: 08.00 - 13.00
Directions: By the M5 motorway, accessible by bus red-54express, 154 from Hatar ut M3 station, 54 from Boraros ter. Get off at Fiume utca and cross the motorway through the bridge or take 154 to 'Hasznaltcikk piac'.
The main entrance bears the inscription: ECSERI - HASZNÁLTCIKKPIAC - STREET MARKET - FLOHMARKT
Have a fun! Laszlo

Margharet Island hotels are accessible by bus 26, which is running every 10-20 minutes 5 AM - 10 PM off-season and an hour or so longer in the evening during the summer. In the summertime, frequencies are slightly better. The two termini are Nyugati pu. (Western Station) and Arpad hid metro stations, with also transfer options at the Buda end of Margharet Bridge. Also, with a 15-minute walk you may reach the stop of trams 4 and 6, running along the Grand Circle Blvd. Both bridges (Arpad in the north and Margit in the south) have night transportation, every 30 minutes on Arpad hid and every 10 minutes or so on Margit hid.

The data on the accessibility of the Ecseri flea market are not up to date (actually it might have been me, who failed to update that data), you may get there with the following buses:
54, 55 from Boraros ter (Petofi Bridge, Pest end), get off at Fiume utca, just after passing the yellow-red Citroen car retail shop on the motorway - it's a 25- minute ride
84,89,94,154,154A (but NOT 94E) from Hatar ut metro M3 station, get off at Fiume utca, after the same Citroen building - a 10-minute ride
154B from Hatar ut metro to Hasznaltcikk piac stop, right in front of the flea market, get off after the bus leaves the motorway and crosses under it, making a left turn.

Use the route planner for directions in Budapest http://www.bkv.hu/english/home/index.html