Budapest Travel Forum

hello
is there an option for a 3-4 hours cruise (to to vienna or something) to see the area near budapest ?
how much it should cost ? what do i see in this cruise ?

i am looking for a local cruise , not something for tourists.

thanks
Ophir

There is a hydrofoil between the two cities (and Bratislava):

http://www.vienna-hydrofoil.hotels-in-budapest-hungary.com/

but you can't do a return trip in one day (you have to get a coach or train).

I don't think there is anything 'not for tourists'. Local people would choose to travel by train/bus/car if they wished to make this journey.

thanks for the answer.
so if not in a cruise - do you recommend a one day trip outside the city ?
is there a nice place in the area ?

Ophir

I didn't leave the city when I visited (too much to see), except for a tram/bus visit to Statue Park (do visit this if you can).

Lots of ideas here:

http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/around_budapest

http://www.budapest-tourist-guide.com/budapest-daytrips.html

http://www.budapest.com/TourismInfo/budapest-daytrips.htm

You should be able to explore any/all of these independently, using train or bus.

Train timetable here:

http://www.elvira.hu/elvira.dll?language=2

Talk to the Tourist Info people in Budapest when you arive: they will be able to give you details of how to get to the places you want to visit.

found a cruise to the danube bend :
http://www.mahartpassnave.hu/webset32.cgi?MAHART@@EN@@112@@INFOPATH

I saw that:

http://www.city-discovery.com/budapest/tour.php?id=699

http://www.budapesthotelreservation.hu/programs/danube-bend_tour.EN.php

but thought you'd think it too touristy! :-)

but i am a torist ;-) he he

the link i posted lookes cheap , regular boats , 3000 huf not 12000 like the other touristic.

can you check the link and tell me what you think and if i am wrong,

Looks ok to me: am sure there'll be no problem.

Hope the weather is good!

You might try something like taking the train to Estergom and Veisegrad (i bet i butchered that spelling - both). Then train back to Szentendre and take the the afternoon boat from Szentendre back to Budapest. I did something similar, except we drove up the bend instead of trying to take the train. There are plenty of tours (private and group) set up like this. I can give you a name if that interests you. Another great day trip would be the train to Eger, but i would spend the night and come back in the morning.

There is a local guy that is a whiz with train schedules. Maybe he will see this and pitch in.

If you mean Gyuri, he's up to his eyes transporting himself & family from the US to Europe at the moment. So I doubt he'll be around for a while........

Will be good to have him back!

3-4 hours is too short to see what's around in the Danube Bend or to visit more than one nearby sight. So allow a day to pay a visit to the Danube Bend. You can do it either by ship (but that's going to be boring if you take it both ways), by bus or by train, or any combination of these.

I'd do this: take a not too early morning train to Esztergom, visit the Basilica and walk around in the city, cross the Danube, have a great and very cheap meal in Sturovo, Slovakia (there are plenty of good restaurants around - not if Esztergom on the Hungarian side lacked them!). Then I'd continue by bus to Visegrad, walk uphill (that's tough!) or haul a taxi down in the town and visit the fortress. Maybe I'd also try the toboggan for a ride. The ruins of the renaissance castle are a must see, just like the Solomon Tower - both are located at the foot of the hill on which the fortress was built. Back to Budapest I'd either take a boat or just cross by ferry to Nagymaros and take the train back to Budapest.

Here's the timing:
- train ride Budapest-Nyugati - Esztergom 1h30m (+30m in the summer, due to bridge reconstruction and replacement bus), departs every 20th minute of each hour
- Esztergom - walking around+Basilica 2h
- Sturovo - eating out 1h30m
- bus ride to Esztergom Bus Station - Visegrad Ferry 45m, departs every 45th minute on the hour
- uphill walk 30m, taxi ride 10m
- Fortress 30m
- walk to toboggan and Nagy-Villam lookout-tower 15m
- visiting the lookout-tower + tobogganing 30m
- walk down + checking out Solomon Tower and Renaissance Castle 1h
- ferry crossing 5m, departs every 40th or 45th minute on the hour (don't remember exactly)
- train ride back to Budapest 45m, departs every 15th minute on the hour

Would it be too much trouble to take the bus from Visegrad to Szentendre and catch the boat (about 5 pm if i recall correctly). It's kind of special to enter Budapest by boat. What is it, about a 45 minute ride??

Hi Ophir, yes Estergrom, Visagrad and Szentendre are the things to see on the banks of the Danube north of Budapest. I would suggest taking a short cruise on the Danube from Budapest, but to Vienna would take longer than you have I believe. Take a bus to Estergom and work you way back to Budapest. The large church in Estergrom is quite nice as is the castle at Visagrad, Szentendre is filled with many artist shops you might like.
Martin

Maybe it's just me, but I never really liked and recommended the bus ride along highway 11 (from Visegrad to Szentendre, or on to Budapest) as it's not as scenic as the train ride and is often crowded and slow. Although I do agree that a boat ride from Szentendre to Budapest is quite a special thing and doesn't last too long.

DanBp: The one trip to Visegrad and Estrogom (dang butchered the spelling again) i did make was by car, returning to Szentendre and then taking the boat to Budapest. You are correct, the road isnt that exciting. Last year we took the train to Szentendre, and at least that far the trip was interesting on the train. Then, again, we took the boat back to Budapest - still enjoyable. Sometimes you just have to do the tourst things. Although there were some locals on the boat as well. The Next day trip will be to Vac. I understand its worth the short trip. i still havent been to the lake or to Pecs, or for that matter a million other places ..... where to begin!?

That's difficult, there's actually so much to see. I've been living here already for 22 years and every day I find out there's still a lot to see in this tiny country. So I started up hiking on the National Blue Trail, crossing the whole country Northwest to the Northeast, maybe that would help :)

So if I were you, I'd wait for hot days to visit the Lake Balaton for some days and continue daytripping to Vac, Godollo, Rackeve, and all the nice places nearby.

Saw Godollo a few months back. Well worth the trip. My brother is a horticultuist so i took a lot of photos for him. Hiking across Hungary? Naaa, not at my age. I am more of a theater seat kinda guy.