I bagged a brilliant European city break for less than £250
Lovers of a cliché call Budapest the “Paris of the East”; even haters of a cliché have to admit to passing resemblances in the city’s broad sweep of river and stately architecture. Budapest’s handsome Andrássy Avenue was modelled on the Champs Élysées – avenue-wise, you don’t get more Parisian than that.
In one key respect, though, the two cities have been like chalk and fromage. While Paris ranks among the most expensive places to visit in the world, Budapest emerged from behind the Iron Curtain offering some of Europe’s cheapest city breaks. But luxury hotels and boutiques are now two-a-penny in Hungary’s capital, and recently – as elsewhere – the blight of inflation has hit hard. So, can Budapest still promise an oh-là-là trip at an oh-so-low price? The challenge was set: arrange a family weekend (two adults and eight-year-old twins) for £250 per person.
I got off to a flying start, snapping up plane tickets for less than £50 each with Ryanair. Things continued swimmingly when we arrived at our accommodation. Giselle Vintage Doubles occupies a grand old mansion near Elizabeth Bridge, right in the very centre of things, and we had a spacious suite on the fourth floor with double-aspect windows overlooking the river and a mezzanine sleeping level for the kids – for just £60 a night.
At reception, there were leaflets advertising escorted pub crawls for a very appealing £11, but I’d already arranged today’s activity: an afternoon’s guided tour that would wipe out a quarter of our weekend’s budget. But there was method in my madness. Nelli Hajba’s tour unravels Budapest’s stories through its food so – as well as being entertained and informed – we’d get our day’s meals in too.
“You won’t be hungry by the end of this tour,” Nelli promised when we met at the Great Market Hall, a 19th-century temple to industrial design with soaring girders and a roof of multicoloured ceramic tiles. Set over three floors, its stalls sell craftworks and fresh food, as well as a bewildering selection of classic Hungarian products in jars, tins and bunches.
Nelli made like a missile to a sausage stand. “Try this!” she said, passing round pieces of salami. “They’re made from a pig called a mangalica, which is covered in curly hair – you’d think there’d been some naughty action between a pig and a sheep!” Next there was sliced sausage from the region of Békés, ham with horseradish, thin slices of smoked goose breast…
All the while, Nelli painted Hungary’s picture. The occupying Turks introduced the ubiquitous paprika in the 16th century, she told us, and they were also responsible for the name of one of Hungary’s best-known wines: Bull’s Blood. “Turkish soldiers thought the defenders of Eger Castle were drinking animal blood to make them strong – really it was red wine to give them courage!”
After sampling lavender honey (“Our bees are very diligent – they make honey from anything that blooms”) and fiery shots of pálinka fruit brandy (“It prepares your stomach for eating!”), we sat at the market hall’s version of a fast-food joint to be fed ruby-red goulash with great hunks of bread and more glasses of pálinka. Then it was off to the Jewish Quarter to tuck into some street food.
When the tour was over, a walk was in order, so we crossed the river and waddled our way up Castle Hill to explore the cobbled streets of Budapest’s medieval district. We’d armed ourselves with 48-hour Budapest Cards (£25 each), which not only allow complimentary travel on public transport, but free access to a whole range of leading attractions. After a twirl about the Budapest History Museum and the briefest of visits to the adjacent National Gallery, we headed for an early evening dip in the thermal waters of the Lukács Baths. All at no extra cost.
Next morning, we took a bus out to the Buda Hills to ride the chairlift up to the leafy trails of Normafa Park. The peaceful 15-minute journey over the treetops came with the twang of woodpeckers and lovely city views. It’s also free with the Budapest Card, so our only spend was £5 on a pair of keyring mementos. For lunch, we returned to the Jewish Quarter, and a lantern-strung courtyard called Karaván containing food trucks selling all sorts of cuisines, from veggie burgers to lángos, a hearty Hungarian snack of fried dough ladled with sour cream and cheese that was good for the wallet but not for our cholesterol levels.
Then it was a metro trip beneath Andrássy Avenue to City Park, with its quirky Vajdahunyad Castle and a boating lake that becomes an ice rink in winter. There we visited the House of Music Hungary, a new, fabulously engaging celebration of music in a gloriously organic building designed by architect Sou Fujimoto. Tickets cost £7.50, and were worth every forint as we banged drums, dressed up to try some traditional dance, and trawled rooms with interactive exhibitions devoted to everything from medieval choral music to modern rock ’n’ roll.
As evening fell, I totted things up. Allowing for the return taxi to the airport, we’d spent £223.75 each – leaving a grand total of £26.25 for our last hurrah. More than enough for an excellent two-course meal of soup and stuffed paprika at a snug restaurant called Café Kor, and a large glass of Bull’s Blood to wash it down. And for a final cocktail (cake for the kids) at the rooftop bar of the nearby Aria Hotel, our glasses raised to a city that can still offer an inspiring break at an affordable price.
How to do it
Fly there with Ryanair from £50. Stay at Giselle Vintage Doubles Budapest (doubles from £37). Food tours with Nellicious Travels (from £65pp). City discounts with Budapest Card (from £19).
