Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary [Paperback]

Joseph S. Lieber (Author), Christina Shea (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Complete Guides | Publication Date: April 24, 2002

You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go--they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!

Budapest, awakened in 1989 after its long slumber behind the Iron Curtain, is one of Europe's hottest destinations. It stands proudly at the center of Eastern Europe's cultural rebirth, and best of all, it still ranks as one of the continent's best bargains. Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary has all the practical details and candid advice you need to plan a successful trip. We've reviewed the very best places to stay and dine, from historic hotels to intimate guesthouses, from grand cafes to atmospheric taverns and pubs. With Frommer's in hand, it's easy to explore the all the city's highlights; our detailed walking tours will introduce you to a wealth of gorgeous architecture and show you the hidden treasures of the city. And of course, we've got all the details on Budapest's exciting nightlife, its vibrant arts scene, and its fabulous thermal baths and spas.

Then we'll take you to explore the best of the Hungarian countryside, where you'll discover sunburnt hillside vineyards and deep verdant valleys, lush cherry orchards, the lovely riverside towns along the Danube Bend, the famous caves in Aggletek, and the shores of Lake Balaton. Frommer's puts it all at your fingertips, with a handy glossary of Hungarian phrases and detailed color maps.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Written for the casual visitor, this is primarily a city guide. All the touristy stuff is here, and slightly larger print and color headers and highlights make this especially easy to read.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

For Hungary, the year 2000 is not just the turn of the millennium; its also the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian state and its conversion to Christianity. The government plans major celebrations to mark the event, and the festivities will run nonstop through the summer of 2001. Monuments are being restored; the major museums of Budapest are being renovated; and everywhere, statues, squares, and historic buildings are getting a facelift.

Budapest is on a roll, with four new major luxury conference hotels opening this year, including a Hilton and a Four Seasons. New nonstop flights just began service from Toronto.

All this activity means that more travelers than ever before will be turning to Frommers to discover the hidden pleasures and historical treasures of Hungary. This guide is full of candid hotel and restaurant reviews, logistical advice, etiquette tips, shopping finds, detailed color maps, and a handy glossary of Hungarian words and phrasesnot to mention the ins and outs of enjoying Europes most affordable spa treatments in the famous bathhouses of Budapest! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 4th Edition edition (April 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764565818
• ISBN-13: 978-0764565816
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,438,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent for booking accomodations; not much travel info, June 5, 2001

By 

Robert Nagle "idiotprogrammer" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary (Paperback)

In preparing for a trip to Hungary, I examined thoroughly the choices for Budapest. The Frommer's Budapest book (3rd edition) gave the best information about finding and choosing accomodations, but the book has no pictures and aside from a nice subway cover on the inside cover, the maps are hard to find and not very easy to use. Frommer's gives excellent information about prices and shops and restaurants; it's almost a guide to buying things rather than a tour book. I didn't find it particularly thorough about travel information, customs, or those sorts of details. That is not entirely fair. They have a nice section in the front a kind of "best of" list for things in budapest. The nice thing about the book is that it recommends things to do if you have only one day, three days or a week. They also suggested some itineraries for walking tours.

The Fodor's Budapest pocket reference is drab and not full of much information. Don't get it.

My favorite guidebook series has been Lonely Planet, and the Budapest Lonely Planet is fairly helpful. Although it doesn't give as thorough a treatment on accomodations, the book gives a lot of hints and secret. I found its facts for the visitors to be the most helpful, and the maps (placed at the very back of the book) to be the easiest to use. The frommer book, on the other hand, put the maps close to the section of the book referring to it. The organization of LP makes it easiest to use in the field; they tend to have the best background, history and cultural information. It was particularly good about including rules, regulations and things like closing times. ON the other hand, there are not many photos, and they don't plan as many walking tours as the frommer book does.

The Eyewitness Travel Guide on Budapest by Tadeusz Olszanski is the most eye-catching and the least helpful. It contains lots of graphics and diagrams and maps, and not too much information. The multitude of pictures are helpful in describing architecture, geography and art. On the other hand, its information on accomodations is very limited. Don't get me wrong; it's a beautiful and interesting book; it just is not as helpful as the other three. And it is two years old. I'm not necessarily saying that this book is bad, merely that it may not help you very much on the excursion.

The Budapest: A Critical Guide by Andras Torok, 4th edition is a less complete and more personal account of things to do in Budapest. The other books were like encyclopedias, but this book was just a few personal recommendations about things to do and places to stay. Also, the writing for this book seems to be better than the other books. If you already are a little familiar with Budapest, but just want to learn about new and undiscovered places, this might be an excellent book. It certainly covers most of the bases, but it just doesn't try to list a huge number of accomodations or restaurants.

I ended up buying the Frommer's and a used copy of the Eyewitness travel guide.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some areas outdated by September, 1999, October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frommer's Budapest and the Best of Hungary (Paperback)

We found that some of the walking tours in Budapest were outdated and difficult to follow. (We toured 9 other locations using other travel books, not frommers, with minimal problem) Elements could not be reached due to changing areas. Cautions regarding closings or operating hours were not accurate. Language was not a problem since one of the 4 of us could speak fluent Hungarian.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great help!, August 27, 2006

By 

Lee "Jacksonville traveler" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

We bought both this and the Lonely Planet guide for our trip to Budapest and lived by this book! I think the Lonely Planet guide is more for students backpacking across Europe, this is for the traveler not interested in only spending $20/day in Budapest. The recommendations were top notch, with the top attractions listed actually living up to the billing. All the restaurant reviews were dead-on, we ate at mostly reviewed restaurants and never had a bad meal. It felt like everyone in Budapest spoke English, so you really don't need a Hungarian dictionary, but it would be helpful if the back of the book had a slightly larger translation listing of foods, some important words like "liver" aren't included and can be a shock, especially in a pastry!