http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31386 This traditional 'vendeglo' or local, family-run eaterie, dates back to 1948 and has been renovated to keep all the original features such as the wine bar in the cellar where you can see the cave walls (Buda Hill is almost hollow and riddled with caves and passages).
Diners enjoy Hungarian home cooking on red checked tablecloths and, while munching, admire the Pest Buda carpets; vignettes of old Budapest life which have been scanned in and made into wallpaper.
One of the favourites on the menu is 'kenyer langos' (a kind of 'bread flamed doughnut') advertised as Hungarian pizza and a substantial lunch of oven baked dough with Magyar toppings of sausage and lecso (ratatouille), duck breast and spinach or tomato and tangy sheep's cheese.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31386 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30007 Great news!
This modern bazaar is located in the unique architectural gem, the Gozsdu udvar (courtyard passageway between Kiraly utca and Dob utca in the heart of Pest's Jewish quarter).
Unique antiques, gifts, gastronomy, performances. Try Hungarian palinka (fruit brandy) or fine local wines.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30007 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28731 2) Hire a car and drive to Eger, for its history and wine making region and Debrecen for it's beautiful buildings and restaurants.
3) Towns around the Balaton, such as Heviz, have natural thermal outdoor baths. Well worth a visit.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28731 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28723 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28723 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/26110 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/26110 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24370 Learn about the history, society, architecture and what Hungarians are actually like.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24370 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24369
Sights of this interactive adventure include the 1956 uprising areas, the bronze bullet memorial, the flag with the hole and the eternal flame, the secret entrance of a military bunker, the last Communist memorial in the inner city and other symbols of "Soviet friendship". The most important communist relics will also be presented.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24369 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24081
The cafe downstairs serves a mouth watering selection of cakes and pastries and there is a leafy terrace in summer which stretches out onto Szent Istvan Park and the Danube in the distance.

Once a favourite of the bourgeoisie and urban gentry, this place is now a hip hangout, but still with a healthy proportion of old ladies in hats gorging on cake!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24081 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23999 The guides are really good, enthusiastic and motivated, as they work on a tips only payment.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23999 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22166 www.budapestinfo.org/herossquare.html). The most attractive building is the Vajdahunyad Castle (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajdahunyad_Castle), a replica of a gothic castle in Transsylvania. It is really spectacular, especially when the small boating lake beside the castle is filled with water during summer time. In the City Park you can find the Széchenyi Spa, the biggest bath in Budapest. The building is very old and looks terrific from the inside. The Zoo, the Circus and the Budapest luna park are also located here making the park a popular amusement spot.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22166 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19392 Now part of a five-star hotel and not cheap but certainly worth a visit.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19392 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19116
Among the highlights: his oversized, primitive recording device which he dragged all over historic Hungary, having local residents sing their songs into it, and his furniture, most of which is handmade from various parts of Transylvania. The ladies who staff the museum can give you a tour in English and are very nice and accommodating.

While you are there, make sure you walk through the Napraforgo ut. housing estate, built in 1931 to house refugees from areas cut off from Hungary by the Treaty of Trianon. Architecture fans will delight in the display of creativity there, from Bauhaus to Arts and Crafts. Unfortunately, rich Buda residents are now buying all of them out and restoring them according to their own tastes, so the results of that could harm the ensemble, but you should go there anyway.

This is a great doubleheader excursion well off the well-trodden tourist paths.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19116 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18386 It has a wealth of information for people who really love Budapest and want to know the city better.
Check out the recent story on the Trabants - really interesting!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18386 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18283 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18283 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18282 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18282 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17481
The 1,200 metre labyrinth of caves and tunnels open to the public was once the haunt of prehistoric man, and more recently served as an air raid shelter during the Second World War. What is on offer to visitors today is a nerve-testing series of delights, with the highlights including gargoyles projectile vomiting blood and a section called the 'Labyrinth of Courage' - a terrifying, pitch-black, 'hold on to a rope and edge forward a centimetre at a time' sort of experience.

Bear in mind that to a person of a nervous disposition the labyrinth might be considered a less than pleasurable excursion, but personally I found it to be one of the most original and exciting hours that I spent in Budapest.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17481 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12743
Without planning, I went early evening and the colours looked wonderful in the setting sun.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12743 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12739
You can also see the mummified hand of St Stephen and illuminate it by putting a 100 forint coin in the handy slot.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12739 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5006 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5006