Beautiful spa bath in the open air.

Get a day ticket, and hang on to all pieces of paper you are given - if you leave after a couple of hours, they will refund some of the entrance fee. Ladies and gents' changing rooms are separate, one at each end of the entrance hall. You go downstairs and through a turnstile (not necessarily in that order). I can only speak for the ladies' but assume both are the same from here: an attendant will meet you and find you an empty locker. When you are changed, you put your stuff in the locker and call the attendant, who will lock it and give you a wristband. You have to remember the locker number.

Once you come out of the changing rooms into the courtyard, you will be reunited with your bathing companion - Szechenyi is not segregated, which is why I like it. You take your towel and your book and your glasses and whatever else out with you and leave them on a bench. If it looks like rain, make sure you have a plastic bag.

The two pools at each end of the courtyard are the best; the one on the left as you come out of the changing rooms is slightly cooler, so go in this one first, or it will feel really cold. The one on the right is warmer and old men play chess in it. You can also go inside through one of the creepy looking doorways in the walls, and there are more medicinal baths, steam rooms, and great big tubs of ice. I have no idea what those are for. Do explore; no-one will challenge you. Do be brave enough to go to the baths, it's quite an experience. You can get drinks and snacks inside, too.

To get there, you take the yellow subway (also known as foldalatti, which means underground - it's the oldest line in europe, or something) to the Szechenyi Furdo stop (furdo means bath). Come out of the metro and walk towards the yellow building. The entrance hall for the baths is round the side, not the first one you come to out of the metro (that's the door for the medicinal baths).

Or you can walk there - all the way along Andrassy Ut, across Heroes Square, and through the park.
www.spa.hu/angol/szechenyispa_en.html

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Budapest is divided into two parts. Buda is the smarter residential area on the south of the river. The main attraction here is the castle district, which you can get to via a tiny funicular railway from the Buda side of the Chain Bridge. Don't eat up here, it costs the earth.

Pest is the busy happening side, where real people live and all the best restaurants are. The city centre is surrounded by a wide main road known as the korut (which means circle, or something). Near the river is the more expensive touristy part, including Vaci Utca, which is a street with all the designer shops and tourist trap cafes. Also nearby is Vorosmarty Ter, a pretty square that is frankly better visited in winter.

The main boulevard is called Andrassy Ut, starting at Ferenciek Ter and finishing at Hosok Tere (Heroes' Square). If you walk along Andrassy, you will find Liszt Ferenc Ter which has very good restaurants, if a little pricey. There's an Italian called Pompei (sic) which does onion soup in a roll - recommended. Incidentally, soup in Hungary is usually pretty hefty and you won't want a second course. Try the jokai bean soup and the tarragon chicken soup as well.

After Liszt Ter is Oktogon, which is a big intersection featuring Burger King and McDonald’s. There is also a nice restaurant called Grand Cafe Oktogon, where I have had a lot of nice food.

thehungaryyears.blogspot.com/ is written by an expat in Budapest who often talks about restaurants, bars, and general local colour

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High budget but they do good deals at the weekend, have fantastic views of the Danube, and serve the most amazing buffet breakfast on a Sunday.

On the No 2 tramline along the river, but you will probably get there by taxi; Apaczai Csere Janos Ut 4, Budapest, 1052;
tel: 1 26 67 000;
marriott.com/property/propertypage/BUDHU

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Using the subway: you have to buy tickets in little ticket offices at most of the stations. Good luck with that, they won't speak any English. Ha. Pointing and waving the correct fare might do it.

The trains and trams do get checked and you will be fined if caught without a ticket - for the minimal price of the fare, it's not worth the bother. You can buy a book of tickets if you get lucky with someone to help you - they come in tens and twenties and you punch them on the tram/platform.

It might be possible to buy them at one of the big train stations, where English-speakers may be found. Maybe.

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