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Budapest
in figures:
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Country:
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Hungary
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Population:
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~
1.800.000 inh.
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Surface:
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~ 530 km2
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Density:
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~ 3400
inh./km2
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Jet Leg:
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+1 GMT
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Phone Code:
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(+0036)1
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What
to see:
Churches, bridges, monuments and also over the 100 spa centres
represent the characteristic places of Budapest. The city is crossed
by the Danube (Duna), a river that splits the city in the west side,
the old Buda and the eastern one, the modern Pest. The
Bridge of Chains (Szécheni Iánchíd) is one of the most
evocative place of the city. It crosses the Danube connecting two
banks: Buda and Pest. Probably the huge building of the Parliament
is the city symbol, a panoramic reference and a Gothic style
architecture finished in 1902. Furthermore it is so much evocative
the picturesque Saint
Stephen Basilica (Szent István Bazilika), where
inside you can see fantastic marbles, statues, mosaics and glass
windows. Talking about museums you can see the National one (Museum
of Fine Arts). This is a famous museum known all over the world with
a rich patrimony of art: from Egyptian and Greek-Roman antiquities
to the 20 th century works, extraordinary also some paintings of the
18th century of Dutch, German, and Italian artists, such as Tiziano,
Raffaello and Giorgione.
How
to get there:
Budapest can be easily reached by plane from the main European and
intercontinental cities. Connections are managed by the Hungarian
national airline, the Malev, and
by other foreign companies. Other departures are available using
different offers from low cost companies. The only airport of the
city, Ferihegy, is 24 km south-east far from the city centre which
it is well connected to the airport by many buses and shuttles.
Budapest is also easily reachable from the near European cities in a
cheaper way by train: the journey can last 20 hours on average.
How
to go round: Despite
the old age, local
means of transport are efficient and cheap. You can find out buses,
trolleybuses and the HÉV, an underground railway network for
commuters. Furthermore Budapest has got a subway divided in 3 lines:
the yellow one, of the old soviet period, is the most characteristic.
Hungarian public transports are generally clean, on time but not
luxury. About taxis we can say they are several and cheap, but you
had better pay attention to the taxi drivers’ clearness. It is
good value for a tourist to buy a Budapest Card, a ticket that gives
the possibility to use all public transports and enjoy at the same
time the entrance in several museums of the city for 48 or 72 hours.
Entertainments:
You can see in Budapest many different spectacles, concerts,
theatrical works and fairs, such as the Eros Fair, a very particular
exhibition which completely shows the passionate character that you
can breath in the city. Moreover, during the year, squares are the
seat of the most different and characteristic festive attractions.
The capital of Hungary takes a fantastic atmosphere by night thanks
to the bright different places: discotheques, disco pubs,
restaurants. We point out also the presence of many casinos,
reachable from the city centre, and the presence of the Moulin Rouge,
a place seat of a restaurant and of some variety shows.
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