Hungary: instructions for use
Well, finally, "hands got around" to writing a review ...Were in Hungary, a combined bus tour for 17 days (with a road) according to the program Miskolc-Tapolca - Eger - Budapest - rest at Balaton (7 days) - Budapest - bend of the Danube - Tokaj.
All the acquaintances, having heard that we were going to the former “happiest barrack of the socialist camp, ” sneered contemptuously: “What is there in Hungary? "And now, looking at the photographs, they sigh enviously: " Yes ...But we didn’t know that it was so great there ...". For some reason, Hungary, especially in the "bus version", is associated with our brother with cheap holidays, remnants of "developed socialism", night crossings, shabby hotels and lack of any comfort. So to speak, a voucher "for pioneers and pensioners. " In our case, everything was exactly the opposite.
From our own experience, we have verified that all this is a myth, which, most likely, was invented by lovers of spending their holidays in the state of "vegetable in the garden", that is, browning the sides on the beach all day long. Of course, for those who do not accept active cognitive recreation, this tour is a real test. I can say the same about the hostages of increased comfort and adherents of the Ultra All Inclusive system. But we do not consider ourselves as such and we liked it! In addition, all the difficulties of the road, the passage of 4 borders in one day, the 50-degree heat more than paid off with unforgettable impressions and a luxurious vacation in a ****SPA hotel on Lake Balaton, and all this for little money by Russian standards. And we made friends with everyone who was in our group (the people turned out to be wonderful); everyone saw, heard the best stories about Hungary with amazing details from the lips of people who have been living and working in this country for many years and know absolutely everything about it!
By the way, special thanks to our accompanying Galina Yarochenko (this fragile girl is a real “energizer”, tireless and able to solve any problem), as well as guides Anya, Lydia, Elena and Nandor, drivers Sergey and Alexander from Chernivtsi. Thanks in large part to them, our vacation was such a success!
Well, this is so, a lyrical digression ...And now, in fact, about the trip itself. In fact, in Hungary you can find any vacation - from youth, economy class to the most elite. There are a lot of resorts throughout the country, most of them are balneological, as, for example, on Lake Heviz. In general, Hungary gives the impression of one big open-air health resort - hot healing springs for bathing, mineral waters, organic products, picturesque nature ...Balaton for Hungarians is like the Black Sea for Russians, the entire coast is dotted with hotels, private villas (panzio), dachas.
Travel magazines like to write that de "the water in Balaton is always the same color as the sky. " It is nonsense. The water in the lake is of an amazing light green color and has nothing to do with heaven, and the shades change every day from saturated (as if tarragon drink was mixed with milk) to whitish. Once it was stormy, every second the beacons on the roofs of the hotels were blinking, the wind tilted the trees almost to the ground - and Balaton frowned, and his face was dark gray ...The Hungarians say that the lake has a female character - it is capricious and even dangerous in moments of anger. In any case, with a storm warning, everyone hastily leaves the water, because even experienced swimmers sometimes die due to high waves. But fortunately, we saw such Balaton only once a week.
In any case, the lake is unique, it contains mineral salts that help rejuvenate the skin, and the bottom is covered with such soft sand that you almost don’t feel where the velvet path ends, which covers the descent. There are a lot of white swans, especially on the pier, they are very well-fed and absolutely not afraid of anyone - they swim up without an invitation and grab bread from your hands as if feeding them is your direct duty. There are also ducks, but they are oppressed as a class - at the slightest attempt to take a bread crumb, the powerful beaks of swans fall on their heads. Ferry service is well established at Balaton, boats run on schedule from the north coast to the south and back. There are also special flights to the Tihany Peninsula (which, by the way, can also be reached by bus, but this is not so convenient and romantic).
It’s worth a trip to Tihany - it’s very beautiful, nature is very different from the usual “Hungarian picture” - such beautiful pine trees grow there, and its history is directly related to Russia - the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise Anastasia ...No, I won’t tell - go and find out for yourself. Be sure to go inside the Benedictine monastery (do not regret 600 forints for entry - it's worth it), visit the ethnic village with houses - souvenir shops, sit in a cafe and look at the lake from the observation deck through a huge stationary binoculars. Ferry tickets to Tihany - 3160 forints (for two, ode-wissa, then bish round-trip)
There are different categories of city beaches at Balaton - the simplest one is 320 forints (this is 1.5 euros). All services - for a fee, except for the locker room, toilet and shower. A green lawn, lay a towel - and relax to your health, no one forbids lying on the grass and does not force you to take sunbeds.
There are very few people compared to our south. There are beaches with pools, music and other pleasures - they are more expensive. We were on the city beach twice - on the day of arrival and departure (it was necessary to pass the time before and after checkout time at the hotel). Our hotel had three pools and its own beach. For some reason, almost no one swam in the lake - everyone preferred a pool with hydromassage. We were the only Russians in the hotel, I can’t say that it was very annoying ...
Food-food-food...And once again food!
Dinner for two in a national restaurant (2 hot dishes - portions of unthinkable sizes, you could take one for two + beer brewed in a restaurant brewery) - 5000 forints. But it's expensive, because we were brought there with a tour. If a savage, then you can eat and twice cheaper. In general, a hot dish should cost no more than 1500 forints, everything above is “borscht”, a swindle.
For example, in Budapest we went to a cafe with Chinese cuisine and ate four of us for 1300 forints. Moreover, we ate - this is an understatement, we rolled out of there like koloboks ...
A bottle of young table wine - from 300 to 600 forints, a bottle of 3-year-old wine - 1000 forints, a bottle of very good wine - 1500-2000 forints. Tokay asu (3 putoni, 2001) - 900 forints, 5 putoni - I don't remember exactly, about 1500 forints. The famous elixir "Unicum" - 200 ml - 900 forints, 500 ml - 1800 forints. We were not recommended to buy it at all (supposedly, it is very bitter like wormwood, you can’t add it to tea or coffee - it will be even worse, you have to drink it separately, after eating). We bought it, we’ve already tried it, well, what can I say - for a Russian person it’s a completely acceptable drink, it’s really bitter, but there are also sweet, honey notes, surprisingly fragrant, it has a different, but positive effect on everyone (invigorates someone, someone soothes, relieves headaches for many, etc. ).
There is also a light version of this balm, so to speak “ladies”, called Next. However, the Hungarians recognize exclusively the traditional Unicum. And only in order to improve digestion (spicy and high-calorie dishes predominate in Hungarian cuisine).
Yes, I can recommend the following wines: Surkebarat (“gray monk”) - white table wine, Tokay Furmint (white wine with fruity notes), Kekfrankos, Teleki, Medina. We didn’t really like the famous Egri Bikaver (“bull’s blood”) - too thick and tart, absolutely unsweetened (and not sour in general), well, I don’t know how to say it - try it yourself!
You can carry 2 liters of wine and 1 liter of spirits “on the nose” across the border. However, everyone carries more. And we were no exception either. The border had to be crossed on foot (because of a breakdown, the bus was replaced by a Hungarian one, which was not allowed through the post) and customs officers could easily ask to open the bags.
Frightened by this circumstance, we “hid” the excess wine all the way from Tokay to a safe place, from which, hmmm, we can’t withdraw ...It turned out to be in vain.
Travel in public transport in Budapest - 1 euro / ticket. Buses run exactly on schedule, on a separate lane, so there was no long vigil at stops and languishing in traffic jams. If you want to get on the bus - press the button at the door (if you want to get off - the same, but from inside J). The ticket is punched at the entrance (the punches are somewhat similar in mechanism to those that were earlier in Ikarusy - a metal block, you need to press it hard), in trams the ticket is inserted with a metal strip into the punch, it “swallows” it and gives it out with the date punched and travel time. Controllers, they say, go quite often, although we have never met them personally. Tickets can be bought at kiosks, hotels, metro stations and vending machines at bus stops.
But, for example, there weren’t any at the reception in our hotel, so I advise you to stock up on beads in advance (it’s cheaper to buy in blocks of 10 pieces, or even a Budapest tourist card, if you plan to stay in the city for 2-3 days, it gives you the right free travel and big discounts in museums and other institutions).
Souvenirs in Budapest and the cities of the Danube bend are expensive, in particular, in those shops where the guides lead. We saw in Siofok all the same things 1.5-2 times cheaper, especially for postcards, magnets, plates, wines in decorative bottles (such as “a bottle of wine in a bottle of wine”, a boat in a bottle of wine) and Unique. It is generally not recommended to buy wines in shops - they are not of very good quality and are roasted in the sun in shop windows all day long. It is better to buy wine, paprika and goose liver in supermarkets - cheaper and more reliable. For example, Unicum in Szentendre cost exactly 2 times more than in the Kora supermarket in Budapest.
Handicrafts - so-so, I didn’t see anything stunning, I can embroider a napkin worth 20 euros just as well, ceramics are expensive and uninteresting in painting (a jug the size of a glass, with two apples on the sides - 1000 forints). But for fans of ceramic vases and bowls, I inform you that the largest selection of this stuff is on Tihany, in the national village.
Especially for smokers: the cost of tobacco products cannot be rationally explained, and if you don’t want to smoke LD at the price of Captain Black, stock up on cigarettes in advance or buy in duty-free on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. It is, in principle, realistic to carry more than one block “on the face” - more buses are checked than tourists. Perhaps, it was precisely because of the prices that we practically did not see Hungarians smoking ...Yes, I think many of our compatriots would also quit if they bought Pall Mall for 80 rubles!
I highly advise you to go to Veszprem - the city of queens (it was there that the Hungarian queens were crowned and the very first of them - Gisella). A very interesting old town, with a fortress, chapels and an observation deck that offers a gorgeous view. Veszprem is just a revived Middle Ages, the breath of antiquity is felt in the labyrinths of small streets, in general, and a time machine is not needed ...There is also a small zoo, but, unfortunately, we never reached it, although we were in Veszprem twice . Bus ticket to Veszprem (from Balatonfured) - 375 forints, about 40 minutes drive, buses run every 1-1.5 hours - it's simple!
The trip to Siofok was remembered as a romantic one-hour ferry trip - very nice, the sailors are kind, they speak excellent English, they bring drinks, while smiling and looking at you as if you are a goddess and just got off Olympus.
In general, very pretty young Hungarians serve on ferries and boats (no other than a thorough casting), and if you are female and your type is a dark-skinned, dark-eyed brunette, then ...in general, take care of your hearts, dear ladies!
The town itself is less fashionable than Balatonfured, well, simpler, or something ...Siofok is associated with the name of the Hungarian composer Imre Kalman, by the way, there is also his museum, not far from the pier. The monument to the victims of the repressions of 1956 in the park touches to the depths of the soul with a piercing composition - a bowed female head and drops of water - tears flowing down on a metal grate ...In the park they watched a “dancing” fountain, interrupted the thoughts of old Kalman, resting in an openwork gazebo ...Many shops, a market , small shops. Good jewelry, who is interested - for 15.000 for. you can buy an interesting ring, of a very intricate design, with cubic zirkonia (although the quality of work is not very good).
Ferry tickets to Siofok (round trip for two) - 4380 forints, there are timetables on the pier.
Discos in Balatonfured are held both in hotels and on special disco boats (disco boat). There are boats with music from the 80s and nostalgia (on Tuesdays at 21.00), there are with modern tumts-tumts-tumts - on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 21.00, in general, the choice is yours. Such a two-hour journey costs 1600 for. (about 7 euros).
Budapest is a fairy tale, an unrealistically beautiful city. Three days is devastatingly short for even a superficial examination of it. We looked mostly at Buda, there was no longer enough time for Pest. The most vivid impressions are a boat trip along the Danube: a city at night, a unique illumination included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, bridges, a damp coolness of the river, candles on the tables inside, and all this to classical music! Stunned! Words can't describe it - you have to see and feel it!
Be sure to visit the famous baths, for example, Szechenyi - the first time you feel their beneficial effect on the body, primarily on the musculoskeletal system (we successfully tested this on ourselves). They say that these waters work wonders - some are brought in at first in wheelchairs, and soon these people are already on foot! By the way, to swim in the pool with cool water (for some reason it smells of watermelon), you need a hat, otherwise a hefty strict uncle will blow a whistle and “explain” with an eloquent gesture that you better get out of the pool ...Photo and video shooting in the baths is not welcome , even if you take pictures of yourself, loved ones, Hungarians will definitely get into the frame, who came to their traditional relaxation and do not want to pose for your photo shoot at all. At best, you will receive disapproving glances and grumbling, at worst, you may suffer the fate of a loser paparazzi.
How would I explain it in a more accessible way ...in general, it’s indecent for them, it’s a shame, or something, and then, we in Russia also don’t go to the city bath or to the shower room of the gym with a camera ...But where it’s really worth taking a camera is in Budapest zoo, Inhabitants pose for Visitors with undisguised pleasure. Enter the butterfly pavilion - a romantic sight, they flutter around you, sit on flowers, folding and opening their wings ...Visitors immediately manifest "Hemulen syndrome", only they are not allowed to go there with nets. Women and children are delighted, and respectable fathers of families with large professional cameras are stealing intently along the path, like elephants on tiptoe, in order to capture all this beauty as a keepsake.
As you probably already understood, you can talk about Budapest endlessly. And about Hungary too. And our trip, perhaps, is the rare case when reality exceeds expectations.
You will fall in love with this country, I promise! We're heading back in a year...
P. S. And, finally, as usual, "a fly in the ointment in a barrel of honey" ...The travel agency "VT-Service" could be given a rather high rating, if not for one significant BUT: we were not issued medical insurance, which, by the way, we paid in good faith ! Since the documents were issued at the station before the train left, there was no time to find out anything.
And then, throughout the entire tour, they “punched their brains” that she was at the guide who met us in Lviv (who, by the way, only learned from us that we were going with their group), at the hotel on Lake Balaton (at the reception, everyone’s faces and his eyes widened at our question about insurance), then there were versions - they forgot or did not have time to transfer, they would soon give a ride, oh, this intermediary company "1000 roads" - ah-ah-ah ...Fortunately, our stay in Hungary was without serious diseases, injuries and accidents, otherwise I can’t imagine how we would get out of the situation - brrr, it’s scary to think (I still had to make a visit to the pharmacy - not a single familiar name, almost all medicines are a product of local pharmacy, but there is a book in Russian, where, according to the primitive Aesculapian table “where it hurts - how to treat”, you can find the right drug, BUT all more or less serious drugs are dispensed by prescription, the maximum you can count on is valerian and activated charcoal, so if you are seriously ill - a trip to the doctor is inevitable, at least for the sake of a piece of paper for the pharmacist)
. And, by the way, from our group we were far from the only ones “not insured” to write it off as an accident… we understood that we should have an insurance policy on hand, especially since we rested on our own for a week, and then the next tour group came after us with another guide. Either this is a traditional Russian “gouging”, or (hehe! ) A common scam, but in any case - up to the first injured tourist ...These are the features of a holiday with VT-Service.
So, despite the fact that the organization of the tour was quite good, hotels were normal, guides and excursions were five plus, this travel agency, alas, did not win our trust, and I don’t know if we still want to travel with BT -Service "...But in fairness, I note that they have an excellent manager Svetlana - everything is kind, simple, fast, professional, great respect to this sweet girl!