Венгрия новогодняя hungary new year

Hotel: Excellent view of the Margaret Island and the Danube, excellent renovation, very comfortable rooms and lobby, free access to the pool in the hotel itself, quality food.
Tour: We went on the tour "Hungary New Year" Travel agency "Fantasy", Kyiv, the tour operator "1000 roads" - they did a great job, everything was even better than promised. By e-mail in 2 weeks. dropped both the tour program and the New Year's Eve dinner program. Accompanying -5 with a plus, how much we travel, Igor turned out to be the best. Unobtrusively caring - very accurate. He not only knows the country and language perfectly, but also managed to prepare us for all the excursions, for buying wines /both the best and just good inexpensive ones/, for currency exchange, etc. Special thanks to drivers from western Ukraine: well done!
We left Kyiv at 14.20 by train to Chop, the compartments were shabby, but clean. The operator took care of the selection of neighbors - a couple, our peers, were traveling with us. We quickly became friends and talked all week. We arrived at 6.20 in Chop on December 29, quickly on the bus and after 10 minutes. were already at the border. We passed the Ukrainian one in an hour, the Hungarian one in 2.5 hours. After 25 km. from the border we stopped at Tesco, exchanged currency, bought groceries for a snack.

Exchange rates: 1 euro-251 forints, 1 dollar -170 forts, hryvnias and rubles were exchanged at some completely predatory rate, so it's not worth it. In Budapest itself, by the way, the exchange rate is a little less profitable, so you should immediately change a lot.
After 2 hours we arrived in Eger, where we had a walking tour, and then dinner in the Valley of Beautiful Women with a "free tasting". Dinner was more or less, and there was no choice - to look for another tavern for not having time is a thankless task. Wine for 3 with a plus, but most rushed to buy. We do not recommend - in the same Tesco, such wines are at least a third cheaper, and there is more choice. The "Valley of Beautiful Women" itself is a patch of meadow, around which dozens of restaurants and wine cellars stand close to each other.
After dinner, arrival in Budapest and accommodation in a hotel. Nice hotel and worth staying in on your next visit. 10 minutes to metro, easy to find. Great view of the Danube. Nearby are several good restaurants, a supermarket and quite opposite. True, the prices in the minibar are extortionate (a bottle of Coca-Cola, for example, 200 ml - $ 4), it is also better not to use the hotel's taxi services due to clearly inflated tariffs. However, it's like that everywhere. . .
December 30 was a tour of Budapest for 4 hours, a trip to Szentendre, a jewelry factory and a boat.
At the end of December, at a temperature of about -3 and with exceptionally high humidity, a walk around the city evoked twofold feelings: everything is beautiful, you want to look at and take pictures, but somewhere in your soul you always dream of a warm bus : -)). In addition, because of the fog, the views from numerous observation platforms seemed almost ghostly. The most striking impression is the Basilica of St. Istvan. We got to the service and were fascinated by the organ. Glorious guide Liza, a native of the USSR - sensibly, without unnecessary prettiness, competent Russian without an accent - why not an ideal guide?

In Sentendre, the marzipan museum was disappointing, about which so much has been heard - it looks more like a small exhibition. The photo shows an exemplary production of marzipan figurines. The products themselves in the form of animals and Snowmen were bought for souvenirs for children and girlfriends - they are something like 2-3 dollars a thing). Then it was time for lunch. In a restaurant, an order for two with a beer and a tip included in the bill was approximately 45 euros.
On the way back to Budapest, we were taken on an excursion to the Kapriz jewelry factory. Quite interesting and quite expensive. We bought earrings and a pendant: a blue topaz in a gold setting, paid $400, in Kyiv it would have cost about $300.
In the evening there was a boat trip on the Danube (12 euros) with a glass of free champagne... What can I say? Beautiful view of the city at night : -))
After the boat, our restless escort took us to Mount Gellert (where, due to dampness, we saw little, but were satisfied) and to the street. Vaci (where everything was closed due to the late time, except for the stoves with hot wine. The wine was not of the best quality, which is rather the rule in Hungary. But hot! ). We returned to the hotel by half past ten, as they say: "tired, but satisfied. "
December 31, free day. Most of the group went with an escort to the Oceanarium, some went to the Szé chenyi baths, we went to the Mammont shopping center. We got on sale and bought a bunch of clothes much cheaper than in Ukraine (Benetton, Mex, Mark & ​ ​ Spencer, Orsay, Mango, Esprit, etc. )
At 20 o'clock the bus took us to the place of the New Year's celebration, the TROPHY GRILL RESTAURANT.
(70 € per person), buffet, the choice of dishes is huge, everything is delicious, hot portions were constantly added. There was a baked suckling pig, and pork rolls stuffed with goose liver, and Hungarian fish soup, and raw mussels, squid, octopus, pieces of meat that were grilled in front of you, and a huge number of desserts. We couldn't try everything. Although we tried : -)

The waiters brought the ordered alcohol with lightning speed (everything was included in the price), changed plates and were superbly polite. Good entertainment, disco. I especially liked the "triple celebration": local time at 22 o'clock - Russian NG, at 23 - Ukrainian, at 24 - Hungarian. And all this with champagne, hymns and congratulations. But you know, take our vodka with you, and do not drink Hungarian ball alcohol - you will be healthier. We were warned, so there was no severe hangover, but some did not get up on the 1st : -(
On the first day we slept until noon, then walked a little around the city. There was only one goal - to see the Basilica of St. Istvan. This time there were almost no people there and we were able to wander around the huge hall. By the way, to the left of the front door, they found a small room with engravings and a rather large model of the Basilica itself.
And in the city itself, January 1 is somehow boring: everything is closed, there is nowhere to even buy water, there are few people, mostly tourists. Public transport runs regularly, tickets are of a single standard, 230 forints (a little less than 1 euro) for 1 trip. When transferring to another branch in the subway, you need another ticket, if you can explain what you need, then there is a "transfer ticket" cheaper. Controllers, at least on 01.01, were met both at the entrance to the metro and at the exit, so it's better not to risk saving money.
On the second day we drove back, on the way we once again stopped at Tesco. Someone changed the currency back, and we bought local wine (although we took it only at the prompt of Igor), "Unicum" - like Riga balsam - you can drink, but we took it rather for testing. They bought the kid T-shirts - raglans, very cheap and of good quality. We know for sure, because already brought from Poland and the Czech Republic. T-shirts are about 2 dollars each, raglans - 4-5.
Both borders went back in 1.5 hours and at 17.40 we boarded the return train without any problems.
We liked.
In the summer, it's probably even better. Who will go, we wish you no worse impressions!
If you have any questions, we will answer.