stuny Posted March 21, 2009 Share #1 Posted March 21, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Barbara has begun her research for a visit to Budapest and Croatia. What recommendations do you have? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 21, 2009 Posted March 21, 2009 Hi stuny, Take a look here Suggestions for Budapest & Croatia. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
luigi bertolotti Posted March 21, 2009 Share #2 Posted March 21, 2009 Neve was in Hungary, but in Croatia I warmly reccomend Plitvice National Park: also the islands are interesting by the naturalistic point of view, but better out of the std. "sea season", when you risk crowding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker Posted March 21, 2009 Share #3 Posted March 21, 2009 Barbara has begun her research for a visit to Budapest and Croatia. What recommendations do you have? Stuart - I was in Budapest for a couple of nights after business a few weeks ago and stayed here Hotel Palazzo Zichy ? 4* boutique hotel in the heart of Budapest - The Hotel I was very pleased with it. Also have dinner here - Múzeum Café & Restaurant Budapest !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted March 21, 2009 Share #4 Posted March 21, 2009 I once stayed at Hotel Gellért (Budapest), which was a rather fascinating art-nouveau style thing. It also had a bar full of hookers (this appears to be standard practice in the former "east block contries"). Next door was a the swimming pool/spa which was similarly pittoresque. I quite liked Budapest I must admit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtZ Posted March 21, 2009 Share #5 Posted March 21, 2009 Barbara has begun her research for a visit to Budapest and Croatia. What recommendations do you have? Budapest is a wonderful city. I've been there many times. People are somehow conservative and a bit weird... Be careful with Hertz and other car rentals if you use your credit card insurance... Just double check you car before you drive it... I know what I'm talking about... Janos Hill is a place to visit (beautiful view from Budapest) and take the cable car to go back to the city. Baths (Gellért and Széchényi) are a must. Other places to visit: St. Stephen Cathedral, Great Synagogue and the Jewish Museum, Andrássy útca, Central Market, Victor Vasarely Museum, Statue Park (outside the city), the Parliament... and don't forget a romantic boat trip on the Duna... Ah... you can have in Budapest a succulent cold fruit soup (I cannot remember the name right now) you have to try. Simply delicious... Don't forget the Tokaj wine and the Balaton lake. Enjoy it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted March 22, 2009 Luigi - Thank you. Barbara was wondering if we should visit Plitvice National Park, and your recommendation made her look further into it. It's now on our itinerary. Keith, Stephen & Art - Thank you. Later today I'll show your reommendations to Barbara. She's enjoying sleeping late, right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RASO Posted March 23, 2009 Share #7 Posted March 23, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Stuart, Don´t know how you intend to travel, car rail or train. On the way down from Budapest you can stop in Zagreb, a small but interesting capital from the Austro Hungarian time. The coast you will find is split in region, which are quite different in nature and character. Istria in the north with Pula and Porridge are quite green and italian. Opatia is a very worthwhile mondain resort on the way down to Dalmatia, Zadar is a worthy visit followed by all those island on the way down to Split. Start a the top travel the coast all the way down to Dubrovnik. Pula Porridge Opatia Zadar Split Dubrovnik and then relax on an island like Brac or Hvar. Make sure that you eat and drink in local restaurants, the quality is excellent and the prices still ok. Croatian local wine can be fantastic. Get talking to the locals they´ll show you around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted March 23, 2009 Keith - Based on your suggestion Barbara looked into the Hotel Palazzo Zichy, liked what she saw and booked it for the beginning of our trip, two nights. You must have been there jsut after they opened. Raso - Thank you. I think we are flying from Budapest to Zagreb. After that, all driving. I've emailed your comments to Barbara. I know they track well with many of the things she was looking at in books, magazines and the Internet this past weekend, so this will be very useful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
USA road racer Posted March 23, 2009 Share #9 Posted March 23, 2009 You MUST take a boat trip up the Danube from Budapest to Vienna!! You'll never forget it!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted March 23, 2009 USARR - You are no doubt correct, but we will have to put a bookmark in that idea to hold for a future trip. No additional time for it in this trip. Thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangur Ban Posted March 23, 2009 Share #11 Posted March 23, 2009 Split is a wonderful city - the well-preserved remains of Diocletian's retirement palace are an integral part of the city centre and superbly atmospheric at night. Dubrovnik deserves its reputation but that brings the masses to see it so go out of season if you can. Places such as Starograd on Brac have some character, as does fashionable Hvar town itself which is also busy in the season. There's lots of wonderful coastline away from the towns - I've had a couple of excellent yachting holidays in the region and discovered some lovely places, eg Vis, which are difficult to get to without your own boat. There is also plenty of Tito era architectural monstrosities (a particularly shocking cement works right on one of the finest bays just north of Spilt) as well as evidence of the 1990's conflict. Croatia is a fascinating place with plenty of history and beauty to it - the food is also good and do try the Dalmation ham when you're there, as well as the local firewaters but the wine is nothing special though drinkable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darmodej Posted March 24, 2009 Share #12 Posted March 24, 2009 Certainly visit Zagreb, my home town and the Croatia's capital... If you go from Budapest to Zagreb by car, you have to make a stop in Varazdin, baroque town in northern part of Croatia, not far from Hungarian border. Of course, if you want to see the Croatian coast, that's another story... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 24, 2009 Share #13 Posted March 24, 2009 The only place I've been to on the coast is Porec. I went there in the 80s and also drove there a couple of years ago. It was ovbious that the town is far more prosperous these days than it was when I first visited. Porec is very pretty, but it's a tourist town so may not be what you are looking for. There are day trips by boat to Venice that may appeal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share #14 Posted March 24, 2009 Pangur - Thank you. I assume that "in season" is July and August, and hope that the shoulder seasons (May-June and September-October) are sufficiently less busy. Thoughts? Darmodej - Thank you. We'll have to hold Varazdin for a future trip. We want to visit a lot of the coastline and therefore will fly from Budapest to Zargreb, and then travel by car. Steve - Thank you. I don't know if Porec has shown up yet on Barbara's research radar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 24, 2009 Share #15 Posted March 24, 2009 The caves at Postojna are impressive... Postojna cave In Slovenia, but easily do able from Porec. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubenkok Posted March 24, 2009 Share #16 Posted March 24, 2009 Stuart, I have been to Hungary. If you are passing lake Balaton maybe you can visit Keszthely it is very nice Keszthely - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Festetics Palace is wonderful All the best Ruben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangur Ban Posted March 24, 2009 Share #17 Posted March 24, 2009 Indeed, avoid July and August - full of us Europeans on holiday. September and October are particularly lovely though you can get some days when the bora wind blows along the coast whipping up the seas and turning the air cool and wet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share #18 Posted March 26, 2009 Thank you all for your input. It has helped Barbara firm up our itinerary. Now she will get busy noting exactly what we must see, do and eat along the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
santila Posted March 27, 2009 Share #19 Posted March 27, 2009 Always ask what an item will cost! I paid $24 for one Martini in the Duna Intercontinental, not asking prior for the cost. They love "legally" take tourist or others for a "ride", beleive me, I was born in Hungary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted March 27, 2009 Share #20 Posted March 27, 2009 Barbara has begun her research for a visit to Budapest and Croatia. What recommendations do you have? I'd recommend that you walk around Pest and the old castle. There's an excellent national art museum on the Buda side of the river which is worth a long visit - esp. for a serious photographer. I used to live and photograph in Hungary in the summers of the early 90s. Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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