If you like new experiences or if you feel like you need a little extra emotion, go to Budapest. That amazing city, often described as the “Paris of the East”, offers many opportunities to have fun – especially in the summer. You will get a real taste of the Bohemian atmosphere in many places of the city. Since last year, there’s one more reason to visit that elegant capital: a unique exhibition that takes place in the dark.

Yes, you got it right: it’s not a traditional exhibition where you’re expected to stare at art pieces; it is rather an experience that invites you to use all of your senses – but your sight. You will be guided throughout the exhibition by blind leaders. They will take you through natural spaces in the most complete darkness. In order to make the best of your visit, try and join one of the small groups that take off every 15 minutes.

This incredible trip is a way to rediscover the world: at some point you will be able to experience the daily life of a blind person and you will realize that the most basic things, such as ordering coffee in a public place, are hard to achieve. After this experience, no doubt you’ll be able to pick out spices with your eyes shut!

Have you ever seen… a talking clock, a typewriter to write in Braille or household appliances that talk? If you want to check out those fun items, come to Budapest! A lot more awaits you …

This walk in the darkness will lead you to a bar where you may order food and try drinks. Now, if you’re interested in living a blind person’s life for a few hours, here is your chance to do it! Don’t miss out… this fascinating experience will prove you how little use you make of your sense of smell. You’ll see how everything seems different when you can’t look. To relax and eliminate the stress, don’t forget to stop by the dark massage room where you’ll be well-treated.

So what are you waiting for? Come experience new ways of perceiving the world. Get comfy in an apartment in Budapest and go challenge your senses at the Invisible Exhibition.

Budapest is a beautiful and historic city, famous for its spas. Known as the “Pearl of the Danube” this is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the old continent. There are thousands of tourists who visit it each year to learn more about its traditions. Among them, stands out the Budapest cuisine, a culinary legacy of which even the most demanding diners are left completely awe-inspired.

The traditional Hungarian cuisine enjoys unique flavours, despite gathering influences from multiple cultures, both ancient, and modern coming from Austria, France or Italy. Its cuisine is rich in spicy aromas and flavours and dishes among their more common recipes there are stews, soups, meats and fish. Although paprika is undoubtedly the star Hungarian ingredient.

Among the Budapest menus you’ll always find meat, especially game. It is usually served roasted or grilled. Among the most popular recipes there are “porkolt”, a variety meat stew; the “roston”, roasted meat, beef broth with marrow and “csirkepaprikás”, paprika chicken. One of the best known Hungarian meat products throughout the world is a type of salami known as “téliszalámi”.

However, “goulash” is the most international and typical dish. It is a thick soup made with small meat cubes with potatoes and “csipetke” (a cream made of flour and egg seasoned with paprika). The “újházi tyúkhúsleves” is another type of chicken soup with peas, mushrooms, carrots and pasta. Goose liver is typical too and it was inherited from France.

Fish lovers should try a fish soup called “halaszle”, made with fish, onions and paprika.
Rather typical of this place are the excellent fresh water fish such as pike, grilled catfish and trout with almonds. A dish to try is “paprika fish” (“halpaprikás”): soups that usually include at least three kinds of fish, onions and, of course, “paprika”.

To cook they use “tejföl” (fresh cheese such as “quark” which intensifies the flavours). Most main dishes are served with rice, homemade pasta such as “Galuška” or “tarhonya” (tiny meatballs baked with flour and egg). The salads are made of cucumbers, cabbage and peppers macerated in vinegar and many different kinds of vegetables.

Desserts are one of the Hungarian specialties. The most typical are the “pancakes”, the “somló”, a sponge cake with cream and rum, or the “palacsinta“, a delicious omelette filled with raisins, ground walnuts and lemon covered with chocolate cream. Also very typical are the sweet warm cakes with curd called “túrós csusza“.

Hungarian wine tradition is very famous. Tokaj wine is world famous, as well as wines from Lake Balaton region, full-bodied wines of Villány-Siklós region and Eger wines, in addition to the “Sangre de Toro”.

Travel to Budapest and taste its most delicious foods and get ready to unbutton your belt! Rent Apartments in Budapest to find the best accommodation. Enjoy your meal or, as they say in Hungarian: Jó étvágyat!

Budapest is an intriguing city, rich in culture and virtuosity. Famous for its many medicinal springs, this great European capital hides another treasure: an enviable cultural life. Thanks to its geographical position and its historical origins, it has a rich variety of arts and cultural buildings. Moreover, the culture in Budapest is not just reserved for a small group of elite people, it’s in everyday life: art, music, literature… Everybody enjoys it.

The Hungarian capital has its own Museum Mile, like many large American cities. On both sides of the Danube River there are long avenues where you’ll find very important things to do with the cultural life in Budapest. The Andrássy Avenue stretches from the Royal Palace to the Municipal Park.

Many of the most beautiful monuments and palaces have become the seat of important museums, concert halls or theatres. In Hungary there are about 1,300 art galleries, museums and private collections, of which 225 are in Budapest.

Budapest possesses a great musical history that ranges from the Ferenc Erkel’s operas, the Franz Liszt piano pieces (very admired in Hungary), up to the folk songs of Béla Bartók (1881-1945) and Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Today the city hosts one of the most famous classical music festivals in the world: the Budapest Spring Festival and the Budapest Autumn Festival.

Besides the classic music, in the city it is possible to enjoy a rich offering of cultural programs such as theatre, dance or opera in the Opera of Budapest or in the Erkel Theatre. You can also see the popular operettas and the Kálmán, Lehár and Ábrahám musicals in the Operetta Theatre; or the foreign languages representations in the Merlin Theatre.

Lovers of arts and museums will need more than a day to visit the delights that the city offers. The Museum of Fine Arts is the most representative as it is recorded among the most important museums of Europe. It has an important collection of international art, including the Spanish collection, paying special attention to the Greco paintings and the Flemish, Dutch and graphics collections.

Find out why Budapest is one of the cradles of European culture. Rent the best apartments in Budapest and enjoy a rewarding stay in the city.

Budapest acquired the title of “Spa City” in 1934 due to the large number of thermal and curative waters and springs it has: 118 wells and springs which gush 70 million litres of water per day at temperatures between 21 and 80 ° C. The concentration of minerals and elements of these healing waters is perfect for healing ailments.

Budapest baths date back to Roman times, but it was not until the twentieth century when they became popular for treatment of diseases. During the Turkish period (from 1541 to 1686) there were important spas constructed that continue still today.

But the Budapest spas are not just wellness centres. Some of them organize aquatic night parties called “Cinetrip Parties” or “Magic Baths”, where hundreds of young people dance and listen to the best music inside the swimming pools. This way, the spas are turned into spectacular nightclubs full of lights, screens and gogo dancers.

Aside from these parties, most of the public baths are not mixed. Many of them reserve a few days for men and then a few days for women, although there are also some spas in which both sexes can be mixed.

The most famous Budapest Spa Resorts

Gellért Spa (District 4. Kelenhegyi Street, 4)

Timetable: weekdays: from 6.00 to 19.00, weekends: from 6.00 to 17.00

This is one of the oldest and most beautiful spas of Budapest thanks to its spectacular marble columns, its colourful Zsolnay mosaics, its statues, its beautiful stained glass windows and it modernist furniture although the star of the centre is a 700m square atrium with a beautiful glass roof. The spa (located inside the Gellért hotel) has 9 therapeutic pools, an outdoor wave pool, a thermal water pool, a children’s pool and a covered effervescent pool. It also has a sauna and massage services. The composition of its waters includes calcium, magnesium, sulphates and other minerals. There are some references to the use of medicinal waters of Gellért since medieval times, but it was not until 1918 that this construction was completed.
Széchenyi Spa (District 14. Állatkerti Avenue, 11)
Timetable: weekdays from 6.00 to 22.00
This is one of the largest spas in Europe thanks to its 15 pools, 3 large outdoor pools and 12 small covered pools. It was inaugurated in 1913 and it is of Neogothic style. Besides the pools, this resort has some Turkish baths, saunas, massage service and diving pools. One of the main attractions are the chess matches that are disputed in the warmer outdoor pool (37 ° C), where tourists and locals challenge each other to games and spend a pleasant time.

Budapest has much to offer besides being a spa city; Budapest is the jewel of Hungary. Discover why! Rent Apartments in Budapest and enjoy a great Budapest spa weekend or even a Budapest spa holiday – the choice is yours!

Along with the arrival of spring, one of the most important festivals of Hungary and one of the most transcendent of Europe comes to Budapest: the Budapest Spring Festival. From March 20th to April 5th, 200 cultural events of various forms and in fifty different stages will take place. Apart from the traditional classic music and jazz concerts, a varied range of theatre programs, film projections, outdoor shows, dance representations, folklore music concerts and other great international events of fine reputation will be added. Don’t miss it! Rent the best Apartments in Budapest and enjoy your time there.

Budapest Spring Festival Program

Friday 20.03.2009
19.00 Emmerich Kálmán: Die Bajadere – Operetta in two parts – Budapest Operetta Theatre
19.00 Botho Strauß: The Park – Hungarian Première – International Theatre Festival – National Theatre
19.30 Joshua Bell and the Camerata Salzburg – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
19.30 Capricious Express Joint Concert of the Capriccio Chamber Orchestra and CimbaliBand – Crossover – Millenáris Teátrum

Saturday 21.03.2009
15.00 Music-Dance-ABC Performance by Tamás Vásáry (piano) and Henriett Tunyogi (dance) Through Children’s Eyes – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
15.00 “Haydn and the Time” – Exhibitions – Museum of Applied Arts
19.00 Emmerich Kálmán: Die Bajadere – Operetta – Musical – Budapest Operetta Theatre
19.30 Oleg Maisenberg and the Kremerata Baltica – Orchestral concerts – Academy of Music
20.00 Orchestra Baobab – Special treats – Millenáris Teátrum

Sunday 22.03.2009
15.00 Let’s go to Rio! Performance by Csaba Méhes and the Brass in the Five wind quintet (première) -Through Children’s Eyes – Millenáris Teátrum
19.00 Puccini: Turandot – Opera – Hungarian State Opera House
19.30 Bartók Evening – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
19.30 Kodály Quartet – Chamber evenings – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Ceremonial Hall, Roosevelt tér

Monday 23.03.2009
19.30 Telekom Orchestra Hungary – Orchestral concerts – Academy of Music
20.00 Max Raabe & Palast Orchester – Special treats – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Tuesday 24.03.2009
19.00 Trey McIntyre Project Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 Music of a Lost World – Special treats – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Wednesday 25.03.2009
19.00 Trey McIntyre Project Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 An Evening with the Hungarian National Philharmonic on the Anniversary of Bartók’s Birth – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
20.00 Budapest Tomkins Vocal Ensemble – Church concerts – Matthias Church

Thursday 26.03.2009
19.00 Trey McIntyre Project Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 Scottish Chamber Orchestra – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Friday 27.03.2009
19.30 Szabadi 50 – Orchestral concerts – Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Ceremonial Hall, Roosevelt tér

Saturday 28.03.2009
19.00 Puccini: Turandot – Opera – Hungarian State Opera House
19.30 French Melodies with Philippe Jaroussky – Chamber evenings – Academy of Music
20.00 Napoleon ante portas! Church concerts Matthias Church

Sunday 29.03.2009
19.00 Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice, or The Soul of the Philosopher – première – Opera – Hungarian State Opera House
19.30 Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Monday 30.03.2009
19.30 Mahler Chamber Orchestra – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Tuesday 31.03.2009
19.00 The National Theatre Ballet in Prague – Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.00 Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice, or The Soul of the Philosopher – Opera – Hungarian State Opera House
19.30 Miklós Perényi (cello) and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra – Orchestral concerts – Academy of Music
19.30 Piano Recital by Mika Teranagane, Most Successful Participant of the Franz Liszt Seminar – Sapporo Chamber evenings – Marble Hall of the Hungarian Radio

Wednesday 01.04.2009
19.00 The National Theatre Ballet in Prague – Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 Haydn: The Seasons – Orchestral concerts – Academy of Music
19.30 100-Member Gypsy Orchestra – Folk music, folk dance – Thália Theatre

Thursday 02.04.2009
20.00 Nigel Kennedy Quintet – Special treats – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall.

Friday 03.04.2009
19.00 Bangarra Dance Theatre – Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 Cimbalom Recital by Ágnes Szakály “Hommage à Haydn” – Chamber evenings – Festetics Palace, Hall of Mirrors
19.45 Budapest Festival Orchestra – Orchestral concerts – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Saturday 04.04.2009
10.00 28th National Dance House Gathering and Arts and Crafts Fair – Folk music, folk dance – Papp László Budapest Sportarena
19.00 Bangarra Dance Theatre – Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.30 Susan Graham and the Ensemble Matheus – Orchestral concerts – Academy of Music
20.00 Before Palm Sunday In memoriam Gabor Baross – Church concerts – Matthias Church

Sunday 05.04.2009
10.00 28th National Dance House Gathering and Arts and Crafts Fair – Folk music, folk dance – Papp László Budapest Sportarena
11.00 Let’s Set Out to See the World! – Through Children’s Eyes – Kunsthalle
19.00 Bangarra Dance Theatre – Dance – Palace of Arts – Festival Theatre
19.00 Vienna State Opera Mozart: Don Giovanni – concert performance – Opera – Palace of Arts – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Don’t miss it! Rent the best Budapest Apartments and have a great time!