Budapest

There are many options of exchanging currencies in Budapest. Many currency exchange kiosks can be found in the tourist areas and near shopping centers, usually offer the best exchange rates. Money can be exchanged at banks at a surcharge. ATMs are easily found in Budapest, these dispense money at your bank's daily exchange rate. Currency exchange at airports is possible at at a significant surcharge of about 10% - 15%. CorrectChange and Northline are two of the popular currency exchange booths, current exchange rates are published online along with the loccation of these booths in Budapest.

It has been realised that Budapest is a bargain as compared to the other cities in Europe. Budget Travel: £25 - £35 Comfortable Travel: £50 - £60 Luxury Travel: £100 - £125

Religion in hungary is mostly different forms of Christianity. Budapest is home to the larget Christian community in Central Europe

There is evidence of people living on both sides of the river Danube in the Stone Age. Around the 5th BC, the Hun tribe under Atila the Hun, conquered Hungary and settled around the modern day Budapest. Around the first millenium AD, the king of Hungary established the feudal structure prevalent in the rest of Europe, and developed Buda and Pest. The city was later conquered by the Turks, who converted churches into mosques and established various water-baths. The city suffered heavy damage during the second world war, when it was a front-line town. Post war, Budapest was controlled by the Soviet Union right up to the fall of the union in 1991. Since then a lot of modern development has been done in the city, and it is now a major financial hub of central Europe.

One of the places cited for its great nightlife, Budapest is also called the party capital of Hungary. The city gets into its party mode from Wednesday through Saturday. Budapest has plenty of bars and clubs spread over the entire city. There are also plenty of clubs where you can let loose your hair and enjoy on the dance floor. Most of these are open till late in the night. Some Budapest specific patry options are the ruin pubs, spa parties, night party on the Danube. The ruin pubs have been opened in some old buildings and factroy outlets on the brink of destruction. The spa parties are hosted at the thermal baths only during summers and have great light shows.

One of the main shopping street is the Vˆci utca, possibly the most famous in Budapest. Andrˆssy Avenue is another shopping area, famous for having some of the most chic stores. If you are visiting Budapest around the Christmas season you are sure to come across the Christmas Markets. These have a large number of cute little stores where you can buy souvenirs to take back along with exceptional mulled wine and great Hungarian street good. Budapest also has the best collection of wine which is a famous souvenir. Hungarian sweet wine is to die for.

The Hungarians pride themselves on their ability to eat spicy food. A lot of the local Hungarian dishes are heavy on paprika. Budapest has a number of cafes and restaurants of all price ranges. Among Hungarian street food the most popoular dish is the langos, which in its most basic form is a fried bread with garlic and cream. They have also borrowed from their neighbouring country, Greece, its gyros which is ubiquitous on the streets of Budapest. A unique dish of Hungary is a kind of cold fruit soup. Other popular dishes include Chicken Paprikash (roast chicken in red pepper sauce with homemade noodles), goulash (stew of meat and vegetable seasoned with paprika) and kurtoskalacs (chimney cake). They also love their desserts and a popular ingredient in most of these desserts is poppy seeds. Hungarians love a glass of wine along with all their meals. Palinka is a special alcochol in Hungary which is essentially a very strong fruit brandy. These are not to be mixed with any other drink and to be had bottoms up!
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