Kids Activities in Budapest

If you are in doubt whether your kids will enjoy your Budapest holiday, you will be happy to hear that Budapest is really a great place for children.
In addition to the usual kids activities, like visiting the Zoo in Budapest, or right next to the zoo, the Amusement Park or the Great Circus, you can take the kids to one of the hundreds of modern (EU conform) cool playgrounds.

Train Engine Simulator at the Train History Park, Budapest

Some of the best playgrounds, sort of 'open air play houses' can be found close to downtown Budapest, like any of the dozen or so of playgrounds in the City Park, the one on Margaret Island at its northern tip, or the Peter Green (Zold Peter) playground in the landscaped garden of Millenaris Park.

And you will surely go to the awesome Millenaris Park for its indoor tech interactive playhouse - children love it so much! And it is a nice place in hot weather (in siesta time when the temperatures are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), and an excellent place on rainy, windy or cold days in Budapest.

On top of all, Budapest has hundreds of community centers which are full of kids things to do, workshops, concerts, music activities, sports activities, arts and crafts workshops, etc. (Marczibanyi Square Community Center is a lively community close to Millenaris Park, but each district in Budapest and all over Hungary has their own set of family activity centers). Not to mention that even the Palace of Arts in Budapest has fantastic music activities for babies, toddlers and children too: concerts, camps, singing along with kids, etc.

I think almost all parents who visited Budapest with their children will agree that a must do in Budapest with kids is to do with trains:

Children's Railway Budapest

TRAINS in Budapest

• Children's Railway Budapest (gyermekvasut.hu) - small trains with lots of children in the green hills of Budapest on the Buda side. Unforgettable, cool and lots of fun. On weekends the little gift shop of the Children's Railway is also open (10 am - 4 pm) if you want to buy some little train gifts for the kids
• Train History Park Budapest (mavnosztalgia.hu) - outdoor small trains, big trains, the best option if you have children of various ages, i.e. for toddlers, younger and older children. You can see trains pulled by horses (horsetrams), older teens can try to drive an engine under supervision along a half a mile long track, the whole family can hop on a manually operated handcart along the tracks (and even get a certificate for managing the handcart!), etc. Really really cool and fun for younger and older kids and hopefully for you too. :)
• Museum of Transport Budapest (mmkm.hu) - lovely train models run every hour on the hour, you can sit in a big model train, etc. - the museum is in the City Park, close to a bunch of great things to do in Budapest (Heroes's Square, Vajdahunyad Castle, etc.). Although this one is the closest to Budapest attractions, the other two (the Children's Railway where children are the conductors, and the Train History Park which is simply a must for enthusiasts and laymen too) are so much worth the 40 minute extra time for the trip. And, as we have experienced, children thoroughly enjoy the trip to get to these places too.

Another must do with kids is visiting one of the cool baths in Budapest - geared for children.

Some of the 11 pools at Palatinus Open Air Pool Complex on Margit Island Budapest

BATHS & POOLS in Budapest

 Please bear in mind that Szechenyi Baths will let children in, but the notice says that the pools are not recommended for children under 14: the warm thermal baths are not healthy for your kids! Learn more about child friendly pools and baths in Budapest.

Happy Geek Pride Day from Budapest

May 25 is the Geek Pride Day, so we are proud to present the geek side of Budapest with loads of things to do, places to visit and festivals, fairs and informal meetups to attend.

If you are into digital media, light-sound-human interactive projects, social media, phone app programming, love reading comic books (from Marvel to Mouse), get excited about sci-fi, it is a must read, and add your ideas, experience so that other geeks can benefit from the geeky side of Budapest too.

Geeks unite. Happy GeekPrideDay y'all!

Countdown to the Czech Beer Festival in Budapest

And the final countdown to the 2012 Budapest Czech Beer Festival is starting: a few more weeks and you can taste the Czech beer even if you are kilometres from the medieval and eclectic Prague.
Czech breweries will come to showcase their products in downtown Budapest.
Here is a keg of sweating Pilsner Urquell to get you started:

Pilsner Urquell come with me!

Photo source: Beer a Day Blog

Budapest Airport to City - T1 moves to T2 in 2012

It is very easy to get to the city center from Budapest Airport. Of course the most comfortable is taking a taxi in Budapest, which is Fotaxi at the airport, but there are several other options. The cheapest is by bus, metro and train. Here is a step by step guide how to get from Budapest Airport to the City.
Don't forget that with the closing down of Terminal 1 or T1 for short on May 29-30, 2012, you will need to calculate your trips from Terminal 2 (a short ride from Terminal 1 by car, taxi or bus).
There are all sorts of ways to get to the City from big budget to tiny budget, from standard day trips to late midnight or past midnight rides. You can use the ATM at the airport and you can buy tickets at the airport, so no need to worry about money issues either. Have a nice flight and have fun in Budapest, this wonderful city with immense hidden treasures and cool things to do.

Things to Do in Budapest, Hungary - Tips from Locals

Get some tips from locals on what things to do in Budapest, and on what not to do!

Now you are sure that want to go on holiday to Budapest, maybe you have already bought the plane to ticket to Hungary, and even booked a 'great deal' hotel room in Budapest, the only question is how to make your Budapest holiday really once in a lifetime experience. This is the most challenging part of planning a good trip to Budapest (or to any travel destination for that matter).

We have put together a great to do list for you, click on the link Things to Do in Budapest to get great ideas, see enticing photos and pick the things you would actually enjoy to do in your Central European sort of exotic trip.