Located 477 meters high in the Buda Hills, Normafa is a huge forest in the city, one of the most popular green spots of Budapest. Fresh air and the panoramic view make Normafa an attractive place for jogging, family outings, romantic walks and downhill biking.
Photos of one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, who is best known for his war photos. Guided tours in English and free shuttle bus from Deák tér.
Where: Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art (IX. Komor Marcell u. 1)
When: Till October 11, 2009
more info
Concert, bizarre humour, surreal vision, unique sound. The Tiger Lillies is an unusual three-piece band with a frontman singer Martyn Jacques, who has castrati style voice. Tickets are 3000 forints in advance and 3500 forints at the door.
Where: Trafo House of Contemporary Arts (IX. Liliom utca 41)
When: 25th and 26th September, 20:00 hrs
more info and video
Népsziget is yet another island in Budapest (though far less popular than Margit Island or Óbudai Island) connected to XIII district in Pest and Római part in Buda. Római part is lively recreational area with many cafes and open air pools.
Népsziget is the land of semi-abandoned factories, various sport facilities and camping sites, an ungroomed park with its distinctive atmosphere.
Szentendre, a small town located just 20 km from Budapest is probably the most popular one day trip destination for tourists.
Established by Serbian and Greek refugees during the 14th century, Szentendre has been the home of many generations of Hungarian artists since early 20th century, and today it is known for its museums, galleries and artists.
In 1241 king Béla IV was trying to escape Mongol hordes and took an oath that he would offer up his yet to be born daughter to God if his family and country were saved from the enemies.
Thus, Princess Margaret born next year become a nun and in 1251 the king built a cloister and a church for the order she belonged to on the Island of Hares.
Today, this island is known as Margaret Island or Margit-sziget in Hungarian. It is a 2.5 km long and 500 meters wide island and recreational park in the middle of Danube and Budapest. In fact, it used to be three separate islands, but in the end of the 19th century they were connected and raised to control the flow of the Danube and flooding.
See photos from April 2009 Critical Mass bike ride in Budapest.
Chain Bridge (Széchenyi lánchíd) was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest built owing to Count István Széchenyi, the very remarkable figure in Hungarian history.
This symbol of Budapest reproduced on many souvenirs and postcards, opened in 1849, though it was year 1820 when Count István Széchenyi vowed to himself that he would have the bridge built. This vow he made when he received the news that his father died in Vienna. It was cold December, and pontoon bridge across the Danube was put out of use by ice-floes. Széchenyi got stuck in the Pest riverbank for a few days before he could dash to Vienna.
This year’s Critical Mass
event to be held on the 20th of April in celebration of the Earth Day is expected to be enormous with the route on both sides of the Danube.
The Critical Mass held in Budapest twice a year since 2004 attracts now more and more cyclists and supporters thus showing to the public and the authorities that biking is healthy, clean and cheap. On the last year’s Earth Day Budapest had the largest Critical Mass event in history with around 50,000 cyclists participating.
The cave was discovered in 1904 during quarrying works, and today more than 19 kilometers of the cave have been revealed. Pál-völgyi Cave is the second longest cave in Hungary.
Medveotthon, the Bear Farm, is located about 30 kilometers from Budapest, in Veresegyház. It is a preserve for bears and wolves, where animals live in their natural habitat, but surrounded by the fence for visitors’ safety.
Bears are seen very well, they cool off in their pond, and come really close to the fence – you can even feed them with honey from the wooden spoons with long handles that can be obtained from the café. Wolves, however, are more discreet – they hide among the trees and observe you from the distance with their keen eyes.