Past Imperial Glories Still Live in Budapest

A fantastic urban canyon

Central Pest is reminiscent of Vienna - only bigger, grittier, and less expensive. By day the arteries bustle with trams and commuters, the latter turning off onto quiet side streets to shop. At night among rows of gigantic, highly ornamented sandstone faades, it feels as if you're traveling at the bottom of some fantastic urban canyon - the floor lit by street lights and neon signs, and gargoyles perched on the rim seven stories above.

Here you find the shops, restaurants, cafes, museums, and night life that draw so many. Opera fans shouldn't miss a performance at the Operhaz on Andrssy Boulevard - the low ticket prices will astound you as much as the performance. The same can be said of the ballet at the historic Vigszinhz or the classical concerts in the intimate concert hall of the famous Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

If you're adventuresome and interested in folk music, you can see authentic Hungarian or Gypsy folk dances at the Almssy Square community center and other venues hidden around town. This can be an incredible scene - a half-dozen bands from villages all over the former empire playing all night long to a wildly dancing crowd of Budapesters.

Exploring the partially overgrown Kerepesi Cemetery provides a unique survey of Hungarian cultural history from temple-like mausoleums to formations of polished black communist tombstones with red stars. Most monuments from the 16th-century Ottoman occupation have been destroyed, but the baths were spared and should not to be missed.

Boats ply the Danube to historic Szentendre and beyond - a delightful day trip. For centuries, this has been the center of the tiny Serbian and Greek communities in Hungary, accounting for a cluster of Orthodox churches - unusual in largely Roman Catholic Hungary.

On the other side of Budapest, local authorities have collected relics of the communist period in a field.

All those Socialist Realist war monuments that used to stand in every park sit here as if history were holding a lawn sale. For Budapest - ruled by kings, sultans, Hapsburgs, fascists, and the Communist Party - that's hardly an unprecedented event.

Tips for Traveling In Budapest

Taxis: Not all taxis are alike. Stick with honest, reliable Fo Taxi and City Taxi to avoid paying more than you should. From the airport, consider the minibus service ($6) run by the airport authority; Fo and City can take you there for about $14.

Crime: Budapest is a very safe city, with most areas safe to walk around in at any hour. Pickpockets ply public transportation and Vaci Street in search of inattentive tourists. Violent crime is a regular feature at Budapest's erotic clubs and more hedonistic discos, which are controlled by mafia factions and best avoided.

Changing Money: Don't change on the street - the difference in rates is negligible and your chances of being ripped off are not. As elsewhere in Europe, avoid the brightly lit private exchange windows that offer terrible rates for exchanges of less than $1,000 or so. The official exchange windows at the airport are fine, as are most banks. The MKB (Foreign Trade Bank) does Visa cash advances into local currency (forints) at the office on the corner of Vaci and Turr Istvan streets.

Guidebooks: The Rough Guide and Lonely Planet guides to Hungary are good overviews for the independent traveler, the latter catering to budget travel. Another fine book is Andras Torok's "Budapest: A Critical Guide," a series of well-mapped walking tours of the city written by a well-known Budapest writer.

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