Currency
The Hungarian currency is the forint: HUF, on average EUR/HUF rate = 395, USD/HUF rate = 360, GBP/HUF rate = 470 (September 2024).
Weather
Budapest in mid October is typically chill but not very cold (usually ~16 degrees Celsius by day and ~10 by night).
Coffee and cake
Budapest is famous for its coffee and cake houses. For very elegant coffee houses you could try the New York Palace Cafe (Erzsébet krt. 9-11), or Café Gerbeaud (Vörösmarty tér 7-8). More in general, there are many many cake shops around in the city (Cukrászda in Hungarian). Most of the times they have some tables inside, so it is possible to just walk in and enjoy few cake slices with coffee or tea. Enjoy! If you like a coffee shop more like Starbucks style, we would recommend California Coffee Company. There are a few of them around in the city (look for the closest to your hotel on google map).
Restaurants
Plenty of restaurants can be found all over town. Many are located along Kazinczy utca, Liszt Ferenc tér and Ráday utca, with a lot of tourists buzzing around. Király utca has also many nice restaurants. The local prices are lower than in most European countries, allowing you to have nice meals for not much money. A few suggestions where you can go by public transportation are:
Paprika, Dózsa György út 72 (Hungarian)
Király utca 100, (Hungarian)
Szegedi Halászcsárda (Hungarian fish restaurant along the Danube, recommended for both food and location)
Hachapuri or Tifliso (Georgian restaurants - a must if you never tried)
Indigo or Maharaja (Indian restaurants, Maharaja is Indian/Nepalese)
Il Terzo Cerchio (Italian restaurant and pizzeria) and Pinsa, Király u. 69 (Italian pizza)
Asian Street Food (many small Asian food shops to choose from, really nice)
Bao Nam Phở, Király u. 71-73 (best pho in town, mainly take-away)
Biang Bisztró, Teréz krt. 20 (authentic Chinese street food, very nice)
Borbíróság, Csarnok tér 5 (Hungarian, very nice wine-food combinations)
Vegetarian or vegan:
Kozmosz, Hunyadi ter 11 (small place, but good menu and cheap)
Napfenyes, Ferenciek tere 2 (quite elegant and with a large menu, good food!)
for more options, you may check on happycow.
Glutenfree:
Drop, Hajós utca 27 (very nice)
Bars and Pubs
Ruin pubs are an icon in Budapest, and usually include many bars within one building:
Instant, Akácfa u. 49-51
Szimpla, Kazinczy utca 14
Hopaholic, Akácfa u. 38, large selection of beers
Kadarka, Kiraly utca 42, is a nice wine bar where you can try Hungarian white and red wines.
Tourist information:
Information on tourist attractions and what's going on can be found here (official tourist information), and here (up-to-date information on events).
There are beautiful museums in town. Besides the famous ones usually recommended in touristic information, we would definitely suggest the Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum. They also have a great collection of meteorites.
Tours:
Some suggestions to spend an extra day in Budapest:
Thermal baths
Budapest is called the city of baths: http://www.spasbudapest.com/. There are many around in town. Just ask at your hotel desk what are closest to your hotel.
