Life in Budapest

These are articles we have written on different aspects of living in Budapest. Some of them were written by our staff, other contributed by complete strangers. As is turns out, many people who have visited Hungary are eager to tell others of their experiences. Needless to say, some of these experiences were negative, some positive. Whether you see Budapest and Hungary from the good side really depends on your luck. You can have a wonderful week here exploring the sights of the city, or end up sitting at the police station trying to describe the people who mugged you to the sketch artist.

Budapest is a huge city with lots of things going on, both on the surface and behind the scenes. As a tourist, you are unavoidably limited to those places and sights that are described in your guidebook and which all tourists visit. You really want to see the "authentic" Budapest, as constructed by other foreigners. You want to eat an authentic Hungarian Gulyas, even though most Hungarians very rarely eat it, especially not in the places where you end up eating it. You see museums and churches most Hungarians never been to.

What is the solution to this tourist fate? Nothing. I guess in Paris people visit the Eiffel Tour, and in New York the Statue of Liberty, no matter what. These iconic sights must be looked at. But on the daily level, Hungarians struggle with their series of incompetent governments, ridiculously low salaries, insane traffic. At the same time, there is also plenty of "non-touristy" fun that happens on the streets or in people's homes.

In any case, we just wanted to give you some hints on what to do or where to do it. If you have something to add, please let us know.