Let’s aGOra Budapest

Imagine a harmonic morning in the capital of Hungary. A short walk in the morning sun on the riverbank of the Danube, a delicious coffee in the castle. Then you open your newspaper and spend another half an hour in the café, looking down from time to time to the Parliament building on the other side of the river. Afterwards you decide to take a sightseeing bus and discover the city of hills, spas, culture, nightlife and many more.

Oh no, save this plan for your 50’s. During 31st October – 4th November 2012, no romantic, relaxing mornings and sightseeing buses. Get ready for the most intense days of your life… in BUDAPEST! Let us provide you with a short travel guide so that you make the best of the short time you spend in the city. Let see how a typical AGORA day in Budapest will look like.

View The AEGEEan’s Budapest guide in a larger map

Arriving to Agora Budapest

The first thing you will experience is going to be a strange flow of words coming out of people’s mouth. This is called Hungarian language. Say “szia” (meaning hello) to the country and start to search for the AGORA gym. Follow me.

From the airport you have to take bus 200E. Get on a fancy blue bus and go until station Kőbánya-Kispest which will look less fancy but do not worry, you will spend only some minutes there in the outskirts. Next you have to change to the subway direction Újpest-Központ. After 4 stations you will be already really close to your temporary home. Népliget is the station where you have to get off for the gym (called “Építők Stadion”).

One day’s diary

Listening to nice music we get up fresh in the morning and take the Agora bus to go to the plenary. You might notice that the river Danube divides the city into two sides: Buda and Pest. The plenaries and prytania will take place on the Pest side, near the Liberty Bridge, at Corvinus University of Budapest. This is also the place where you will have your meals. If you got up too late and would like to reach the university by public transport, take the subway (direction Újpest-Központ) until the stop Kálvin tér. From here you can walk to Corvinus University, located on the coast of the Danube. If you look at the other side of the river, there you see Buda with the Gellért Hill. On top of it there is a girl lifting a palm leaf over her arms, that is our Liberty Statue. A nice point to look at if you get lost.

Free time before/after plenaries

If whole day’s democracy seems to be enough and you need a break  just walk across Szabadság híd (Freedom bridge) which is one of Budapest’s oldest bridges. Reaching Buda you can either climb up to the hill and visit the girl with the palm leaf: the surrounding is beautiful specially in darkness.

From Citadella you can see the whole city glittering in night lights, the view from the top of the hill is breathtaking. Along with the Buda castle the panorama became part of UNESCO’s world heritage.

Is your energy level too low? In this case your solution’s name is Gellért thermal bath. Budapest is the only capital in the world with medical thermal baths, to experience one of them located even close to the plenaries is of high recommendation. After refreshment you will have enough power again to get back to the assembly with new thoughts and clear mind.

In the mornings if you still feel hungry after Agora breakfast you can go to the Vásárcsarnok (Central Market Hall) situated right next to the university. It is the largest indoor market in the city that offers a huge variety of stalls on three floors. You can easily notice the building for the huge queue of elderly people with big bags full of paprika, onion, etc. Grab a túró rudi or a kakaós csiga (it is a kind of pastry filled with chocolate cream – an ideal breakfast type for those with sweet taste) and start the day in the neighbour building.

Budapest nightlife

After the whole day of excitements it’s time to discover another side of the Hungarian capital, and throw yourself into the city’s buzzing nightlife. The city offers you a wide range of bars and clubs to choose from. In the next paragraphs, we’ll be presenting some of these, but we encourage you to head to the city center and discover more.

Pubs

Budapest is well-known for its ruin pubs that are open every day, making them a possible choice even for less busy nights, such as on Sundays or Mondays. The rooms of these pubs are filled with old furniture where you can sit down for a chat while having a drink. Make sure to try Hungarian beer or a spritzer made of Hungarian wine and soda for 1,5-2 euros. Szimpla Kert is one of the biggest and most well-known ruin pubs in the city, located in Kazinczy Street, in the heart of the city. Other pubs worth visiting  include Instant (Nagymező Street), Bar O (Ó Street), and Fogas ház (Akácfa Street).

If you’re looking for more places to grab a drink with your friends, head to Deák Ferenc square and enjoy Akvárium Klub, or walk a bit more and visit Szóda, in Wesselényi Street.

Clubs

Catching up with friends, check. Drinks, check. Now it’s time to hit the dancefloor! You can visit Morrison’s Music Pub 2, a place frequented mostly by students, that has several halls, each of them with a different style of music, including a room for karaoke. You may also visit Doboz (Klauzál Street) or Ötkert (Zrínyi Street), both of them providing a good atmosphere for you to spend the evening.

You cannot leave without visiting…

And finally let’s see the places you definitely should manage to see.

Leaving Budapest without visiting Buda castle is like going to Rome and missing to visit the Colosseum. The castle is the most historic district of the city with various monuments such as the Halászbástya (Fisherman’s bastion). The bastion’s seven towers symbolize the seven tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. In this central point of the castle you will be provided with another panoramic possibility. Look down and on the opposite side you will face the House of Parliament.

Szent István Bazilika (Basilica of St. Stephen). Take a trip to the top of the dome, which can be reached by lift or by taking the 146 steps. The top offers another nice view to the city. In the church itself you can have a look at the right hand of our first king, St. Stephen. Although it might sound impossible but it is true: the Basilica is the home of the Holy Right.

Heroes’ Square: near the embassy quarter of Budapest you can find the square which shows the main figures of our history starting from István (Stephen), remember, whose hand is in the Basilica.

City park: Next to the Heroes’ Square you can find a huge green area with zoo, amusement park, the Széchenyi termal bath which is also a perfect place to relax, ideal for department or arrival day.

 

We hope that we could persuade you with our little travel guide to participate in the biggest show of autumn 2012! For more info visit: www.agorabudapest.hu

Written by Kata Szabó, AEGEE-Piliscsaba & Zsófia Komáromi, AEGEE-Budapest
Cover photo by Ákos Szőts, AEGEE-Budapest