Travel to Budapest! Why?...

Our undertaking is highly ambitious - as if one tried to encapsulate the ocean in a drop. In this palmful of Budapest, you will recognize Budapest, which covers 525 square kilometres, the pearl of the Danube, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and the world.

Which are the "maxi" points about Budapest, roughly equidistant from the North Pole and the Equator? It has a strikingly beautiful location, on the two sides of the Danube, spanned by bridges (the Budapest reach of the Danube is 28 km). On the right side lies hilly Buda, majestic and impressive, while on the left side we have Pest, spread out on a plain, but all the more of a bustle. The Hungarian capital, scarcely more than a century old, is at once an individual and international place, unmistakable and open to the world. Out of every 100 visitors to Hungary, an average 75 to 80 pay a visit to the city, which has a population of 2 million.

The city is steeped in history to the maximum, with a past that goes back 2000 years. It has been the chief town of a Roman province, a crossing-place on the Danube, a coronation town. It has been under Turkish, and then under Habsburg rule. It has seen the Reform Period, the emergence of the bourgeoisie, with its values and customs, and it has seen two world wars, destruction and construction.

It is , too, a virtual microcosm of various styles, as each period left its mark on it (there are as many as 860 protected buildings and structures of historic interest). Enthusiastic residents of the capital, devoted to their city and home district, make every effort to prevent the loss of these monuments, so that posterity can also delight in them. The examples include columns from the Roman period, the Gothic Matthias Church, the Király Baths from the Turkish period, the Castle Palace of Buda, mainly Baroque in its exterior, the neo-Classical Hungarian National Museum, the neo-Renaissance Opera House, the Museum of Industrial Art, built in a Hungarian historical style, the modern Elizabeth Bridge, the Budapest Convention Centre and the new hotels, which have earned international prizes.

The Parliament Building, the Castle of Buda - designated as a museum centre, the Fishermen's Bastion, the Citadel, the Chain Bridge, and the Heroes' Square are potent symbols of Budapest.

Budapest is, to a maximum degree, a city of contrasts too. It looks on the City - the Urbs hungarica - from a height of 235 metres above sea level. To take you still higher, there is a chair-lift, while in the depths runs the metro (the continent's first underground railway is still in operation). Budapest has an island - Margareten Island , whose area covers 94 hectares - and it has a castle too - a replica, in the City Park, of the Castle of Vajdahunyad, eclectic in style. In Budapest, there are treasures to behold, such as the crown - from the beginning of the 11 th century - of St. Stephen, Hungary's first king, or - in the Museum of Fine Arts - one of the world's most valuable collections of Spanish painting and graphic art. And there is no shortage of seductive knickknacks either.

It is a meeting point of North and South, East and West. The intercrossing cultures are blended into a unique synthesis, while remaining characteristically Hungarian. You may acquire maximum firsthand experience of this every March, at the Budapest Spring Festival where in 100 venues, there are 1000 events to be seen and heard, from concert to traditional fairs, from exhibitions to mime shows, from computer competitions to folkdancing parties.

Budapest conducts its business with a maximum of seriousness: it has administrative, academic and economic central offices and institutions, universities, factories, two international fairs every year. International congresses and conferences. But Budapest is also a carefree, happy place, with casinos, a circus, a race track, and a lively night life. From Budapest the reform of the system of economic management was launched, and from Budapest it was that the magic Rubik cube started on its world-conquering journey.

Budapest provides maximum relaxation with its parks, esplanades, the promenade on the Danube Embankment - and if offers maximum refreshment with its medicinal baths - including Europe's oldest indoor thermal-water swimming-pool, its lidos and sporting facilities. Budapest is a venue of World Cup competitions, European and world championships, and at the Hungaroring, near Budapest, the Hungarian Grand Prix Formula One race is held. In Budapest, you have the opportunity for horseback riding and, in winter, for skiing. You can angle and practise karate, play tennis and bowling.

Time is something that is always in short supply. But, as testified by international analyses, prices in Budapest, as against other large cities, are very reasonable indeed.

As a sign of maximum recognition of all this, UNESCO has added the Danube panorama, with the Castle of Buda, to the World Cultural Heritage List. Let's drop an obolus into the Danube, sending a message by the gulls circling over it, namely, that we will return.

Resources about Budapest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest

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