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Easter in Budapest

By: Erzsebet Dobos  

The Hungarian capital offers plenty attractions and things to do:

- historic sights and fine architecture at every corner,

- recreation in Budapest Spas,

- just walking and admiring the beautiful vista from Castle District or Gellert Hill,

- dancing and clubbing until dawn in Budapest Nightclubs,

- shopping in the Great Market Hall or in Budapest Shopping Malls (except for Easter Sunday and Monday, when shops are closed,)

so you’ll have a good time if you spend the Easter in Budapest.

I give you some tips on which sights to visit, where to stay, so that you can plan your visit well. I’ve included some useful information about public transport, opening hours and the weather around Easter in Budapest.

Sightseeing Tips

The Castle District

Budapest has historic sights and fine architecture at every corner. You can easily explore the top attractions during the Easter Weekend.

The Castle District in Buda offers magnificent views from the Fishermen's Bastion: the majestic Danube with the Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd) and the impressive Budapest Parliament.

The Castle District forms the centre of historic Budapest and some of the most important cultural monuments stand in the area, like the Royal Palace and the Matthias Church. The narrow cobbled streets are ideal for romantic walks. The district has some fine restaurants and cafés.

The Litea Bookshop and Tearoom on Hess András tér, opposite the Hotel Hilton has a very relaxed atmosphere with books in English and fine teas. In the House of Hungarian Wines you can taste delightful wines from the country's wine regions.

The Cable Car (sikló) takes you down from the hill to Clark Adam tér in a few minutes. Near the Pest end of the Chain Bridge stand two architectural masterpieces on Roosevelt Square

- the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and
- the Art-Nouveau Gresham Palace

Vörösmarty Square and Váci Street

Walk down along the river on the Danube Promenade and turn onto Deák Street at the Vigadó Hall. The street takes you to Vörösmarty Square, the heart of Budapest. The white carrara statue of the famous 19th century poet, Mihály Vörösmarty, dominates the square. The prominent Gerbeaud Café flanks the side of the plaza. Sit in for a cup of fresh café with a slice of delicious Hungarian cake and absorb the traditional coffee house aura.

The famous pedestrian and shopping street, Váci utca opens from the south end of the square. The street together with Vörösmarty tér is a centre of social and cultural happenings that attract both tourists and locals throughout the year. Fancy boutiques and chic cafés line the sides of the street that mainly target tourists. You can have better bargains at the Great Market Hall at the south end of Váci utca.

After long hours of walking refresh yourself in Budapest Spas. In the famous Gellert Bath you can admire the fine interior while you relax in the hot water. The grand Széchenyi Bath belongs to the largest spa complexes in Europe. The water in the outdoor pool is hot enough to enjoy bathing in even in cold weather. The baths are open on Easter Sunday according to their Sunday schedule. On Easter Monday all baths are closed.

During the Easter weekend there'll be some great parties in Budapest, so you won’t be bored at night either.

Where to Stay

Most Budapest Hotels offer special Easter packages. Note that you should book your accommodation well in advance, because a lot of tourists visit Budapest at Easter every year. Stay at a 5 or 4 star downtown hotel and everything important will be within easy reach. Price of Easter packages in 5 or 4 star hotels is around 300 €/double room/2 nights.

Public Transport and Opening Hours at Easter in Budapest

On Holy Saturday public transport vehicles run according to Saturday schedule. Easter Sunday and Monday are public holidays so public transport operates according to holiday schedule.

On Good Friday and on Holy Saturday shops are open according to Friday and Saturday schedule. See opening hours of shops on this page. On Easter Sunday and Monday supermarkets and large stores are closed, however some shops and services that are usually open on holidays will be open on Easter Sunday and Monday:

- florists
- sweet-shops
- 24-hour (non-stop) shops
- restaurants
- cafés and confectioneries
- cinemas

The Weather Around Easter in Budapest

By Easter the city awakens from its winter sleep. The first buds on the trees appear and spring flowers adorn the parks and squares. The sun shines warmer and warmer, though the weather is rather unpredictable in spring. Daily temperatures can vary from 2-15°C/36-59°F. At some nights temperature can go below 0°C/32°F. Usually there are some rainy and windy periods in March and April, so don't forget to pack in your umbrella and warm sweaters.

Some Hungarian Easter Customs

A 40-day lent precedes Easter, when people rarely eat meat. Some have meatless meals only on Fridays. Women clean the whole house, wash the windows and a few days before Easter they start baking cakes and pastries and prepare kocsonya, a rich jellied soup cooked with pork meat, smoked meat and spices. Egg painting is practiced mainly in the villages. On Good Friday afternoon religious people go to the church to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The church bells will remain in silence until Sunday, the day of resurrection. On Holy Saturday the religious commemoration continues with a procession.

Traditional Hungarian Easter dishes

Satuday evening marks the end of the Lent and people have traditional dishes: smoked ham with pickled horseradish, hardboiled eggs and fresh white bread or milk-loaf.

On Easter Sunday morning the Easter bunny brings presents for the little ones. The master or the mistress of the house takes a basket packed with ham, eggs, horseradish, milk loaf and a bottle of wine to the church where the priest blesses the food. The content of the basket varies slightly from region to region. The family eats all the blessed meat for breakfast, not a crumb should be wasted because the blessed food considered to possess magical powers. For example the crumbs of the milk loaf are given to the hens so that they lay more eggs.

Mainly meat dishes (poultry, pork, lamb, rabbit) dominate the traditional Easter Sunday lunch with various garnishing. Many housewives bake beigli (pastry rolls with walnut or poppy seed stuffing) not just for Christmas but for Easter too. Browse my collection of Hungarian Easter Recipes at http://www.budapest-tourist-guide.com/hungarian-easter-recipes.html

Easter Monday

On Easter Monday morning boys and men sprinkle women with perfume or with cold water, for which women give chocolate eggs or some change in return. Men of course gather strength with a shot of pálinka (Hungarian fruit brandy) and they spent the rest of the day with more boozing.

© Copyright http://www.budapest-tourist-guide.com All Rights Reserved

About The Author Erzsebet Dobos lives in Budapest with her husband and son. She loves the Hungarian capital very much. Erzsebet's goal is to share her insider knowledge about Budapest with tourists visiting the city. On her website, at www.budapest-tourist-guide.com she provides up-to-date information to help travellers to get the most of their visit to Budapest.

This article was posted on March 22, 2006  

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