deec Posted October 9, 2013 #1 Share Posted October 9, 2013 We will be on a Budapest/Amsterdam cruise next fall. Trying to decide how many extra days we should plan 2 or 3. We won't arrive until mid-day and I am sure jet lag will prevent us from doing much that afternoon....maybe off to one of baths and dinner. How much of Saturday will be taken with checking onto the ship? If we have been touring on our own for 3 days will we still enjoy anything from the Viking Tour on Sunday? Will it take place in the morning so we will have a long afternoon free. If the sail away is in the dark I imagine we would only need to be on board by 7. Has anyone used a HOHO tour? Will we better to hire a private guide? Zoltan's tours sound very interesting. Should we include the Parliament with a private guide or go on our own. I imagine the market and the shoes will need no explanation or guide. I know we can pre-purchase Parliament tickets on-line. We will be making plane reservations soon so this is one decision that can't be postponed. We plan to stay 2 days in Amsterdam when disembarking. Thanks to all of you who have been answering my questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janmcn Posted October 9, 2013 #2 Share Posted October 9, 2013 We stayed 5 nights prior to boarding the Skadi. The first afternoon, after getting to our hotel about 1 isn, we pretty much relaxed…we were tired. Since Budapest is a relatively easy city, no matter where you are, I would think you could walk a bit, eat out, then return to the hotel. We walked the short walk along the Danube up towards Parliament to see the Shoe Memorial…only about 10 minutes from the Marriott Hotel…but that was all we did that afternoon. The next day we had a tour from 9-2 with Andras of http://www.mypersonalbudapest.com. He, with a driver, took us to see the Market (we briefly went in, looked around, bought a roll), the Gellert Baths (went in, looked around), the view from the top of one of their hills, the Heroe's Square area (walked around a small palace area there), had coffee in a gorgeous coffee shop. Then his driver took us back to Buda where we were left for our "Lunch with the Locals"…Andras and we joined the Barath family for a delicious lunch Agnes had made. We were back at our hotel by about 2:30. The next day, again Andras (himself) picked us up and took us out for the day from 9-6 to see the countryside, including Lake Balaton and that area, ending with a wonderful lunch and wine tasting at a small vineyard….a magical day. The next day we took a Parliament Tour (recommend doing it via a tour company that picks you up at the hotel and has the tickets already.) Yes, you can get the tickets online, but at this time, there was so much construction the tickets would have been more difficult to find and get to your designated tour time.) That took the morning…then we walked back to the hotel (Marriott) and saw St. Stephen's Basilica on the way back. Walked around some more in the afternoon. Took the Legenda Night Tour (boat ride) that night which took an hour up and down the river to see the lights…lovely. We saw more lights than we would have on the ship when it left (it basically just left from the Chain Bridge and went past the Parliament). THe next day we took the bus (Chain Bridge) to the Matthias Church area (we had seen most the interesting parts of the castle area with Andras the first day) and Fisherman's Bastion and the Hospital in the Cave…took most the day. The day we boarded the boat, we checked out of the hotel at 11 and went to the boat immediately and were able to leave our luggage. We had lunch on it then read for a bit before our room was ready about 2. We unpacked and enjoyed the beautiful view and met some of the passengers. I do not recall bothering to get off the boat that night. The next day was raining off and on, so we never bothered to leave. The ship's tour was mostly a bus ride that stopped at Heroe's Square (Pest side) and the Fisherman's Bastion (Buda side) for photos…but it was raining hard for them. Glad we had seen what we had. We never got off. The ship left at dark so we could all be on the top deck to watch the sail away…beautiful. So…that's how we spent our time in Budapest…loved every minute. I limit some walking due to some joint problems, so someone else might be able to fit more into one of the sightseeing days than we did, but we like to really enjoy our time and not get overtired. Loved having Andras take us around…definitely saw more and learned more about his city. Check out his website to see the various tours he offers. My photos of the trip are at quiltingjan.smugmug.com in the Travel Gallery under the Budapest to Amsterdam Cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deec Posted October 9, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Thanks so much for the details...this is just what we needed to decide how long to spend prior to embarkation. will contact your guide too...thanks. We are a group of 10 friends taking the cruise but probably not all spending as much time in Budapest. I will look at some of your older posts and see if you've written about time in Amsterdam post cruise. Your photos are great...what lenses did you take and did you need your tri-pod. My husband is already clamoring for a new lense....every big trip seems to need a new camera or lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moatenote Posted October 9, 2013 #4 Share Posted October 9, 2013 janmcn--we also have reservations at the Marriott on the Danube for next May. It's expensive but looks like the views are lovely there. How was your experience there??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcruisers Posted October 9, 2013 #5 Share Posted October 9, 2013 We arrived a day early and was able to check in when we arrived(11am)then off we went! The next day we checked in on the ship - took 5 min. Then off we went on the HOHO. We were gone all day and even the next day we continued with our 2 day pass on the HOHO. We didn't do Viking's tour. We saw so much in 3 days. But if we did it all over again, I would stay another night. Have dinner at The Spoon- right on the Danube and a 5 minute walk from the Marriott. It was a wonderful meal! You will have a wonderful time! Budapest is lovely and our Viking cruise on the Rinda wa fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janmcn Posted October 9, 2013 #6 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Re: the Budapest Marriott…we took another cruiser's advice and upgraded our room to "Club Level" (or whatever it was). Since we had used our Marriott Points for the room, the extra 50 euros (per day) didn't seem like much compared with what we got: High Speed Wifi, delicious breakfast buffet in their upstairs lounge, appetizers at Happy Hour which were enough to feed us dinner (having had a large lunch each day), unlimited soft drinks and water…and…gummy bears! throughout the day, and the most spectacular terrace in Budapest…(my initial photo of my husband is taken there)…it had lots of chairs and tables…also inside was very comfortable. We spent a lot of afternoons resting up there enjoying the views. Since wifi alone was 25 euros for the high speed, the rest we felt was taken up with our water, soft drinks, beer, wine (if you wanted), cocktails (if you wanted)…etc…Breakfast was fruits, cereals (delicious granola), juices, coffees, pastries, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, etc… plenty to choose from. The room was very comfortable with a lovely view. Bed was wonderful. The camera I used most the time was my Canon 5Diii with a 24-70 f/2.8 lens. I did not take any other lens to save weight, knowing that most my shots would be "wide." I used the backup camera (Panasonic FZ200) for any telephotos we needed which was fine. I used a tripod one time for the night shots of the Budapest buildings lit up. In most the "tour buildings" you don't have enough time to set up a tripod and in other buildings tripods were not allowed, though monopods were. I found using a higher ISO worked fine to get interior shots. I also used HDR bracketing to get a few shots "better." (Have only processed one at this time.) Luke's Grandma…I had no excuse for new lenses this trip..BUT…got new iPad instead :D It was our third trip to A'dam, so can tell you that you should get the Hop on Hop Off canal boat which has 3 routes…you can go all over A'dam using that…just sit and enjoy it, or get off, walk a bit, see something, get back on. We visited the Rembrandt House this time and loved it! If you want to see the Anne Frank House, make reservations on line wayyyyyy before. We stayed at the Renaissance (Marriott) using points again. Like its location better than the Marriott…but that's us…we did the Marriott last time to be closer to the museums which was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osnab Posted October 9, 2013 #7 Share Posted October 9, 2013 We will be on a Budapest/Amsterdam cruise next fall. Trying to decide how many extra days we should plan 2 or 3. We won't arrive until mid-day and I am sure jet lag will prevent us from doing much that afternoon....maybe off to one of baths and dinner. How much of Saturday will be taken with checking onto the ship? If we have been touring on our own for 3 days will we still enjoy anything from the Viking Tour on Sunday? Will it take place in the morning so we will have a long afternoon free. If the sail away is in the dark I imagine we would only need to be on board by 7. Has anyone used a HOHO tour? Will we better to hire a private guide? Zoltan's tours sound very interesting. Should we include the Parliament with a private guide or go on our own. I imagine the market and the shoes will need no explanation or guide. I know we can pre-purchase Parliament tickets on-line. We will be making plane reservations soon so this is one decision that can't be postponed. We plan to stay 2 days in Amsterdam when disembarking. Thanks to all of you who have been answering my questions. Hi Lukesgrandma: Checking in was a matter of walking onboard, and being taken immediately to my cabin! Absolutely no waiting. I did a few things on my own, then did take the Viking tour, but I made sure the things I saw were not where the Viking tour went, unless I wanted to spend a little extra time there. I also bought a 48 hr tkt on the Big Bus (the brown colored bus) which covered a lot of good sights. The tour does take place in the morning. All of them did. Departure was at 1045p. Note: the times may change by the time your cruise arrives, so please don't hold me to the times for your trip. You do need to pre-purchase the tkts for the Parliament, if you want to go there, because you can't just walk in and start. They take reservations and may be booked for the day you want. Note: the market closes around 2p or maybe it was 3p on Sat. So maybe work around that. I don't think you need a private guide. The HOHO tour was really comprehensive. Felicia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjscott Posted October 10, 2013 #8 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Felicia (or others), If we were to take the HOHO bus, would you recommend skipping Viking's tour and using the time to do something else? Our cruise will start in Bucharest and end in Budapest. We are going on to Prague after, so haven't built in any extra time in Budapest and want to maximize our time there. Thx, Becki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cary Cruiser Posted October 10, 2013 #9 Share Posted October 10, 2013 We will be in Budapest in a few weeks at the end of our cruise staying at the Hilton in the Castle District. Was planning on spending an afternoon and seeing the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum (aka The Castle Museum). Have not heard anyone mention these. Anybody been to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janmcn Posted October 10, 2013 #10 Share Posted October 10, 2013 THere's so much else to see in Budapest that we did not do any of the museums since they had not been recommended much. (at all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cary Cruiser Posted October 10, 2013 #11 Share Posted October 10, 2013 I really like museums. I've checked out the website for both of these and they seem to be world class. Being that we are going to be spending our 2 day post extension at the Hilton in the Castle District I think we are going to give them a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euro cruiser Posted October 10, 2013 #12 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Was planning on spending an afternoon and seeing the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum (aka The Castle Museum). The Castle museum was good, the National Gallery was a waste of time, in my opinion. Do not expect the quality of art you find in the museums of London, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York, or Washington. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deec Posted October 10, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted October 10, 2013 All of your tips are so helpful!!! We want a tour of Parliament should we book this on our own and rely on the what is offered or have a tour guide plan it on one of the private tours. Do not want to waste the paid time of a private tour guide but if he/she will add to the experience it may be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted October 11, 2013 #14 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Don't miss the underground hospital. It is really unique. Since we have been to Budapest before, this time, we are going to the spy museum in the castle. It is apparently mostly focused on radio intell, and since that was what our son did for 5 years in the Marine Corps, it is a must. He is so jealous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franski Posted October 11, 2013 #15 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Don't miss the underground hospital. It is really unique. Since we have been to Budapest before, this time, we are going to the spy museum in the castle. It is apparently mostly focused on radio intell, and since that was what our son did for 5 years in the Marine Corps, it is a must. He is so jealous. We did the Spy Museum in May this year. Yes - it is mostly focused on Radio Intel. Unfortunately for us, we went there *BEFORE* we went to the Hospital in the Rock... When we paid our entrance to the hospital, we got a savings voucher for the Spy Museum.... If you go to the Hospital - they have many options for a reduced entrance fee. Anyone who works in health care (MDs, RNs, ambulance personnel) gets a discount - but you need to have something to prove you work in that field. Seniors get a discount as well. They have a whole list of who gets in for a reduced rate!!! One Museum we did do on our 1st visit was the House of Terror. A sobering way to spend a few hours.... Fran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osnab Posted October 11, 2013 #16 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Felicia (or others), If we were to take the HOHO bus, would you recommend skipping Viking's tour and using the time to do something else? Our cruise will start in Bucharest and end in Budapest. We are going on to Prague after, so haven't built in any extra time in Budapest and want to maximize our time there. Thx, Becki Becki: If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know, I would not skip Viking's tour, but that also depends on how much time you have for the other things you want to do. And I'd look at the stops on the HOHO bus and not do them if you are going to spend time doing them on the Viking tour. For example, the Viking tour stops at Heroes' Square. So does the HOHO bus. But I'd not do it on the HOHO and do it on the Viking tour, because you get information about it on the Viking tour. OTOH, the Viking tour doesn't go to the House of Terror, but the HOHO tour stops near it. So you really have to decide what you want to see and then decide if the Viking tour will be worth it. Personally, I found it worth it and I'm glad I did it. Have you looked at the description of the tour on Viking's website? Felicia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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