Budapest is Central and Ideal

Since 1989, Budapest has been attracting meeting professionals outside of Central Europe by investing resources to improve its infrastructure.

By Kevin Woo  One+ | December 8, 2011

IF RODNEY DANGERFIELD WERE ASKED TO DESCRIBE BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, HE MIGHT PARAPHRASE HIS SIGNATURE LINE AND JOKE THAT THE CITY DOESN’T GET ANY RESPECT. It might be more accurate, though, to say that Budapest doesn’t get the respect it deserves if you measure respect by the number of people who visit the country each year.

Budapest is one of Central Europe’s oldest cities. Its first settlement was built by the Celts around 1 AD and was later occupied by the Romans, who used the area as a military camp. Today, Budapest is widely considered one of the world’s most beautiful, charming and welcoming cities. Just ask Forbes magazine, which, in 2008, named Budapest Europe’s seventh-most idyllic place to live.

For those in the know, Budapest has become a sought after meeting and event destination. It certainly has much to offer: three sights on the UNESCO World Heritage List, world-class performing arts, a vibrant restaurant and nightlife and some of Europe’s best hotels and meeting facilities.

With all that Budapest has going for it you’d think the city would be overrun with visitors. Well, not exactly. In 2010, Hungary attracted a mere two percent of all international European tourist arrivals, but that’s beginning to change.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Hungary has invested time and money to improve its physical infrastructure, and as a result, has begun to catch the eye of meeting and event planners outside of Central Europe.

“Budapest is an amazing city,” said Beata Kyblova, a meeting planner from the Slovak Republic who selected Budapest as the host city for the Effective Plant Shutdowns and Turnarounds Forum this year. “It has amazing architecture, beautiful historical sights, great food and vibrant night entertainment. The only thing I can recommend for every person who thinks of visiting Budapest is make sure you have at least four days if you really want to get to know this wonderful destination.”

Kyblova chose Budapest because of its close proximity to the Danube Refinery, which employs state-of-the-art technology to minimize plant downtime. The 100 forum attendees were able to tour the refinery to learn how it incorporated more than 3,700 high-tech valves that alert engineers if there’s a problem, virtually eliminating unit shutdowns.

Senior executives at the Danube Refinery played host to the group for a half-day, delivered presentations and answered specific questions as the group toured the plant.

Unlike many meeting planners, Kyblova didn’t have any formal events scheduled for off-hours, preferring to let the attendees explore the city on their own. After the tour of the refinery, Kyblova gathered a small ad hoc group to join her on a walk to explore the most historic sections of Budapest, see some historic sights and have dinner.

“Taking a walk and having dinner together was a good way to get to know each other, discuss business, as well as personal stuff, and have a good time,” she said.

Two of the most popular restaurants in Budapest are Comme Chez Soi and Onyx. Both are located in the center city area in a neighborhood called Belváros-Lipótváros.

Comme Chez Soi is a cozy Italian restaurant that treats its guests like family. Everyone is given complimentary antipasti, and the complementary wine, champagne or homemade Limoncello flows freely. The menu is typical Italian fare with pastas, pizza, meat and fish.

Onyx is only the second restaurant in Budapest to earn a Michelin Star, and Executive Chef Szabina Szullo was the first Hungarian chef to receive the award. The restaurant is best known for its small sample-size tasting menus, which include some interesting local delicacies such as lamb soup with loin, tongue, green bean puree; suckling pig shoulder with cabbage; salmon with carrot soup; or veal tripe.

If you’re looking for some after-dinner entertainment, taking in a performance by one of Budapest’s 20 active symphony orchestras is a must. Classical music is deeply rooted in Hungarian history. Four of the world’s most famous composers, Franz Liszt, Erno Dohnanyi, Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok, were Hungarian.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra is by far the most well-known orchestra in the city. It is led by the famed Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer and recently performed Beethoven symphonies and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at New York’s Lincoln Center to rave reviews. The orchestra performs at the Bela Bartok National Concert Hall in the Palace of Fine Arts.

The Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1853 by Ferenc Erkel and is the oldest-running orchestra in Hungary. It has a rich history, with famous foreign composers conducting the orchestra in performances of their works, including Brahms and Ravel. The orchestra performs 10 programs a year at the Hungarian State Opera and also appears internationally as one of Hungary’s leading cultural ambassadors.

If classical music isn’t your thing or you’d prefer to spend time relaxing, Budapest is known as the spa capital of the world. No, we’re not talking about a run-of-the-mill 21st-century, cookie-cutter spa with fluffy towels and chocolate baths. Instead we’re talking about spas with millions of liters of hot (and mild) mineral water that is rich with calcium, magnesium, hydrogen-carbonate, sulfate and sodium and churned up by a fault that runs under the Danube River, creating natural thermal baths throughout the city. Some of the spas are more than 600 years old. In all, there are 118 thermal springs in and around the city to suit everyone’s tastes—from those who want to have a cool (dare we say cold?) and refreshing experience in 40-degree-Fahrenheit (4-degrees-Celsius) water to those who want a more toasty experience in 172-degree-Fahrenheit (78-degree-Celsius) water.

The Rudas Bath was originally built in 1550 and is one of the oldest and most historic spas in Budapest. Rudas underwent an extensive renovation in 2005 and has thermal baths with a unique mineral content that is said to help cure illnesses such as arthritis and calcium deficiency of the bones. Rudas is open to both men and women, but on alternating days. The spa also hosts special party nights, which combine black and white movies with audiovisual effects and contemporary music played by DJs.

Visitors should be careful when choosing a spa. The Kiraly Baths, for example, was built in 1565, and, on the exterior, looks much the same as it did 600 years ago. Kiraly has been in need of significant repairs for decades, but local officials say they don’t have the resources to fix the crumbling mortar, rusty pipes or black rot that surrounds the windows in spa’s dome. Some visitors don’t mind the decay and prefer 16th-century spas for their authenticity and architecture.

When to Visit and Getting Around

Spring and autumn offer the best weather, festivals, fairs and cultural events. The peak travel time for tourists—July and August—is also when Hungarians go on vacation, so service can get a little spotty at times. The winter months can be bitterly cold, some resort areas in the outlying areas close until spring and some of the city tourist services are offered on a limited basis.

Hungary’s largest airport, Ferihegy Repuloter (BUD), is 15 miles southeast of Budapest. There are a few non-stop flights between North America and Hungary, and a non-stop flight from New York (where most of the non-stops originate) to Budapest is about nine hours. Many of the large hotels in downtown Budapest offer car or shuttle bus transport to and from the airport but charge for the service.

The subway, known locally as the Metro, is the easiest way to get around town. The stations are easy to identify on the street (look for the big “M”), and tickets for all forms of public transportation (including buses) can be purchased at hotels, Metro stations, newspaper stands and kiosks.

Kyblova predicts that as meeting planners become more familiar with Central Europe, Budapest will become a more popular meeting destination.

“Budapest has a strategic position in the heart of Europe,” she said. “It is so easy for people to travel there. It has a large airport, which is easily accessible, and it has incredible history, so attendees will be able to enjoy the city even after the conference day is over.” One+