Rick Steves' Budapest
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Updates since the second edition:
Hungary requires that you carry an International Driving Permit (available at your local AAA office) in addition to your valid US drivers license.
Hungarian airline Malev has ceased operations.
Budapest
Orientation
The Legenda Pass is no longer available. However, the Budapest Card now includes admission to four museums (Budapest History Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Ethnography, Hungarian National Gallery), as well as two walking tours (one in Buda, another in Pest); it also still includes public transit and discounts to several other museums.
Tree Hugger Dan's Bookstore and Café has new phone number (1/704-6303) and a new website: www.treehuggerdans.com.
Local guide Péter Pölczman has a new website: www.budapestyourself.com. You can email him at polczman@freestart.hu or peter@budapestyourself.com.
Since taking power both in Budapest and in the national parliament in 2010, the Fidesz party has introduced big changes in Hungary. One of Mayor István Tarlós' more superficial but controversial initiatives has been to rename many of the capital's streets and public spaces, including some of its most prominent squares. If you're using my Budapest guidebook, or an older version of my Eastern Europe guidebook, you'll still see the old names for some key landmarks. (The old street signs — crossed by a red slash — will remain up through 2013, and it may take locals even longer to start using the new names.) Of the two dozen or so new names, here's a decoder for the ones you're most likely to encounter:
Old Name > New Name
Roosevelt tér > Széchenyi István tér
Moszkva tér > Széll Kálmán tér
Köztársaság tér > II. János Pál pápa tér ("John Paul II Square")
Lágymányosi híd (bridge) > Rákóczi híd
Ferenc körút (Metró stop) > Corvin-negyed
Ferihegy Airport > Liszt Ferenc (Franz Liszt) Airport
Thermal Baths
Budapest's thermal baths recently upgraded to a system that uses a plastic, watch-like wristband as your ticket. When you enter, touch the wristband to the entry turnstile, then again to be assigned a changing cabin or locker, then again each time you want to unlock your cabin or locker. When you're done, drop the wristband into a slot as you exit the turnstile. This frees you up to enjoy and explore the baths, since you don't have to rely on a grumpy attendant to direct you, or lock and unlock your cabin.