Rick Steves Budapest Paperback – May 26, 2015

As soon as I learned that I'd spend a week in Budapest (mostly on business), I went to the public library to take out a few guidebooks (DK's Top 10 Budapest, Rick Steves Budapest, and Fodor's 25 Best Budapest). I consulted each of the guide books in depth, trying to map out how to prepare for the trip and what was really a must-see. I ended up buying the Kindle version of the Rick Steves book. I am writing this review as a three-in-one, as I expect that you, too, are trying to decide which one is worth purchasing.I'm a bit surprised at how few of the Amazon reviews actually speak to the usefulness of the guidebooks; most of them seem to be written by people who read the books before the trip rather than reporting on the books' helpfulness on the city streets. Each of them has value, no question; it's just that the books each bring something different to the table.Top 10 Budapest and the Fodor's guide are similar to one another. Each is meant for the person dashing through the city who wants to see the "can't miss" sights -- and that absolutely described me.Top 10 Budapest: As with the others in this series, the fits-in-your-purse book has plenty of pretty photos, lots of clear maps, walking tours ("a day in the Castle District and North Buda"), and the promised Top 10 lists, from overall sights (Parliament, St Stephen's Basilica, etc.) to restaurants to children's attractions. My problem with it is that its descriptions are so short you can't easily determine if you care about the destination. For instance, the Museum of Applied Arts gets four sentences. (I didn't go, but only because I didn't have time.) It also sends you to places that make you feel you have TOURIST stamped on your forehead; the Vaci utca is its #3 destination, and while I didn't mind a walk through the area I wouldn't say it's THAT important.Fodor's 25 Best Budapest: This book, too, is a short-and-sweet overview to the city, emphasizing the most popular sights, with good maps and photos. Before the trip this was my #3 choice, but now that I returned I'd put it above the DK guide. I like its explanations a bit more than the Top 10 guide, and it categorizes the sights by your interest ("climbing high" or "entertaining the kids"). Plus, it lists restaurants by neighborhood, so when you're near Parliament you can say, "What's there to eat around here?" My tired feet say: That matters.As I wrote, the guidebook I took with me was the Rick Steves guide. That's largely because his guidebooks excel at helping set expectations. For instance, he goes into great detail about how you should not trust taxi drivers in Budapest (for good reason, too; we took one taxi to a friend's office, and I later realized how many circles we went in). (An aside: Uber is now in Budapest, and it works great. It's also dirt cheap. That's your solution.)Instead of trying to fit everything into a tiny book (which necessarily limits how many things to include and how much to say), Steves' book shares a lot of detail, with real storytelling -- as if you had a (semi)-local telling you about his city. A whole chapter is devoted to the mineral baths, including an exhortation to "do" them (I'm glad I listened!) and explanations about the process (which, as the book explains, is REALLY confusing; the "what to do" steps reassured me greatly). The Great Market Hall (easily my favorite stop!) gets four full pages of description, including food items of particular interest ("At the end of this set of stalls, in the dairy case, they sell Turo Rudi, a semi-sweet cottage cheese covered in chocolate. ...This is a favorite treat for young Hungarians -- mothers get their kids to behave here by promising to buy them one.") His walking tours don't give only historical notations; he tells you to "look at the McDonalds on the right" and explains why such a thing matters (it was the first one in then-Communist Hungary).The downside is that Steves' books are always opinionated, and I don't always agree with his opinions. I rarely find his restaurant recommendations useful, for instance. As it happens, my friend took us to Koleves, which Steves did suggest, and I liked it quite a bit. But the description never would have convinced me to bother. Also, with the Kindle version (at least on my iPad), the maps aren't well integrated with the text, so doing one of the walks was rather a pain. You might want to invest in a map, or at least grab a paper one from your hotel.If I had to do it again, I'd get both the Rick Steves book AND the Fodor's guide -- the latter, perhaps, in the paper version, as it's light enough to put in your day pack.

This book helped me plan our trip to Budapest. I couldn't have done without it. It was like our bible once we got to Budapest. We followed advice throughout and were not steered wrong. Buying the 72 hour metro card was such wise advice. It worked out perfect to get us all over the city. The advice was invaluable. I purchased tickets ahead of time for Memento Park and the day of the tour there were people trying to get on the bus and it was sold out. So, glad I did it online because the book said to. I was never steered wrong. We even took a 2 day trip to Bratislava and stayed at the recommended Marroll's. It was great advice and a great hotel. It was so helpful to have instructions on how to make your way thru the thermal baths. We loved it there. Everywhere we went it was so nice to have the book to refer to about what we were looking at and the history. I can't imagine having done this trip without this book. All the information we could possibly need was at our fingertips. Thanks for a wonderful trip!!

As with all Rick Steve’s guides the Budapest guide is very thorough and professional. We will only be there for two days, so his suggestions for a two day tour are invaluable. My wife and I will not travel without a Rick Steve’s guidebook.

I travel for business overseas a lot and have a fondness for Rick Steves' approach to travel for most of his books. On my most recent trip to Budapest I carried his city guide and also two other compact editions from other sources. I normally find that it takes more than one guidebook to get the info I want during my visits because I try to have a good predetermined sequence in mind of POI's so I can maximize my weekend time off. On this trip I really liked this guidebook. I made copies of several maps from the other guidebooks but found myself using this one more than the others.

I ordered this for my grandson who will be in Budapest for his fall semester in college, so I just skimmed through it. Based on what I did read, and how this was put together, I believe it will be a useful, informative travel guide for him. And I specifically ordered a Rick Steves book because his travel guides have never disappointed. Plus there's the extra bonus of this just recently being published, so it should provide as up-to-date current conditions/information for Budapest as one could realistically hope for!Happy and Safe Travels, Grandson!

I enjoy Rick Steves' books and find his down-to-Earth commentary and suggestions to be excellent. He gives a good, concise history of a locale (in all his books), as well as practical advice as to what to see and tourist traps to avoid. Sometimes places will give you a discount by showing the book. Read the review about the book before purchasing it.

Rick Steve's books are an indispensable asset to any trip! I bought several for my South Central European trip and don't know how I would have seen and done everything I did without them!!

Rick Steves offers more information than I have time in my visit so we will choose from his recommendations. Hotels seem good selections. Noteworthy most of the activities are on the Pest side of city. Good to know. Trip is next year.

Lots of detailed information, especially the historic explanations.

Good

Always fun and fact filled, Rick Steves continues to deliver.

Excellent book definitely recommended

Great