ANYONE VISIT AUSTRIA or HUNGARY?? (2010, for rent, hotels)

[Steve Bagu]

My mother was born in HUNGARY, to the east side of DEBRECEN. Has anyone ever visited the country and can they tell me about the scenery etc. She originally went to CANADA in the late 20's. I have never been there but since I am getting up in years, and do not have many years left have thought of visiting just to see where she lived a hard life. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Steve (HUNGARIAN PISTA)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Steve Bagu

My mother was born in HUNGARY, to the east side of DEBRECEN. Has anyone ever visited the country and can they tell me about the scenery etc. She originally went to CANADA in the late 20's. I have never been there but since I am getting up in years, and do not have many years left have thought of visiting just to see where she lived a hard life. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Steve (HUNGARIAN PISTA)

The entire former Eastern Block has changed so much since the Wall came down... you would hardly know it from 20 years ago.

Depending on how you go... Frankfurt is has lots of connections and is a major hub in Europe. Or,. fly to one of the hub cities and get a Eurail pass.

When I go to Austria, I fly to Munich and rent a car... works easier for me.

Budapest is a beautiful old city and is worth a visit. You can anywhere in Austria and not be bothered.

The dollar has taken a tremendous beating on the exchange over the last 7 years... everything is at least 60% higher...

What about a tour? If your going to see the sights... it sure makes getting around almost hassle free.

[wastina]

Both Hungary and Austria are wonderful and beautiful countries. You should definitely go! I second the idea to rent a car and drive it: I lived in Croatia and drove up to Budapest: being about to get out of the city and see the countryside is a wonderful experience. As usual, no country is their capital, so get out and about and see what you can. Yes, there have been tremendous changes in the region, but it's worth going to see it. I seem to remember the name Debrecen for some reason, possibly Holocaust literature? Can't recall, but think it's worth checking out, if you're interested. Both Austria and Hungary (Magyar) are worthy countries stepped in history. Europe (all of it) is a lot smaller than the US, and with the freedom of travelling on your own by car, you can have a fabulous trip. Have fun with it!

[Mooseketeer]

I adore Hungary and Austria and both are very much deserving of long visits. Hungary tends to be far flatter ( the famous "Putza" seems to stretch forever) and Austria is a delight of wonderful mountains, gorgeous towns and of course Vienna a city of great charm and wonderful architecture. I also love Salzburg.

Budapest has changed immensely since the soviet era and is modernising so fast, it is staggering. It is still an intensely beautiful and atmospheric place with great architecture, wonderful museums and a must see is the Parliament building and the Museum of Ethnology across from it. I love "Gerbaud" the fantastic old cafe with the best hot chocolate in just about anywhere and cakes to die for. Cafe Angelica is also wonderful . The old town ( Buda) is superb but the 19 th century part of town ( Pest) has splendid Art Nouveau buildings .

Both countries are very different but offer a lot in terms of culture and interest.

Hungary has a fascinating history and many ethnic groups have made it a crossroads of Europe so to speak and a bridge between the west and the east.

It is changing fast but still retains a lot of charm and character.

Austria is much wealthier, and far more "westernised" still but both countries have much to offer.

The great thing about Austria and Budapest is the wonderful train links to other treasures such as Prague, Bratislava and many more places in Eastern Europe.

[miguel's mom]

I've been to Hungary 9 times since 1992 and it was always a great trip! Since we started vacation after the wall came down I cannot compare it to the former Sowjet times.

However we through a colleague of my mother we came to this nice couple in a suburb of Budapest and stayed there ever since. They are renting rooms and after a while they became like family. The woman cooks like a god and they are so great.

From there we made many tours around the country as Budapest lies pretty central in Hungary. We also visited the Puszta area with all the farms and animals.

It's definitely worth a trip.

Also Budapest itself is a wonderful city. You can do lots of sightseeing. The museums are wonderful and they also offer great sightseeing tours. The nightlife is also known to be very good and the food, yummie!!!

As for Austria, haven't seen much of it yet, although it's nearer than Hungary, but we always went through it on our way to Hungary... Vienna is worth a stop!

[DontH8Me]

Hello Pista/Steve! In addition to the many responses you've already received, I will add my experiences with Debrecen and environs. I visited on a trip in the late 70s as a child with my family one summer, as well as spent some time there on my honeymoon in the 90s.

There is a lovely old grand hotel there in the heart of town called "Aranybika" (Golden Bull) which is where we stayed on both occasions. The town itself is smallish in comparison to Western cities, but quite charming nonetheless. Since I am not one to enjoy places where all the tourists go and muscle for rank in the packed cities, I far prefer the peace, quiet, and connection to natives and nature when traveling the coutryside in Hungary. If you do decide to visit Debrecen, you will also be able to spend some time in other historic and lovely places in the area (Eger, with its fortress and basilica; Matrahaza in the nearby "mountains" of Hungary - yes, they can ski there in the winter; my favorite Paradfurdo, a breathtaking little slice of heaven that houses an historic transportation museum as well as the theraputic baths, the list goes on and on).

Here are some links that may contain further info of interest to you:

Egri Anzix
Paradfurdo-Peres Travel Guide - Vacations - VirtualTourist.com
CÃ*vis Grand Hotel Aranybika Hotel Debrecen | venere.com
Hungary Tourism Board, Hungarian travel Budapest vacation information (broken link)
Hungary Tourism Board, Hungarian travel Budapest vacation information (broken link)

The last two links can provide in English a great deal of detail about the regions in question. I do hope you consider taking the trip - and I hope you enjoy your stay!

[Luke81]

I've been only 2 times to Budapest and several times to Györ (it's only an hour fromand you can do cheap shopping at about half the price of austria) and both cities are very nice places, especially budapest is wonderful. I found it a little dirty, but it's clean compared to american downtowns and there's so much to see! Budapest it's a wonderful town, you would sure love it, and find it easier to get along as an american tourist than the hungarian countryside. I have never been to Debrecen, but it's not like Budapest where living standard is pretty high, iz's quite a poor area with huge population loss and unemployment. It's getting better, but only 5 years ago austrians still donated clothes and furniture to hungarians. It would sure be a culture shock to go there.

I don#t know what your question had to do with austria, but it's certainly a beautiful country (my home country ). Most of the country is very mountainous and touristy, also very expensive and has (in my opinion) a higher standard of living than the usa and is light years away from hungary. In hungary the farther east you go the poorer it gets. In austria the east of the country is the wealthiest part, but less touristy. People in vienna do real work only a fwwork in tourism, not like salzburg or innsbruck where everybody works in a hotel or souvenir shop. The center is great for tourists, but I'd advise you to leave it and go to district centers like the meidlinger haupstraße or reumannplatz where you can see the amalienbad. Mariahilferstraße is great for shopping and if you're into malls in vösendorf, a suburb of vienna there's europe's biggest mall, and in southern vienna they're right now building an even bigger one.

If you want to got o Debrecen I'd say fly to Budapest and take the train, or fly to Vienna look at the city and take the train via Budapest to Debrecen. It would be nice to see some of austria's mountains, they are really beautiful, I think hungarian puszta is kind of boring it's flat forever and there's no change. Not even a single hill! Some people like that though. < heard that Debrecen gets very hot in summer. Vienna too, but what usually we have 80F summers. Winters get cold but not freezing cold. 40F or something, though at night temperature drops below freezing.

[DontH8Me]

It would have been so nice if you could have just stuck to describing what you know and leave out the arrogance you apparently have for Hungary. Thankfully, I have been to much of Austria so I know that not everyone there looks so far down their noses at Hungary. You seem to have interpreted this person's search for information as to where the wealthiest tend to be. It seemed to me that he was trying to connect with his mother's home town while he is still alive, not have someone trash it.

By your own admission, you say you have never been there, and all you provide is information trashing Debrecen as well as the puszta, because YOU don't care for it. One could also say that all Austria has is boring mountains, no? Perhaps some things really are better left unsaid.

"I have never been to Debrecen, but it's not like Budapest where living standard is pretty high, iz's quite a poor area with huge population loss and unemployment. It's getting better, but only 5 years ago austrians still donated clothes and furniture to hungarians. It would sure be a culture shock to go there." "....a higher standard of living than the usa and is light years away from hungary."

Interesting how you can make it seem like Hungarians are destitute in the same breath, yet where was Austria when the Croatians had to flee there homes for the war? Hungary provided refuge for thousands of people. I am guessing you never bothered to look at the links I posted with pictures and information that clearly refute the claim you have about what trash Hungary is.

You found Budapest a little dirty - how ironic. I have spent time in Vienna, and I found it no cleaner. I doubt that anything I could say would help you see the folly of your loftiness, but I hope it doesn't discourage the poor gentleman from visiting his mother's home town.

[Luke81]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound arrogant or diss hungary. I never said that the puszta is boring, I said I find it boring, but some people like it. And when I said Debrecen is poor, that's true, it's the 8th poorest region in the EU, however I never thought this could discourage the poster from visiting his mother's hometown! And being poor is nothing to be ashamed of, it isn't the people's fault if their country was a dictatorship with a planned economy until 18 years ago. I don't think Austria is better than Hungary, I only said it's wealthier and that I like mountains better than the puszta. Maybe I was a little too patriotic. I apolagize for sounding arrogant and I really shouldn't have talked about debrecen because I haven't been there.

[kispista]

Two rooms flat for rent in Budapest in downtown, very good public transport. Near to everything.
63 USD or 40 euro/night.
liveinuk@freemail.hu