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Free 30+ page travel guide about Budapest, Hungary and bits of Central Europe. Enjoy!
Information correct as of summer 2020. If you find anything incorrect or would like to make requests, suggestions (or just want to say hi), please do that here! You should also drop by in /budapest to see past questions and to get advice from multiple people.
I would also greatly appreciate your post-trip feedbacks about whether my recommendations worked out for you or not! Restaurants, clubs can undergo radical changes and it's not always possible to keep track of every single one.
The local charity I support is the Hungarian Food Bank Association. For every €1 donated they are able to save €30 worth of perishable food and have it reach underprivileged Hungarian families. If you find this guide useful, please consider donating to them!
Some links use URL-shorteners, so I could track how many of you are using this guide. Nothing fishy waiting for you behind them.
See my suggestions in the comments below about:

• Restaurants – Where to eat in the city
  
• Clubbing, cultural and sports events – Beautiful people, pub crawls or dive bars?
  
• Shopping, services, health care - Good excuses to part with the last of your Forints
  
• Off the beaten path – atypical activities – if you have the time!
  
• Countryside tourism, regional travel – getting familiar with the rest of the country and more
  

===CORONA RESTRICTIONS===
The situation is subject to change momentarily, this information is current as of September 2020. Eastern Europe as a whole has largely been spared from the worst of it, including Hungary, and the risk of transmission is low.
Presently foreigners are banned from entry altogether. Exceptions are in place for people with ties to the country (family members, studies, work, those holding residence permits), and people transiting by car on designated highways.
The situation will be revised monthly, with experts saying the second peak is expected for December-January.
In the country, you need to wear a mask on public transport, inside shops, malls, cinemas, museums. You don't need to wear them inside restaurants, cafes, bars, but they must close by 23.00. Social distancing rules are in place, but largely ignored.
===END OF CORONA RESTRICTIONS===
Hungary has a continental climate with 4 seasons. Summer is the main season, a slightly less busy time to visit is April to mid-June and September to October, but the weather is less predictable. Those uncomfortable with 30+C (>85F) temperatures should visit around then as 35+C (>95F) is not uncommon in the summer. November through March has -5 to 10 (20-50F) and possibly gloomier weather – but fewer tourists.
Currency: the Hungarian Forint (HUF, Ft). Fair exchange rates for Euros is around 330-335Fts, for US Dollars around 300. Only use currency exchanges where the buy/sell spread isn't greater than 5-6Fts for these two currencies!
Citizens of 62 countries do not require a visa to enter the Schengen Area and can stay for maximum 90 days within a rolling 180-day window. See here if you don’t know what that entails. EU member countries that are not members of the Schengen Area are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom, visits to these do not count toward your 90 days. Non-EU countries part of the Schengen Area are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, visits to these do count toward the cap.
Because we both know you want to do your own research, use:

• WeLoveBudapest, the definitive city magazine in English, from top lists to current events,
• Offbeat Budapest, a new site with the author’s finger very much on the city’s pulse,
• Spotted by Locals, for even more local insight. Their offline city guide is worth $3.99.
• TripAdvisor, a small number of reviews might be bought, but no other site competes with their sheer volume of input. Be skeptical of places with unbalanced (90+% 5-star) reviews, the remaining ones should be accurate.
• Foursquare, with more local input than on TA,
• Wikivoyage, for your encyclopedic knowledge needs,
• Most threads on budapest and a couple more on hungary, which you can search like this,

See the city in 4K, or with Rick Steves.
However nothing beats having a physical guidebook in your hand! Lonely Planet has the best and most recent issue.
Read up on the concept of coconut and peach cultures, as sometimes the reserved and distant behaviour of locals can be misinterpreted by ‘peach’ visitors as rudeness – nope!
This is a comprehensive itinerary, but leaves out the best museum of the city: the House of Terror, a solemn museum of the Nazi and Soviet occupation and crackdowns (get the audio guide or be prepared to peruse dozens of pamphlets). There's an attendance limit, so you might need to wait up to 30-45 minutes to get in when it's the busiest. When you are around Deák Ferenc tér, drop by in the Tourinform office (Sütő utca 2., the small street near the church) to stock up on free maps, printed guides of the city. WeLoveBudapest prints a comprehensive and free one every year around June.
I suggest 4 full days to discover Budapest, or 3 faster paced ones. Make it 5-7 if you'd like to make a few daytrips (Szentendre - open-air ethnographic museum, cobblestoned, quaint center, Esztergom - Central Europe's largest cathedral and religious center, Visegrád - medieval castle, Eger - medieval castle and wine region). Most of Hungary’s highlights can be visited in 2 weeks. For more details on countryside and international trips, see my comment below.
Meal times and habits are typical to central Europe: breakfast is usually done at home, not much of a culture of eating out in the morning. But a large number of new wave breakfast places have popped up in the past years, which offer ample opportunities for visitors, normally from 8am. Lunch is at midday, after 1pm most places are going to be fairly empty and many will stop serving lunch after 2pm. The standard time for dinner is 7pm, bookings for later than 8pm are unusual. Lots of restaurant kitchens close at 10pm (with the restaurant following suit 30-60 minutes later), finding a meal after that hour is challenging for anything other than street food.
Baths
Gellért is the most aesthetic, Széchenyi the largest and most popular among foreigners (Sparty can get crazy with lots of drinking, puking and sex going on in the pools, but it is wildly overpriced and 100% aimed at visitors). Rudas is a Turkish hamam with swimwear optional, single-gender weekdays (women-only on Tuesdays, coed and swimwear-mandatory on the weekend). Lukács is plain and personally I’m not a fan of it – tourists only visit it because it’s included free with the Budapest Card. For more details on the baths, see this.
For off the beaten path sights, ride the D11 or D12 public boat lines for a cheap alternative to paid cruises (travelcards only valid on weekdays, otherwise 700Ft), check out the Pinball Museum, Hospital in the Rock or check out this section for a lot more off the beaten path ideas.
Shopping
Hungary has the world’s highest effective VAT (=sales tax) at 27%. Non-EU/EEA tourists are eligible for VAT refund on their qualifying purchases if they complete the paperwork (min. €175 value per transaction, passport+reclaim form stamped by customs official).
The most popular and best accessible mall of the city is WestEnd on Nyugati tér. Arena Plaza is larger by floor area and carries a couple brands that can’t be found elsewhere, but is less centrally located (10min walk from Keleti train station). Don’t expect to find bargains on clothing or electronics, prices are similar to Western Europe and over North American or Asian ones.
For more information on shopping and VAT refund, see here.
Paprika Market is a decent souvenir shop in the sea of overpriced, terrible quality crap on Váci utca.
Magma Gallery for contemporary and affordable jewelry, ceramics and home decor items by local designers is just one street over on Petőfi Sándor utca.
Check out the antique bookstores alongside Múzeum körút between Astoria and Kálvin tér, some have Socialist-era posters available for sale from 30€ and up, that could be a unique gift/home decor to take home. Ecseri road flea market for more antiques, go early on Saturdays.
Hungarian cuisine is hearty and filling, with a heavy use of meats. Must-try foods are:

• goulash: a beef soup with potatoes and carrots!
  
• Hortobágy crêpes: Hungary's more sophisticated answer to enchiladas, these savory crepes filled with either stew or minced meat covered in creamy paprika sauce make excellent starters or even entrée.
  
• pörkölt/paprikás: a thick stew without or with sour cream mixed in and what the rest of the world incorrectly believes goulash is – my favorite is catfish with curd cheese&dill noodles, though beef, chicken and the inferior pork are more commonplace
  
• roast sausage and blood sausage (hurka-kolbász): the breakfast of champions! Ideally eaten at an authentic butchershop like Pinczi or Balla with a side of pickled veggies, mustard (or horseradish) white bread and cold beer at 8am on a Saturday.
  
• everyone’s favorite street food, lángos: Hungarians only eat it with salt, garlic, sour cream and/or cheese, the Frankensteinian concoctions with sausage or kebab toppings are 100% aimed at tourists
  
• Somló trifle: a scrumptious walnut sponge dessert with chocolate sauce and whipped cream
  
• Chimney cake: a sweet, spiral pull-apart bread baked over charcoal, rolled in the topping of your choosing (typically nuts, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, cocoa, coconut flakes)
  

For authentic recipes, recommendations for recipe blogs or cookbooks, tips for cooking traditional Hungarian meals, see here
For edible souvenirs to bring home with you:

• Pick winter salami: only choose the original, typically ~6000/kg, comes in sizes of 380, 800 and 1250g and in trays (100 and 250g). The brand has a deli & store (working with regular prices) on Kossuth tér, next to the Parliament, open from 7am on weekdays for breakfast and lunch.
  
• Tokaji dessert wine: aszú being the premium product with the at least 4 puttony varieties suggesting quality, but they make regular whites as well, so check the label. Should cost at least 3-4000 per bottle. Suggested wineries: Disznókő, Oremus, Dereszla. Avoid: Royal Tokaji
  
• Premium pralines in lovely, traditional packaging from Stühmer.
  

Grocery stores include Spar, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl. Avoid CBA and Coop, low quality for high prices. Small convenience stores, many 24/7, also dot the city at higher prices.
The most popular and best accessible mall of the city is WestEnd on Nyugati tér.
Alcohol is sold at every one, but some (mostly residential) districts enact a ban on the sale between 22.00-06.00. The central Pest districts don’t have such limitations in place.
Tobacco is sold at tobacconists (‘nemzeti dohánybolt’ ). These shops are also exempt from the evening alcohol sale ban if you find yourself in such a district. Flavored cigarettes are banned in Hungary, so no Black Devils or Sobranies.
Budgets (per person)
For reasonable comforts, I would suggest aiming for at least €50 per day excluding accommodation. Hotel prices significantly vary in and outside high season.

• Shoestring: <€50 (hostel dorm €10, attractions €5+, meals and entertainment €10+)
  
• Mid-range: €75-150 (1/2 of hotel room or great Airbnb €30+, attractions €20+, meals and entertainment €25+)
  
• In comfort: €150+ (1/2 of comfy hotel €75+, attractions €30+, meals and entertainment €50+)
  

Getting around
Do not buy the Budapest Card, it is not a bargain, even if every travel blogger seems to think otherwise! You would need to visit at least 3-4 museums a day to break even and the free visit to the pretty plain Lukács Baths could mean you’d deny yourself going to the much more interesting mainstream alternatives, such as Gellért or Széchenyi. The discounted museums are second-rate and typically not what most visitors choose to hit up on their own.
Do buy a public transport travelcard, the 1, 3 or 5-day unlimited options require no validation or ID (common reasons for fines). For week-long stays, the 7-day travelcard needs an ID number and that you have the document on you at all times. Please do not try to get around by using single tickets!
The travelcards are economical (from €5/24h to €15/week) and easy to use: no validation, you just show it to the controllers. Validity starts immediately by default, or you can select a later starting date (always from midnight). 7-day and monthly passes require an ID/passport number, and you must have the ID on you whenever you travel, otherwise you risk getting fined! Groups of 4 or more can also buy the even more economical '24h group travelcard', but all persons must travel together using that.
Common reasons for fines

• Forgetting to validate single or transfer tickets
• Entering the subway station without a valid ticket
• Not having the ID on you for the 7-day travelcard or monthly passes (if you are fined for this, you have 2 business days to present it to the central BKK office for a reduced fine)

Ticket inspectors (must have an anonymized badge and armband) are notoriously brash, speak subpar English. Paying on the spot lets them give you a discounted fine of 8000 instead of the regular 16000 through postal order or wire transfer, they aren't looking to scam you if they offer you that. Fines are pursued internationally through collection agencies, multiplying the original amount once their fees are added.
Cheapest way to get to the city from the airport is by public transport. I suggest paying the 900Ft supplementary ticket for the 100E bus. The southern portion of the M3 subway is under reconstruction, during that period the 200E buses go beyond their usual terminus, Kőbánya-Kispest and take you to Nagyvárad tér station, where the subway runs from. The purple ticket machines at the airport and all over the city take chipped cards. Shuttle bus is a good compromise between price and comfort and depart when full or close to.
Ignore touts walking up to you offering cabs in the arrival hall, use the official Főtaxi booth immediately outside the building. Rates are centralized: flagfall 700Ft, 300Ft/km, 75Ft/min waiting. The fair price to the centre is around 7-9.000Fts. Rides inside the centre are typically under 3.000. All taxi companies have passable reputations with a few horror stories about each, Főtaxi (+36-1-222-2222), 6x6 Taxi (+36-1-666-6666), City Taxi (+36-1-211-1111) are a few. There are some stories of even company cab drivers trying to rip off naive-looking tourists, especially around train and bus stations, so consider legal Uber-alternative Taxify/Bolt (Android, iOS). Uber is banned.
Most companies have apps, but they have terrible design and might set an unchangeable pick up location 5-10 minutes away from you. It’s much better to order by phone, they have English-speaking operators. If you must use an app, choose Taxify.
Scams
Cabbies are the only ones eclipsing the ticket inspectors in notoriety. I cannot emphasize enough: DO NOT USE THE ONES WITH ‘FREELANCER’ ON THE FRONT DOORS!!! These drivers are nicknamed 'hyenas', work independently, they always have rigged meters and are known to sometimes assault customers who don’t comply with their ridiculous demands. If you hail on the street, be absolutely certain you’re getting into a company cab (logo on the front doors).
A known scam by the hyenas, fraudsters and illegal street exchangers is giving you worthless currencies with similarly high denominations as the Forint – namely the Indonesian Rupiah or the old Belarusian Ruble.
Bag handlers at the airport steal from unsecured luggage. Never put any valuables in your checked luggage!
Overly friendly, attractive women approaching you in broad daylight 'to practice their English' and taking you to scammy cafés where you'll be charged €300 for a bottle of bottom-shelf champagne are also to be avoided. Recently a Redditor reported the same happening to him through Tinder, so be very suspicious of anyone insistent on going to a particular establishment. The scam café was Hajós Café on Hajós utca. Another known scam location is Café Fidelité on Révay utca.
Otherwise general safety cautions should be exercised: watch your valuables in crowded spaces for pickpockets, be wary of overly friendly strangers approaching you and introducing the idea of going to a club or bar by their 5th sentence or of people pretending to be authority.
Policemen typically wear dark blue uniforms and white shirts , sometimes with a visibility vest and can be identified by the numbered metal badges on their chest and their separate police ID card which you can ask to inspect before complying with their orders. Scammers use fake police IDs to part you with your cash under the guise of inspecting the notes for counterfeits. Always ask to see it first: this is real, this is fake – notice where the real one has a serial number, the fake says POLICE. If the issue is anything halfway serious, ask to be escorted to the nearest police station – it will scare away scammers playing dress up.
The emergency number is 112 for police, ambulance or firefighters, there are English-speaking operators (works throughout the EU).
If you get pickpocketed, notify both the police and in case of losing your travel documents, your embassy. Thieves are usually courteous enough to leave papers near trash bins, so walk around in the neighbourhood to see if you can recover them. If you find someone else’s, hand in to the nearest police station.
Getting around
the city is easy, Budapest has one of the best public transport systems of the continent. Use Google Maps for orientation and getting around! Tickets and passes with rates are listed here.
All EU/EEA citizens aged 65+ travel for free on all Hungarian public transport, including trains, distance buses. Picture ID and administrative 0 Ft ticket required. Age 65 is not included.
Student discounts are available to full-time students in EU/EEA countries with a valid student ID. If it doesn’t have it, also carry a picture ID. EU citizenship not required, you only need to study there full-time (not applicable for exchange students unless they get ID issued). The monthly student pass (3450) is cheaper than the 72h travel card (4150) for identical benefits.
The 4 subway lines are coded by numbers and, unofficially, colour (1-yellow, 2-red, 3-blue, 4-green). The busiest, M3, is under renovation until 2021, but remains in partial operation, see details here. The entire line shuts down after 8pm and all day on weekends (replacement buses operate), and one section of the line is always out of service. For 2019 it’s the southern segment, between Kőbánya-Kispest and Nagyvárad tér. During this time the 200E airport bus will take you to the more central Nagyvárad tér stop (from where the subway runs) instead of its regular terminus of Kőbánya.
In Budapest driving is not recommended for the perpetual lack of parking spaces, congestion and because there's really no need to. If you must arrive by car, pick a hotel with parking, use the free parking lot at Kelenföld subway station, street-parking by StarPark at Podmaniczky utca at ~€8/24h, or opt for a more central location (such as one of CarE Park’s garages ) at ~20€/24h, €100/week and do not use it for getting around in the city. Public areas are metered in the entire centre, typically charging 1.5€/h with a cap of 3 hours on a ticket.
The Bubi city bike system is available for anyone’s use. The rates are very favourable (500Ft for 1-day, 1000 for 3 for the pass), but a deposit of €80 will be docked when you register and might take a few weeks to release. First 30 minutes are free, after it's 500Ft/30min on top of the daily pass' price.
Two e-car sharing systems compete in Budapest. I suggest using MOL Limo, as you can complete your licence verification remotely (do it before arrival, they might take a day or three if they are backlogged). Despite the name, the cars are tiny, automatic VW up!s, the majority electric and all automatic. Age limit 18, min. 1-year old national licence, foreign ones accepted, €20 registration fee and €0.25/min rate. Coverage includes basically every area of note to tourists in the centre, except the Castle and underground garages (as well as the airport). Expansion is planned for the future. You cannot park (leave the car) outside the coverage area, but you can drive through.
Sightseeing
The best rated tour bus company is Big Bus, Giraffe (aka. the red Hop On Hop Off ones) tends to get mixed-to-negative reviews. Segway tours also available.
Free thematic walking tours of the city depart in front of the lion fountain on Vörösmarty tér daily. A tip of 2000-2500Ft/person suggested, but they're are chill about it, you can give less if you're on a budget.
River cruises run during the day and the evening, including dinner (usually not great, save for one) or party in the latter case. The most popular is Legenda, partiers choose Boat Party.
One standout cruise is Pannónia Gastro Boat that goes above and beyond the standard quality of service of other operations and often host guest chefs from innovative countryside restaurants.
Public transport alternative is the D11 or D12 boat lines between Boráros tér going up to Népfürdő utca (or getting off at Jászai Mari tér or Margaret island 1 or 2 stops prior). Tram 2 between Jászai Mari tér and Boráros tér hugs the Danube on the Pest side and loops around the Parliament for a similarly nice experience. Seasonal operations, normally from March through October.
Money
The currency of Hungary is the Hungarian Forint (1EUR=330HUF, 1USD=300HUF in November 2019), but I’ve listed prices in Euros (€). Check for current rates here.
Don't exchange Forints at home, bring USD/EUGBP in cash or a chipped card with you – the withdrawal fee is far smaller than what you’d lose by the atrocious rates available to you at home (exception: neighbouring countries).
With cards, Visa, Mastercard are best, Maestro acceptable. Avoid Amex, Diners Club and other uncommon non-European issues.
CAD/AUD/JPY/CNY will be exchanged at slightly worse rates, but still much better than if you’d exchange Forints at home. I don't recommend bringing currencies other than the ones I've mentioned and those from neighboring countries, but if you do, Tichi Change exchanges almost every valid currency in the world at as good of a rate as you could realistically hope for.
When the ATM asks you if you want to be charged in your home currency, say no and opt for Forints or you'll lose up to 30% due to the poor conversion rate! Learn more about the rip-off of dynamic currency conversion here and steer clear of the ATMs operated by Euronet. Besides the dynamic currency conversion ripoff, they will also prompt you to withdraw ridiculously high amounts of money (equivalent of $500 or more) that you will not be able to spend in 3-4 days.
Don't exchange any money with bright orange Interchange they use ripoff rates (>30% spread). They hava e monopoly at the airport and are also present throughout the city in premium locations, such as Váci utca. Street exchange is illegal and a good way to get scammed.
Tons of fine currency exchanges around the city, the best USD and EUR rates are at Gold Change but use your eyes: the buy/sell spread shouldn’t be more than 1-3% apart for these, or 2.5-5% at banks. Exchange offices and banks do not take cards! You may only use them for ATM withdrawals.
Phones
Make sure to bring an unlocked phone, ideally a dual-SIM one.
The 3 main carriers are Vodafone, Telekom (T-Mobile) and Telenor. The best prepaid package is Telekom's Domino Fix with the 1/3/30-day unlimited 4G add-on, costing 990+9900Fts (€32) for the 30-day option. SIM cards need to be activated after purchase, so buy them at brand stores where help is available instead of supermarkets or gas stations.
Roaming fees within the EU have been abolished in 2017, you will be able to use your SIM in any EU member country, but not as if it would be local. I.e. a Vodafone Hungary-issued SIM will be roaming on Vodafone Austria’s network. Some 'reasonable' data caps remain in place, which are determined by the cost of your service.
Outside the EU there are punitive data rates. I once managed to rack up a $90 bill for 5MB by accident.
Sleep
Rates are for high season (late April through September, Christmas, NYE), might be 50+% lower on other dates

• For 0 hours (party hostels, from €10): Grandio, Retox, Carpe Noctem Vitae
• On a budget (well-reviewed hostels, dorm, private rooms €10-35, apartments €40-60): Lavender Circus, Maverick City Lodge, Pal’s, The Groove, Loft, standard Airbnbs
• Mid-range (€80-150): Mamaison, Cortile, Memories Oldtown, Casati, upscale Airbnbs
• In style (€150-250): Palazzo Zichy, Bródy Studios, Moments, Prestige, Corinthia, this palatial Airbnb
• Lavishly (€250+): Aria, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons (the gold standard), Kempinski

Location: if you plan on sleeping, the party district (VII., inside the ring road) should be avoided, as well as VIII. outside of it and around Keleti train station for safety reasons/because you can get nicer digs elsewhere. An under the radar gem of an area is VII. between Múzeum körút and the ring road. Buda is nowhere as dead as tourists collectively imagine it to be (especially around Széll Kálmán tér), don’t shun it if you find someplace nice there.
Eat at

• Rosenstein (best traditional Hungarian restaurant in the country)
• Két Szerecsen (cozy Hungarian)
• Olimpia (casual fine dining)
• Borkonyha (business casual fine dining, Michelin-star)
• Stand25 (Bib Gourmand bistro - don't miss the goulash and the layered potatoes!)
• Kispiac (modern Hungarian)
• Vén Hajó (restaurant ship with amazing panorama and well-done Hungarian food - touristy, but still memorable!)
• Petrus (French-Hungarian, Bib Gourmand)
• Dobrumba (Arabic)
• Tüköry (traditional Hungarian on a budget)
• Ruben (traditional Hungarian on a budget)
• Bors (soups & sandwiches with a cult following)
• Manu+ (authentic Neapolitan pizza).

For more detailed restaurant recommendations, see this comment. August visitors, check the restaurants' websites and Facebook to see if they aren't on holiday!
The quality of service is a common source of complaints, don't take it too hard if it happens to you. Tip is 10% most of the time, unless you’re really dissatisfied or find yourself absolutely elated. Many top end restaurants add a ~12% service charge to the bill, tipping on top of that is not expected, though naturally it will be appreciated.
Neither regular, nor ost fast food restaurants do refills. The only exceptions are all KFCs and a few Burger Kings.
Smoking is banned at all restaurants, bars and basically every facility open to the public. Designated smoking areas can be found outside on the street.
Try pálinka (~40% ABV fruit brandy), Unicum (herbal bitteaperitif, like Jäger), bikavér from Eger and Szekszárd (lit. ‘bull’s blood’, a full-bodied red), Tokaji aszú (similar to white Port, made of hand-picked berries with noble rot, named the "wine of kings, king of wines" from the 18th century) or fröccs (spritzer, white or red wine mixed with seltzer – a lifesaver in the summer)!
More details in the shopping section.
Or get really local and ask for ’fény’, carbonated vodka foam over raspberry syrup. You’ll see the fény (=light) at the end of the tunnel in no time!
Eat a freshly fried lángos at market halls (acceptable toppings: sour cream, garlic, cheese, perhaps ham and cabbage - certainly none of that tourist stuff with nutella, Hungarian sausage or kebab...) and fried sausage from a butcher shop such as 1951 establishment Balla Hús in Városház utca or the more contemporary Belvárosi Disznótoros eatery. The gallery of the Hold utca market hall hosts quality street food vendors, Karaván food truck yard right next to Szimpla.
Nightlife
For more detailed recommendations, including strip clubs, casinos and more, see this comment.
A casual evening

• Doblo - wine bar
• Élesztő - craft beer pub
• Csendes - bohemian hangout
• Nappali - neighborhood bar with great whiskies

Ruin pubs

• Szimpla
• Instant-Fogasház
• Mazel Tov
• Pótkulcs (low-key, occasional folk concerts)

Mainstream clubs

• Akvárium
• Ötkert
• Story
• HEAVEN
• Fröccsterasz
• Raqpart (seasonal only)
• BRKLYN
• BoB

Techno

• Lärm
• Aether
• Arzenál

Rock and miscellaneous

• Dürer Kert
• A38 (a converted Ukrainian barge – a unique experience)
• Barba Negra Track

Gay bars

• Alterego
• Why Not

Get out
See train schedules on Elvira, check for buses on menetrendek.hu (this site combines bus and train schedules, but has no English version, check for the orange or blue icon on the left side to see which is which).
Daytrip options include

• Szentendre: a bit different from its Scottish peer (lit. 'St. Andrews') quaint, cobblestoned artist town, chock full of galleries, art museums, restaurants – and tourists. The biggest attraction requires a short cab ride out of town, the open-air ethnography museum, Skanzen, with authentic recreations of functioning village clusters (open March through October). Best restaurant, oddly enough, cooks up a Caribbean fare at the hand of the Curaçaoan owner and his Hungarian wife: Mjam. Reachable by the H5 suburban railway from Batthyány tér (requires extension ticket for segment outside city limits - that's after Békásmegyer station, you need a 15km extension)
  
• Visegrád and Esztergom: a Renaissance castle with a panorama in the first, Central Europe’s largest cathedral in the second – and all this can be done on a scenic hydrofoil or boat trip in season!
  
• Eger: the location of a key Hungarian victory over invading Ottoman forces, this popular excursion destination is famous for its medieval castle, Baroque center, random museums (Beatles, firefighting and marzipan to name a few), its reputable wineries producing full-bodied, cabernet-like reds (bull’s blood, bikavér) and the limestone terraced natural spa of neighboring Egerszalók. Suggested wineries: St. Andrea, Tibor Gál, Demeter, Bolyki. Eat at Macok restaurant (by the castle entrance), they are excellent!
  
• Etyek: the nearest wine region to Budapest, they focus on whites. Although not as spectacular as the previous examples, it's a worthwhile visit for wine aficionados in the summer and autumn. Typical varieties include Irsai Olivér, királyleányka and Muscat Lunel (sárgamuskotály).
  

For multi-day excursions, including to lake Balaton and detailed information on car rental, countryside and international tourism opportunities, click here

Coruscant
In his suite above Ordo's Ristorante, Hellexix Ordo sat comfortably in his reclining, leather office chair, working diligently at his desk as he poured over the various reports that had been provided to him by DX-11, detailing the financial losses and gains made as a result of their recent visit to the capital of the Severan Principate, Taris. DX's projections had been spot-on, and even though they had ended up spending more in terms of setting up inventory and infrastructure for the event, DX-11 was quick to point out just how many credits they had saved in labor costs for the event thanks to their last minute investment in Ulric Sigliano's B1 droids. Satisfied, Hellexix looked up from his holocomputer and swiveled around in his chair so that he could get a good look at the cityscape of Coruscant outside of the large viewports behind him.
"Alright DX," Hellexix said as he simultaneously activated the communications device built into the armrest of his chair, "I gotta admit, I like what I see. You were right about the droids."
A small holoprojection of DX-11 sprung up on the end of the chair's left armrest, the droid's head swiveling to look into the direction of its owner.
"Of course I was right," DX-11 said matter-of-factly, "I don't recall that ever coming into question, sir. I trust that you're satisfied with the modest surplus that I've deposited into your Muunilinst accounts?"
"More than satisfied, my friend," Hellexix admitted as he turned his gaze away from the holoprojection and instead looked out upon Coruscant, eyeing the Opera House to his right, the Skydome Botanical Gardens to his left, and the NGR Senate Rotunda further off in the distance. His thoughts wandered to what he was going to do exactly with this sudden influx of credits. "What do you think," he mused, mostly to himself, "Should I buy a new star fighter?"
"I do not know, sir," DX-11 replied to the rhetorical question, "I find that the whims and desires of organics usually amount to nothing more than waste. My programming dictated that I should instead use the surplus for projects here at the restaurant, but the reality is that we made a larger sum of credits than I predicted, as witnessed by the reports that I provided to you this morning. As such, I found myself in a cross circuit, of sorts - horde the entirety of the surplus to be used on practical applications, or split a portion of it so that my master could then waste it all on something worthless."
Hellexix looked back down at the holoprojection of the droid, his eyebrow raised in amused interest at DX-11's cutting personality shining through.
"My calculations culminated in the decision to appease you with credits, sir," DX-11 finished simply. Hellexix was about to reply when the droid spoke up once more, "Sir, be aware - it looks like Mr. Sigliano is on his way to your suite as we speak. I just registered his keycard being used to access the private turbo lift."
"Thank you DX, go ahead and give him access to my suite," Hellexix smiled, in spite of himself, "You've done well, truly. Keep things running smoothly here."
"Always, sir," the droid replied just before the holoprojection flickered out. As if on cue, the door on the other side of the suite slid open, allowing Ulric Sigliano to enter Hellexix's private office.
"Mr. Sigliano!" Hellexix greeted the man, standing from behind his desk to reach over and offer the man a handshake before gesturing towards the lounge area and bar to the right side of the room.
"Mr. Ordo, thank you for seeing me," Ulric replied as he shook the Marine's hand and followed him towards lounge, taking a seat in one of the luxurious, leather chairs that awaited them.
"Can I fix you a drink?" Hellexix offered as he moved towards the bar.
"Oh, well… I'll have whatever you're having," Ulric replied.
"I usually keep it simple," Hellexix explained as he reached behind the bar to retrieve two small glasses before dropping several cubes of ice into them. The ice cracked quietly as Hellexix poured an amber, Corellian liquor over them before taking up both glasses and moving to join Ulric in the seat opposite him, handing the man his glass along the way.
"I trust all went well after we spoke about the anomaly you found during the event?" Hellexix asked, referring to the communications he and Ulric had shared during the Principate's Ball.
"Oh, yes yes, of course," Ulric nodded in an almost dismissive manner as he took a sip from his glass. "That was handled easily. I found an issue with the droid's software package that required some brief modifications in the code, nothing serious. It was just DX-11 that was keeping me from my work."
Hellexix chuckled as he lifted his glass to his lips, nodding in understanding of the man's frustrations with DX-11.
"Well again, thank you for working with it," Hellexix said, looking Ulric in the eye as he spoke, "I know it's unorthodox to be taking commands from a droid, but DX-11 is unique. If you don't mind my asking though, what exactly was the issue you found with the B1's?"
"A minor inconvenience, more of a… Processing inefficiency that I noticed," Ulric said, doing his best to explain without going too deep into the details. "These droids had to be reprogrammed on top of an old template, so there's some things about the software that even I am still learning. To put it simply though, I noticed a decrease in processing speed whenever DX-11 began to layer multiple commands to the droids. My observations showed that the B1's were 'slowing down,' both internally and externally. Once I diagnosed the issue though, all it took was a bit of database tuning to speed up the droid's ability to process the more complex commands."
Hellexix nodded along, fully comprehending Ulric's simplified explanation. He raised his glass to his lips once more as Ulric finished, his curiosity satisfied. Before he could respond though, Ulric spoke up again. "To get to the point though, Mr. Ordo, that's actually the reason why I'm here now."
"I… Don't follow you," Hellexix said as he leaned forward to set his now half-empty glass down on the small table between them. "I thought you said you resolved the issue…?"
"Oh, and I did," Ulric explained quickly, "For your droids. However, while you purchased most of my stock, I sold the last hundred or so to another client just before the Principate's Ball. Unsurprisingly, those last few droids also suffer from the same inefficiencies, so I am going to need to patch them just as I did your's."
"Now, I know I'm on your payroll, but" Ulric continued before taking a quick sip of his drink, "Surely you understand that I have a responsibility to ensure that the product that I sold to my other client is in working order. As such, I will need to go away for a few weeks and just wanted to keep the record straight between us before I disappear."
"Alright," Hellexix said, his brow furrowed as he considered the other man's words, "I see no issue with that, so long as my own droids here are in working order and remain as such. You're on a salary, afterall. Where are you going, if I may ask?"
Ulric Sigliano gulped loudly as he swallowed the last of the liquor in his glass, leaning forward to set it down on the small table next to Hellexix's. He paused for a few moments, choosing his words before speaking.
"Mr. Ordo, if I may be candid with you, it's outside of the NGR's borders… And therefore, outside of their jurisdiction, if you catch my meaning."
Hellexix raised a curious eyebrow. "Go on…"
"Have you ever heard of the Ace of Staves?" Ulric asked him, leaning forward as he spoke in a conspiratorial tone. Hellexix shook his head, so Ulric went on to explain. "It's a casino. A casino built into an old Imperial Star Destroyer, from what I understand."
"That sounds… Interesting," Hellexix raised a hand to his jawline in a pondering manner as he tried to imagine it himself.
"Oh, it is," Ulric agreed, "Hell of an operation they've got going on. They usually travel in the Outer Rim and Wild Space, avoiding most authorities like the NGR, Principate patrols, or Mandalorians. They stick to the outskirts mostly, and most pirates aren't stupid enough to attack a Star Destroyer, even if their defense fleet is small."
"Im in," Hellexix said suddenly, standing up from his seat, "When are we leaving?"
"Oh!" Ulric exclaimed in mild surprise, "Well, blast me - I didn't know you'd be interested!"
"Of course I'm interested," Hellexix said as he already began making his way back towards his desk to begin looking over his schedule. "I just made a ship-load of credits and I don't plan on sitting here staring at the Opera House for the next couple of weeks."
"Well, there's just one thing," Ulric said, now standing as well, "One does not simply arrive at the Ace of Staves, you gotta know the right people and know where to find it."
"Alright," Hellexix said, looking up from his desk at Ulric, "I suppose you know where to find it?"
"Kind of," Ulric explained as he walked to the center of the room in front to the desk, "At least, I know the right people. We're going to need to catch a ride with an old friend of mine - a shrewd, Rodian smuggler - goes by the name of Twado Hyrotia. I was going to send an encrypted communication to his ship Sunset Eclipse this afternoon - I suppose I should tell him to expect one more passenger…?"
Hellexix briefly thought about contacting Liana Veruna to see if she'd be interested in accompanying him once again, but decided against it as he considered the criminal implications that came with consorting with smugglers and Outer Rim gambling operations.
"Yes, just me," Hellexix nodded as he stood straight and met Ulric's gaze, "This sounds like a trip that we'll want to keep off the record. I'll have DX-11 arrange for travel plans and booking on Spira for us both, should our whereabouts come into question."
"I mean, I wouldn't mind Spira, either," Ulric grinned, "But that's not a bad idea. Would it be too much to ask that you handle the travel expenses that Twado is going to demand?"
"Don't push your luck, Sigliano," Hellexix warned him, before grinning, "But yes, I'm sure that should be no issue. Just arrange the meeting with this Rodian friend of your's and then we'll work it out from there."
"As you say, Boss," Ulric offered a mock salute, "I'll let you know as soon as he agrees to a rendezvous. I'd recommend arriving with your bags already packed, he doesn't like to wait around."
With that, Ulric made his exit and Hellexix sat back down behind his desk and began making the necessary arrangements on his end.
Well, this should be fun…

First off, I just wanna say how happy I am that such a subreddit exists. I've been building this world (system) for years. There's a ton of detail to cover, and I'd be absolutely ecstatic for any feedback and criticism. I plan on making at least one novel, but ideally three books in a series. I think there's enough content for an amazing story to come from it. So without further ado, welcome to the world of Krelkatol.
Krelkatol:
Krelkatol is a planet who's size and mass is roughly 90% of Earth. It is 55% land and 45% water. It orbits a gas giant alongside several other moons, and the gas planet itself orbits a binary star system. This makes for some interesting day/night cycles, which we'll get to in a moment. The planet is mainly comprised of ceramics, but it is not entirely void of mineral deposits either - they're just much less common, which plays a key role in the dominant species's economy. Like earth, it has its own magnetic core with which to fend off the bombardment of solar radiation from its dual suns.
What makes this planet unique among most other life-bearing planets is the types of life it hosts. There are plants, which are carbon-based like ours, and there are carbon-based animals, similar again to earths own, but not as much. However, the truly unique life-form on this planet are the ones based off of silicon. Though the carbon-based dominant animal species of this planet, the Nagarians, are unsure of how the silicon-based life-forms came to be, their entire civilization grew to be dependent on them as a source of technology. Skip ahead to The Silicon-based Lifeforms to learn more about them.
The day and night cycles of Krelkatol are interesting: for one thing, it has two types of nights and only one type of day. Because it orbits a gas giant within the planetary plane, it has a small night that lasts roughly 45 earth minutes whenever the gas giant casts its shadow on it - an eclipse of sorts, covering the entire planet in darkness. It also has a second, much longer night that can last for 17 earth hours due to its slow rotation. The day lasts a bit longer than night because of the extended angles of light coming off of the two stars.
The scenery is truly something to behold. If dual sunsets weren't enough to impress you the first time, watching them set behind the gas giant in the sky will be sure to grab your attention. The giant is mostly red with a tinge of purple in it and takes up roughly four times the real-estate of the night sky compared to our earth moon. If you are on the side experiencing both regular night and the solar eclipse at the same time, you'll notice a significant reduction in the light-pollution that tends to leak in from the horizon. This is the best time & place to view the night-sky, which also happens to show several other planets within the solar system.
The Nagarians:
The dominant life-form of Krelkatol are the Nagarians: a lizard-like humanoid species with three major sub-species - The Krona, the Jhelzi, and the Isthrit. Though there are significant differences between these sub-species, it has been told through folklore, and later confirmed through research by their scientists, that all three types descended from the same ancestral creature.
The Krona are mainly a land-based sub-species of the Nagarians. They are the largest of the three and tend to hunt game on the ground for trophy and food. They have much stronger, heavier bodies in comparison to their genetic neighbors. The hip joints have evolved to be adept at movement using both four and two-legged stances. When using all fours, they can reach impressive speeds of 45mph, capable of jumping between trees and branches with amazing agility while in pursuit of their prey.
The Jhelzi are the aquatic version of the Nagarians. Though all versions of the Nagarian have air-breathing gill-like apparatuses at the sides of their neck, the Jhelzi's has been specially adapted to work just as well, if not better in water. Their feet are webbed, and their tails have massive, sharp fins on them with which they use as their main source of propulsion through the waters. Even their snouts are thinner and longer than the others so as to reduce drag and make for quicker snapping motions with which to hunt.
Isthrits prefer to perch on higher spots of land instead of the plains and jungle floors that cover a majority of the land, opting to dwell in mountains and cliff faces. Their front legs have a large, collapsible flap of thin skin that extends all the way from their hips to the end of their elongated forearms. These wings, while more than sufficient for gliding and diving-at-speed, are oddly inefficient for sustained flight. Their arms lack the power for propulsion. It wasn't until the induction of the silicon-based lifeforms into their culture happened that they were capable of traveling great distances for extended periods of time...
The Silicon-based Lifeforms (SBLs, placeholder name):
Though their origins are shrouded in obscurity, historically speaking, SBLs were not introduced into the Nagarians society until several thousand years* ago. At this point in time, something happened to the Nagarians that practically mimics the intelligence boost seen in humans roughly 50 thousand years ago.
The SBLs are very malleable in their genetic code. Using a triple-helix DNA structure, they come in so many different forms and sizes, with new ones popping up all the time, that it is practically impossible to keep track of all unique SBLs. Taking advantage of this genetic flexibility, the Nagarians were able to tame a plethora of SBLs and breed them to their needs. They were fascinated with SBLs, and rightly so. Unlike other carbon-based life forms, SBLs could have significant genetic changes from one generation to the next. Because of their variety, Nagarians used SBLs as their technology, and they use them for EVERYTHING. The need for cars, flashlights, telephones and transistors, and virtually everything in between was eventually fulfilled through the taming, breeding, and befriending of SBLs. It soon became a common-place skill to breed and grow your own SBLs in a Nagarian society, much like driving a car is in ours.
Tribes turned into towns. Cities turned into nations. Culture advanced at an accelerated rate thanks to the SBLs, and before long the Nagarians had reached what many would consider to be a highly-advanced Utopian society. SBLs have advanced significantly to reach this point - the pinnacle of which would be the space ships that would take nearly a century to grow to maturity. Some SBLs have even evolved to be an independent member of society with an intelligence and personality to boot. Their technology was hundreds of years ahead of our own at the beginning of the 21st century.
Plot:
For several lifetimes, the Nagarians have lived peacefully and in harmony with one another, no small part in thanks to the SBLs. However, one day one of their astrophysicists detected a small yet incredibly ominous entity slowly but surely approaching their solar system. Us humans know these as neutron stars. The collapsed core of a dead star that, despite being roughly the size of Manhattan island, is on average 1.4 times more massive than our own sun. Its gravity is so intense it breaks down its atoms into their separate subatomic particles. Due to the conservation of angular momentum, it rotates a thousand times a second. Some of these neutron stars are highly magnetized, a.k.a. pulsars, and emit so much gamma radiation at their magnetic poles that if Krelkatol were to be caught within its cross-hairs at such a close distance, its atmosphere would be vaporized in a matter of seconds.
Luckily, the scientist discovered it over a thousand years* before it would be within range to wreck havoc amongst their solar system. He did urge the government and engineers to design a system that would be capable of evacuating a planet of several billion onto another planet. Eventually, after decades of feverish research and testing, the Nagarians had created 3 pairs of portals, 6 in total. The idea was to place one portal from each pair onto a space ship that would then search the stars for habitable planets. Once a habitable planet was found, they would land, activate the portal, and move the entire population of Krelkatol over to their new home. Thinking they would have plenty of time to search, especially using three space-ships to do so, they sent them off to do their mission.
Time passed. The signal delay between Krelkatol and the ships became impractical once they were light-years away, so they lost contact with them after some time. It didn't take long for the public to become unrestful regarding their ever-impending doom. Rumors spread like wildfire between the social gatherings of the citizens, and soon the figures of authority had their ears perked up. Public outcry demanded a second alternative. The only alternative there was was one of mass evacuation, an undertaking that the current government was unable to handle. Despite having a space-ship fleet of 500+, it was no-where near enough to evacuate the billions of Nagarian citizens of Krelkatol. Each spaceship that was currently in service required well over a hundred years to grow into a mature, functioning ship, and it was impossible for them to create enough, or even to support such a number.
(Though details are unclear of what exactly happened at the time, the following are what the current Nagarians know.) Only some hundred years away, the government proposed a lottery. This did not go over well with the public. Riots began to break out and, as if to further infuriate them, the government responded by guaranteeing the upper-classes of society (royalty, government officials, "important people") a seat in the evacuating ships. In order to control the civil unrest that had blanketed the world, the government had employed the SBLs as a form of riot control. What happened next was the most significant event in Nagarian history.
Genocide. SBLs, once regarded as a keystone of Nagarian civilization, became their undoing. They turned on their former masters, slaughtering militia and citizens alike without a second thought. Given only a few years, the entire population of Nagarians was reduced to endangered levels, all of whom retreated back into the wilderness and away from the cities and other areas once populated by their kind. Because the SBLs "bit the hand that fed them" so to speak, those without any means to live simply died off. Some types of SBLs were able to live off of the scraps of resources left over in the city ruins. The technology of the Nagarians went from being incredibly advanced to the equivalent of our own technology during the early 1800's.
The reason why their technology didn't undergo a complete reset was actually the same reason why they didn't die off completely. There was a small group of extremists within Nagarian society that forebode the use of SBLs. They instead opted to create technology using the same means that us humans did - through the use of materials. The lack of minerals such as iron, aluminum, silver, gold, and other materials used in our human technology, combined with the aggressive pace at which SBLs advanced, meant that their mineral technology could never match that of the SBLs.
Unbeknownst to anyone on Krelkatol, one of the spaceships with the portal does eventually find a planet fit for colonization but crash-lands on the surface. The planet is Earth. Hundreds of years later, a 'military base' named Area 51, or Groom Lake, is built on top of the excavation site, funded by a casino chain in Las Vegas not too far away. The humans eventually figure out how to activate the portal and begin exploring Krelkatol in all of its beauty and ruin.
From here on out, I have several ideas for the story that I'd like to use but am not willing to share just yet. Also, thank you for taking your time to read the whole thing. I hope you found it as enjoyable to read about as I did thinking it up. Again, please leave your thoughts, comments, and criticisms below and I'll respond to them when I can.
EDIT: Clarification