Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
RIVER TOURS
RiverRide
1 332 2555,
riverride.com
.
Jump aboard the floating bus for a slightly more
unorthodox sightseeing tour; starting in Széchenyi tér, the bus takes in all the main sights in
Pest before splashing into the Danube and continuing down to the Chain Bridge and wind-
ing up in Buda. Departures daily April-October at 10am, noon, 3pm and 5pm; Nov-March
at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. (€30).
THE MEDIA
Hungary has a long tradition of lively print media, and there are several broadsheets
available, in addition to a handful of local English-language papers. Television differs
little from that in other European countries, with foreign cable and satellite television
dominating the airwaves.
Newspapers and magazines
There are several Budapest-based English publications, including the weekly magazine
Bud-
apest Times
(
budapesttimes.hu
)
, which offers a useful commentary on current affairs, and
can often find them for free in the lobbies of larger hotels.
Thebestplacetofindforeignnewspapersandmagazinesarethenewsagents(suchasRelay)
at stations and shopping malls, though all the major bookshops should have a decent stock of
foreign-language material; the best of these is
Bestsellers
.
There are several sources of English-language
listings information
: the fortnightly
Bud-
apest Funzine
(
funzine.hu
), distributed free in cafés and bars, is aimed at the expat market
and has nightlife listings, as well as information on other happenings in Budapest. The free
monthly magazine
Where Budapest
has information on current events. The Hungarian-lan-
guage listings bible
Pesti Est
(free in bars and cinemas) has extensive details of film and mu-
sic events, and sometimes has an English section in the summer.
Television
Hungarian
television
is not particularly exciting, with state TV (MTV) screening a dreary
diet of gameshows and low-budget soaps from morning to night. In addition, there are nu-
merous commercial channels such as ATV, TV2, the RTL Klub and Duna TV, a state-sup-
ported channel geared to Hungarian minorities abroad, though these are little better. For this
reason many Hungarians subscribe to satellite channels, with whole apartment blocks shar-
ing the cost of installation. The majority of hotels have satellite TV, though the programming
is dominated by German channels or those from neighbouring countries. Most, though, will
also feature the likes of BBC World, Sky or CNN.
