Page 217 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

ENTER T AINMENT IN BUD APEST  215

In Budapest, like Hungarian Disabled
anywhere else, you Association (see
can risk it and try p225). Places
buying returned tickets which are equipped
at the last minute. A for disabled visitors
cheap option, but not include the Mátyás
for the weary, is to buy Church (see pp86–7),
a standing-room pass. the Hungarian State
Opera (see pp122–
3) and the Liszt
Late Night Academy of Music
Transport
(see p133). The Dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet
Budapest’s metro (see pedestrianized Liszt Company perform at the State Opera House
p238) runs until just Ferenc tér, with
after 11pm. Night its preponderance of Both port.hu and est.hu list
services (buses plus outdoor cafés and the most popular film, music,
tram 6 on the Grand terraces is also perfect television and theatre
Boulevard) run from for disabled travellers. programme guides, but are
around 11:50pm The bars and pubs only available in Hungarian.
through the night of Central Pest,
until the regular Poster pillar many of which
service resumes at are located in Late-Night Scams
around 4:30am. Night services basements, are not. Note Budapest is generally a very
are numbered 900–999. that many venues (including safe city, but it is not without
Separate schedules for night the State Opera House) its dangers, especially late at
and day buses are posted at the offer small reductions for night. Tourists are seen as easy
relevant stops. A major hub for disabled visitors. prey by fraudsters, and it is
night bus lines is Astoria. The important to stay alert at all
solo night buses are front-door times. Attractive peroxide-
boarding only; on articulated Listings Magazines blondes promenading Váci utca
vehicles ticket inspection is The best Budapest listings and introducing themselves to
carried out at every door. The publication is the bi-weekly single men may appear friendly
stop-request button is situated Funzine, which is published and genuine at first sight,
above the exit door. in Hungarian as well as in but, alas, they are not. If they
English. It is available in bars, insist you join them for a drink
restaurants, hotels and in a bar of their choice, you
Disabled Access shops. Visitors should also should refrain from doing so.
Much work has been done try the Budapest Times, an They are not prostitutes, but
since Hungary joined the English-language weekly “consumption girls”, employed
European Union to make newspaper that lists the best by bars to bring in foreign men
the country’s venues accessi ble current events. Pesti Est, to buy them drinks – which, as
to as wide a range of people although in Hungarian only, will become apparent only
as possible. However, a lot of is also available online. A after the bill arrives, cost tens of
Budapest’s older venues are far useful listings website is thousands of Hungarian forints.
from wheelchair-friendly. It is welovebudapest.com, which Although a number of bars
best to check before visiting has pages in English and an that carry out this practice have
by getting in touch with the extensive list of programmes. been closed by the authorities,
it still goes on. Always check
how much you are paying for
a drink and be wary of instant
female friends.
Late nights are also the
delight of unscrupulous taxi
drivers, eager to make a killing
from tipsy tourists. Never get
into a taxi that does not clearly
state it belongs to a reputable
taxi company, or which does
not display its tariffs on the side
of the driver’s door. Licensed
taxis are painted yellow and
must use the same fixed prices.
Always ask for a rough estimate
The elegant interior of the Liszt Academy of Music (see p216) of the cost before getting in.

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