#98 London on the horizon

I'm going to London in a few weeks. I've been to London before, it was 5 years ago on my 18th birthday, and my older sister and I went for a weekend. We did the London Eye and the London Dungeons and we got one of those bus tours around everywhere else. It was the end of November and the Christmas lights were all up which was a nice touch.

Christmas!

So I've already been. But then I was only 18 and I was chaperoned by my older sister. This time I'm old and hardened and well travelled and I'll be with a friend (who I haven't seen for nearly 2 years, so you know it's gonna go down!).

London is horribly expensive, but then I've seen the major sites and I'll be with a friend who also happens to have a spare bed in her room which is wonderfully convenient!

Thankfully I'm a native English speaker and occasional viewer of Eastenders so there will be no language barrier to contend with on this occasion, and I think my biggest worry will be the currency. The pound-euro rate has more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, so even though I'm not going for a few weeks I've started eyeing up the exchange rates in order to try and get the best value.

The transport around London is pretty expensive, I'll probably be getting a £30 Oyster card, and travel within zones 1 and 2 (basically central London) has a max daily charge of £7. So (avoiding peak times!) it should be £28 over 4 days. Peak times are 6.30 am to 9.30am (easy enough to avoid I think) but again also from 4pm to 7pm, which is slightly more difficult to avoid, but by (Prince) George I'll try my best!

Not this kind of oyster though

#97 Budapest, Hungary

Budapest. Cheap, wonderful, exciting! I was really impressed with Budapest (ha, it rhymed!). The Hungarian capital inhabitants weren't the most polite or helpful, and the language is completely unintelligible, but if you get past these minor details it's a wonderful city.

The most famous sight is the Parliament building, located on the banks of the Danube river. You can get a great view of here from Castle Hill and Gellert Hill.

Parliament (view from Castle Hill)

Castle Hill is just absolutely fabulous! It is home to Fisherman's Bastion, a fairytale-esque wall, the colourful Matthias Church, and of course Buda Castle (Fun Fact: the Katy Perry video for 'Firework' was filmed there!). It also has some winding streets with cute cafes and shops. It has a magical atmosphere (even with the hundreds of bus tours and groups) and was a real treat. 
To get there take the 16 or 16A bus from the sloping hill opposite Szell Kalman tér station, it leaves regularly and only takes about 5 minutes. I took the bus, but despite what you hear on the internet I don't think it would be a struggle to walk it.

Fisherman's Bastion

Gellert Hill is less impressive and much smaller in comparison to Castle Hill, but is nice all the same. The main focus is a large 'Lady Liberty' type statue, and it still offers wonderful views of the city. It's not as easy to access, you need to walk up quite a few steps in a park type area to get to the top. It's lined with benches and I found it quite a nice walk, but I noticed some less-fit and elderly were struggling a little towards the top. Some bus tours drive you very close to the top, you only need to walk a short way uphill, no steps or anything involved, and I would reckon is suitable for absolutely everyone.

Gellert Hill

Other sights include the Shoes on the Promenade memorial, which is located very close to the Parliament building. Then there are the baths which are purported to be a 'must-do', but the thoughts of hanging out in our swimwear surrounded by other tourists didn't really appeal to us so we gave it a miss. There was plenty for us to do in the 2 days we spent there without wasting time going for a swim.

For nightlife, your only option is one of the ruin bars. Basically they're all just very hip and indie bars with oddball décor and layouts, with cheap alcohol. We popped into one before dinner and since it was early it was quiet, but it gave us a chance to look around and it did look pretty cool.

There are many cruises along the Danube available, but it would be useful to perhaps book in advance (especially on weekends) as there are hundreds of bus tours who take up quite a lot of space! (Alternatively if you are there for a few days, perhaps go to the office the day before and buy your ticket for the next day). We took a night time cruise, and it was lovely to see the Parliament building and Castle Hill lit up, since we had already seen both during the day.

The currency there is the Hungarian Forint, and 300 forint is about €1. Prices are cheap - a 72 hour travel card is about €13.

We got the train in from Bratislava, but Ryanair fly there too. The train is cheap, so I would recommend a trip to a neighbouring country since you're in the 'hood (Slovakia or Austria are probably the closest).

Panorama

Parliament by night

Budapest and the Danube from Gellert Hill

Parliament

Shoes on the Promenade memorial

Instant - ruin bar

#96 Vienna, Austria

Vienna is the capital city of Austria, a country most famous for 'The Sound of Music' and bearded woman/Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst.

The main sights are the three palaces - Schonbrunn, Belvedere and Hofburg. You can also see other impressive buildings including the Rathaus, St Stephens Cathedral and the Opera House. There are many impressive shopping streets, the most famous being Kärntner Straße (near the cathedral) and Mariahilfer Straße (near the Museums Quartier). 

There is the Naschmarkt, an outdoor market where you can sample both local and international foods. There is a big zoo (where you can see Giant Pandas!) but prices are a little expensive so I gave it a miss. You can also get standing tickets for the Opera for under €10, but you have to queue early to be sure you get one. In terms of transport, I would recommend to get either the 24, 48 or 72 hour ticket (prices from around €7 to €17). 

It uses the Euro which is convenient, but it is more expensive than nearby countries like Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. It is centrally located and really easy to hop on a train and get a cheap ticket to many of its neighbouring countries, which is always a positive. 

Ryanair don't fly to Vienna - but don't worry as they do fly to Bratislava in neighbouring Slovakia, which is only one hour away by train. 

I wasn't a huge fan of Vienna. It was nice, it was pretty, it was clean, it was efficient, the weather was great - but for me something didn't click. Perhaps it was a little safe, nothing made me gasp in awe and wonder. It was nice but for me it just wasn't amazing.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schonbrunn Gardens

Buildings at the Naschmarkt

Vienna Opera House

 Kärntner Straße

Hofburg Palace

Vienna Rathaus

Prater Ferris Wheel

#95 Yes, it is cheaper than flying

I'll be getting the bus to London (from Ireland) in a few weeks.

After searching through a few forums online, and after getting a similar reaction from anyone I've told - I would like to clarify and say that the bus is cheaper than flying. It is a fact.

Since I don't live in Dublin it will cost me €30 for a return ticket to Dublin Airport. A return air fare to London will be about €50, and then once you get to London you'll need a transfer to the city which will be about €20. So flying will now cost €100 total. With only hand luggage.


Now for the bus. Since it leaves from where I live, and arrives into the centre of London, there's no transfer fees. The bus ticket is €53 return. And I can bring as much luggage as I want. So what's the total cost? €53. Half the price of flying.

Apart from the price, everyone's talking about how long it takes. The bus leaves around 8pm and arrives 8am the next morning. So I acknowledge that it is 12 hours of my life gone, but it's all night time so realistically I should be sleeping soundly anyway.

"But flying only takes an hour". No sir, no it does not. That is a lie.

Anyone who has ever flown anywhere knows you have to get to the airport at least two hours in advance of your flight. And then there's the aforementioned connections - so for me it would take 3 hours to Dublin airport, and about an hour once I get to London. So that's 7 hours, and this would be probably during the day.

Oh, and there were a few who said I'd spend all my money at the petrol station stops buying food and coffee etc. Like, I'm travelling at night. I dunno about you, but I'm not one to tuck into meals at 3am. And even if I did buy coffee, I'd have to buy a lot for it to make a dent price wise in comparison to flying.


Now, if you lived in Dublin and only wanted to bring hand luggage then yeah, flying could work out about the same price as the bus. But, for me, getting the bus is a far cheaper option, and since I have very little money to spend on this trip, it's the only option.

Am I looking forward to sitting in close proximity to a stranger for like 7 hours (I get a 5 hour break while on the ferry)? Not really, last time I got a long distance bus (Oslo-Stockholm, night bus, took 7 hours) I had a friendly but odd woman fall asleep on my shoulder and it was terribly uncomfortable. But let's face it, it's €53, and I'd say I'll be getting what I paid for. If I had more money I would definitely fly, but the reality is that I don't, so I will be bussing it, and I will let you know how it goes.

(Oh, and before you say I could get the train - it's more expensive than the bus, and cheap is the name of the game).

#94 Bratislava, Slovakia

Sometimes known as the 'little big city', Bratislava is definitely little. As regarding tourism, it has enough to keep you busy for a weekend, but not much more than that. It's just an hour train ride away from Vienna, and less than 3 hours from Budapest, so it's a good stopover on the road to somewhere else.

The positives: cheap, centrally located, different.
The negatives: A bit too small, not very tourist friendly

Bratislava, or even Slovakia, aren't usually the top of everyone's holiday list, so it's a bit different and special to say you were there. It's a cheap country, and even when you are getting ripped off in restaurants it's still far cheaper than the equivalent in Ireland.

The main attractions in the city are all quite centrally located so can be walked to, or alternatively you can grab a bus. What are the main attractions? There's an old town, although much smaller than the likes of Stockholm. In it you can find a blue Church, a castle on a hill, a palace, a fountain in a little square, and a few other buildings of mild interest or significance.
Just a few minutes outside the city centre there's a good sized zoo (and Dinosaur park!) which is very cheap and a good idea for a day out with children. There's a monument on a hill (Slavín) which is purported to give good views (but I just wasn't bothered trying to get there), and there's also another castle (in ruins).

View from the above castle

The negatives; It was a bit small, but due to it's close proximity to other cities that can be easily forgiven. My biggest shock was the general rudeness of people I met. As an Irish person I get hit with the "Oh Irish people are so friendly" thing all the time, but after visiting Slovakia it does make me wonder that what I had always considered as basic manners is regarded as something special. It could have been the language barrier - but let's face it, Slovak isn't exactly Spanish or a language that can be practically learned or used widely, so I don't think I should be blamed for not knowing it.

Overall, for the value it was great. I wouldn't recommend going solely to here - to make it worth your while you should avail of the cheap trains to nearby Vienna (€13 return) or Budapest (€20 return).