Erasmus Experience in Budapest, Hungary by Sandra

What is the student lifestyle like in Budapest?

I must say how it is basically the same like in every other country/city. Students have a special way of living and the country doesn't change that a lot.
However, I must addmit how I was expecting more from Budapest. I had more fun in Pecs when I was visiting my friends who were studying there.

What is the food like?

Hungarian food was definitely NOT the best part of my life there.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Budapest?

I found my accomodation easily. One agency helped me a lot with that. Location and the price were great.

How much does it cost to live in Budapest?

It depends of someone's living style. It can be very cheap and very expensive.
Having at least 400 euros per month (excluding accomodation) should be ok.

What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Budapest from your city?

I didn't have a lot of options. Plane was expensive so I was using bus to go to capital of Croatia, and from there train to go to Budapest.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Budapest?

Instant, Otkert, Corvinteto, Szimpla kert, Morissons 2, etc

And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Budapest?

Well, to be honest, I was not visiting restaurants so often.
I was cooking most of the time because it was cheaper, or I would go to big malls and get food there (take outs), or I would just order something or buy famous kebab which you have on every corner.
The only thing I can tell you if you are pizza lover - don't expect too much.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

You should definitely go to see Fisherman's Bastion, Opera house, Margit sziget, Citadella, Hero square, famous baths, etc.
And you should definitely go outside of Budapest as well. With a student paper you get 50% off for the train tickets. There are a lot of nice places around Budapest.

Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Budapest in the future?

Be prepared to very poor level of English. Hungarians are not good in it at all. If you don't like cold and depressed people you will not like Hungarians. They are extremly uninterested in foreigners and don't enjoy showing their emotions (except negative ones).
Drinks and food are cheap so you won't have problems with that.
Don't go into weird clubs with strippers and similar theme clubs because you will get ripped off and probably experience some violence from those gorilla guards at the entrance (I don't know this from my personal experience but I heard a lot of stories and one of my friends had awkward moment in a place like that).
Be prepared for a lot of homeless people. For me that was shocking because in my country we don't have it.
Buy public transportation tickets. If they catch you without it you will need to pay a lot of money + you won't be able to complain or say anything because they don't understand or speak english.
Have fun and go out a lot. You can have party everyday in Budapest. Most of the clubs are always open. AND, be sure to visite all of the ruin bars there. Definitely one of the best things I did.
Just walk around and explore the city. I was there one year and I was not able to see everything I wanted.