Budapest: The Bradt City Guide

The Hungarian culture is one that goes criminally unnoticed by the rest of the world compared to other European cultures. "Budapest: City Guide" is a complete and comprehensive travel guide to the rich culture, night life, and countless other attractions that lie in the heart of Hungary, a nation that bridges the gap between western and eastern Europe. A highly romantic city, and displayed with vivid photography, "Budapest" should be more than enough to make one yearn for a vacation to the city.

Think of it as a miniature encyclopedia to all things Hungarian. This is not the guidebook I would take with me, but has excellent background on the history, detailed reviews on the baths (and what is a visit to Budapest without baths) and restaurant reviews which will probably be out of date by now. I purchased one for a trip in 2006 and found it to be a wealth of background information, but for the hard hitting on the ground stuff try something else. If you stick to the castle district in Budapest then it's all pretty self-explanatory and in English. If you venture off into real Budapest you'll need a little personal advice, like where the metro shuts down for repairs and what is the Hungarian equivalent to the English names on your map. So I recommend talking to people at your hostel or hotel. That said, I'd recommend this book, not as "go here and see this" guide but to be used for some context on an unusual city and in that regard it will not soon be out of date.