Budapest is one of the most visited cities in Europe and we are not just talking about bachelor parties, the number of which significantly increased recently during the summertimes, because of the sparkling nightlife and cheap prices, but the local culture, attractions and the plenty opportunities for living an exciting everyday life.
The city is divided into two parts by the Danube, the second longest river in Europe. The gentry Buda with its hills and castle district offers antique streets, houses and stunning city views. And the dynamic Pest side with riverside walkways, flea markets and buzzing nightlife.
They say Hungarian is one of the strangest and hardest languages to learn, but it is not a barrier of traveling or even moving to the city. English is more than enough.
Must-see for everyone
Underneath the city lies a hidden subterranean world, a labyrinth of over 200 caverns and tunnels, like the 6-mile long Budavari Labirintus. There are plenty of spas and baths, some of which are in grandiose buildings, like Szechenyi or Gellert. Moreover, in the warmer period of the year, they have Pool parties with great music. Budapest has the oldest subway in continental Europe, which still operates, running under the most famous street of the city, Andrássy street.
If you would like to take a big walk, have a picnic and enjoy the good weather you can pick from plenty of choices, like Margaret island with its singing fountain, endless green meadows in the heart of the city. Even for a short hike, you can climb Gellért hill and have a pretty good glance to the city from the Citadella on the top. Meanwhile check out the Cave Church which was tucked in one of the hollows of Gellért Hill.
And many many other sites like the Parliament, which is the third largest parliament of the world. In the immediate vicinity, we also face the monuments of the shocking past of Budapest, like Shoes on the Danube embankment which commemorates the Hungarian Jewish victims killed during the II World War, or the actual bullet holes left in any building after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against the Sovjet regime.
Events
Budapest offers year-round entertainment in the form of festivals, cultural events, concerts, exhibitions, fairs, sporting events, and national celebrations. Everyone can easily find the one event that suits their taste the best. Like Gourmet Festival, festival aims to bring together the best pálinka distillers, restaurants and confectioners along with a marketplace for producers to showcase their homemade cheese, ham, sausage, jam, honey, chocolate and other delicacies. Budapest Wine Festival has truly come of age and is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in Hungary. Budapest Spring Festival pulls together the best in classical music, opera, jazz and folk music. Boating in Városliget park or even ice-skating during the winter at the same spot. And of course the deservedly famous Sziget festival, to which around 400,000 people come from all over the world every August, dancing to the biggest stars’ music.
Of course meetups cannot be left out, which make up the everydays with their gatherings. Topics can be of various kinds from toastmasters to expat groups.
Food and Nightlife
Due to its international character, the city has almost every cuisine from the very authentic to the new wave fusion cuisines. You can have a beer with your friends, meanwhile beer biking in the city center. In case of good weather each park gets filled with youngsters and elders looking to have fun with friends while sipping good tasty wines.
The so called Ruin Bars of Budapest have been turned around from former ghettos into vigorous pubs and restaurants. Nowadays, they are epicenters of the city’s youth, often hosting parties, festivals, and all the nightlife you can imagine with reasonably priced food and drinks. But the night will not end here. The best nightclubs in Budapest boast an evening full of glitz and glamor, like Instant or Ötkert, along with the vibrant, leafy Gozsdu Passage in the Jewish district, and the already mentioned Pool parties.
Furthermore, the Sziget festival, which is an ultimate bucket list thing wherever you come from. But it is way more than just a festival. A massive island filled with music, culture, love and freedom. There is a true thing here called the "BudAffect". Many nomads/travellers come here for a few weeks, but get stuck in for 6 months or longer.
For job seekers:
Several international companies have set up camp in Budapest due to both the city’s central location within Europe and the shockingly low expenses. Job seekers can find the best companies from given sectors, like McKinsey, BCG or the Big 4s as the best consulting firms from the world. Google, Nokia from the IT sector and also big disruptive startups like TransferWise or Prezi.com and many others.
Due to the high shortage of labour, especially in the IT sector, it is easy to find open positions with decent terms. Even if somebody would like to change their career from another industry to the IT sector and become junior developer there are many bootcamps, like Wild Code School which provides intensive and part-time web developer courses. Students from a very beginner level become junior full-stack web developers and learn skills during the course that are most demanded on the labour market.
For entrepreneurs:
If you want to become an entrepreneur and start business here, though you would need professional help and guidance for making the first steps or get to the next level, the city has plenty of possibilities. Starting with incubators and accelerator programs which not only share experience, knowledge in their mentor programs to the participating companies, or providing office space for free, but their network, too through which you can find your future partners in business or even investors. Such incubators include Design Terminal.
Furthermore, there are programs in particular industries for later stage startups as well, like OTP Startup Partner run by one of the top tier players of the financial industry in Central and Eastern Europe, where the participants can test or fine tune their solutions. Not to mention Health Venture Lab, an accelerator program in the health industry.
Those who do not have any team or exact idea yet, are still able to try themself as an entrepreneur and have the chance to find their future cofounders, thanks to Demium. During their program they create startups from scratch, enabling local entrepreneurial individuals to create valuable and lasting companies, moreover they help to secure seed investment.
Speaking of investments...
Based on the analysis of Hungarian Venture Capital Association, the total amount of investments reaches EUR 345 million through 191 transactions of which a significant part were closed in seed stage (154 out of 191). Among others, Hiventures is considered to be the most active in terms of both amount and number of transactions. Although private equity funding is not as active as in Western Europe, due to socialism lasting until 1989 in Eastern Europe, despite this short period of time a well experienced business angel network has been developed, and Hungary is the third in private equity investments in terms of invested amount in the CEE region.
To sum it up:
Rich culture
Beautiful places
Exciting events
Friendly people
Delicious foods and drinks
Buzzing nightlife
Impressive career opportunities
Active startup ecosystem
….
As I told you, NO BRAINER ;)
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