Time Out Budapest - Time Out Magazine Ltd

Budapest is no longer just the tatty gem of old, the Danube pearl tucked away behind Vienna, cherished by a handful of curious and discerning travellers. Now an EU capital, Hungary's flagship city has added cosmopolitan luxury to its five-star hotel stock, the latest treatments to its modernised spa centres, inventive reductions, drizzles and sauces to its cuisine, and designer vroom to its cafes. Without losing the charms of yesteryear, nor hiking up the ticket prices (still in Hungarian forints) for a swift transport network, grand opera or a visit to the most ornate of cinemas, Hungary's capital is amiable and affordable. Using a pool of resident writers who have lived through the changes from immediately post-Soviet to EU metropolis, this fifth edition of Time Out Budapest evaluates the contemporary city and suggests how a rapidly increasing number of visitors arriving by budget airline or major carrier, can best enjoy it.

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS

The empire strikes back as the classic dream palaces of the fin-de-sicle Habsburg days are being revamped into five-star hotels worthy of any major European capital. The Grand Hotel Royal, the recently opened art nouveau masterpiece Gresham Palace and the New York Palota, (housing the legendary caf of the same name) set to open in the summer of 2005, offer the most up-to-date spas, kitchens and designer bars in opulent edifices left crumbling for decades.

Oddball Hungarians are commonplace in one of the world's most eccentric countries. We celebrate the weird inventors (Br, Rubik), escapologists (Houdini), fame-seekers (La Cicciolina, Zsa-Zsa and Eva Gabor) and suicidal dramatists (Ferenc Molnr), who have all given the world their own wacky take on popular culture.

Disused courtyards, enclosed green spaces and boats moored on the Danube transform summer in Budapest in the hectic open-air clubbing scene. Locals no longer need to tramp off to the tacky delights of Lake Balaton to escape the sweltering metropolis - all over the city, obscure outdoor spaces open up as hot nightlife spots until the first trams start running. Where to find them is the problem - Time Out Budapest provides a full alfresco guide.

Alternative art is reviving the rustbelt 90 minutes from Budapest. Take a trip to Dunajvros, once called Sztalinvros (Stalintown), where the Institute of Contemporary Art shows the leading artists of the day in a town built as a post-war Socialist utopia.