Only in . . . / Only in Budapest

Budapest is surely one of the most dramatic, and at the same time least known, capital cities in Europe. Straddling the mighty Danube (Duna), Buda on the west bank and Pest on the east, it is also one of the most fascinating. The relatively few available guidebooks offer the undemanding visitor an amazing (and effortlessly accessible) array of museums, churches, historic buildings and eateries, reflecting the history of the city from Roman and Magyar times, via the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires, up to the present day.However, for those with a little more time on their hands, and for those who want to discover something of the place for themselves, this new guide has been expressly written. It only takes a few minutes of planning, and a glance at a decent street map, to escape the crowds and the orchestrated tours and discover a different Budapest.Based on personal experience, and footslogging all twenty-three of the city's districts (Kerületek), the author will point the explorer in a new and unusual direction. This is the Budapest of Roman ruins, medieval ramparts and Turkish tombs; hidden courtyards and colourful old market halls; unfrequented museums brimming with fascinating objects; secret caves and thrilling hillside railways; Transylvanian houses and Art Nouveau bath buildings; not to mention a former power station and an old Ukrainian river barge both recently refurbished as arts' centres! It is also a city with a dark and turbulent past, its myriad monuments to the revolutions of 1848 and 1956, forgotten Jewish cemeteries, bombed-out structures and Stalin-era statues still bearing grim witness to terrible times.The book is also available in German.