FAQ

How can I Book a tour? When you are planning your trip to Budapest, please send me an e-mail with your desired tour dates and tour requests as soon as possible, then we may start the e-mailing about the specific details. The best is to book the dates early, as there are many very busy periods (primarily from April till October). In case you do not find an e-mail from me with my answer within 24/48 hours after sending your request, please do check your Spam box, as some e-mails occasionally end up there (due to the high Spam control of certain providers). If you do not find it there and you still have not received an answer, please send your e-mail again! Thank you so much! I check e-mails every day (several times) and answer all e-mails as soon as possible. Where do the tours start? I (or your tour guide) would meet you at your hotel/apartment (or at the ship) and the tour would start from there. We can also meet you at the airport or the train station or wherever else is the easiest for you. I actually do not recommend having a tour on the day of your arrival, mainly due to the possibility of flight delays, but I understand that sometimes this is the only way for example if you have a very short time in Budapest! How long are the tours? Typically half day (4hrs) and full day (8hrs) tours are offered. However based on your individual schedule, a 5 or 6hrs tour is also a possibility. The minimum length of any tour is 4hrs. When do the tours start? Typical starting time for half day tours is 9am or 2pm. During the high season many guides/drivers would have 2 tours /day therefore a later than 9am start is not possible. In case you would like to sleep in or you are tired from traveling, you may start the tour in the afternoon from 2pm. In case you have a full day tour, a later start is possible (10am). Can I combine two or more tour itineraries? Yes, of course! All the tours are private tours, which means, that we will shape the itinerary to your interest, we may add/skip anything! Also we may “mix” sights and attractions on the 2 sides of Budapest, due to weather conditions and opening hours on certain days. Will you personally be our guide? I personally guide many tours (I love guiding!), however due to the growing demand for tours, I am not able do all the tours myself, therefore over the past years, I have created a group of licensed, top rated, experienced, quality guides, whom I arrange for the tours. I have couple of excellent guide colleagues, whom I have already arranged many times before. So in case I am not available, I can check out their availability and book the dates with one of them for your tour(s). Please note that I only arrange experienced, licensed, professional tour guides, whom I personally know and trust, are nice and fun persons, knowledgeable guides and speak very good English. Are the tours in a vehicle or on foot? There are two ways for touring Budapest: tours by minivan or walking tours. The tours which are by minivan are really great ways to explore the city. Between the sights you travel in a comfortable, air-conditioned minivan, which is driven by a professional driver, who only concentrates on driving and parking (since the traffic and especially parking can be quite hectic at times, it is very convenient to have the minivan driven by a driver, as this way there is a flexibility of walking shorter distances and be dropped off and picked up at different locations). I think that driving and guiding at the same time is NOT safe! The guide can only concentrate on you and your tour this way! Budapest is a big city and is quite spread (you will probably be surprised by its size after you arrive!), so in case you have time only for a half day tour, I would definitely recommend having the tour by minivan. You may see much more and have an orientation of the city during a shorter period of time. Of course a tour by minivan does not mean that you sit in the van all the time - you do get out quite a lot, walk around and visit the different places of interest. Often during a walking tour public transportation would be used as well, due to the distances and the size of Budapest. I only recommend a walking tour if you like (and are able) to walk, if you have more time in Budapest and would like to have at least two half day tours or a full day tour or more. Budapest is a big city and is quite spread out, the sites are often far away from each other, so merely a walking tour would be almost impossible, so the tour is a combination of a walking tour with using some public transportation occasionally (trams, historical underground). You may buy a one day transit pass, a package of single tickets for the public transportation or you may purchase the Budapest Card, which provides free public transport and free or discounted entrance to museums and other places. Outside of Budapest all tours are conducted by minivan (and driver), plus the guide. How many people can be on a tour? Only private tours are offered, so if you are 2 couples traveling together there will be only the four of you on the tour/s. If you have your extended family of 18 persons traveling together, then a bigger vehicle will be arranged. The tour prices are the same up till 6 persons (both for the walking tours and minivan tours), above 6 persons a different fee will apply. Do you offer small group tours? No, sorry! All the tours are exclusively private tours. Your guide, your driver, your schedule, your TOUR! Can we share the tour with other people? We do not organize small group tours, however if you happen to meet a few nice folks in your hotel or on your ship, you may bring them along (and share the tour cost), as long as you still fit into the size capacity of the minivan, previously arranged for you (up till 5 or 6 guests). Above that a bigger vehicle is necessary. So please always let me know, if there would be others joining your tour! Do you offer other services? Yes, I am happy to arrange transfers, book cultural events for you (cruises, concerts, etc.) Do you organize trips to search for family roots? Many travelers visit Budapest, because they have Hungarian background, their grandparents or great grandparents came from Hungary. It is always a wonderful experience to see the actual birthplace or the village your ancestors used to live. The more information and file you have about the details, the better trip you will have! What happens in case of a tour cancellation? I would kindly call your attention to the fact that we are all guiding and driving for a living. Therefore we schedule our work hours ahead in a way, that we can accommodate your tour/s. Therefore if you cancel the tour in the last minute, we are not able to replace your tour by another, because of the short notice and will be losing money. Therefore I would kindly ask you to carefully consider whether you will really be able to do the tour. • Up till 14days before the tour, it is possible to cancel without any charges. • Up till 7days before the tour 50% of the tour cost is required. • Up till 3days before the tour 100% of the tour cost is required.(by bank wire or PayPal) In case of “Vis major” (missing the flight/train, flight delay, becoming sick, etc.) rescheduling of a tour is accepted. Since I do not ask for money in advance, I have no measures to claim this payment in case of a cancellation, so I will just have to rely on the honesty and goodwill of my clients. I sincerely do hope that you are not offended by this passage. Do you require a deposit? No, no deposit is required! Can I prepay by credit card or PayPal? I am not able to accept credit card payments, but PayPal is fine. PayPal will charge 5% of the wired cost and needs to be paid in advance of the tour. Please ask for details when you book. Otherwise cash is accepted HUF or EUR. Can I pay in US dollars? No, sorry! Payment is accepted in Hungarian Forint (HUF) or Euros (EUR) only. Thank you for your understanding!