Life Under Communism" met optioneel bezoek aan het Huis van Terreur
Beschrijving
Bijna de helft van de 20e eeuw werd de Hongaarse regering geleid door de leiding van de Sovjet-Unie, en de sporen van tientallen jaren communisme zijn nog steeds zichtbaar in de hele hoofdstad. Na een inleidend gesprek vertrekken we op een wandeltocht langs overblijfselen en gedenktekens uit de communistische tijd die vandaag de dag zichtbaar blijven. Deze tour wordt aanbevolen voor diegenen die geïnteresseerd zijn in hoe het communisme functioneerde en die willen begrijpen hoe de Hongaarse samenleving reageerde op de politieke, ideologische en bestuurlijke veranderingen van het land. De tour is beschikbaar in drie opties met verschillende routes. Elke boeking wordt individueel afgestemd op basis van het geschetste programma, de geselecteerde optie en eventuele persoonlijke wensen.
Rondreisopties
Reisroute
Beginnend op Liberty Square, zullen we kijken naar het monument voor het Sovjetleger. Dit is een grandioos monument voor de belegering van Boedapest, de 50-daagse omsingeling door Sovjet-troepen van de Hongaarse hoofdstad Boedapest, aan het einde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
Szabadság tér, een van de meest statige pleinen in het stadscentrum, dankt zijn uitgebreide afmetingen aan het Habsburgse tijdperk, toen de Bastille-achtige Újépület hier stond. Dit rustige, ruime, grijze gebied is een geweldige plek voor rustzoekers om uit te rusten in een prachtige omgeving.
We bezoeken het Kossuth-plein waar het Hongaarse parlement staat. Tijdens de revolutie van 1956 begon een vuurgevecht voor het parlementsgebouw en we weten nog steeds niet precies hoeveel demonstranten zijn omgekomen. De menigte op het Kossuth-plein bestond uit gemengde burgerdemonstranten. Naast de mannen waren vrouwen, kinderen, ouderen. Het nieuws van het bloedbad speelde een belangrijke rol om de bevolking van het land en Boedapest op de rand van revolutie en gewapende strijd te brengen.
Het plein, omgedoopt in 1927 ter ere van Lajos Kossuth, was voorheen bekend onder verschillende namen, waaronder het Parlementsplein. Tegenover het parlementsgebouw staan het Museum of Ethnography en het ministerie van Landbouw.
Petőfi Statue, en Március 15. Square, gelegen aan de voet van de Erzsébet-brug, tegenover de oudste kerk van Boedapest. Dankzij een renovatie in 2011, is een zeer populaire scène van het sociale leven - niet alleen voor toeristen.
In het zuidoostelijke deel van de stad Boedapest was Corvin Köz het belangrijkste verzetscentrum, waar in 1956 lokale jongeren de binnenvallende Russen vochten met Molotov-cocktails en geweren die ze van soldaten hadden gestolen om tegen Sovjet-tanks te vechten. We zullen de herinneringen aan de veldslagen hier bekijken en praten over de invasie van 1956 en de nasleep daarvan.
We lopen over een van de mooiste bruggen van Boedapest om aan de voet van de karakteristieke Gellért-heuvel te komen waar we onze volgende stop vinden.
St Gellért Square is een van de meest indrukwekkende pleinen in Buda. Het plein is vernoemd naar bisschop St. Gellért, ook wel de martelaar genoemd voor het Hongaarse christendom. Vanaf hier hebben we een uitstekend zicht op het Vrijheidsbeeld - opgericht in 1947 ter nagedachtenis aan de Sovjetbevrijding van Hongarije.
Hoogtepunten
Wat is inbegrepen
Beoordelingen van reizigers
Belangrijke informatie
- Hulpdieren toegestaan
- Opties voor openbaar vervoer zijn in de buurt aanwezig
- Reizigers moeten ten minste een gemiddelde conditie hebben
- Kinderen moeten worden begeleid door een volwassene
Beoordelingen(20)
Agy has comprehensive knowledge of Soviet History. He’s willing to answer any questions. The family says ‘great guy, interesting and engaging’. It was a really interesting tour with a whole new perspective and local knowledge.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to review our tour. We are delighted that you had a pleasant experience. We look forward to welcoming you back—perhaps on one of our other tours as well. Best regards, Tamás.
No grace the place. Various rooms with pictures on the walls. The audio guide is bad tb, not worth it. Neither is the construction interesting because it is a common building and the city has many other places with historic buildings.
Thank you very much for your review, although it seems you visited the House of Terror – and we are definitely not the House of Terror. 😊 We don’t have photos on the walls here, so you wouldn’t be able to find our audio guide boring either. We truly appreciate you sharing your opinion about the House of Terror, and we’ll do our best to pass your feedback on to them so you won’t have to. With best regards and a smile, Tamás
We went to Memento Park with the guide. It was an excellent tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Both before and after touring the park we spent quite a bit of time talking about the history of Hungary in the 20th century and learned a great deal. He is very knowledgeable and willing to share his experience with you.
Thank you for your review. Yes, indeed, the Statue Park is an ideal venue to learn about a dictatorial regime and their propaganda through its symbols.
What a spectacular way to learn about Hungary and Communism through the eyes of a person who lived through it. Spending over 3 hours walking and talking we were able to ask questions and get to know a wonderful man with so much to share. We highly recommend this tour. It personalizes Budapest and its people. Books, maps and a large group tour does not compare to this personal experience.
Thank you for your appreciation. I could not agree more. Private tours are the real thing since it can be interactive and allows the freedom of improvizing. The tour with you was a great experience for me too. Thank you for your interest.
This was the absolute best experience I've had in Hungary. Our guide was so incredibly knowledgeable; his first hand account of this time period was incomparable. He is a gentleman & scholar; we learned so much. I feel he let us into a bit of the true Hungarian experience. Additionally, he taught us how to comfortably use the transportation system, opening up many more experiences for us. I don't think I will ever forget him.❤️ Don't hesitate, book this tour. We specifically did Momento Park, I have no doubt they are all wonderful!
Dear Pamela, Thank you for the wonderful review, really nice of you to take the time. I am happy I could share some of my experince on how to survive a dictatorship. Also, our trip to the Memento Park was very educational. I hope you'll come back some day for another tour. Wishing good health, Miklós
Fungarian was wonderful! A knowledgeable and engaging historian of the highest degree! Highly recommend this tour with Fungarian!
Dear Lanette, I am pleased hear you appreciated Memento Park. It's a great intitiative and very educational. I hope to meet you again some time. Miklós
Absolute waste of time. I choose house of terror tour which included according to the receipt a notebook, coffee, pen, entry into the house of terror and pick up. We never went to House of Terror. The Parliament stop was closed, no pen or book (could care less but notating). I even paid for everyones coffee then realized afterwards it was supposed to be included. Our guide smoked the entire time and could barely hear him. Seems others had same issue too. He was a nice guy but we left more confused than educated. Right after the tour I called to complain to Viator and request a refund since it literally ruined our final day (flew out a few hours after) and the tour company said we didnt choose that tour even though I have a receipt proving it. It was so bad. Ive done a TON of tours worldwide and never have I asked for a refund. My opinion try a different company. It was so bad. Hoping Viator refunds me after I sent receipts
Dear Guest, This response may differ from the usual. After reviewing the facts surrounding your booking and our service description, it's clear that your statements in the review are not just inaccurate but appear deliberately misleading, resembling false accusations. First, I'd like to clarify that your booking did not include a visit to the House of Terror. Our tour offers multiple options, and we have clearly outlined these choices in multiple sections of the tour description. Your choice was the City Tour Option, that excludes the visits. The other two options are House of Terror Museum and Memento Statue Park Visit. We reached out to you immediately after your booking to discuss and customize your upcoming tour, as is our standard practice. Unfortunately, we received no responses to our messages. Regarding the smoking incident, when the topic came up, our guide asked if you minded him smoking during the tour, to which you responded that you had no objections. If there was any discomfort, I apologise for the misunderstanding. If you had provided a receipt supporting your claim, Viator would have processed your refund accordingly. They have issued the receipt, indicating their clear awareness of its contents. As someone responsible for upholding the reputation of our long-standing and respected company, I am committed to ensuring the accuracy of my responses. Every statement I make can be easily substantiated with a few clicks. However, your review remains on the platform, potentially misleading other readers. It's unfortunate that maintaining review accuracy and authenticity does not seem to be a top priority, but I am glad to have the opportunity to respond and clarify. All the best, Gergely Mann Communications Fungarian
As a private group of 3, we took the house of terror tour. The tour guide was a nice person, but soft spoken & barely audible. He lacked enthusiasm & started the tour calling it a “fake tour”, as all monuments were brought from outside of Budapest. As history enthusiasts, we requested to spend more time in the museum and he was ineffective there. Hardly gave any facts & was disinterested. Clearly a mismatch between the tour description and actual experience. Guides interested in history and with enthusiasm would have made it memorable. Unfortunately overall we found no value for money and or time spent.
Dear Namita, Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. First and foremost, we want to express our sincere regret that your experience with the tour guide did not meet your expectations and affected your overall impression. The guide has been an integral part of our team for many years, bridging the gap between visitors to Budapest and the rich heritage of our capital. The guide playfully referred to the "fake tour" moniker, given that Communism has fortunately ceased to exist in Hungary and the tangible remnants have been eradicated. Consequently, the tour's route showcases a depiction of the past rather than an authentic representation of life during the communist era. ››› In the spirit of transparency, we'd like to offer some additional context about your booking. Details are invaluable in ensuring a fair representation to the public, as the two-star rating might not fully capture the nuances of the service. We understand that you reached out to us after the tour to communicate that the original itinerary was not followed and that you faced challenges in following the guide's instructions. We acknowledged your concerns and attempted to delve into the underlying reasons for these impressions. We were eager to discuss the significant alterations you requested in the very beginning of the tour (prioritizing the museum above the original stops) and address any misunderstandings or cultural differences that might have contributed to your dissatisfaction. Even though there were no evident shortcomings on our part, we adhered to our professional standards and offered compensation as a gesture of goodwill. We remain open to finding a resolution that might alleviate the negative sentiments you associate with this particular tour. Regarding the matter of pricing, we understand your frustration with the disparity between the final price in INR and your calculations. Please understand that exchange rates used by Viator are beyond our control. Our pricing has remained consistent since the start of the season, devoid of any alterations or hidden charges. We deeply regret that the combination of these factors led to your decision to leave a 2-star review and that your overall satisfaction was compromised. Your feedback is a valuable source of learning for us, and we are committed to improving based on your insights. It's important to note that aside from your review and one other (three stars), this particular tour has consistently received 5 out of 5 stars from all other travelers. This suggests that the tour provides great value and a unique perspective on the history of Hungary and Budapest. Thank you again for sharing your personal opinion. We appreciate your contribution to our growth and the opportunity to better serve our valued customers. Miklós
This was a very interesting tour that combined a visit to the Statue Park with discussion about what life was like in Hungary under the Communist regime. The Statue Park is an outdoor museum where statues of the Communist era were taken after they were toppled at the end of the regime. It starts with 'Stalin's Boots' - these are the boots that were all that was left of the statue of Stalin when the Hungarian people brought it down. The boots are simply enormous, as are all the statues. Miklos Molnar provides an authoritative guide to each statue, the story behind it and its context, together with his own experiences of life under Communism and the experiences of the people of Hungary in general. He is a knowledgeable and engaging guide.
Thank you very much for your insightful review. I was happy to meet someone who appreciated the efforts of the historians who created the Memento Park at a right time, when these very often precious pieces of art were saved. Unlike many countries we decided to preserve our history and to try to erase it. Now this park serves as an open-air classroom to discuss history that we should learn from including the mistakes that we keep repeating.
The tour guide was knowledgeable and the park was interesting. I expected a bit more for the price we paid considering we had to pay for transportation and admission.
We are pleased to hear that you found the guide (me) knowledgeable and the location interesting. The expertise of the Fungarian team is the result of decades of learning, researching, and actively participating in relevant historian or educational communities. I am very happy that I could share that knowledge with the four of you and guide you around, showcasing both well-known and lesser-known curiosities we have gathered during our many years of experience. I am particularly glad that I could take you on such an excursion. I apologize if the price for a larger group like yours may initially seem high, but I encourage you and everybody to take a closer look at what we provided. The tour lasted more than 4 hours, significantly longer than advertised. I was happy to do so, partly because it allowed us to include the member of the group with mobility impairment in every stop and story along the way. You received a tailor-made tour with guidance, based on a deeper knowledge and understanding of historical events compared to most walking tours. I wanted to continue the tour with more information but AT YOUR REQUEST we had to go back to your hotel. Your low evaluation score seems to concern only exclusion of the ticket and the mere 5000 HUF (13 USD) for a group travel pass. Nevertheless, we are genuinely sorry if you left unsatisfied. We find that unacceptable, regardless of the circumstances. We have learned from your experience and will consider including every additional cost in the base price in the future to avoid misunderstanding. Once again, thank you for sharing your impressions and giving us the opportunity to further improve. Miklos Molnar, director of Fungarian
