Latest news & Info about freetourcommunity.com

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Latest Coronavirus related news of Hungary

Firstly, let us share that our free walking tours in Budapest are still not running due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions; the borders of Hungary are still closed (there are some exceptions, but tourism has not restarted yet).

Hungary is still in the middle of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as we have written in our previous posts. The number of new cases per day and people hospitalized, placed in intensive care units are quite high at the moment. The number of Hungarian victims is sadly almost 20 000.

There are still a lot of restrictions in power; the government decided about some changes in the last couple of days. For example, after there are 2.5 million Hungarian people vaccinated:

  • 8pm-5am curfew will be changed to 10pm-50am
  • some shops and services can reopen with some strict regulations
  • shops can be open until 9:30pm instead of 7pm
  • school closure has been extended until the 19th of April
  • opening of terraces of restaurants, cafés and bars will be also possible when there are 2.5 million Hungarians vaccinated

Vaccination is proceeding as well: there are about 1.9 million Hungarians that have gotten the first dose of the vaccine and there are about 685 000 people who have gotten their second jab as well already.

Boy wearing a face mask covering his nose and mouth during the coronavirus pandemic. Pic: Unicef

Picture: Unicef

Some words about the Free Tour Community

Let us share a few words about this community of free walking tours around the world that we have joined!

“The Free Tour Community is a worldwide family of 70+ local free tour initiatives operating in 30+ countries. We are incredibly proud of our cities, and it’s our mission to help you discover them from a local’s point of view. We deliver top-rated, quality-oriented free walking tours and promote the pay-what-you-wish concept around the world.”

You can visit the website here: www.freetourcommunity.com

Just like other cities in the free tour community, we post some blog articles on the page, here is our first one titled ‘Budapest in One Day’

www.freetourcommunity.com/blog/budapest-in-one-day/

 

News 24.03.2021.

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Covid-19 related news of Hungary

As we have shared in our previous blog articles, Hungary is fighting against the 3rd wave of the coronavirus pandemic at the moment. Sadly, today is the second day when the number of the victims is around 250 people ( all together since the outbreak of the epidemic it is about 19 000 Hungarians that passed away because of Covid-19 ).

There are about 1.7 million Hungarian people who got vaccinated with the first dose of the 5 vaccines that we are using and there are about 495 000 people who got the second jab as well. Read the latest official news here:

http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/coronavirus-heres-the-latest/

Since there are still a lot of restrictions in power, we do not run our daily free tours in Budapest until further notice. Thank you for your understanding.

News of Budapest – closure & renovation of the Chain bridge

As we have mentioned in one of our previous blog posts, the first and most iconic bridge of the Hungarian capital on the river Danube, the Chain bridge is being renovated starting from this month. They closed the pedestrian part already on the 17th of March; cars and buses can still run on it, but it is going to be shut down completely in a little while. The renovation works will last until about the end of the year 2023. This is the reason why we will have to divide our General Budapest Walk into two parts: we will have a General Pest Walk and a General Buda walk in the selection of our free walking tours in Budapest. More details later when the reopening of the country comes close enough…

The Chain bridge in the foreground spanning between Buda and Pest

In the foreground: The Chain bridge spanning between Buda (left) and Pest (right)

Now, let’s see a couple of details about our beloved Chain bridge!

It is literally a ‘chain bridge’, which is a historic form of suspension bridges: they used chains or eye bars instead of wire ropes to hold the bridge deck.

The Chain bridge sits on the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of the Hungarian capital. It was designed by the English engineer called William Tierney Clark and built by the Scottish engineer Adam Clark. It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in our country, opened in 1849. It is a 172 years old this year!

The bridge’s full name is Széchenyi Chain bridge. It also has the name of István Széchenyi, the Hungarian politician and nobleman who initiated and supported its construction. At the time of its construction, the bridge was regarded part of the modern world’s engineering wonders.

It meant an enormous significance in the country’s economic, social and cultural life, just like the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the US. The Chain bridge became a symbol of national awakening, advancement, and the linkage between East and West.

You will be able to hear more about and see this wonder on our free tours later on when we are back on track again… 🙂

www.triptobudapest.hu/tours/

News & the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49

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Covid-19 related news of Hungary

As we are in the middle of the 3rd wave of the coronavirus epidemic, many restrictions are in power right now in Hungary. We summarized them in one of our previous blog posts, please have a look at the following link, if you are interested.

Tightening Covid-19 restrictions

Regarding the Covid-19 vaccination in Hungary: at the moment there are about 1 320 000 people who got the first vaccine and there are about 393 000 Hungarians that got the second dose as well.

Our daily free tours in Budapest are still not running until further notice. We are going to keep you updated with news every week on our blog.

15th of March – National Holiday in Hungary

Today we commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49 which broke out on the 15th of March. This day is one of the most important national holiday of the country. Normally there are big, crowded commemorations, but not this year because of the coronavirus pandemic…

Our 1848-49 freedom fight was one of the many European revolutions of 1848 and it was quite closely connected to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg (Austrian Royal family) areas. This revolution is one of the most determinative events in our country’s modern history – it formed a key element of modern Hungarian national identity.

Hungary was part of the Austrian Empire from the late 1600s when we were liberated from the Ottoman Empire by the Holy League led by the Austrians. We were demanding freedom, full independence for Hungary. After a series of defeats suffered by Austria in 1849, the Austrian Empire came close to collapsing. The young emperor, Franz Joseph I had to ask for Russian help and Tsar Nicholas I answered. He sent a 200 000 army with 80 000 auxiliary forces. In the end, the joint army of Russian and Austrian forces defeated the Hungarians. After they restored Habsburg power, they placed Hungary under brutal martial law. Finally our country gained full independence from the Austrian Empire only after the first world war.

You can learn more about our history when we are back doing our daily free walking tours in Budapest! https://www.triptobudapest.hu/tours/

On this day, even Google commemorated the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49! 🙂

Google Commemorating the 15th March 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution

 

 

Covid-19 news & International Women’s Day

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Latest Covid-19 related news of Hungary

Today is the day when the latest restrictions and another lockdown start in our country. You can read about these in more details in our last blog post on the following link:

https://www.triptobudapest.hu/tightening-covid-19-restrictions/

Unfortunately we, the Trip to Budapest Team, are still not running our daily free walking tours in Budapest until further notice. 

We are still far from reaching herd immunity, but the good news is that in Hungary about 1 million people has got their first dose of the vaccination and about 307 000 got the second dose, too. These are not bad numbers in the European Union compared to the fact that the population is about 10 million. However, the number of new cases are still rising in our country during the 3rd wave of the pandemic now, and the number of people in hospitals and in emergency care units are quite high. Hopefully the new restrictions and the lockdown will be effective in the next 2 weeks or so. We will keep you updated with the news.

International Women’s Day

Every year the world celebrates International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. For many decades this day has been a moment to celebrate the economic, cultural, political and social achievements of women. 

This day serves an important purpose: it forces conversations about women’s achievements and global gender inequality into the mainstream – and it invites people of all backgrounds, ages and genders to consider what they can do to make the world a more equal place for everyone.

The Trip to Budapest –  Free Walking Tours Budapest Team wishes all women in the world a happy and content International Women’s Day and a successful life! Hug your grandma, mom, girl siblings, friends, colleges and other women in your life today for us, too (in a mask, or in mind of course)! 

Tightening Covid-19 restrictions

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Latest Covid-19 restrictions in Hungary

As the 3rd wave of the Coronavirus pandemic has hit Hungary recently and there have been more new cases, more people have to go to hospital and/or to emergency room, the government had to introduce some new measures to slow down the spread of the virus. In this post we are sharing the latest Covid-19 related restrictions.

  • The 8pm-5am curfew remains
  • We are still obliged to wear a mask everywhere, outdoors (except when doing sports) and indoors too and keep a minimum 1.5 m distance
  • Gyms, pools, sport fields remain closed, but the good news for hikers is that parks, forests, arboretums can remain open
  • Libraries, cinemas, theatres and such remain closed
  • Cafés, restaurants can only serve take-away orders and do home delivery

Hungary is under lockdown again, photo:Shutterstock.com

Lockdown 2.0 in Hungary – photo: shutterstock.com

  • Kindergartens, all primary schools must close, secondary schools and universities go on with the online education (as they have been doing for weeks now) from the 8th of March till the 7th of April
  • Shops, malls must close from the 8th of March till the 22nd of March; only the following units can remain open, everything else must close:
    • supermarkets, drug stores, grocery shops, food markets
    • pharmacies
    • farm shops, horticulture shops, pet food shops
    • tobacco shops, newsstands
    • gas stations
    • banks
    • mechanics, service stations
    • taxies
    • dry cleaner’s
    • lawyers, executors, notary publics
    • car and machine rentals
    • social institutions, private health care units, veterinaries
    • parcel delivery services
    • funeral services

At the moment there are about 862 000 Hungarians who got the first vaccine and about 280 000 who got the second dose of it, too. The population of our country is about 10 million.

Regarding our free walking tours in Budapest

Our daily free tours are still not running until further notice, as the borders of Hungary remain closed too (there are only a few exceptions). The Free Walking Tours Budapest Team wishes you the best and perseverance until the epidemic ends! Until that you can have a look at our tours at the following link:

https://www.triptobudapest.hu/tours/