Flights
As our usual pick, we decided to travel with Ryan Air rather than Wizz Air. Reason being is that it had cheaper flights and better dates for our availability. This year we decided to travel later on during the year, so rather than going in August, we went at the end of September, begining of October (24th September - 4th October). For me, who never lived in Hungary, unlike my husband, made me slightly anxious as I now got used to the kind of clothes which I would need to take with me in August, but this time the weather was not the same (as to be expected). But I will be discussing this later on in this blog, lets not lose track and continue our discussion about the first step towards having our yearly break in one of the most amazing European country.
Usually, we travel with a small bag in order to go to Hungary and when we are coming back, we get a 10kg checked in luggage full of food and things we do not have in Malta :P. On the contrary this year we decided that on our way back we get 2 priority tickets, thus we will have 10kg luggage each. The following were the prices of when we booked in min-August.
Malta - Hungary:
- Tickets: €19.19 each
- Seats: €8 each
Hungary to Malta:
- Tickets: HUF 5775, €18 each
- Priority: HUF 3500, €10.13 each
- Seats: HUF 2499, €7.19 each
Total: €62.51 each both ways. In our opinion this was quite a bargain, although we will suggest to wait even longer to buy the tickets as we noted that the prices got even cheaper closer to the date that we were leaving. The only reason why we bought them in mid-August was that we did not want to try our luck.
Accommodation
Our accommodation was situated in Eger, one of the most cities famous for wine and located around one and a half hours away from Budapest Airport. The place we were staying in is called Cosy Corner. It is basically a flatlet consisting of 2 bedrooms (one a sofa bed), 2 bathrooms (one with a shower), a kitchenette, dining table and also a desk for work space. If you are traveling to Eger we highly suggest to rent this place as it is a beautiful, spacious and clean place. In addition, the host is also very helpful and nice. One of the things we suggest if you are a wine lover is to speak with the host in order to guide you in having a wine tasting experience. This can easily be done in a village 11Km away, Noszvaj.
Benefits of the Property:
Close to city centre
Close to the Market
There is a lovely stream going through very close by
Close to the Eger Castle
Close to the thermal turkish baths
Wifi
You are able to contact the host through Airbnb, facebook page or directly through email. Below I am linking all the necessary information.
Address: Barany Utca, 58, Eger, Hungary 3300
Contact number: +36 30 462 2612
Email: cosycornereger@gmail.com
Airbnb: https://mt.airbnb.com/rooms/45446975?check_in=2022-02-02&guests=2&adults=2&check_out=2022-02-03
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Cosy-Corner-132402168330539
Car Rental
This year we required to rent a car. Our first thought was to ask the company from where we rented the van last year if they have any cars available as we had a very good service from them https://www.facebook.com/gerzsonauto . Unfortunately we were too late as all their cars were rented. The part which amazed us is that when we called the company, they actually remembered us from last year, which was nice! From there we started looking for other companies and we came across E-Z autorent. We first contacted them by email and they replied promptly. Their prices are very reasonable, we paid €170 for a Ford Fiesta (older model) from the 24/9/2021 evening till 4/10/2021 early morning. I must add that no deposit was needed and there was not a restriction on the mileage. They came to meet us at the airport, all needed documents were signed and we were able to start our journey.
The car was spick and span, had a highway pass for all Hungary and the guy who came for us (which I did not manage to get the name of unfortunately) was very friendly and also very responsive to whenever we had queries. He also called us prior to our flight in order to ask the flight number since the company is located in Kecskemet, which is around an hour drive from Budapest.
We were also contacted on the day before we had to give the car back as they were unable to make it to the airport in the morning. But that was not a problem at all as we were instructed to park the car in the holiday parking and they will pick it up themselves. We took photos of the car and also details of where we parked it and sent it to the company. Everything went smooth.
Website: http://ezautorent.hu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/e.z.autorent
Email: foglalas@ezautorent.hu
Contact Number: +36 20 959 4646
Airport Experience during a Pandemic
This year we were very confused on how things were going to work out due to the change in policies due to Covid. In Malta things were completely different than those in Hungary. We were told to be at the airport at least 2.5 hours before our flight and so we did. We checked in online and also uploaded the vaccine certificate, thus we expected that we go in as usual, someone will check the documents and we go into the baggage check but it was not the case. An employee of MIA instructed us that we have to wait till the check in desk of our flight opens as they will need to see our documents, even though we did not need to check in any luggage and had everything ready in advance. This in our opinion was completely ridiculous, as instead of decreasing the gatherings of people it was just increase. The desks only opened 2 hours before the flight departure, therefore we were there early for nothing. Had to wait amongst a lot of people just to see our documents and be given a paper that we actually do have the entry requirements. When we arrived in Budapest everything was pretty much normal as they did not even ask us for our certificate, which is a requirement in order to go to Hungary.
As for coming back, again we went very early to the airport but the desks did actually open earlier than usual. There was practically no one, we went to the check in desk in order to be given a paper once again that we do have everything in order, went through the luggage check and withing minutes we were waiting for our time to go back to Malta. As soon as we landed and were coming out of the airport, we had to wait after quite a bit of people in order to show our DPLF form and the vaccine certificate (which we had both physically and digital). Just a side note, they preferred to have them digitally. In addition, we did not have to wait long at all as there were about 15 desks checking the passengers documents.
Weather
This topic made me extremely anxious. Reason being is that as previously mentioned, I never visited the country during this time of the year, therefore I did not know what to expect. A day or 2 before I checked the weather forecast which was helpful. What I took with me was a few summer tops and leggings just in case, some jeans, light tops, thick winter tops and also a jacket. They were ideal, as during the day I mostly wore light winter tops since it was sunny, while in the evening it got quite cold and changed into more cosy clothes.
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