| Tourist traps |
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Like in several cities of the world, in Budapest there are two major risks for the inexperienced tourist: taxis and restaurants. Taxi was travellers' nightmare, mainly for those arriving from / going to the airport. Luckily the situation is slowly getting better. In 2006 Zóna Taxi, a reliable company have won monopoly for the right to take passengers from the airport; for the details read Airport transfer chapter. Unless you ordered a cab from a different company, do not accept any offer from taxi drivers waiting around the terminal entrance. Some of them may want to mislead travellers, demanding them as much as EUR 100 for a single trip. If you travel the other way around (from the city to the airport), pre-order your taxi on the chosen company's phone number.
Unfortunately situation around railway and bus stations is still not regularized. The worst is probably Keleti Pályaudvar: never trust drivers hanging around the arrival side, rather pre-order a car. Whether it's not possible, take only taxis logoed by one of the bigger companies. As a general rule, make sure the taximeter is on or bargain the price with the driver beforehand. Even in 2006 many cases have been reported when taxi drivers extorted hundreds of Euros from inexpert foreigners. Similar abuses have happened also in restaurants and pubs, almost all of them in the vicinity of Váci utca in Pest. You should absolutely avoid Váci utca's eateries and bars, mainly between Elisabeth bridge and Vörösmarty tér. Many of them are simply tourist traps, offering bad quality for ridiculously high prices. The majority of restaurants and pubs in Budapest are reliable. In Hungary it's compulsory to put the menu card outside the entrance; if it's not the case, don't enter. Eat only where locals eat, drink where locals do. If you're a male tourist, don't accept any invitation for a drink from the not-so-beautiful girls hanging around Váci utca. You can be sure that they will have fake French champagne and you will only have the bill, but nothing else. It's unlikely that a small talk with them is worth hundreds of Euros. You'll find the same girls in erotic and topless bars; avoid them unless you're ready to pay your monthly salary for a glass of wine.
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