Sziget

Ali_pixie

Hey there!

I am not only a new Boards member but I'm a newbie when it comes to music festivals abroad. I got myself a ticket for Sziget in Budapest and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips, is anyone else planning on going etc? I'm a wee bit nervous as I'm not going with a huge group of people- just two are confirmed- so some advice etc would be spiffing!

Thankee!

Predalien

Hey, I'm hopin to head to this too, haven't got anything booked yet but should get it sorted this week hopefully. Anyone got any useful advice about this festival?

Timmins

Hey,

I'm heading over too, staying for a week in Budapest afterwards too, me and two or three (hopefully more) other lads are going over instead of santa ponsa as a leaving holiday, thank god we found somewhere a bit different heh. Everything looks pretty cheap over there - bus to dublin,flights,festival ticket + a week's accomodation in a hostel afterwards has cost me less than 450euro.. Its looking good so far! Only thing i'm worried about is the "No Commercial Amounts of Alcohol" thing on the website ;P

- Sean

DylanJames

I was there last year and it was unbelievable, so much better than any of the Irish or British festivals. Cheap food and drink, and the site was kept impressively clean with proper facilities, unlike the majority of festivals held over here. Probably gonna head back over this summer.

Timmins

Cool, i was hoping as much.. Could you tell me what i should expect to pay for a pint, or drinks in general, and how much smokes are over there? Also do you reckon theres much shopping to be done? Thanks man!

DylanJames

Well pints are about the equivalent of 2-3 euro, don't know how much smokes are but as far I remember they weren't too expensive. Also, there's a big enough shopping centre not too far from the site that should satisfy your shopping needs.

Timmins

Sweet, thanks for the info. What were they like about bringing drink in with you ? I've heard mixed reports! I thought pints were more on the level of 1euro..

pinkdaisy

i was there 2007 and it was amazing! definitely going again this year. the facilities were great, we didnt have any bad experiences, no fights or anything...very nice atmosphere. and if you get there early you can camp beside the danube which is really nice.
i paid 4euro a pack for smokes in there, but pall mall was the only brand you could buy inside the festival and drinks were 2euroish a pint iirc...there's a massive supermarket 10 min walk outside and everything was cheap enough in there.but they didnt let you bring back in glass bottles, and checked your bags at the entrance and made us either drink it before we went in or leave it behind, so it's a bit of a pain trying to sneak in alcohol, we just bought everything inside as it was cheap enough.
also we had a nightmarish experience trying to get a hostel when the festival ended as everyone floods out into the city so maybe try book one before you go!

Timmins

Sweet, thanks for the info man! Can you only buy pints at bars inside or is there a shop to buy cans or whatever ? We booked some hostel we found in lonely planet, so that should be alright You staying on in Budapest after the festival? Any pubs/clubs you could reccomend?

Censorsh!t

I'm probably heading there this year. It depends on who else is announced, and hopefully they'll be announced soon! The only band I like so far is The Offspring. So hopefully more.

zoveress

Hey,
I will also go to sziget this year. The difference is that I am actually Hungarian living in Dublin. If anyone needs advice of any kind let me know. I am also happy to show people around in the city
Cheers
Z.

Holy Toledo

I'll take whatever advice people have... I only made the decision to go with 2 friends last night and the flights to Budapest are so expensive!
Where did everyone get their flights? Are there other cities I could fly into and then get a bus/train to Budapest?
Like I said any advice going would be greatly appreciated.... we really want to go, it looks amazing!

Timmins

I think i booked with Ryanair, can't remember. I found the whole holiday extremely cheap - week camping ticket, flights, buses, week's hostel after the festival in the middle of budapest worked out at around 400 euro!

bittermusicman

Yo Lads and ladies,
I have been to sziget for the past five years. Going again this year. Its the highlight of my holidays and is so much better then anything in ireland or england. Electric picnic took its inspiration from sziget. Just imagine it on a larger scale with sunshine, cheap food and drink, no fights, good vibe and uber hot women. with any luck the nightly wet tshirt competition will not be axed.. Can't remember what tent its in though.

If you want to ask any specfic questions just let me know, i know budapest like the back of my hand....ie places for gaa matches etc if your so inclined. Plus some hot spots for food and drink that are not touristy

zoveress

Holy Toledo wrote: »

I'll take whatever advice people have... I only made the decision to go with 2 friends last night and the flights to Budapest are so expensive!
Where did everyone get their flights? Are there other cities I could fly into and then get a bus/train to Budapest?
Like I said any advice going would be greatly appreciated.... we really want to go, it looks amazing!

You can try flying in 1-2 days early or just fly into Vienna or Bratislava. Both 2-3 hours away by train...
Cheers
Z.

bittermusicman

Does anyone actually remeber where the wet thsirt comp is on...what tent?

masherella88

hi all! also heading to sziget in august, first time, i'm super excited! we left booking flights and that a bit late so it was a bit more expensive then me and some friends would have hoped. i read that there are camping sites around budapest itself and i wondered if these were cheaper than staying in a hostel? we're flying back to dublin on the 19th so we have a couple of nights to stay after the festival...so was just wondering what's best to do-hostel or camp?

zoveress

masherella88 wrote: »

hi all! also heading to sziget in august, first time, i'm super excited! we left booking flights and that a bit late so it was a bit more expensive then me and some friends would have hoped. i read that there are camping sites around budapest itself and i wondered if these were cheaper than staying in a hostel? we're flying back to dublin on the 19th so we have a couple of nights to stay after the festival...so was just wondering what's best to do-hostel or camp?

Well camping is more fun and it is a lot easier to meet people... taking a shower can be tricky though ( you have to pick the right time ). I usually have a tent in the campsite and if I wanna take a shower just go home for a few hours.

zoveress

Hey, I am recruiting a team of international festivalgoers to hang out and have fun together on Sziget. Anyone welcome to join us For more info just add me on MSN. My id is: zoveress [at] hotmail [dot] com

masherella88

zoveress wrote: »

Hey, I am recruiting a team of international festivalgoers to hang out and have fun together on Sziget. Anyone welcome to join us For more info just add me on MSN. My id is: zoveress [at] hotmail [dot] com

added

eoin99

Anyone gone to this for day or two during interrailing?? was thinkin a few days would be a great way to finish off a trip across Europe...

masherella88

no i'm going for the whole thing! would love to go interrailing though...sounds like great fun!

d4v1d

i've been there about 4 times now. once you go you'll never go to another irish/uk festival again. it's just so well organised.

it's so easy to get chatting to other people at the festival that before you know it you'll have loads of friends. if you're lucky you may even speak the same language.

as for advice, it gets very hot. make sure that the first thing you find is a place to set up tent in the shade. otherwise you'll be awake at 7am with the heat. if you're back in your tent that is. chances are you'll still be rockin' it up at one of the many all night bars there.

there are security deposit boxes in various places and my advice is get to one as soon as the tent is set up. the peace of mind knowing all your belongings are safe is worth it. we've used the safety deposit boxes every year and it's excellent, and free.

another thing you should try do is get out to one of the turkish baths sometime during the week. it means leaving the festival for a few hours but the joy of being properly clean and in the water for a few hours is more than worth it.

my brother and i always staying in budapest when the festival finished and found it easier, although slightly more expensive, to get a room in a 3 star hotel. you'll really appreciate it after a week in a tent.

everything else you'll pick up as you go along. if you get really hot at any stage go grab a sangria from the african area.

good luck at the festival, you'll love it.

masherella88

thanks for all that advice...i'll defo keep it all in mind! the turkish baths sound like a great idea

donalf

Hello everyone ... few of us thinking of heading over .. assume we missed the boat when it comes to cheap flights (excuse the bad pun) ...

Couple of questions:

1. Anyone any advice on the best / cheapest way to get there at this stage .. thinking of heading over on the Thur and back monday ...

Is bratslavia worth the hassle of the 3 hour train journey ? Has anyone weighed up all de options ?

2. We are all mid to late 30's .. whats the general age range .. is it more like Oxygen or the EP ?

3. Assume if camping no need to bring cooking equip etc as seems to be lotsa good food places onsite ?

4. Is there much late night fun after the main music is over ?


Bring it on ..

zoveress

1. Anyone any advice on the best / cheapest way to get there at this stage .. thinking of heading over on the Thur and back monday ...

Is bratslavia worth the hassle of the 3 hour train journey ? Has anyone weighed up all de options ?

I do not think it is much hassle trains are frequent enough. It will be even more convinient in the future when the tram line between Vienna and Bratislava is done


2. We are all mid to late 30's .. whats the general age range .. is it more like Oxygen or the EP ?

All ages really, don't worry about being over 30 I am 34 as well...

3. Assume if camping no need to bring cooking equip etc as seems to be lotsa good food places onsite ?

It is also a gastro festival in small... so no need to bring your own food, bear in mind that hungarian food is really heavy to the stomach, fat and unhealthy Just what you need to chase away that hungover


4. Is there much late night fun after the main music is over ?

Bars are open 24/7 no restrictions and you can always find a few other drunks to hang out with

donalf wrote: »

Hello everyone ... few of us thinking of heading over .. assume we missed the boat when it comes to cheap flights (excuse the bad pun) ...

Couple of questions:

1. Anyone any advice on the best / cheapest way to get there at this stage .. thinking of heading over on the Thur and back monday ...

Is bratslavia worth the hassle of the 3 hour train journey ? Has anyone weighed up all de options ?

2. We are all mid to late 30's .. whats the general age range .. is it more like Oxygen or the EP ?

3. Assume if camping no need to bring cooking equip etc as seems to be lotsa good food places onsite ?

4. Is there much late night fun after the main music is over ?


Bring it on ..

Predalien

Hey, am thinking of spending a week in Hungary after the festival possibly head somewhere on Lake Balaton, don't suppose anyone has any recommendations about where to go?

zoveress

Depends on what you are looking for. If you want to chill just go to the north side of the lake. If you want to keep on partying Siofok is the best place to be that's on the south side though.

There is a wee bit of a difference between the north and the south side...
North: Hills, vinyards and deep water
South: Plains, shallow water, lots of parties...

Predalien wrote: »

Hey, am thinking of spending a week in Hungary after the festival possibly head somewhere on Lake Balaton, don't suppose anyone has any recommendations about where to go?

Orions belt

hey i just wanted to throw an aul question into the ring here to see if anyone can help me out.

I have decided to go to sziget more or less just today, i was waiting for people to join in my adventure but alas i will be going alone. from what i have read though it seems to be the best way to travel. i am leaving around the 9th and flying to Prague as the flight to budapest a very expensive and the locations listed above seem to be also out of my price range. this is my first time traveling alone. i am getting a train from prague to budapest and want to know is this an alright idea. or can you suggest a better method of ariving at the festival

also if anyone has a idea of the price of a return ticket from prague to budapest let me know

would Munich be better

any help would be much appreciated, this is my first ever post in the boards so be gentle

NumptyB

hey, we're going this year also - we booked flights wtih ryanair to luton and then wizzair from luton to budapest. we were gonna do the train thing but at the time tbhis worked out cheaper.

few questions about drink, showers - how cheap is the drink? do they have lots of variety other than just beer?
i've heard tales of buckets of cocktails!
also, the showers - are they open showers or cubicles? i've heard they're freezing!

Orions belt

NumptyB wrote: »

hey, we're going this year also - we booked flights wtih ryanair to luton and then wizzair from luton to budapest. we were gonna do the train thing but at the time tbhis worked out cheaper.

few questions about drink, showers - how cheap is the drink? do they have lots of variety other than just beer?
i've heard tales of buckets of cocktails!
also, the showers - are they open showers or cubicles? i've heard they're freezing!

thats the exact kinda thing i was looking for, but its to late for me just booked like 2 hours ago i am getting the plane from dublin to prague and then train to budapest. would have saved 100 doing that, ah well at least i get to see prague aswell