My travel highlight this year was Budapest. It is cheaper than Prague and more interesting, and I commend it for Wenceslas cheer. Highlights within the highlight included Puccini’s La fanciulla del West at the fine Neo-Renaissance opera house designed by Miklós Ybl. Tickets are easy to purchase in advance (opera.hu; find the English-language button top right) and my excellent stalls seat cost £25.
Second, the Budapest thermal bath experience. I recommend Dandar in a post-industrial district of Pest.).
