They like their festivals and things here - we were lucky enough to go to a chocolate festival being held in the grounds of the National Gallery, the grounds themselves look over the Pest side of the city and you can either walk up the hill (quite steep) or find a parking place and get the cable car. We walked, took a while to be honest, but as with everything here in Budapest, if you make the effort, you are well rewarded.

Surprisingly things were priced quite reasonably for a festival aimed clearly at tourists, and a really good quality chocolate bar coming in at 1650HUF (£4). There were a lot cheaper for smaller sizes obviously.

Souvenir shops are in plentiful supply - same as everything, do shop around for your trinkets and gifts. Postcards should be no more than 100 HUF (£0:25) and fridge magnets depend on quality but a good one, not more than 500 HUF (£1:25). We also bought a lovely table cloth for 4,500 (£11) which our friends who are locals said was excellent value so I'd say no more than 4500 for lace and embroidery items.

Our guides head back home at around 7pm and me and Monica decide we'd head back ourselves and take a long walk along the Danube via various points along the way. Its a great decision.