My partner and I are staying in Budapest , District 8, Vig Street in the near future and I am now concerned because I have read that parts of this district are not safe. Before I booked, I read the reviews and they seemed fine but just need some reassurance?
Is this part of District 8 ok? The answer is it depends, what is the cross street? You'll be fine walking around as a couple, the gypsies aren't really confrontational unless you walk alone. It's mostly older buildings in that area You'll run into prostitutes walking to Blaha since they hangout around that McDonald's, but they shouldn't bother you.
That's an area you want to avoid completely day or night. You'll be fine, together or alone. There's a lot of casual racism, very widely held, about the Roma disparagingly referred to as the Gypsies , and if you want to avoid contact with Roma you're in the wrong neighborhood not far into it, but two blocks into it. Beyond that, it's a gritty neighborhood but a safe one. But the real question you're asking is how much violent crime or threatened violence is there against tourists in the VIIIth I mean robbery or purse-snatching or assault or rape.
And the answer is, virtually none. In every major city in the world, there's no question that those who are weak -- old people, children, strangers who don't know the city or the language -- are at risk and may be taken advantage of. By pickpockets or scammers or taxi drivers who drive a long way around to take you a short distance. In general, there's far more violent crime against Roma in Hungary than perpetrated by them, but in Budapest there's virtually none of that either.
Here's the truth: you're in an area that's on the fringe of a part of the city where it's more poorly lit and where fewer people speak English, and people are poorer and spend more time on the streets. Where there are more cheap bars where people without jobs hang out, and where it's possible that someone might shout at you on the street in a language you don't understand. There may be more panhandlers, and they may be more poorly dressed, but you will be as safe there in all likelihood as you would be at home, even alone.
