The first time I went to Budapest I hated it. I got talked to by a random drunk man in the train station in hungarian and he wouldn't go away until the police who happened to be walking by told him to leave (also in hungarian). I understood nothing of the conversation and the city seemed really dirty and disorganized to me. I couldn't get a cab from the citadel side of the river back to the train station when I went for a walk to try and see the city a bit.

I couldn't avoid going back through Budapest on the way elsewhere and I was dreading it, but it ended up being amazing the second time around. I said at the central youth hostel and went to Kelety Street to eat where there are all these trendy restaurants. The streets seemed surprisingly safe, even though I ended up walking back later than I planned. It has a great outdoor clubbing nightlife by the river. The tour busses by the river seem okay. I ended up taking a cab around because I missed the last tour bus I could catch. It was like 20 euros for an hour of seeing most of the sites. I now highly recommend the city.