Weighing in at 430 pages plus, covering the city from Kőbánya to Óbuda and beyond, the new Blue Guide Budapest is the third edition created by these respected publishers – the first was back in 1996. Clearly, Blue Guides don’t do things by halves. “We’re still very old-school,” explains current author and long-term Budapest resident Annabel Barber. “The whole thing took me about 18 months, visiting every sight and consulting with local experts.”
In a world where a finger swipe shows you instantaneous images of every location you care to visit, there’s something pleasingly traditional about Blue Guides. Combining black-and-white photography with the series’ signature line drawings – the detailed one of St Stephen’s Basilica must have taken weeks – Blue Guide Budapest also includes maps and a glossary of artists and architects.
Encyclopaedically thorough, Blue Guide Budapest features 85 museums, 15 baths and spas, 60 churches, 13 fountains and one Chimney Sweep House, built by the lesser-known of the glossary-listed Hild brothers in 1855.
“I visited the Hungarian National Museum several times,” says Annabel, “and its most precious exhibit is the Coronation Mantle, dating from the time of St Stephen. It’s kept in a dimly lit, temperature-controlled room on the ground floor, and you have to ask to be let in. But there’s little documentation, just a short text before you enter, so you don’t exactly know what you’re looking at. Just out of curiosity, I actually timed the average visit here and it was two seconds.”
To help provide context and detail, Annabel brought in an expert textile historian to talk her through the significance of each of the 48 martyrs, apostles and prophets, from Amos to Zecheriah, embroidered in silk and gold thread on the mantle presented to Hungary’s first king in the early 11th century. Another exquisite line drawing then brings the whole thing to life.
It’s an academic yet enlightening approach that echoes the earliest days of these pioneering publications. It was back in 1878 when James Muirhead started work on the London edition for Baedeker, the German publisher whose groundbreaking Rheinreise von Mainz bis Köln established travel guides as a literary genre in the 1820s . Later joined by his brother Findlay, Muirhead worked on Baedeker’s guides to the UK and North America, before World War I intervened.
Unable to work for German publishers, the Muirheads turned to a famous French one, Hachette, to create Blue Guides/Guides Bleus, the colour chosen to differentiate from Baedeker’s iconic red. After the Muirheads stepped out, their editorial successor, ex-librarian Stuart Rossiter (‘interests: genealogy and postal history’), began to compile guides whose core content Is still used to this day. Starting with Rossiter’s Greece in 1967, Blue Guides broadened their loyal readership with painstakingly researched editions to key Italian destinations.
Along with London and Paris, Florence, Venice and Rome remain the stalwarts of the series – Annabel is soon off to the Italian capital to work on edition 12.
Acquired by Somerset Books in 2004, Blue Guides relocated to Budapest and now number among the many successful ventures launched or relaunched in the Hungarian capital.
“We realised that we didn’t have to compete with travel guides appealing to a different, more budget-conscious readership,” says Annabel, who works at the company’s head office in Újlipótváros. “We’re glad we stuck to our decision to stay in our ivory tower!”
Blue Guide Budapest (£16.95), available at Bestsellers (District V. Október 6. utca 11), Írok Boltja (District VI. Andrássy út 45) and online through Blue Guides.
