Hotel Gellert, Budapest

Our taxi driver (formerly driver for Sir Anthony Hopkins during the filming of "The Rite") was not far off the mark when he told us that the Hotel Gellert needed renovation. The phrase "faded grandeur" could have been invented for the place. But we were very pleased with our choice and the hotel offered everything we could have wanted from stained glass in the corridors to a bistro serving catfish soup.

But best of all there was a thermal spa in the basement. Take a tour with Michael Palin...