Eastern Europe is vastly underestimated as a tourist
destination from Western travellers. Sure, France and Spain may be closer but
not by much, and I can assure you heading to Hungary is absolutely worth that
extra hour on the plane. Perhaps the worst part about visiting Budapest was
having to fly from Luton airport, but hey, everyone has to make sacrifices.
Hopping off of the plane in Budapest, it was an easy bus
ride on the 100E to downtown, where a 30 minute walk brought us to our Airbnb
on Also Erdosor Utca. This was my first experience staying in an Airbnb, and I
can’t recommend it enough. For £70 per person for the 5 nights we were there,
this was a far cheaper option than any hotel. Plus, the apartment we stayed at
was wonderful – a reasonable sized kitchen, a downstairs living room whose
couch transformed into a double bed, and an upstairs mezzanine with two more
single beds. Our host, Peter, was also lovely, giving us recommendations on
where to go and stocking the fridge with basics like juice and bread.
As we’d taken a horrifically early flight from Luton, we
still had much of the day to explore. I called up a helpful Hungarian friend of
mine, and we agreed to meet at St Stephen’s Basilica, about 30-40 minutes walk
away. I can’t say I minded the walk at all – Budapest’s architecture is
stunning and even the shopfronts along one of the main streets, Andrassy Utca,
are covered in magnificent stone statues. It’s far from a boring stroll.
And then you reach St Stephen’s – wow. An incredibly
imposing and yet beautiful structure that is stunning both inside and out. To
give us an overview of the city, we decided to climb to the top. Students, it’s
worth bringing your student card with you as you get a significant discount – I
forgot mine and was kicking myself for the rest of the day! The climb isn’t for
the faint-hearted and I was wheezing by the time we got to the top but boy, was
it worth it. Panoramic views stretching for miles across the city and offering
brilliant views of Budapest’s incredible buildings including Buda Castle and
Fisherman’s Bastion. I was thrilled to have my friend as a local tour guide too
– Hungarian history is ingrained throughout school so it was like bringing
along a walking textbook. Definitely find yourself a local if you can!
Our walk continued through Liberty Square with its
controversial monuments commemorating the horrors inflicted during the German
invasion and Communist eras; and over to Parliament. It is legitimately hard to
think of my favourite building in Budapest (trust me, they’re all stunning) but
I think this one takes the cake. Impressive, impressive, impressive.
Parliament backs onto the Danube so we had the opportunity
to stroll along its banks, watching the river cruises which make their way up
the entire river come in to dock. I think if I’d had more time in this part of
the world, that would have been a great way to see more of Eastern Europe.
We crossed over the lovely Chain Bridge, which connects Pest
and Buda and stopped at Makos Guba for dinner – a recommendation from my
Hungarian friend. If it’s recommended by a local, it’s going to be good. Having
him around had added benefits of knowing what’s good to eat, and we ended up
with a feast including catfish, beef stew, Turos Csusza (incredible pasta
topped with cheese and sour cream) and a poppy seed and jam bread pudding.
Delicious food and without breaking the bank.
To avoid the smoggy tunnel back to the bridge, we walked up
to the Royal Palace and back down the other side, offering wonderful views of
the city’s twinkling lights. What a way to end the day.
Day two started with an early morning as there’s so much to
see. We began by heading straight up to the Danube and walking along it as the
city started to wake up, before heading to Deak Ferenc Square to begin a free
walking tour which departed from the square at 10:30am. Luckily for us, the
tour was reasonably different to where we’d been taken yesterday, and included
more of the Buda side of the city, including the amazing white-marbled
Fisherman’s Bastion (complete with picturesque windows which make for the best
photos) and the mosaic-topped Matthias Church. I realise I’m overdosing on
positive adjectives here, but you would be too if you’d seen these buildings!
Two and a half hours later and we finished our walk at the
back of the Castle District. Given free reign of the rest of the day, we first
stopped for strudel (when in Hungary…) and then walked around the Royal Palace
before heading back down to street level. Our next destination was Gellert
Hill, where a few hundred steps will take you up to the Liberty Statue and
Citadel. Again, great views and well worth the hike up to.
We headed back into Pest for dinner where a bit of looking
around and the saviour that is TripAdvisor brought us to Taverna Dionysos. It
was like stepping right into Santorini with the blue and white walls inside.
And the food… I had an astounding cheese filled tub of calories and
deliciousness, but I don’t think you could go wrong with anything on that menu.
Hungary, you know how to do good food.
Feeling adventurous, we decided to head back up Gellert Hill
once again as the morning’s tour guide had told us about a Hungarian folk party
occurring between 8pm and midnight that night. I’m pretty sure we were led
astray, finding no such party but it helped us to rack up 43,000 steps for the
day (and work off that dinner) as well as spend some time watching the city at
night.
There was more to discover the next day and we headed in the
opposite direction up to Margaret Island, a long expanse of land sitting in the
middle of the river. On the island, you’ll find a variety of pretty gardens,
rentable buggies to drive around in, and most importantly, the all important
‘Budapest’ sign you can take photos in front of. But be warned, the island is
longer than you think and we were pretty tired out once we reached the end – it
might be worth investing in one of the buggies if you want to see the whole
island quicker!
Budapest is famous for its baths, so that was our plan for
the afternoon. Unfortunately, yours truly had neglected to bring any swimming
gear, but I’ve been assured by my friends that the Szechenyi baths are well
worth a visit. Even if you’re not into swimming, the park the bath is located
in is massive and an easy way to waste some time.
Dinner didn’t disappoint again and we ended up at the newly
re-opened Comme Chez Soi in Pest’s shopping district. Despite its French name,
it was a wonderful Italian restaurant with all of the character in the world
and the most charming chef, Ricardo. The food was delectable, reasonably
priced, and followed by complimentary sorbet and chocolates. How did we get so
lucky with food here? If you ever visit (and I would encourage you to) you
might find a little note we left the staff still stuck in the bottom-right hand
corner of the mirror. Feeling full and happy, we roamed the streets before
arriving at some of Budapest’s famous ruin bars, so called as they are located
in old city ruins. Tired after our busy day, we weren’t too disheartened to
find the queue for the Szimpla Kert bar, the ‘original’ ruin bar where bathtubs
serve as some of the seats, stretching around the corner, but if you want to
check it out, get there early!
Our final day in Budapest was more leisurely and we made our
way over to Parliament again, first heading into the underground museum which
holds some of the stonework, and then into the visitors centre. If we’d known,
we would have arrived even earlier as entry is only allowed on a tour which
sell out very quickly, so in spite of arriving before 11am, the next available
English tour wasn’t until 2:30pm. Nevertheless, your ticket grants you access
into a small museum which details 100 years of Hungarian history where we
easily spent our 2 hours waiting.
I’ve already told you about how beautiful Parliament is, and
that wasn’t even talking about the inside. Our 45 minute tour brought us
through a small fraction of the building, but a wonderful one nonetheless.
Everything was covered in gold! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen such
an opulent building. Plus, you’ll also find the crown jewels inside and we
arrived just on time to see the changing of the guards. Well worth a visit.
Lucky for us, our time in Budapest coincided with a
Hungarian folk festival taking place in the Royal Palace grounds. Whilst not
too cheap to get into, it offered an excellent way of passing the afternoon, as
we passed by hundreds of stalls selling beautiful Hungarian crafts, listened to
some traditional music on the stages, and ate ‘langos’ – effectively a huge
savoury doughnut covered in sour cream and cheese. Yum.
As the sun began to set, we raced along to Margaret’s Island
(stopping briefly to admire the sun’s golden rays glinting off of Parliament’s
windows) and arrived with moments to spare before the 8pm fountain show where
the water lit up and danced along to music (similar to my experiences in Kuala
Lumpur which you can read about here). As it turns out, 8pm wasn’t the main
show, as they have 15minute shows every hour on the hour, so we stuck around
until 9pm, dipping our feet in the warm water and watching the water twirl
languidly. Then, the excitement began and we were treated to almost an hour and
a half of the fountain’s entire repertoire, ranging from classical music to Ed
Sheeran and Justin Timberlake. It was brilliant. These mega shows run at 6pm
and 9pm every night so make sure you check one out!
As they were on the way home, we wandered into a few more
ruin bars – UdvarROM and Fuge Udvar, both of which were bustling, before
returning back to our lovely Airbnb, catching a few Z’s and preparing for our
return home the next morning. I had a fantastic time in Budapest and can’t
recommend the city enough. If you can’t decide where to visit next, this is my
number one pick. And, if my review isn’t convincing enough, EVERYTHING on this
trip, including flights, accommodation, food and activities ended up costing
less than £300. You can’t argue with that.
Ciara’s tips for Budapest: Firstly, go. Seriously, it’s a
wonderful city and you need to visit it. There, that’s my marketing done.
Secondly, BRING. A. SWIMSUIT. Biggest regret of the trip, but another reason to
visit Budapest again. As always, Ciara’s Country and TripAdvisor are your best
friends when travelling. Sure, you can risk walking into any restaurant for
dinner, but the food we had was utterly superb so please consider trying them!
Finally, give yourself time to explore the city. We’d initially considered
visiting Budapest briefly as part of an interrailing trip, but making it our
main destination was definitely a better decision. Enjoy!
If you enjoyed today’s
travel blog, feel free to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry as I’ll be
posting new travel blogs all the time! I’d also love to hear your comments –
whether that’s about my writing style, recommendations, or places you think I
should check out next. Let me know!
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