Day 12 – 14 of my 2-week road trip
Tropical Islands – Sachsenhausen – Berlin – Dresden – Prague – Vienna – Devin Castle – Sandberg – Bratislava – Lake Balaton – Bokodi – Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary, located along the River Danube. Years ago, Budapest use to be two separate cities; Buda and Pest. The River Danube separated the two cities. Buda was on the side with the Castle and Pest was on the side with the Parliament. On the 17th of November, 1873, the two cities become one, forming Budapest. The Chain Bridge, which travels across the River Danube, connects the two together.
Our visit to Budapest was short and sweet, spending just two nights in the city. However, it was a brilliant city to end our two-week road trip, across Europe. Ideally, unless you want to walk for miles and miles as we did in a day, I would recommend spending at least three nights in the city.
Accommodation
We decided to book an apartment on Booking.com. The apartment was great! We stayed with Gateway Budapest City Center. Here’s a link to their apartment: Gateway Budapest.
The studio apartment provided great views across the River Danube, the Chain Bridge, and the castle on the hill. The view was perfect for great sunset captures. The apartment was cozy and modern looking. The host was fantastic too. He gave us great tips for our stay in Budapest, including where to go and eat.
Transport
Getting around Budapest is easy. Most of the city is within walking distance. However, if you did want to give your feet a rest, you can hop on a tram, take a water taxi, the metro or catch a bus. A single ticket will cost you 350 HUF, which is about 90 pence. A 24-hour travel card will cost you 1 650 HUF, which is just over £4. A 72-hour travel card will cost you 4 150 HUF, which is just under £11.
To buy your travel card or single ticket, there are around 300 ticket vending machines, which have been placed throughout the city. The vending machines operate 24/7 and you can pay with cash or bank card.
You must remember to validate your ticket before you use it!
Food
There is plenty of great Hungarian food to try, during your stay in Budapest. Here are my top recommendations:
Langos
Langos are basically deep-fried bread, covered with a topping of your choice. They are delicious! I had a Langos covered in cheese, ham, and Ketchup. If you do not fancy a savory one, that’s ok. They do sweet ones too.
The best place to try one is at the Central Market Hall.
Hungarian Goulash
Hungarian Goulash is delicious! Their Goulash is a stew or soup of meat, with vegetables and usually seasoned with paprika and other spices.
Kolbice
Kolbice is Hungarian street food. It’s basically a sausage in a seeded, cone-shaped bread roll, filled with a choice of bacon, cheese, and different sauces.
To try one of these delicious Kolbice, head over to the Central Market Hall. The shop is called Kobe Sausage and is located on the 1st floor.
Gelartoroa
Love ice cream? If yes, head to Gelartoroa, located outside St. Stephen’s Basilica. You can choose from a whole range of different flavours, presented as a rose in a cone.
Chimney Cakes
Chimney Cakes are delicious! It’s a sweet dough, covered in sprinkles, filled with cream or ice cream, and decorated with your favourite topping.
There are lots of places around Budapest that sells them. We visited a little place called Street Food, located on Andrássy út.
Budapest Top Attractions
Budapest has so much to offer. With us only spending a day and a half in the city, we were not able to do and see everything. Here are my top things that we saw /did and the order we did them:
The Day We Arrived (half day):
Vajdahunyad Castle
Vajdahunyad Castle is a castle, located in the City Park of Budapest. It was built back in 1896, as part of the Millennial Exhibition. The Millennial Exhibition was the celebration of the 1,000 years of Hungary, since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895.
We didn’t have time to visit the castle. However, it is still very pretty to see from the outside and defiantly still worth a visit. If you have even more time of your hands, you can hire a rowing boat or even a paddle boat car in the lake beside the castle. A different way to enjoy the castle.
Hero Square
Hero Square is one of the major squares in Budapest. Apparently, it is one of Budapest’s most visited sites! The Millennium monument which is located in the centre of the square, towering nearly 40 metres into the sky, was built for the 1896 Millennium celebrations. The Millennial Exhibition was the celebration of the 1,000 years of Hungary, since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. Today, the square regularly gets used for big concerts and events.
Széchenyi Thermal Bath
The Széchenyi Thermal Baths are a ‘must-do’ when visiting Budapest. They are the largest thermal baths in the whole of Europe. Its water is supplied by two thermal springs and is more than 100 years old. The place has 18 baths to choose from and is open all year round.
If you are planning on visiting, I recommend booking in advance, to beat the long queues. When it comes to purchasing the tickets you have a choice. You can buy a ticket for a locker or a cabin. If there are 2 of you going, you both do not need to purchase a cabin. I recommend one of you purchase a ticket with a cabin and one of you purchase a ticket with a locker. The cabin provides a changing room for you both to get changed in, whereas the locker doesn’t. You can lock your items in the cabin or locker, your choice.
Day 2 (full day):
We started the day bright and early at 6 am, making sure we got up to the Fisherman’s Bastion before all the coach trips started to arrive. The day consisted of a lot of walking, trying to fit as much as possible into one day. Here is the order we did it in:
Széchenyi Chain Bridge
Széchenyi Chain Bridge is the famous, iconic bridge that connects Buda to Pest, over the River Danube. It was the first permanent stone bridge, connecting Buda to Pest, built between 1839 and 1849.
Fisherman’s Bastion
Fisherman’s Bastion is one of the best-known monuments in the whole of Budapest. It is located within Buda Castle, in the 1st district of Budapest. Despite how it looks, Fisherman’s Bastion isn’t all that ancient. It was built at the end of the 19th century as part of the Hungarian Millennium celebrations, which marked Hungary’s 1000th birthday. Even though it was built at the end of the 19th century, they made sure it still had the medieval charm to it. It was built in a Neo-Romanesque style, creating a romantic, fairytale-like feel to it, providing fantastic views across the River Danube to Pest.
To visit, it is best to get there early, before all the coach parties start to arrive. The lower terrace is free of charge, however, the upper terrace does cost unless you arrive before 9 am or after 11 pm, then it’s free.
Budapest Castle Hill Funicular
The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular is a funicular that takes you up and down the steep-sided hillside, located in the Buda Castle District. It takes you up from the Chain Bridge to the castle. It opened in 1870 and was the 2nd funicular to be built in the whole of Europe.
The best time to ride the funicular is first thing in the morning. As the day goes on, the queues get very long. The funicular opens at 7.30 am and closes at 10 pm. At the time we visited, it cost you around £3 for a single or £4.50 for a return.
Budapest Castle
Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest. It is known as the Royal Palace. It was first completed in 1265. However, the massive Baroque palace we see today, occupying most of the site, was actually built between 1749 and 1769.
We only visited the castle grounds. However, you can pay to visit the castle. At the time we visited, it cost you around £3.50 and is open between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm. However, if you are not interested in visiting inside the castle or are short of time, the castle grounds are still worth a visit. The castle is beautiful to see from the outside and you get great views across the whole of Pest.
Central Market Hall
The Great Market Hall in Budapest was built in 1897. It is the largest market hall in Budapest. On the ground floor, it is full of local market stalls. On the upper floor, it is full of eating places. It’s a fantastic place to go if you are wanting to try some Hungarian street food. Just make sure you have cash on you, as a lot of places do not accept debit/credit cards. I recommend trying some Langos, Kolbice, and Hungarian Goulash.
Gellért Hill
Gellért Hill is a 235 m high hill, overlooking the Danube, providing fantastic views of Pest. The climb is a steep climb up, however, it is very rewarding at the top. You can choose many different routes to go up and down on. I cannot tell you which is best, as we only did one route up and one route down. To me, this hill provided the best panoramic views of Budapest, on my trip.
Shoes on the Danube Bank
The Shoes on the Danube Bank is a memorial in Budapest. It is a memorial to the Budapest Jews, who were shot by Arrow Cross militiamen, between 1944 and 1945. The victims were lined up and shot into the River Danube. Before they were shot, they had to take their shoes off. The shoes were left on the banks of the River Danube. Back then, their shoes were known as valuable belongings.
I feel everyone who visits Budapest, should visit this memorial. I found the memorial very touching, very sobering. It shows clearly how evil a man can be.
St. Stephen’s Basilica
St. Stephen’s Basilica is a beautiful, Roman Catholic basilica, in Budapest. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary. It was the 6th largest church in Hungary, before 1920. Today, it is still the largest church in Budapest.
Hungarian Parliament Building
The Hungarian Parliament Building is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary and a very notable landmark of Hungary. The Parliament Building is just over 100 years old and is a magnificent example of Neo-Gothic architecture. It is absolutely stunning! It is the 3rd largest Parliament building in the world. It has 691 rooms, 20 km of stairs, and is 96 meters tall, making it the same height as St. Stephen’s Basilica.
Visiting the building from the outside is beautiful to see. However, if you would like to step inside the Parliament Building, a guided tour must be booked in advance. The changing of guides is something else worth seeing. The Parliament is guided by guides, 24 hours a day. Every few hours, they perform a guide change. I don’t what times they do it. I could find it anywhere, which said. We just happened to be there at the right time, to see a guide change.
Margaret Island
Margaret Island is an island located on the River Danube, between Buda and Pest. The island is 2.5 km long and 500 meters wide. The island is connected to the mainland, both Buda and Pest, via a bridge.
To get around the island you can either walk, hire a funky vehicle/peddle bike, or catch bus number 26. You can drive around the island in your own car.
Our visit to Margaret Island was short and sweet. We visited at the end of our day, just before sunset. We managed to see the musical fountains and the large Budapest sign, before heading back to our apartment to catch the sunset over Buda on our cameras.
Here is what Margaret Island has to offer:
- Ride a funky vehicle/peddle bike
- Go up Margaret Island water tower
- Go paddling in the large, public pools
- visit the Rose and Japanese Gardens
- visit Margaret Island’s ruins
- take a selfie at the large Budapest sign
- see the musical fountain
If you are planning on seeing the musical fountains, which I highly recommend doing, please be aware, the music only goes off at a set time. It gets played at 10.30 am, 5 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm, and 9 pm. The fountains dance to the music, it is fantastic to watch!
Want to see what other fun things there are to do in Hungary? Please check out some of my other blogs: Hungary
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