Szia szia guys! It was mine and Roland’s first time in Budapest and we loved it! I wasn’t sure what season to pick as I really wanted to see it all xmassy but then I was worried about too many people, about the cold or a potential rain. I also wanted to see it in spring when the town is blooming and sunny but spring we had already booked out and summer well in summer it’s just too hot for me to explore cities, I need to be by the water or in the mountains. So here we are – February 7th getting on the plane. We arrived in the afternoon and stayed for five nights but then leaving first thing in the morning so we basically stayed in Budapest for 4 full days and it was just enough and we don’t even do museums and all that stuff, we basically just did sightseeing, spa and food. It was nice and chilled, I think if we have only done a weekend gateway it would be too rushed.
Transport:
From the airport you can get either taxi or a bus. We actually never used a taxi through the entire trip. Apparently if you use a cab you should always check the reader upfront. From the airport we took the bus which was around 900 HUF and it took us around 40 mins to get to the central so make sure you get a seat as it is quite a long trip when there is traffic on the road. Because we stayed in the central we could easily walk anywhere and if we were too tired or just couldn’t be bothered we took either a tram or a bus. At the tube station we got a pack of 10 tickets for 3000 HUF and those tickets are for all types of transport – you can pay by card at the machine.
Where we stayed:
I booked us an apartment via booking.com and it was a great choice! It was called Tip Top Apartments and the location was great! In the map on the right you can see my map. The star is where the apartment is, the squares are things I wanted to see and hearts are all the food places I wanted to visit haha. Room was okay, the only negative thing was a poor wifi so if you’re planning on to do some work online be prepared to use your data.
What to see:
- Fisherman’s Bastion – if you want a picture without tourists you have to get there when the sun gets out – hurry up! We got there for 7am as it’s still kinda dark anytime before and already there was a bus with tourists but we somehow managed to take some snaps without them, be patient! If you have time there is also Faust Wine Cellar there where you can taste different wines, apparently it’s really cool but we sadly didn’t have enough time for that.
- Budapest Castle – mix of architectures, you can get a hill funicular to get up there which is around 900 HUF or you can walk. We had a walk during the night and it was so pretty, the views from up there are great too!
- Central Market Hall – a massive market with food, clothes and all the stuff you don’t need. It gets very crowded up in the food section so go in those less popular times.
- Szechenyi Chain Bridge and Szabadsag Hid Bridge – pretty bridges but you’ll get to those while walking somewhere else anyway.
- Metropolitan Ervin Szabo Library – the most beautiful library I have ever seen! It’s open to public – 1000 HUF to get in – CASH ONLY. Also, don’t wear heels and it is so quiet there as people are obviously studying.
- Hungarian Parliament – such a stunning parliament, while there you can check out the shoes on the Danube (google the story of them too!). Although the best picture is from the other side of the river.
- St. Stephen’s Basilica – the largest church in Hungary, very pretty! You can go in for fee or you can grab a glass of wine at the rooftop bar High Note Sky Bar and you have some pretty cool views there too! Note that the menu is quite expensive there.
- Szecheynyi Bath – loved it there! Such a gorgeous place! If you buy a ticket online it’s valid from 9am. However they open at 6am and you can get a ticket at the entrance – worth to come early if you want to take a shot without many people in it. There is also Gellert spa but we didn’t get to visit that one.
- Vajdahunyad Castle and Heroe’s Square – both in the same park, worth seeing.
- Citadella – beautiful views/sunset and Liberty Statue.
- Budapest Eye – it’s about £10 per person and you get 4 rotations, we didn’t go on but apparently worth going for the sunset as you get nice views.
- Museum of Terror and Aquarium are kinda famous attractions too but we didn’t visit any of them.
Where to eat:
- breakfast – A La Maison (perfect egg benedict), Szimply (so yum but get ready to wait a bit for a table as it’s a tiny place), Cirkusz (YUM!!) Lion was recommended to me but I would not recommend it – very average
- lunch/dinner – Pub For Sale (goulash!), Mazel Tov (so good!), Paprika (yum traditional food). Zing Burger (very tasty), Igen Pizza (yum), Restaurante Fuego (chicken!), Spiler was recommended to me but it’s a no from me, don’t forget to try Langos and a Chimney Cake
- drinks/coffee – all the ruin bars specially if you go in the summer so they have it all open outside – my fav one is Szimpla Kert ( you need to see it!) and Koleves Kert is for those who want to party hard, New York Cafe (expensive but STUNNING!), Csendes Letterem (very quirky place we only had couple of drinks there but it’s also a restaurant), 360 rooftop bar and also Toprum was recommended to us but we haven’t had time to visit
