With only one true full day in Budapest, we had packed a lot into our schedule of things to see and do. We arose early at our AirBNB, ready to explore and conquer Budapest. After stopping for a quick pastry and coffee, we walked from our lodging in Central Pest to the Siklo, our first stop of the day.
Siklo Funicular to Castle Hill
The best way to explore a new city is to walk through it, and Budapest is no different. While it is somewhat less walk-able than some European cities (more on this to come), walking from Central Pest to the Siklo funicular at the base of Buda’s Castle Hill only took about 15 minutes. There was plenty for the eye to see, including a stroll across the famous Szechenyi Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. We were warned that the line for the funicular grows as the day goes on, so we arrived shortly after its opening time, around 8:00 AM. There was no line for the ride, so we paid the HUF 1,800 per person for a return ticket (about $6.00 USD) and rode up the hill to Buda Castle. As a suggestion, try loading into the lowest of the three tiered chambers, as this provides the most unobstructed view of the tracks as you ascend or descend as well as the best view of the Danube and Chain Bridge. Of course, for those not interested in the short ride up the hill, there are options to walk up to Castle Hill, one that is a gentle walk and another that is much steeper.
Castle Hill: Hungarian National Gallery, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, and the Old Town
Once atop the hill, it is immediately evident why this is a Budapest “must-do”. The views from atop Castle Hill on the Buda side of the Danube are second to none in Budapest. As you peer out at the river, you will see the stunning Budapest Parliament building to the north, the dome of St. Stephen’s Basilica further to the south, and everything in between. There are many places atop the hill to enjoy the view, and we certainly did so. As I mentioned, we traveled up the hill as early as possible and actually arrived prior to the opening time of many of the attractions. This turned out to be great! We spent time getting lost in grounds surrounding the Royal Palace and the Hungarian National Gallery.
We worked our way around the Royal Palace and emerged on the north side of the building as we walked toward Buda’s old town. We stopped for a quick refresher at a nice little coffee shop before continuing on to Holy Trinity Square, which sits directly in front of the Matthias Church. We purchased a combination ticket for entry into Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church. Fisherman’s Bastion is a beautiful view terrace that gives great views of the Danube and Pest. It was built as such and is actually not very old (in comparison) nor was it ever used as a true bastion. A little piece of advice: Fisherman’s Bastion does not require a ticket except for entry into a smaller part of the terrace. In my opinion, checking out this stop is completely necessary to see the best views of Budapest, but purchasing the ticket is not. Matthias Church, however, does require a ticket and is quite beautiful on the inside and worth the ticket purchase. After snapping some photos at Fisherman’s Bastion and stopping at a Starbucks (old habits die hard…), we decided to explore the Old Town prior to entering Matthias Church, as the line was very long. We walked down Uri Utca (Lords’ Street) which was once the home of many of Buda’s aristocrats and now houses many diplomatic buildings. As we continued we found the remains of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, namely the tower with large ascending spiral staircases overlooking this part of Buda. We bought tickets to climb the tower, but only one of us actually made it up to the top landing. Emily wasn’t much of a fan of the tight-fitting spiral climb, so she waited while I enjoyed the views for us both. Once we descended from the tower (and caught our breath), we meandered back toward Matthias Church and spent some time exploring it and all its beauty.
Luckily what was forecast to be a cloudy and rainy morning turned out to be a relatively clear, brisk and at times sunny one! So we were able to explore all of Castle Hill with intermittent sun and comfortable walking weather. With all of the fun of Buda’s Castle Hill behind us, we rode the Siklo back down to the Chain Bridge and crossed back over the Danube to Pest. Next on our agenda was a walk by the beautiful St. Stephen’s Basilica (we planned to enter the following day as we did not want to waste our sunny weather inside). After stopping for a selfie, we continued walking to find the Hungarian State Opera House but were bummed to find it completed surrounded in scaffolding. Thus, no pictures – we’ve all seen what scaffolding looks like! From here we continued east on Andrassy ut, one of Budapest’s most famous streets known for the many mansions that line the boulevard. We stopped to eat at Cafe Vian, which served primarily Italian dishes. Emily had lasagna and bruschetta while I went for the steak sandwhich and Hungarian beer; all of the food was decent but not amazing. Following lunch we continued down the boulevard toward our next destination, Hero’s Square and City Park.
Heroes' Square and City Park
Located at the far east end of Andrassy ut is Heroes’ Square. As a warning, the walk down Andrassy ut is a lengthy one and took about 45 minutes to get from the Hungarian State Opera House all the way to Heroes’ Square. There are multiple metro stops along the route, so you might consider just taking public transport (which we opted for on the return home). This square is a common place for demonstrations and gatherings, much like many European city squares. In my opinion, though, it was rather underwhelming and empty. Still, definitely worth seeing as you explore the city. The square is flanked on each side by the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art, a contemporary art museum. Just past the main statues of Heroes’ Square is the entrance to Varosliget, or City Park. This park is a large and very scenic park in the center of Budapest that is the perfect place for an afternoon stroll or paddle boating adventure. It also house Vajdahunyad Castle (which we visited as we were leaving the park) and the Szechenyi thermal baths, our next destination.
Szechenyi Thermal Baths
Budapest’s thermal baths are one of the most popular ways for both tourists and locals to spend their time while in this city. Emily has stated numerous times that she loves spending her time in “shallow pools of warm water”, so when I started planning our Budapest agenda, I knew the thermal baths had to be included. What I didn’t know is just how much we’d love them! There are several different baths options in Budapest, but we settled on the Szechenyi Baths because it is the largest complex, with both indoor and outdoor options at many different temperatures. We paid about $50 USD for two tickets that allowed us all-day access to the baths and private changing cabins. These were a very nice option as we had been out exploring Castle Hill all morning and had backpacks with us. After changing, we first tried several of the outdoor baths including one that had a whirlpool feature with water that propelled you through the spiral. You can see us having a ton of fun with this in the video below. The baths complex was very beautiful and felt very clean. The indoor baths certainly smelled funny (after all they are primarily filled with warm, steamy water in an old building with poor ventilation), so we quickly returned outside after looking around. Emily and I spent several hours switching from one bath to another, people-watching and playing in the water. This, for me, was the highlight of our time in Budapest!
After several hours of playing and relaxing in the baths and with very pruney fingers and toes, we decided to make our way back to the AirBNB to freshen up for dinner and our evening cruise. This time, we elected to take the metro back to save time and give our newly-rejuvenated legs a continued rest. We found the Budapest metro system to be pretty easy to use and navigate. We purchased 24-hour cards that allowed unlimited use for around $6 USD each, which worked well and allowed us to skip the annoying card validation punching that is requiring with single use tickets. A quick refresh and we were out the door to find a nice place to eat, which we definitely found at Vendiak Etterem. The restaurant had a modern ambiance and served beautifully prepared dishes alongside a great wine menu. Emily chose the pork chops while I had a tender and delicious duck leg with potato cake. We split a bottle of fruity white wine and thoroughly enjoyed this meal as well as the very friendly wait staff.
Danube Late-Night River Cruise
When we decided to travel to Budapest, we could not stop reading about how one of the must-do things is a river cruise on the Danube. For those who care, we completely agree! There are many different options for cruises that allow you to choose exactly what you want out of the experience, such as day or evening, dinner included or not, or various types of on-board drinks and entertainment. Even though we had read that many of these cruises offer a nice buffet meal, we opted out of on-board dinner in favor of being able to find a restaurant that suited us (and, boy, are we happy we did per above!). We pre-booked the Late-Night Cruise on the Danube prior to leaving the States. The company offered pick up from out AirBNB and return transfer as well. On board the cruise we were given tickets for two drinks each (wine, sparkling wine, beer or soft drink) and ushered to the upper level which is where all the non-dinner guests sat. Much to our surprise, additional drinks were very reasonably priced, so we purchased an additional bottle of wine to sip and share as we cruised the Danube. The ride lasted for about 90 minutes, from 10:00 -11:30 PM and was plenty of time to enjoy the cool, fresh air and brilliantly lit landmark buildings of Budapest. Despite a loud, obnoxious, and overall poorly behaved group women who cared very little about allowing others to take some nice photos and enjoy themselves (I’m not bitter at all), we had an amazing time on the cruise and would recommend it highly. Entertainment included a string trio that played everything from traditional Hungarian music to Bieber’s “Despacito”. One hilarious memory includes requesting a Michael Jackson song but being played “Isn’t She Lovely” instead. As you can tell from the video below, though, we still enjoyed the moment and the hilarity of the language barrier. An overall perfect day in Budapest was concluded at the end of our river cruise, and we were so thankful for the much better than forecast weather that allowed us to do so many fun things.
