The New York Palace Cafe
We began our final day in Budapest bright in early with breakfast at the famous New York Cafe. I had seen pictures of the cafe online prior to planning our trip but imagined we would not have the time to make it by. But after showing Emily the photos and being handed a rather rainy morning, we decided to make reservations for first thing in the morning. The New York Cafe is located in District VII of Budapest, also known as the Jewish Quarter. A busy and more urban venture from most of the city’s traditional tourist sites, the Jewish Quarter is easily accessible by many forms of public transportation and easy to find. I must warn: the New York Cafe is pricey and not for everyone! While it is very baroque, beautiful, and seems to take you back in time instantly, an enormous breakfast buffet will set you back about $33 USD per person. We instead opted for the Italian Breakfast (possibly the cheapest option on the menu) which included an array of fruit, breakfast pastries, and gourmet coffee or hot chocolate. Because it is said to have inspired the movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, more and more travelers are frequenting the New York Cafe, so make sure you have reservations!
St. Stephen's Basilica
Our rainy day continued as we left breakfast and set out for St. Stephen’s Basilica. We had already walked by the enormous landmark the previous day but at this time were dedicated to entering and seeing the near 360 degree views of Budapest from the basilica’s cupola. The expansive interior of the basilica is very pretty and houses the medieval relic of St. Stephen’s mummified right hand. You don’t want to stop here, though, as the basilica’s cupola offers some impressive views of Pest from atop. Tickets were about $16 USD per person, a bit pricey in my opinion, but I would call this worth it for such dramatic views of the city. There are elevators that provide the majority of the climb, but be ready to take more than one ride, as one ascends to a landing and museum floor while another takes you further up toward the cupola. A flight of stairs awaits you, where you get a very neat glimpse of the reverse side of the basilica’s dome from above before stepping foot in the open air cupola space.
Central Market Hall
Visiting markets is one of our favorite things to do when experiencing a new country and culture. Central Market Hall is a great way to spend several hours of the day, and it worked out well for us on a rainy day. The market is easily accessible from public transit and is very centrally located, hence its name. The smell emanating from the lowest, basement level immediately reveals that it houses several fresh fish stalls while the main floor houses everything from fresh meats and cheeses to produce. We spent quite a bit of time on the second level where you can buy local Budapest goods. We were somewhat disappointed to find that, while we had heard this market was a good place to find unique, local goods, there were in fact numerous booths selling the same mass-produced souvenirs. Still, we were able to find a nice piece of Budapest artwork to add to our home collection of art from our travels. To us, the Central Market Hall was nice and a good way to spend some indoor time on rainy day but ultimately not a complete “must-do” in Budapest.
We weren’t quite sure how to spend the remaining afternoon that we had in Budapest. By this time the rain had really started to come down which limited how much walking we wanted to do. We had thought about checking out another one of Budapest’s famous thermal baths, but decided not to since we were not swim attire ready. After some deliberation, we decided to go to the Museum of Fine Arts which is located at Heroes’ Square. To be honest, we quickly grew very tired and had done a lot of walking, so I would say we spent more time sitting and pretending to observe the artwork than actually enjoying what was displayed! Still, we stayed warm and dry, so it was a win for us.
After taking the metro back to central Pest, we picked up our luggage which we were graciously allowed to store at our AirBNB office and continued to the Keleti pu train station. We had pre-purchased tickets for the sleeper train from Budapest to Prague, which I would highly recommend. There are several different ticket options, and the website wasnt the easiest to navigate, but saving time and money by combining transportation and overnight lodging worked out perfectly for us. We bought tickets in a first class sleeper cabin, which meant we each had a personal bunk and a shower and toilet without our cabin. The room was spacious, the staff was friendly, and the whole experience was very enjoyable. Thus, we departed Budapest at 19:25 and were anxiously awaiting our arrival in Prague at 8:00 AM.
