Exploring the Hungarian capital city in a spontaneous trip.
About a month ago, I met my friend, who also loves traveling, and we agreed to take a trip together. Maybe a week later, I decided I'd like to go to Budapest: I've never been, and I've heard mixed reactions from people who have. I wanted to see it for myself. With this in mind, I sent a message to that friend, and soon I met her and her friend on a train heading towards Hungary. After entering the country from Slovakia, the agricultural land suddenly gave way to hilly terrain, eventually revealing some interesting industrial facilities. There was always something to look at through the window. The train arrived at the Budapest-Keleti (East) railway terminal, a station completed in 1884, which gave a nice first impression. As we walked into downtown, the streets were lined with a wide variety of buildings, from all-glass modern facades to art deco and eclectic styles to secession. One block looked like Vienna, second like Chicago, third like Paris…
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- Bp.Keleti’s train shed
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- Facades of the world
view from our hostel
Once we found our accommodation, we set off to see the city, instantly submerging ourselves in a vital area boasting a million restaurants and bars, all close to capacity. Later, we learned that it's the old Jewish district, nowadays the center of nightlife.
In a bit, we were at the Danube riverfront..
…where we found a myriad of young people and some rather pretty scenes to admire.
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- Hungarian Parliament Building
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- Tunnel under Buda
The Buda Castle, as seen from the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge of the city.
Later, back in the hostel, we put together a rough plan for the upcoming morning and called it a day. Budapest has one of the largest public transportation systems in Europe, and since our second day in the city, we made good use of it. We started with the subway, which is the second oldest in the world, after London's.
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- Taking a look at their new trains
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- .. and the old ones.
After the subway, we took a bus to Margaret Island, a popular recreational area, as most of its surface is covered with parks, running tracks, playgrounds, and the like.
We walked on its east side towards the island’s southern tip, where’s a connection with Margaret Bridge plus a neat view.
There we hopped on a tram back to downtown to explore its streets in daylight.
..and to visit the Szent István (St. Stephen's) Basilica, a good-sized church topped out in 1905, on a mound that saved many lives during the floods of 1838.
Its dome is 96m (315 ft) tall, the exact height as the Hungarian Parliament – to symbolize equal powers of faith and the government.
More corners of the city..
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- Belvedere Szalon
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- Arcadia Hotel Budapest, early 20th century
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- Bp. Nyugati (West) train station, built by Gustave Eiffel’s Co. in 1877
In the afternoon, we joined a free city tour, where a local guide told us many bits and pieces about Budapest's history, Hungarian language, food, traditions, and customs. Good stuff!
A cable car to Buda hills
Windows of the local Hilton reflect Halászbástya (Fisherman's Bastion), an observation terrace close to the Buda Castle.
After local supper, we went to Gellért Hill to spend the evening..
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- A bronze statue of Saint Gellért on the bottom of the hill
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- The hill is famous for the views it offers
Budapest was created by merging the cities of Buda and Pest. The Buda part is west of the river (pictured left) and the Pest in on the east (right). Note the geographical difference: Buda has hills all over, while Pest is almost entirely flat.
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- having a good view..
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- ..on the sunset
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- Not a bad way how to end a day, for sure. Click on the img to enlarge.
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- Up: South side of the city. Right: The statue of Liberty. Or as locals call it: “the world’s tallest beer opener”
When the sunlight disappeared completely, we returned to Pest via the Elisabeth Bridge…
..and dove into the lively parts of the old Jewish district once more.
The following morning, we started the same way we had the day before, in the subway.
The stations of the oldest line (in operation since 1896) are among the city's UNESCO-protected sites. The tube took us into the Városliget, or the City Park if you prefer. There we ate breakfast, while watching kids playing with pigeons.
Statues in the background are the Heroes' Square, another of world heritage sites
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- Vajdahunyad Castle located in the park
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- Jáki kápolna
Probably the most famous place in the park is the Széchenyi thermal bath, Europe’s largest facility of its kind.
Sidewalks, streets, and tunnels took us back towards the river, where we boarded a kind of public transportation we hadn't tried yet: a boat shuttle. While it took us down the stream to the opposite side of downtown, we got to relax, enjoy interesting views of the landmarks on both riverbanks, and I got some sunburn as a bonus.
The Parliament is the largest building in Hungary, and one of the largest gov. buildings in the world.
We left the boat close to the famous Hotel Gellért, but we were more interested in the bridge right next to it:
Szabadság híd, (Freedom Bridge) a structure from 1896. Not as old as the chain bridge (1849), but just as cool. Moreover, the tracks were undergoing reconstruction, so one could roam around (or meditate...) without worrying about being run over.
Close to the bridge's other side are two notable shopping places we checked out.
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- New Budapest Gallery
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- the Great Market Hall
...and then we returned to the Buda, to see the Matthias Church
...and the castle again.
Then we took a last look over the hills of Buda...
...went to the flat Pest..
..walked through more appealing streets..
..and ended where we began: the Keleti Station.
As for me, Budapest is fab. I'm looking forward to revisit it again sometime in the future, see the stuff that we skipped this time and discover more local tales.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy my impressions of cities. Thanks for reading.
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