Budapest

When my American friend, Alex, came to visit the UK, I wanted to show him a little bit of another side of Europe as well.
Somewhere different to London, and not too touristy. I didn’t want to go to Paris, or Rome, some places were too similar to England, and others too far afield for a couple days. Eventually we set on Lisbon, but weeks of procrastinating led to the flight prices rising to astronomical prices – one again it was back to the drawing board.
Finally I went rogue and just booked Budapest.
Budapest is somewhere that people have always raved about to me, my sister described it as her favourite place in Europe, and it has a reputation as being a pretty cool and vibrant city. It seemed like a good choice.

Budapest may not be on everyone’s radar, but it is firmly entrenched as one of the must see cities of Eastern Europe (although the Hungarians don’t appreciate being called part of Eastern Europe). The city has a long and varied history and a lot of this is reflected in the history. As with much of Eastern Europe, the countries wider legacy is somewhat overcast by the legacy of the USSR and Hungary’s time under Communist rule. The buildings in Budapest still show the marks of being part of a struggle that much of the region shows, but this just adds to the cities character and, if you look below the surface, there is plenty more to see.
Budapest itself is dominated by the Danube river, which intersects the city and splits the Buda side of the city from the Pest side – now you see where the name comes from!
Very broadly, the Pest side of the city is the slightly grottier side, which was harder hit by World War II and the Hungarian Revolution fighting, but it is also where you’ll find all the best restaurants and bars.
The Buda side of the city is the “rich” side, where you see more fancy houses and (in my opinion) is where all the most stunning architecture is. It feels more untouched by the Communist era and has plenty along the riverside for tourists to enjoy.
You will most likely stay on the Pest side of the city and go across to Buda to explore for a day.

We only had three days, well…two and a half, so we did our best to cram in as much a possible. A task not made any easier by the fact that I had done zero research before arriving in Budapest.
As always, I had asked around for recommendations (most of which were for restaurants and bars) so I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but most of the trip was making it up as we went along.
Over the few days we had, we managed to cram in a lot and explored both the Buda and Pest sides of the city. We walked a lot, and also ate and drank a fair amount. All in all it was an excellent introduction to Hungary, even if there is still a lot that I would love to go back and do!
For epic views over the city I would definitely recommend the Buda side of the river. While the Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion are stunning in their own right, what will stick the most in my memory are the fantastic views over the city. In particular, Fisherman’s Bastion with its white arches perfectly framing the majestic parliament building is really something to behold. I only wish we had been there for nightfall, then the views would have been breathtaking.

The fantastic thing about the Buda side of the river is that the whole thing is on a hill, so by default everywhere has beautiful views to admire.
We used the funicular to get up the hill, which is definitely a novelty and worth the 1200 forint to get to the top. At the top, you come out by Buda Castle and immediately are faced with panoramic views over the city. But for those who are truly committed to the best views I would recommend heading up to Gellérthegy, or Gellert Hill, and to the Liberty statue. The liberty statue itself is a minimalistic statue with distinctly communist leanings, which stands as a monument to those who died fighting for their country, but the really special thing is the views being 770 feet high gives you.

On the Pest side of the city, the thing I most enjoyed was walking along the river and taking in the sites. I loved the yellow trams that trundle alongside the river and they're great for getting from the Central Market area back down to the Parliament (even if we never figured out how to buy a ticket!).

The Parliament building is definitely the most striking building and you can't miss it, it's the third largest parliament building in the world and is one of the iconic sites of Budapest when lit up at night. When we were going past we stumbled across the changing of the guards, or sword display, which apparently takes place at 12:30PM every day. It is pretty fun to watch and worth the detour if you're in the area.
Just down from the Parliament building, by the river, is a more sombre site in Budapest. Scattered along the edge of the promenade are dozens of pairs of shoes cast in bronze. They are very pretty and take a good photo, but are a grim memorial to those who were taken to the banks of the Danube, made to take off their shoes, and shot by the Arrow Cross fascist militia during the Second World War. They are a stark and sobering reminder of Hungary's turbulent history, especially when they stand in the shadow of the Parliament building at a time when the Hungarian government have their own struggles with corruption.

There are plenty of places in Budapest to learn more about the countries history, and I wish that we had the time to go to the House of Terror museum, which documents Hungary's communist and fascist regimes.

Apart from it's history, the thing that Hungary is most famous for is it's wild nightlife and the Ruin Bars. The Ruin Bars were one of my favourite things that we did and are so unlike any other nightlife I've ever experience. They are basically old and disused buildings that having transformed into a maze of bars to create one huge social space and club. The Ruin Bar that we went to is the most famous (and so probably the most touristy), Szimpla Kertmozi, and it is HUGE. There are different bars wherever you look, and we spend the whole evening hopping from bar to bar and trying the various drinks on offer, including Palinka - very, very strong fruit Brandy. We also tried some Unicum, which is the national drink of Hungary and made of over 40 herbs, giving it a distinctly medicinal taste. I would say both drinks are sure to knock you over the head, but worth a try...if you have the stomach for it!
Another quirk of Szimpla was the lady walking around selling peeling carrots for the revellers to enjoy while drinking, I can't say that I've ever followed up a shot with a raw carrot, but when in Hungary!

The last thing we crammed in before heading back to the airport was a visit to the famous Széchenyi Thermal Baths. They are absolutely beautiful and great fun too. The best area is the outside thermal pool where you can sink up to the neck in the hot water to escape the cold. We spent most of our time there, and once Alex discovered that his phone was waterproof we spent longer than I care to admit trying to get the perfect underwater shot! You can decide if we eventually succeeded!

The only thing that I would not recommend at the Széchenyi Baths would be the food, it was over priced, poor quality and honestly made me feel a bit sick. Skip the food and instead head to the Langos stand in the park behind the baths. Crispy fried dough covered in sour cream and shredded cheese beats the gross Baths food any day!