Budapest is a city that we’ve wanted to go to for a long time, and so when Hungary became one of the first countries to ease covid entry requirements it seemed the perfect opportunity to visit. Little did I realise quite how much we would love it, a city with beautiful buildings wherever you look.
Enjoying as we do the hustle and bustle of the city centre, we chose a hotel next to a metro station where we had views of the trams from our rooms. The transport system was excellent and felt well organised right from our arrival at the airport, where friendly staff were on hand to help and advise passengers at the bus stop.
Our first port of call was the Hungarian Parliament building, quite understandably regarded as one of the most beautiful parliaments in the world. We didn’t go inside as the tours in English seemed to be few and far between, but our visits to walk around the exterior during both day and night were sufficiently impressive.
Some of the best views of the city can be found from the top of St Stephen’s Basilica, at 96 metres jointly the tallest building with the Hungarian Parliament.
Budapest is a city where the transport itself is one of the attractions, and has one of the oldest underground railway systems in the world (along with the London Underground and the Glasgow Subway, which we visited last year). We took a ride on Line 1, which had trains with tiny carriages and doors that rather alarmingly opened only extremely briefly at each station. There are also trams and trolley buses for those who appreciate a variety of different vehicles.
We then took trips to the other side of the river, where you can get yet more spectacular views of the Parliament, and took the very old funicular railway up to Buda Castle. This building complex contains several museums but is equally enjoyable just as somewhere to stroll and take in the panorama of the city.
Not far from the castle is the Fisherman’s Bastion, from where I took the opening photo in this post. This is an interesting turreted structure and a great place to relax and look out across Budapest, it has two levels of terraces, the higher of which has an entry fee during the daytime, but the slightly lower one is open to all and equally impressive.
Although I’ve mentioned some of the main sights, the real beauty of Budapest is in the variety of architectural details on display as you walk around the city. I kept seeing yet another building, doorway or feature to take a photo of.
The food in Budapest could probably best be described as hearty. We visited a buffet which had many different Hungarian dishes to try, including tripe, which wasn’t as bad as I was expecting but not something I’ll be in a rush to have again. Another traditional Hungarian restaurant, somewhat touristy but in a good way, had a very welcoming atmosphere including a man playing the cimbalom, a type of stringed instrument played with little hammers.
Two smaller but still interesting attractions we visited were the Post Museum and the Underground Railway Museum, also the Central Market Hall has a variety of foods and gifts, including the ubiquitous Rubik’s cubes which have even inspired street art.
Compared to many parts of Europe we found that Budapest was extremely good value, our hotel costing about half what we would normally pay. Travelling around was both cheap and simple to pay for, we bought a 24 hour group travelcard every day which was valid on all modes of transport (apart from the funicular). The airport bus required a different ticket but this was easy to buy, either from machines at the bus stop or from the driver.
Another aspect of city life that I love is that you never know what you may come across. On our walk near the Hungarian National Museum we could see crowds of people and smoke, and hear a lot of shouting. At first we thought it was a demonstration but on closer examination it turned out to be a film set, for an American period drama called The Alienist. Most of that area was out of bounds, but we had the somewhat surreal experience of walking through the museum grounds with some of the cast.
Our last morning in Budapest saw us walking around in the rain, but we found an interesting little shop that specialised in football memorabilia – it seemed to be the owner’s personal collection, most of which was for sale.
Budapest is definitely a city we will be returning to, there are still so many parts of the city to explore and photos to be taken. For a good value break full of cultural interest and beauty I don’t think it can be beaten.
rhtravels 
Hi Rebecca, Thank you for sharing this
Hi Rebecca, thank you for sharing this blog. I shall be travelling to Budapest in November for 4 nights, it is also a city that I have been curious about for many years. Your blog is very informative and very well written. I have absolutely no doubt that I shall be retracing quite a few of your footsteps when I am in Budapest. Thank you. Your blog was signposted to me by our mutual friend Zoe W.
Hello John, I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s a wonderful city, so much to see, I hope you like it as much as we did.
I would love to visit Budapest. The architecture is stunning!
Yes I’d love to go back, there’s still so much we didn’t get round to seeing there.