The George Ezra song Budapest was playing in my head for most of this trip. In a previous post as mentioned I am a huge Wes Anderson fan. One of my favorite movies by him, The Grand Budapest Hotel, had me dreaming of seeing the city for myself. A unique aspect of this city is that it consists of Buda and Pest (pronounced pesh) two sides of the river that come together as one city.
I flew from Philadelphia to Budapest and when I arrived I got on the 100E bus right to the city center. It cost 900 Hungarian Forint. As a heads up, the ticket I bought at the kiosk didn’t work to get on the bus so I had to use cash.
Buda.
Located on the west and hilly side of the city this portion is home to the beautiful Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion and Gellert Hill. See the “Top Sites” section on the bottom of the post to map your tour of the Buda side. If you are up to seeing more of this side of the city, stroll down a few more streets to see the Vienna gate and surrounding buildings.
This side of the Danube river is going to give the best views of the Pest side once you climb the hill. Two sites, Matthias and Reformed Church, are adorned with colorful tiled roofs. Up here I also acquired a taste for the langos, a yummy fried dough covered with sour cream and cheese. Scroll through the photo gallery to get a taste of this traditional Hungarian food.
As I was touring around for the day I was hardcore debating if I should hike up to the top of Gellert Hill. I started going up to see the statue of Gerard of Csanad Monument (side note I have a fear of statues) and just kept walking for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, I hiked up all the way to see the Citadel and get a beautiful view of the Buda and Pest side! If your feet can handle it, hike up and check it out. My poor feet were taking a hit from this trip, the first day I walked 16 miles.
Pest.
The east side of the river is home to the Hungarian Parliament, thermal baths, the jewish quarter. Depending on where you start touring the seat side there are are few different areas to walk around. Right at the end of the Liberty bridge you can walk past the Central Market and then walk around the inner city.
If you come across on the Chain Bridge you can walk through the Inner City and then tour around the Jewish Quarter. From there I would recommend walking up to see the Hungarian State Opera and St Stephen’s Basilica. Step inside and check out the ornate interior (2 Euro). The opera house was under construction while I was there so I was unable to see the exterior. I stayed at a hostel in a 4 bed room 2 blocks south of the Opera house for $15.
One of my favorite areas was around the Soviet War Memorial, the buildings surrounding it were very beautiful. It got better as I made my way over to the Hungarian Parliament. This is by far one of my favorite buildings in the city, seeing it from the Buda side was wonderful as well.
City Park is a little trek east of the sites listed above but I think it is a must see areas if you have the time. Heros’ Square, Szechenyi Thermal Bath, and the Vajdahunyad Castle can be found here. This castle is by far one of the most beautiful sites I have ever laid my eyes one. I could not figure out if I was in Hungary or Disneyworld. More photos can be found in the below gallery.
Seriously, this castle was so details and colorful.
Top Sites to See in Budapest:
- St. Stephen’s Basilica
- Hungarian State Opera
- Jewish Quarter
- Citadella
- Liberty Statue
- Danubius Hotel Gellert (Gran Budapest Hotel)
- Central Market Hall
- Chain Bridge
- Liberty Bridge
- Buda Castle
- Matthias Church
- Fisherman’s Bastion
- Reformed Church
- Evangelical Church
- Vienna Gate
- Soviet War Memorial
- Hungarian Parliament Building
- Statue of Imre Nagy
- Szechenyi Termal Baths
- Heroes’ Square
- Vajdahunyad Castle
