I recently spent two weeks in Budapest and I absolutely loved it – the food, the culture, the architecture, the history, everything! Normally, I feel like you can get a good feel for a place in 3-4 days, but I left Budapest still feeling like there was a lot I hadn’t done. Here are my top tips for the Hungarian capital city.
#1. Climb Gellért Hill
As a general rule, steps and hills are my arch-nemesis, but when the views from the top are this good I can probably make an exception. I am a huge lover of sunsets at the best of times, but seeing the city light up and that golden glow on the river made my jelly-legs seem like a small price to pay. Climbing the Gellért Hill is also a great way to see the Liberty Statue up close and (for all the big kids out there), there is a huge play area on the way down. Believe me, sliding down the hill is a hell of a lot easier than climbing up it!
We’d heard it was popular, we knew it was going to be busy, but nothing quite prepared us for the queue of people outside of Bors Gasztrobar 15 minutes before it had even opened! Although it meant we ended up having lunch at 11:30am, I would do it all over again – the sandwiches are incredibly well made and the soup was deliciously spicy and salty (and way too hot for a 36°c day!). I had the Thai Massage; with green curry sauce, spicy chicken, courgette and fresh coriander. It was light and fresh, but also incredibly tasty. Be aware that a lot of the menu – especially the specials board and the soups – isn’t translated into English. I ended up asking ‘what’s the best soup?’ and hoping for the best, which thankfully worked in my favour! Bors also do a range of sweet soups which I didn’t get chance to try but have heard great things about.
#3. Visit a thermal bath (or two)
You can’t go to Budapest without visiting at least one of the city’s thermal baths, and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to try out two (especially as the Sziget Citypass offered us free entry to one spa, bath or beach during our stay). The Géllert Spa and Bath was wonderful, but the Szechenyi Baths were our firm favourite. We tried every form of steam room, sauna and bath they had to offer – though I had to put my foot down at the 18°c icy plunge pool. The baths were very, very crowded (no doubt due to Sziget Festival) so there wasn’t always a huge amount of personal space, but we definitely left feeling refreshed, relaxed and ready for some more sightseeing
#4. Drink at a ruin bar
Ruin bars are another ‘can’t miss’ stop on any Budapest trip. For the last 10 years or so, these pubs and clubs built into the ruins of houses and shops abandoned after the second world war. Every one has it’s own unique personality, but they all have a very similar eclectic feel: think non-matching vintage furniture, random items re-purposed as tables or lampshades and heaps upon heaps of local art. The biggest, and certainly most famous ruin bar is Szimpla Kert, handily located right next door to Bors (so you can fuel up with a sandwich before a heavy night of dancing and drinking). It’s resourceful, it’s weird and it’s a whole lot of fun.
#5. Take a sunset cruise
After doing the same in San Francisco, I am hoping to develop a habit of taking a sunset river cruise on the last night of any holiday. It’s a great excuse to put on your glad rags, have a few drinks and see the city from a beautiful new perspective. The cruise we took also had the added bonus of a traditional Hungarian buffet – so we could eat ourselves into a hearty food coma and then laze on the top deck for the rest of the journey! At €49 it certainly wasn’t the cheapest night of our holiday, but for a cruise plus an all-you-can-eat dinner and 3 drinks, it certainly wasn’t too bad.
Bad news Brits – soon we will have to pay almost triple the price to visit the Hungarian Parliament building. Thankfully we managed to sneak in a visit while we could still officially get our ‘members of the EU’ discount, but our days are numbered on that count! The Parliament building is easily the most striking one in Budapest, and it’s absolutely beautiful inside too. It was also fascinating to learn a little bit more about the history of Hungary – I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant about the difficulties and (many) invasions that the country has faced in the past so it was good to get a little bit more of an insight into that.
Food is always a big part of my trips, and I am not embarrassed to admit how many of my travel decisions are based around it. If I am not eating, I am probably thinking about eating, planning where to eat next, or still in a food coma from the last time I ate. The food in Budapest certainly did not disappoint. We ate food from so many cultures and cuisines (including some incredibly good sushi) but we have to talk about the traditional Hungarian food. I am now of the opinion that all food should be served in a bowl made of bread, but this is especially true for a hearty serving of goulash. We could even go the whole hog and start using lángos (Hungarian fried flatbread) as plates! I would also definitely recommend that you try halászlé (fisherman’s soup), kürtőskalács (chimney cake – a spiral of sweetened dough rolled in cinammon or sugar) and chicken paprikash. If you are totally lost, a good place to start is Fakanál restaurant in the central market hall – they do two Hungarian tasting menus that let you try classic Hungarian dishes for around £10.
Free walking tours are an absolute Godsend: particularly at the start of a trip when you have absolutely no idea where anything is, and barely a clue of what you want to see. The tour in Budapest was one of the busiest I have been on (again, most likely due to Sziget Festival) but it was also fun, informative and took us to a great mix of obvious spots and off the beaten track destinations. Even though it should be obvious, given the name, there is a lot of walking in this walking tour – so wear your comfy shoes and prepare to cover some serious mileage. You will be rewarded though, with a history of some of Budapest’s most famous buildings (including Matthias Church and St Stephen’s Basilica) and an incredible view of the Parliament building.
#9. Walk along the Fisherman’s Bastion
The free walking tour ends at Matthias Church, so it’s a perfect time to strap those walking shoes back on and head up the last few steps to the Fisherman’s Bastion. This neo-gothic, neo-romantic terrace offers incredible views of the church, the city and the Danube river. It’s hard to believe that the bastion is only just over 100 years old – it has a real medieval feel that matches so well with the 14th century design of the church. Going up to the turrets costs approximately £4, but it is definitely worth the money – particularly on a sunny day like this.
#10. Eat some rose-shaped ice cream
Last item on the list and we are back to food (of course). I love a good gimmick – themed food, tiki bars, cocktails based on fairy tales – I am on board. So when I found out that those rose-shaped ice creams I had seen all over Instagram were actually from Budapest, I just couldn’t resist. That’s not to say that the ice cream from Gelarto Rosa only sells because of this gimmick; it’s also deliciously rich and creamy ice cream with plenty of flavour choices. I ended up going for salted caramel, nutella and hazelnut and – embarrassingly – I got it in a cone (which I hate) because they couldn’t do the rose shape in a cup. Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get that perfect Instagram shot!
Have I missed anything important? Let me know in the comments!
Photo Credit: #4, #7
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