RoamingRajuThis is the third installment in our ongoing series about our Eastern European trip from Fall 2024. We loved Budapest (well, I loved it more than my wife did, but that’s OK). I found Budapest fascinating. It has real European charm and at the same time, it is an expensive city compared to the rest of Europe.
We arrived in the early morning on a Saturday in Budapest. Budapest has a relatively small airport. Especially the international side of the airport (otherwise referred to as the non-Schengen area). There were maybe three baggage belt areas at most and no airline employees to be found—though we didn’t need them. After a quick luggage pickup, we headed outside for a taxi to our hotel. Budapest Airport has an official taxi service with fixed rates based on your destination, so you don’t need to worry about being price gouged.
Buda and Pest
Budapest used to be two separate cities, Buda and Pest. On one side of the Danube River is Buda and on the other side is Pest. Buda is hilly while Pest is flat.
After a quick 30-minute drive, we were at our hotel. Since we arrived at 9 am, we didn’t expect the room to be ready, so we dropped off our luggage and went sightseeing. Our hotel was centrally located. We had access to all three of the Budapest public transportation stops within two blocks of the hotel.
Budapest Public Transportation
Budapest has an amazing public transport system, just like most European cities. There are three options. You have metros, trams, and buses. They have passes that let you ride on all three. So we went to the metro station and purchased a three-day pass. These are time-stamped passes that work for 72 hours. Very reasonably priced (we paid I believe $17 per person). The frequencies for metros, trams, and buses were great—you can find one every five minutes or less.
Before long, we were 200 feet underground in a metro station. It reminded me of the deepest underground station we visited in St. Petersburg, Russia. We soon boarded our metro towards the Cave Church. With Google Maps, things have become so easy nowadays, they tell you when to get out! No need to use our brains anymore (hello Alzheimer’s 😊)! I just came across a scientific study that found that taxi drivers and ambulance drivers have a significantly lower rate of Alzheimer’s compared to the general population. Next time you go somewhere, don’t use your maps. But I digress.
Anyway, very soon we were on the banks of the Danube River. We arrived in Budapest 13 hours after the Danube River peaked from the historic upstream floods. The river was flowing 8 meters above its normal level! You could see debris floating in the river. All the boating activities and riverside restaurants were closed. We crossed the road and started to walk towards the Cave Church. It is at one end of Gellert Hill. It has an interesting history. During the Cold War, it was sealed off with a concrete wall. After about an hour or so inside the church, we started walking outside. On the south side of Gellert Hill, there are the most beautiful views of the Pest side of the city.
We then continued toward the top of Gellert Hill. It is a rather steep hike but a fun one for sure. We came across a children’s play area on the hill. My wife noticed something—most of the kids were with their fathers and not with their mothers. So, it was good to see fathers spend time with their kids. I saw this one guy wearing a pizza T-shirt (we will circle back to that later) and found that interesting.
After a few hours, we decided to head back towards our hotel—it was already 3 pm so we were hoping to get settled in our room. A quick metro ride and we were back to the hotel. After settling down, we decided to go for an early dinner. I had researched restaurants ahead of time and found this café called New York Café. Off we went looking for the cafe. This time, we took a tram four stops towards our restaurant. We got out of the tram and saw a huge line around the block. We asked if it was a line for the café and indeed it was. Now, standing in line for food is not my thing. So, I made my way to the front to ask how long the wait was. Turns out, it was a good 90-minute wait. We decided we could live without New York Café.
I realized another restaurant on our list was nearby. So, we hopped on the tram for a couple more stops and started walking towards Vegazzi. It was in a little residential neighborhood a few blocks away from the tourist area. We walked into a small place with a decent ambiance. Since we were early, there were very few people in the restaurant. One could never go wrong with good pizza, and this was good pizza. They also had good mocktails. While there, I saw a guy walk in who I thought looked familiar. After a few seconds, I realized this was the same guy from the children’s play area in Gellert Hill with the pizza T-shirt. So, I asked him if he was around Gellert Hill that morning and sure enough, he was there with his son. We ended up having a conversation and he happened to own the pizza joint!
It was a good first day, so we ended up calling it a day and headed back to our hotel. The next day, we had a busy day. We started early in the morning. There was no nonstop way to take a tram or a metro from our hotel to Buda Castle. So, we took a tram about halfway towards Buda Castle and transferred to a bus that would take us there. On the way to the Buda Castle, we decided to get off on the Pest side of the castle. To go from the Pest side towards the Buda Castle, one needs to cross the chain bridge. It is a beautiful bridge that spans more than 1,000 feet. Due to the floods, we could see debris in the river. Before we got on the bridge, we decided to wander around on the Pest side along the river. The famous shoes on the Danube bank were close by. Because of the flooding, the shoes were submerged so we could not check it out.
We continued to the chain bridge and upon crossing, arrived at the foothill of Buda Castle. We went into a souvenir shop and picked up some souvenirs along with an ice cream bar (I know it was early in the morning, but I couldn’t resist)! There are a few ways to go up to Buda Castle. You can take a funicular (a steep-angled cable rail car), ride a tourist cart, or climb the hill. We decided to climb the hill. It is a rather steep climb, but we had all the time in the world, so we took a couple of breaks along the way for pictures (views of the river are just amazing).
The Buda Castle complex is humongous! You could easily spend a few hours there. We thoroughly explored the complex and then started to go towards the Fisherman’s Bastion. We saw a restaurant on the castle grounds with a menu board outside. By this time, we were hungry, and the menu looked good, so we decided to take a meal break. It was a beautiful restaurant, and our feet needed some rest, so we had a relaxing meal.
After that, we walked back towards the Fisherman’s Bastion. Along the way, we saw this pretzel-like thing that people were eating. It looked quite interesting, so we went into a small shop. It was a cake in the shape of a chimney that was baked in an open-flame oven. They top the bread with different toppings of your choice. Since we just ate a meal, we decided to pick one up a little later. Pretty soon, we were at the Fisherman’s Bastion. The views from there are amazing. After some time, we continued towards the Church of Mary Magdelene. It is a small stroll away from the Fisherman’s Bastion. We found it underwhelming (a small church less than 1,000 square feet).
We started our way back towards the Fisherman’s Bastion. Along the way, we ran across a massage place. My wife’s feet were hurting so she decided to get a foot massage. After that, we picked up the chimney cake we were so curious about. It was nice and if you don’t top it off with sugar, it can be quite a healthy snack (look at me talking health throughout the blog)!
It was time to call it a day. We hopped on a bus and then a tram back to our hotel. The next morning, we decided to take it easy and leave later in the morning. Once again, we were on to the tram and then the metro to Hero’s Square. It is an open area with monuments and had a lot of construction, so we took some pictures and continued towards Széchenyi Baths. It was a short walk from Hero’s Square. It is an open swimming pool with hundreds of people and that is just not my thing😊 So we walked on the grounds (the grounds are beautiful) and then headed back.
We decided to visit the Central Market next. It was close to our hotel and near the river. The market was huge and had so many different vendors. We ended up purchasing some fresh fruit and nuts. After a few hours, we found our way back to the hotel. It had been five days since we left Denver, so my wife needed her Indian food fix!
We found this excellent place called Indian Palate about a mile and a half walk from our hotel. This was the only place that was not easily accessible via public transport. It is in a vibrant place full of locals and tourists alike. We entered the restaurant not knowing what to expect! The place was surprisingly incredible. The ambiance was nice, they had live sitar music playing. The menu was great, and the food was awesome. OK, maybe we were just hungry and missed Indian food😊
After a nice meal, we started walking back towards the hotel. The next morning, our car arrived for our road trip, and we were ready to go. We created great memories in Budapest. It quickly became one of my favorite cities.
What is your favorite city? Were you pleasantly surprised by a city such that it became your favorite city in a few days? Please do share your experiences and as always, I enjoy reading your comments so keep them coming. Until next time….
