We arrived in Budapest mid-day Friday, checked in to our AirBnB, and waited for Alana & Adam to arrive. Our AirBnB was located in Pest's Old Town and happened to be a protected historical site. From the outside, the building appeared run down - the inner courtyard was covered with bullet holes from WWII - however, the flats within were modern and recently remodeled.
When Alana & Adam arrived, we set out for lunch. We stopped in a nearby ramen place, Ramenka, thinking it would be speedy, but it ended up taking longer than expected. While the food was delicious, we missed the free afternoon walking tour we were hoping to catch. We regrouped quickly back at the flat and then set out for the Citadella located across the river on the Buda side of town.
The Citadella is a fortress located at the top of Gellert Hill and provides spectacular views of both Buda and Pest!
After taking in the views, and exploring the top of the hill, we headed back down to catch our night boat cruise on the Danube.
The night cruise was a great way to see the major landmarks of the city. All of the major landmarks are well lit and beautiful to see at night!
Shane, Adam and I all had scheduled massages so after about an hour of exploring the baths, we headed to the spa. After our massages, we took one last dip in the outdoor bath, changed and headed back to the city center.
We headed to the Great Market Hall in hopes of finding something for lunch. The market ended up being a proper produce market with minimal street food stalls. We had all passed the beyond hungry point and were heading out of the hall to find a lunch spot, when we spotted a restaurant located on the second floor of the hall. We grabbed some traditional Hungarian food - goulash and potatoes - and were quickly re-energized and ready to continue exploring the city.
We made a quick pit-stop at the flat to shower and re-group. We then left to check-out some of the ruin pubs before heading back to the Buda side of the city to explore St. Matthias church and Fisherman's Bastion.
One of the more well-known ruin pubs, Szimpla Kert, was located down the street from our flat, so we popped inside to grab a drink. We ordered a round at the downstairs bar and found a tiny room with a cozy corner upstairs to settle in.
When Alana & Adam arrived, we set out for lunch. We stopped in a nearby ramen place, Ramenka, thinking it would be speedy, but it ended up taking longer than expected. While the food was delicious, we missed the free afternoon walking tour we were hoping to catch. We regrouped quickly back at the flat and then set out for the Citadella located across the river on the Buda side of town.
The Citadella is a fortress located at the top of Gellert Hill and provides spectacular views of both Buda and Pest!
After taking in the views, and exploring the top of the hill, we headed back down to catch our night boat cruise on the Danube.
The night cruise was a great way to see the major landmarks of the city. All of the major landmarks are well lit and beautiful to see at night!
After the night cruise, we had dinner at Zeller Bistro. The restaurant is family-run and the food and drink is locally sourced from family-run businesses around Hungary. The restaurant was nice and cozy and our meals were fantastic!
On Saturday we woke up, had a quick breakfast at a cafe nearby and grabbed the metro to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths located in City Park. We were freezing when we were walking around on Friday, and Saturday the temperatures had dropped even more, so the baths were a perfect escape from the chilly temps. We had pre-booked our entrance to the baths so when we arrived we were each assigned a cabin to change into our bathing suits. Once we were changed, we rented towels and robes and headed outside to check-out the outdoor thermal baths. Adam and Shane stayed in the outdoor bath for a bit while Alana and I went on to explore some of the indoor ones. We weren't informed at check-in that the indoor baths were on the opposite side of the complex than the cabins so we found ourselves running outside again (barefoot!) to access the indoor baths. Shane and Adam benefited from watching us run across the courtyard twice to not make the same mistake.
We headed to the Great Market Hall in hopes of finding something for lunch. The market ended up being a proper produce market with minimal street food stalls. We had all passed the beyond hungry point and were heading out of the hall to find a lunch spot, when we spotted a restaurant located on the second floor of the hall. We grabbed some traditional Hungarian food - goulash and potatoes - and were quickly re-energized and ready to continue exploring the city.
We made a quick pit-stop at the flat to shower and re-group. We then left to check-out some of the ruin pubs before heading back to the Buda side of the city to explore St. Matthias church and Fisherman's Bastion.
One of the more well-known ruin pubs, Szimpla Kert, was located down the street from our flat, so we popped inside to grab a drink. We ordered a round at the downstairs bar and found a tiny room with a cozy corner upstairs to settle in.
After our drinks, we hopped on the tram, and then the bus, to check-out St. Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion area. The area was beautiful and provided more spectacular views of the city.
Due to the freezing temps, we didn't last long outside and quickly headed back downtown to grab dinner.
The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at a cafe before heading to Parliament to see the building in the daylight. We also viewed the nearby Shoes on Danube memorial honoring the Hungarian Jews that were shot on the banks of the Danube during WWII.
After the memorial, Shane and I headed to the airport to catch our early afternoon flight back to London. Budapest is a charming city, we'd love to go back in warmer temps to be able to experience the city more on foot!
