Budapest is a beautiful Eastern European city with a rich and diverse history. It is made up of the old city of Buda on one side of the Danube River, and the old city of Pest on the other. These days they are united into a single city called Budapest.
Recent history includes the Ottoman Empire, to World War II invasion, Soviet Communist occupation, and finally independence. It is now a popular tourist destination with an “east meets west” atmosphere.
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Getting to Budapest
We travelled to Budapest from Geneva in Switzerland. We flew on Brussels Airlines to take a day tour of Brussels, before arriving in Budapest at 10pm. This was a very interesting and fairly economical way to get to Budapest.
Once we arrived, we stayed at a lovely hotel in the city centre called Zenit Budapest Palace. We thoroughly recommend this hotel due to it’s awesome location and great breakfast. You can check out the rates on agoda.com.
Upon arrival at Budapest Airport, there is a counter in the arrival area selling transfer tickets aboard a luxury mini-bus into the town centre. For us it cost about $25 for 3 people. It was a fairly straight forward trip, except we were the last drop off and we drove all around Budapest for about 40 minutes dropping the other 7 passengers off.
Beware the cafes at the airport, I purchased a 500 ml bottle of water in local currency, and later converted it to find it cost me $6 for a bottle of water! I have also been warned to beware of dishonest taxi drivers.
Note: To see our VLOG on our trip to Budapest via Brussels CLICK HERE.
Getting Away From Budapest
Getting away from Budapest was a little more challenging, mainly because we purchased train tickets online using the MUV Sport website. We were heading to Vienna next, and the train tickets had to be picked up at the Budapest train station. It was a little tricky to figure out where to find the ticketing machine and how to find the train.
Tip: If you would like to find out more about catching the train, CLICK HERE to check out our VLOG.
Getting Around Budapest
We were extremely happy to see bicycle racks scattered around Budapest to conveniently hire a bicycle at any time. We had previously seen these in London, and also hired a couple of bicycles there. In London it was very simple process to figure out, however it turned out to be a little expensive. In Budapest was a completely different story.
We spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to hire these Hungarian bicycles. We downloaded the MOL Bubi app, tried to register online, tried entering all the codes we were able to access. Most of the instructions were in Hungarian and difficult to understand, and the bicycles beat us on this occasion.
It’s a beautiful spot to ride bicycles with lovely bicycle paths along the Danube River and moderate traffic conditions. I recommend this as an ideal and cheap way of sight-seeing, just put in some time researching how to do it first.
Big Bus Tours Budapest
Big Bus Tours are another popular way to get around in Budapest. The ticketing structure is nearly identical to the Big Bus Tours we used in London. They have free maps, headphones, and a guided narrated recording in several different languages.
Premium tickets also include boat cruises up the Danube River, night boat cruises and night bus trips. Like London they have 2 main bus routes, red and blue. They also have an iPhone app to see where the bus routes travel, and to find out more information about the attractions along the way.
We decided to purchase 48 hour premium tickets, the same as we did in London. We also had a similar complaint to the tours in London, that the Big Bus Tours finish a little bit early at 6:00pm.
Segway Tours
In the main shopping district and popular cafe districts of downtown Budapest we saw lots of people selling tours on Segways. They even offer 5 minute free trials to show you how easy they are to use. There are various tours ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours, and the most popular tour seems to be along the Danube River and then up to the Grand Palace atop a big hill.
We all took advantage of the 5 minute free trial and lesson, and we were tempted to purchase a tour. These things are just so addictive! The cost would have been about AUD $220 for a 2 hour tour for 3 people.
In the end I figured that we’d be concentrating so hard on not falling off, that we would probably miss most of the sightseeing.
Another option for transport were some curious motorised tricycles. These seemed to be available for both guided tours and general hire, we saw quite a few of these roaming all around Budapest. It certainly looks like a fun way to see the sights.
Day 1 Sightseeing in Budapest
On day 1 we basically just did a lap around the sights aboard the Big Bus Tour. We got off to do the boat cruise which takes a little over an hour. The cruise starts at the downstream part of the city and cruises upstream to Margaret Island, where it turns around and takes you back to the starting point.
You get great views of the Grand Palace and Parliament House in particular, but also many other grand and historic buildings. Budapest really is a beautiful city along the Danube River and a fantastic place to take the boat cruise.
After out boat cruise we decided to do some walking through the shopping and cafe districts of downtown Budapest. This is a lovely part of the city, and a good place to pass a couple of hours.
There are souvenir shops galore, and all sorts of restaurants to choose from. We went for a restaurant with some local cuisine, and tried some Hungarian Goulash and Hungarian Sausage with sauerkraut.
Night Bus Trip
We decided to try the night bus trip on the first night, since there were so many grand buildings along the river. The tour left at 9:00pm and lasted just over an hour.
Overall this tour was quite disappointing. Not because of the sights – there were loads of great sites along the way, all lit up at night. It was because of the bus driver. She never really stopped for us to take photos or admire the view. As soon as a great vista came into view, the bus driver just kept driving, and it was gone in a flash.
Unlike the day tours which are hop-on-hop-off tours, the night tour is just a single bus and there is no opportunity to get off.
Day 2 Sightseeing in Budapest
On day 2 we decided to focus on the number one attraction in town – the Grand Palace on the opposite side of the river. Once again we caught the Big Bus Tour over to our destination, then began the long walk up the big hill.
You can catch the funicular (cable tram) up the hill to save yourself a lot of stairs. However, we rather fancied catching all the sights along the way whilst we walked. Besides, there were breathtaking views of the Danube River and Budapest City all the way up.
At the top there are many free spots to get those “postcard perfect” photos of the Danube River and Budapest.
National Art Gallery
Also at the top of the Grand Palace hill we found a National Art Gallery, and we decided to pay the entrance and go inside. This was probably the most interesting Art Gallery I’ve been to. Most impressive were a wide range of dramatic paintings which illustrate the history of the region over the last 500 years or so.
There are some magnificent old Hungarian paintings, and by the end I felt like I had a reasonable pictorial appreciation of the history of Hungary. But be warned, this art gallery is huge. One could spend several hours wandering around here, taking it all in.
We spent a little under 2 hours here, and felt like we really rushed our visit.
The Art Gallery is spread over several levels, and eventually takes you right to the top of the Grand Palace. Here you will find perhaps the best views of the Danube River and Budapest that you will find, yet another great place for some amazing photo opportunities.
Fisherman’s Bastion
The next stop after the Art Gallery was to continue walking along the hilltop to the Fisherman’s Bastion and the ‘Disneyland Church’. So nick-named because the spires look a little like that beautiful castle at Disneyland.
Along the way there is so much to see. Wandering around the Grand Palace area could easily use up a full day, if you have the time and the weather is nice. There is very little shelter so you really need a nice day to attempt this walk.
Passing by an interesting variety of little museums and curiosity shops, we finally made it to the Fisherman’s Bastion. There is quite a steep entrance fee if you wish to go inside this beautiful church, or walk up to the best photography locations.
There is a fantastic looking cafe right on the edge of the hilltop, which offers diners uninterrupted views over Budapest.
We then spent the next hour or so just walking through the streets on the way to the river. It’s only a 15-20 minute walk if you want to take the direct route, but we took our time. That’s because the meandering streets were so very beautiful and soaked in history.
Night Boat Cruise on the Danube River
That evening we went on the night boat cruise up the Danube River. We were sure it would be better than the night bus trip, and it did not disappoint us. The boat trip took about 50 minutes, and offers uninterrupted views of the magnificent Parliament House and the Grand Palace.
All the beautiful bridges also look amazing at night. Whilst you can skip the night bus tour, the night boat trip is one not to be missed.
Impressions of Budapest
Budapest is such an interesting place, there is a large variety of interesting things to do. It has many uniquely Hungarian museums, which we didn’t find time to visit. It’s also famous for being a spa city with many large open and public spas.
Once again we didn’t have enough time to visit any of these. We were thrilled with the sightseeing we managed to do. Every bit of it was amazing and utterly worth it.
The dining prices were very up and down, some great bargains certainly do exist in Budapest but prices can also be fairly expensive, especially in the city centre. Traffic and crowds are not at all too busy in Budapest, which gave us a sort of mellow holiday feeling.
This is one city I’d love to come back to some day, next time I think 5-6 days would be a perfect length of time to chill out in this wonderfully relaxed city. Heaps to see and do, moderately priced and easy to get to. Budapest is my kind of holiday destination.
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