In the beginning of May, I went to Budapest for a European bloggers conference about personal finance and financial freedom. As I didn’t have the time to discover the city, I decided to make another trip to this beautiful city. Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is bisected by the River Danube. Its 19th-century Chain Bridge connects the hilly Buda district with flat Pest. A funicular runs up Castle Hill to Buda’s Old Town, where the Budapest History Museum traces city life from Roman times onward. I was totally amazed on this trip. There really are so many beautiful things to do in Budapest. I have to be honest, I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful the city is. You can easily spend one week there to discover everything. I am sure you’ll love the city.
After an extremely late evening flight from Brussels Airport South (Charleroi), I arrived at 10.30 PM in Budapest. Take a look at a beautiful things that I did in Budapest.
1. HOP ON-HOP OFF BUDAPEST
You can discover all interesting sightseeing places of the city in a quick manner. I decided to ride the whole tour and get out on the highest viewpoint of the city, the Citadel.The Citadel in Budapest is a 19th century fortification on top of Gellert Hill (part of the UNESCO World Heritage site) – the fortress was turned into a lookout tower / stronghold, which provides one of the most stunning views over the river Danube. It is popular amongst locals and tourists alike, and is one of the free Budapest attractions.
There is also a cafe, a good – sometimes hit and miss – restaurant (open from 5 pm to 11 pm) with beautiful views, a small museum and a hotel at the Citadel of Budapest. You can do the walking up to the Citadel (about 15 minutes from the level of the river Danube): as you ascend higher and higher, the whole beauty of the city of Budapest slowly unfolds in front of you. Personally I did the walk down. Much easier…lol.
Amazing, exceptional, but to be honest, it is a pity that there is not much cool and innovative things atop to make the Citadel really more than a great panoramic view place (unlike the Fisherman’s Bastion). Still, it is well worth the walk itself for the views (and photos), and the fresh air.
2 Wander through Buda Castle & around Fisherman’s Bastion
After a walk down, I did wander towards Buda Castle. One of the beautiful things to do in Budapest is seeing Buda Castle. There are so many photo opportunities, especially across the city. Make sure to visit the Castle Garden area too as it’s much quieter, with not as many visitors around. Perched on Castle Hill, Fisherman’s Bastion (or locally known as, Halászbástya) is a gorgeous spot and viewpoint to look over Budapest and take pictures of the Parliament. The older side of Buda (Buda and Pest were once two different places) is great to explore, too. Think, stunning houses, cobbled streets and lovely little cafes.
Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest is one of the top Budapest attractions without a doubt. The present day lovely lookout towers / decorative fortification of Fisherman’s Bastion were built in the 19th century to serve as a lookout tower for the best panoramic views in Budapest, Hungary. Needless to say, there used to be real castle walls where now you can take fantastic photos from, but the present day structure has never served as an actual fortification in Buda.
3 Evening Walk
At Airbnb Experiences you can also book evening tour guides who tell you more about the city and special stories. A three hour evening tour resulted in lot of knowledge about the city and the life of its citizens as the tour guide was a local student.
4 Stroll over the Szechenyi Chain Bridge
One of the things I love most about the centre of Budapest is that it’s a totally walkable city, with a stroll over Szechenyi Chain Bridge a must. Two vaulted stone pillars hold the robust iron structure that weights nearly 5,200 tons.
The bridge is 375 metres long and 16 metres wide. The span between the pillars measures 202 metres. Two stone lion statues guard both bridgeheads.
According to the story, the sculptor, Marschalko János forgot to carve out the lions’ tongues.
A boy made a remark about it at the opening ceremony. The sculptor became so distressed that he jumped off the bridge into the Danube.
5 Have a Beer or Wine in a Ruin Bar
Another Airbnb experience you can book is with Csaba. He is a fun outgoing young man who organizes a fun nightlife evening. We did explore 3 different pubs and for each place he got an interesting activity, which helps to break the ice between strangers. We spend approximately 45-60 minutes in each place, while we drunk some special Hungarian beers or wines. It was a great end of my city trip as next day my flight left at 6 AM at the airport.
It will not take a long time before I return to this city, that is for sure…
There are so many other things that I didn’t do. Visiting the famous baths, The Parliament and St. Stephens Cathedral. Taking a beer bath. There are so many other things to do, that i will have to come back to explore this beautiful city more…
Please find two more useful links
http://attractions.topbudapest.org/
As always we end with a quote with a view that you can find in Budapest.
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