Overall impressions:

  • Old subways and old trams that are very clunky
  • Second oldest subway in the world is here
  • Cheap relative to rest of Europe, but not as cheap as Prague
  • Very scenic city
  • Lots of German stores, e.g. Lidl and DM
  • Parts of Pest are very hilly

Day 1:

  • Arrive and take old subway into the city
  • Check into fairly inexpensive hotel in the city centre, which was a bit sketchy as it was the third and fourth floors of a commercial building and was only accessible through an inner courtyard elevator
  • Eat cheap ice cream (don’t pay more than 220 forints for a scoop if you’re thrifty!)
  • Walked around waterfront, saw the Galeria and the Central Market Hall
    • The Galeria has a free dome you can access on the rooftop with lovely views of the river and city
  • Took the historic tram
  • Saw Akvarium Bar in the park
  • Walked around Andrassy Blvd – beautifully lit up at nighttime

Day 2:

  • Breakfast at McDonald’s
    • They have a funny breakfast sandwich that uses hamburger buns inverted and toasted as sandwich bread (essentially for a grilled cheese)
  • Funicular
    • Sort of pricey so we took it up and then walked down; not a bad way to conserve energy
  • Soldiers on changing of the guard
    • Very fun to watch as they have a band and have really synchronized formations
  • Buda castle
    • Now a museum, but we didn’t go in
    • Lovely views from the outside wall of the rest of the city
  • Fisherman’s Bastion
    • Tall look out point right next to the church
    • Costs money to go onto top floor but bottom floor offers great views anyway and is free
  • Matthias church
    • Costs money to enter, and we didn’t go…
    • Beautiful roof worth noting from the outside
  • Parliament
    • Lots of lovely flowers and seating all around and a lovely square to walk around
    • Memorial just outside dedicated to Soviet era attack
  • Main train station
    • We were lucky and caught a real steam engine in the station when we went as they were filming an old movie of it; quite cool to see!
    • Looks very, very old in general and definitely not the same as most central stations in other European cities, though also quite a quick pit stop
  • Lunch at Kajahu
    • Great restaurant with fun set up – you order from tablets at your seat
  • Szechenyi baths
    • Pricey but kind of fun…they’re quite beautiful and there are a number of different baths
    • Lockers are a bit confusing to figure out but there are staff around to help
    • Would advise that you take care to remember where your locker is since it can be confusing to find your way back after
    • On the warm sunny day when we went, it felt like large bathtubs outdoors but if you’re lucky, you can also get a spot to sunbathe at and enjoy the outdoors and not just the water
  • Opera
    • There are cheap tickets but we found out we had to enter from the side door and climb up 3 consecutive floors of stairs (with no view of the main lobby or rest of the Opera)
    • The views are definitely obstructed even if they let you move forward once the show starts and no one is in front
    • Can be hard to read English subtitles since they’re usually at the top of the subtitle screen
    • Not bad view of stage in general though, especially with the screens they now include with live broadcast of what’s happening on stage
  • Ruins bar: Szimpla Kert
    • Kind of fun to walk around and get a nice drink or two (can be pricey)
    • Can be noisy and gets more rowdy later at night
    • Next door is a great little beer garden style set up with a few food trucks; I had a paneer burger and it was amazing! They fried paneer and made it into the burger patty part and had great toppings with it otherwise

Sunday

  • Breakfast at Circuzs
    • Good eggs Benny!
    • Cute restaurant with bright, airy feel
  • Walk around Heroes Square and adjacent park
    • Heroes Square is a square like any other; worth a walk around and a photo or two but not much else
    • We were there on Labour Day and there was a big labour day fair with rides, food stalls, vendors, etc. and also lots of people
    • We went on one ride – the swings – which was quite fun though also felt relatively unsafe compared to North American rides where there’s usually a bigger roped off area and lots of safety gear
  • Tried to find “Vaci street,” which was supposed to be a busy shopping street, and ended up on the wrong one…
    • If you are going to look for the shopping street, make sure the one you find begins at the Central Market Hall! Not the other one that leads to Central station…
  • West End Mall
    • Near the wrong Vaci street but some fairly nice stores, though nothing is open on Sunday except food
  • Air Show by water and bridge
    • Possibly a Labour Day event too
    • Lots of cool tricks with a helicopter and a few older military planes
  • Intercontinental cafe
    • Right by the river, great view of Air Show and also some very affordable cakes/tarts (relative to an international price point)
  • Walk around the real Vaci street
  • Go to airport