Hello everyone!
This is the blog post about our trip to Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna.
Part 2: Budapest.
Make sure to read the introduction to find more details about the trip!
- Kelet Café
- Buda Castle
- Matthias Church
- Taban
- Hadik Café
- Gellert Hill (Citadel)
- Bartok Bela Road
- Central Market Hall
- Danube Bank
- Parliament
- Pest Downtown
- Churches, Deak Square
- Jelen Bisztro
- Heroes Square
- Durer Kert
- Szechenyi Thermal Baths/ Lukacs/ Rudas
- Rim Thanonh Thai food
- Gresham Palace
- St. Stephen’s Basilica
- Andrassy Avenue
- Opera House
- New York Café
On Day 1, the map displays orange-colored lines.
On Day 2, the map displays purple-colored lines.
Exploring New York Café and Iconic Landmarks in Day 1
This was the plan for two days. And of course, it changed, so I will share the updated plans for DAY 1 and DAY 2.
DAY 1:
- New York Café
- Buda Castle
- Fisherman’s Bastion
- St. Mathias Church
- Lunch at Hadik Café
- Gellert Hill (Citadel)
- Veli Bej Baths
- Parliament
If you’ve read the introduction to the trip, you know that we decided to take a bus from Bratislava to Budapest early in the morning. The trip took around 2.5 hours, but we were busy planning the details, so time passed quickly! After arriving in Budapest, we quickly downloaded the Budapest Go app for public transportation. It wasn’t as cheap as in Bratislava, but definitely cheaper than a taxi! The 24-hour ticket cost us around 7 euros, which isn’t too bad. A single ticket costs around 1 euro.
Our first destination was the beautiful New York Café. I’m sure many of you have heard about this café because its interior is simply breathtaking! The prices, however, aren’t very budget-friendly. For coffee, dessert, and lemonade, we paid 36.37 euros, which is quite a lot. But hey, it’s up to you to decide! I’ll leave some pictures for you to judge for yourself!
A Day of Marvels - Buda Castle, Stunning Views, and Unforeseen Adventures!
Afterwards, we headed to the Buda Castle. We decided to climb instead of taking the funicular as it is cheaper! We strolled around the castle grounds and didn’t visit any museums, but if you’re interested, make sure to check them out as they have a lot to offer! For us, it was enough to just admire the castle’s architecture and explore the area. The views from the castle are stunning, as you can see the Danube River and the entire city. You should definitely check it out!
In the Buda Castle area, there are two other attractions worth visiting – Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matthias Church. Before exploring these places, we stopped for some beer near the church. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the name of the place, but the price for two beers was very good – only 7 euros. Afterwards, we walked around the church, took some pictures at the Bastion, and then headed back to the city.
From Disappointing Apartments to Delightful Eateries!
As our apartment was almost ready, we decided it was time to go there and leave our belongings. Donatas hates carrying things around, so it was a must-do before continuing our exploration. The apartment was pretty central, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment – it was a rather shabby place, not clean at all, and had a strong smell of mould.
Definitely not a place I would recommend choosing. It’s called Home Apartment, so you might want to avoid it if possible. On the bright side, at least there were no rats like we had encountered in London
After our little apartment adventure, hunger kicked in, and we decided to visit one of the places from our list – Hadik Café. It was a bit pricey, but the food was excellent, especially the burgers and sweet potatoes! We ordered two burgers, an extra sweet potato plate, beer, and coffee, which amounted to 36.43 euros. Surprisingly, it turned out to be better than our experience at New York Café in terms of value for money
Despite our satisfying meal, it seemed that things were starting to take a downhill turn. While we were sitting in the café, I realized that I hadn’t received the bus tickets to Vienna in my email. It caused a bit of concern initially, and I ended up writing lots of emails to FlixBus, saying that I didn’t need a refund, I just needed the tickets Fortunately, it eventually worked out fine, and I got these tickets pretty fast
So, despite the not-so-perfect mood, I knew we had to pay a visit to Gellert Hill (Citadel). Me and Donatas had a little argument, and as a result, I decided to go there alone As I mentioned, everything seemed to be falling apart at that moment To add to the irony, the Citadel was closed for refurbishment when I reached there Well, sometimes luck is just not on your side…
Veli Bej Thermal Bath Budapest
The next place on our list was Veli Bej Baths. We chose to skip the more popular ones as we didn’t want to spend a lot of money for just an hour or two. Veli Bej Baths have 7 pools and are less crowded and cheaper than the other famous baths.
So, me and Donatas reconciled, setting aside our little disagreement, and headed to the baths together. These thermal baths are really beneficial for your health, so it’s a must-visit experience! We paid 27.64 euros for two tickets, which is quite reasonable. Here are some pictures from our time at Veli Bej!
After our relaxing bath experience, we took the metro back to our apartment. While sitting there, I studied the map of Budapest and noticed that the city is divided into two districts – Buda and Pest. Naturally, I couldn’t resist googling to find out the reason behind this division, and now I’ll share the story with you too! After all, it’s not just about the tales, a bit of history adds to the experience, right?
So here’s the story: originally, there were two different cities divided by the beautiful Danube River (or, if you want to get technical, three cities). The cities on the west bank were Buda and Obuda, and they united with the city of Pest on the east bank of the Danube in 1873, and that’s when Budapest, as we know it today, was born. Pretty cool, right?
After our little history lesson, we headed back to our apartment and decided to rest a bit. But how can you rest when there’s so much to see?! It’s impossible! So we just left our things and went to explore the Parliament building and experience the city’s spirit at night. The Parliament building left us speechless – it is huge and absolutely impressive! Those who get to work in this building are truly fortunate
Andrassy Avenue, Opera House, and Heroes Square on Day 2!
P.S. On day two, we were considering going inside the Parliament building, but we found out that you need to buy tickets for guided tours. Unfortunately, all the English tours were already sold out, so if you plan to visit, make sure to check and book the tickets at least 2 weeks in advance if you want an English tour. There were still a few spots available for the German tour, but for us, it didn’t make sense to pay for a tour we couldn’t understand
DAY 2:
Good morning, everyone! It’s time to wake up and start our exploration! After allowing ourselves some extra rest, we left the apartment around 10 o’clock to begi
This post first appeared on Tales Of Empty Chairs | Adventure Blog, Stories & Tips, please read the originial post: here
