Budapest, February 2007

It has been a few hectic weeks since Susan and I got back from our holidays. It was a short city break to the capital of Hungary, Budapest.  [To skip the chat click here to go to straight to the photo selection in the gallery!)  For those who do not know - Budapest straddles the Danube with Buda on one side of the river and Pest on the other.  It is apparently said by those on the Buda side of the river, that the only purpose of Pest is to see the beauty of Buda from the other side of the river.  From afar, and as a tourist it does look as if that may be the case, however I would disagree.  While the most populous (at least n my opinion) and most developed side of the river is Pest, it does have it's own charm and some delightful architecture.

Our short break started with a flight into Budapest form Gatwick (London) with Easyjet all nice and on time etc. which is a good start.  The flight took a little over  two and a half hours and was grand. On arrival at Budapest, we headed to the Shuttle service desk where a shuttle ticket purchased for about a tenner each would get us a door-to-door return shuttle service, great value when you get over the shock of paying out thousands of Forints. We also got a city card which gave us unlimited, although unrequired and little used, access to public transport as well as a whole host of discounts at the tourist attractions and was well worth the money in the end.

Monday evening was spent wandering around Pest and taking a walk along the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the Danube and back again, before looking to find something to eat. This was the first bit of disappointment. Perhaps looking in the wrong place, we ended up in a traditional Hungarian restaurant playing [loud] traditional gypsy music.  Susan being a vegetarian, struggled and ended up with a plate of unappetising grilled veg with some deep fried stuff, while I plumped for a traditional sounding chicken dish, that was equally unappetising and bland. A bit of a worrying start….

….but we needn't have worried.

For the first full day we took in a coach tour, a very good one at that.  We got to see most of the sites of Budapest in the 3 hour trip with a tape guide and strong English speaking live tour guide to help us out along the way.   The coach tour stopped at important places and gave us the time to get out, explore and take a few pictures!  As part of the price of a tour there was also included a tour of the Parliament.  Built towards the end of the 19th Century on the Pest side of the Danube, the parliament was designed in a similar style to the Houses of Parliament in London although more architecturally eclectic.   Following this, Susan and I walked our way back to the Opera House for the hour long tour of the magnificent Renaissance building.  Built with money from the Austrian-Hungarian Emperor (mainly to please his wife), it was only graced with his presence on opening night and for only the first performance.  A highly recommended attraction.  Dinner was at the highly recommended Soul Cafe on Raday Utca (Raday Street).  Recommended by the excellent Lonely Planet guide and a restaurant guide in the hotel (and now by ourselves) it was an internationally based cuisine with a good atmosphere and mix of Hungarians and tourists.  We were lucky to get a table!!

Wednesday we spent over in Buda, starting with a trip up the hill in the funicular railway! From afar the palace looks so much better than it does up close.  It is not that old, seemingly made of long concrete blocks that aren't particularly old.  But the palace wasn't all there was to see, although it did offer some great views of the Pest side of the Danube and in particular,  St Stephen's Basilica and the Parliament building.  The palace wasn't all there was to see.  St Mattiaus Church was particularly nice.  The stone walls were painted in a mosque sort of style (strange in a christian society) but the stained glass windows were something spectacular.  We then headed off for a coffee before making our way to the House of Hungarian wine.  This was a wine cellar with a selection of wines from each of the 22 wine making regions in Hungary.  Each one had at least one bottle open for visitors to try, in fact this was the whole purpose of this wine cellar museum, where you are given a glass on entry.  I must admit it was great fun tasting all the wines, a sip of each was not for getting drunk with.  I am not a big fan of Hungarian wines. In fact, none were that appealing to me at all.  It was an interesting couple of hours though!! 

Following that, we headed off for an evening stroll along Andrassy Utca (according to the coach tour) this is the Champs Elysees of Budapest.  It is a nice street to walk along and the quadrant (8 sided square) in the middle is packed with eateries.

Thursday was a very interesting day, spent wandering around city park where there exists a strange medley of castle and palace like structures.  Skirting around the city park is Budapest zoo.  Susan is a huge fan of zoos so we trotted in for a wander around (Free with the city card we bought which is always useful!). With a wide range of animals it was very interesting although major construction work, most of it was closed off to the public. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the thermal baths.  Lying outside (in February temperatures) with the water varying between 37 and 55 degrees Celsius.  It was wonderful and relaxing. Full of locals, and tourists everyone taking in the warmth of the hot spa water to sooth the aching muscles.

So that was our trip to Budapest, a very cosmopolitan and international city with a pleasant and welcoming cafe culture.  While not as cheap as we expected, Budapest was in no way expensive.  The exchange rate at 370HUF (Forints) to the £1 was a bit misleading but not greatly so. It is definitely a place I would recommend although unless you were into Hungarian history and their museums or interested in taking a trip out of Budapest, any longer than 4 or 5 days might be too much.

I have added a selection of the Budaest pictures to the gallery , please take a look!