Finally! The very last part of my Europe trip — Budapest! Capital of Hungary. Budapest uses their own currency – Hungarian forint (Ft). Do remember to change your Euros into Ft 🙂
We spent 2 nights, with The Three Corners Hotel. Located at the “Pest” side of the city. There’s an advise for tourist on which is better between Buda and Pest,
Visit Buda but stay in Pest — Unknown
Buda and Pest — same cities but they’re different. To have the best panorama view of Budapest — Buda. There are more hills hence you will have a better view of the landscape. In short, Buda is more touristy while Pest comes “alive” at night with more cafes, bars and eateries.
When you thought of Budapest, what comes to your mind first? What is there to visit in Budapest? Here are some of the places that we’ve visited during our stay of slightly more than 48 hours,
DAY ONE
1) Széchenyi Thermal Bath
It’s a mixed bath, but the toilets are split into females and males. Do remember to bring your swimming costumes, your own towel and shower kits!Fret not if you decided to visit the bath last minute, they rent towel (@ Ft 4500) and shower kits (@ Ft 8600). There are locker for you to keep your belongings too. And hair dryer is provided too.
Operating hours,
- Help Desk (check-in for online reservations): 9 am – 6 pm
- Outdoor Pools: 6 am – 10 pm
- Indoor Thermal Pools: 6 am – 10 pm
- Steam cabins and Saunas: 6 am – 10 pm
- Bath Tours (15 min): 10am – 4pm
- Buffet of Szechenyi Bath: 10 am – 7 pm
- Exceptions: national holidays when the bath is open for shorter hours, or during the same hours but at weekend prices (see below)
2) Gellert Hill + Heroes Square
We decided to skip this eventually because we’re just too relax after the bath. 😀
3) Shoes on the Danube Bank
After our visit to the bath, we decided to just around Pest as well as Danube River. You will chance upon the stretch of shoes if you’re heading towards Hungarian Parliament Building.
The history behind these shoes are heart wrenching. They are shoes of Jewish whom were executed during World War II. A lot of European will mourn and pray, and flowers can be seen on some of the shoes.
4) Hungarian Parliament Building
It is advise to purchase ticket in advance too… Because there are allocated time slots.. We manage to secure the last slots available, which free up some of our time for our day 2 in Budapest.
- Opening hours in high season, between May 1 and September 30Monday–Friday: 8 am – 6 pm
Saturday: 8 am – 4 pm
Sunday: 8 am – 2 pm - Opening hours in low season, between October 1 and April 30Monday–Friday: 8 am – 4 pm
Saturday: 8 am – 4 pm
Sunday: 8 am – 2 pm
Yes, the interior of the parliament building are also in gold~
NOTE: phototaking is allow only during certain part of the tour.
5) St Stephen’s Basilica
MUST TRY — Gelarto Rosa Ice Cream (Located just beside St. Stephen Basilica
DAY TWO
Our only full day in Budapest.
1) Széchenyi Chain Bridge
Since we stayed at “Pest”, we would need to cross the bridge to “Buda”. It is a bridge that connects Buda and Pest across Danube River.
2) Fisherman’s Bastion
Located on Castle Hill. We’ve decided to walk since the weather that day was pleasant. It would be best to visit here early in the morning because it gets very crowded in the noon…
3) Buda Castle
TO TRY – BUDA CASTLE HILL FUNICULAR
We noticed the funicular only when we’re down the hill…… Yes, we climb up the hill to the castle.. It’s a very long walk….
4) Hungarian National Gallery
One of the museum in Buda Castle.
5) Cruise across Danube
We’re ending our day in Budapest with a cruise. Cruising in Budapest was a last minute decision. We’ve decided to take a cruise because it is just so pretty when we’re strolling along the river~~ The cruise took us about 2 hours, with dinner and wine served.
If you’re interested in taking a cruise, i would suggest you to book prior in advance so that you would have sufficient time to plan the other attraction during your visit 🙂
Psst. The cruise isn’t very affordable but it’s worthy~ Highly recommending you to take a cruise if you have sufficient budget 🙂 Otherwise, taking a stroll along the river is nice too, especially at night!
Must visit — New York Cafe
This is the last place that we visited before we head to the airport. It is highly recommended for you to make reservation in advance. As the queue gets really long! Unlike those usual commercialize theme cafes, they specialize in their tea sets — MUST TRY THEIR CAKES! It’s yummy! And there are also live performance.
Budapest is a very modern and vibrant city, with splendid night views and another city with a lot of history~ If you’re visiting Eastern Europe, do include Budapest into your bucket list!
This is the end of my Eastern Europe trip. Hope you enjoy reading my post and do drop me a comment if you have any questions 🙂
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