We drove from Slovenia into Hungary in July for four nights in the famous capital of Budapest. And boy were we blown away by the endless array of massively magnificent buildings, dinosaur sized monuments and oh-so-hip crumbling ruin bars.

Getting there:

If coming by car as we did, you need to buy an e-tag/ ‘vignette’ to drive on toll roads in Hungary and as we were driving from Slovenia, which also requires a ‘vignette’ pass, we had to make sure we had a vignette valid for both countries on the one day! We passed through the borders without stopping and no sign of any authorities – the only way we could tell we had gone from one country to the next was that the place names on the road signs were longer and more unpronounceable (i.e. Vácszentlászla & Pilsszentkereszt). In additon to the change of language was the change of currency – Slovenia is on the euro, so the Hungarian HUF was the first ‘other’ currency we had dealt with in 6 months and we learned the hard way that we needed to carry a currency converter after we ignorantly paid $40AUD for a plate of dry felafel and veggies at the tourist-trap Central Market in Budapest!

Our time in Hungary was mostly in Budapest where we spent 4 days and 3 nights walking about 20km a day/night marvelling at the contrast of opulence (the gold gilt New York Cafe, the marble columns and vaulted ceilings of the Opera House and the Caviar restaurants) versus the crumbling shabbiness of the ruin bars, the simple neighbourhoods in Buda and the brutal reminders of the devastation by the Nazis and communism.

Budapest is located right on the Danube River and used to be two different cities, Buda and Pest, which were separated by the river. Today, the west side of the river is still referred to as the Buda side (quieter and more residential) of Budapest and to the east of the river is the Pest side (where most of the tourist attractions and bars are). There are multiple beautiful bridges across the Danube, the most famous one is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge which leads to the Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion and Mathias Church (we walked back and forth to get to our car parked out on the outskirts) but we also really liked the Liberty Bridge which is wider and has a good bike/walking path on each side.

There are so many impressive buildings in Budapest in elegant Baroque and Neoclassical styles, that butt up to crumbling ruins or more recent, art nouveau buildings.  This mix makes the architectural landscape of Budapest quite eclectic – and charming. It was super-hot when we visited Budapest in July and we found the coolest – and prettiest time to visit many of the buildings was at night after the sun went down and when many of them were lit up to show off all the buildings contours and curves.

Budapest buildings that glow at night

• The Hungarian Parliament Building is one of the biggest and most beautiful parliament buildings in the world. It stretches forever along the Danube and backs onto spacious gardens so you can walk around all sides. It is illuminated until 11pm in summer – we saw the lights go off at 11pm sharp when we were there.
• The Exhibition hall and museum of fine arts – this austere white building literally glows at twilight
• The Varosgilet district is a big collection of amazing buildings, lakes and monuments all built for the 1896 National Millennium Exhibition held on the 1000th anniversary of crowning the first Hungarian king Budapest and to celebrate the history of Hungary and its partner country, Croatia. We came across Heroes Square first (first pic.) which is a semi-circle of statues of kings and warriors that built or defended Hungary over the centuries with the archangel Gabriel on a 38m pillar in the centre. Then if you cross the bridge over the large city lake (which is an ice rink in winter) and pass through the port of the Vajdahunyad castle, (which is not a castle at all but an entranceway that looks like that of the castle of Vajadhunyad in Transylvania – middle pic.) and you’ll find yourself in a collection of buildings from every architectural period in the over the centuries.

Super Sites on the Pest side over the Széchenyi Chain Bridge

As you walk across the bridge from Buda to Pest you can see three very impressive structures:

• The impressive Buda Castle (in the distance at the end of the bridge in pic. 1) now houses the art and history museum. There’s a fee to go inside but it was too hot on the day we visited so we admired this old castle from the outside walking around the terrace and enjoying the views and cooling breeze.
• The Fisherman’s Bastion (pic 2) is a 15 minute walk from the castle. This is an old defence post built to protect the Buda castle in 1895 and its name derives from the medieval guild of fishermen responsible for defending this stretch of the castle wall. It has 7 turrets to represent the 7 Hungarian tribes who founded the present day country in 895. The Fisherman’s Bastion offers some of the best views in Budapest and you can visit the lower terraces for free and pay to see the upper terraces. There’s also a restaurant and many gelati and touristy shops in the surrounding streets for refreshments.
• Matthias Church (3rd pic.) is right next to the Fisherman’s Bastion and Located atop the Buda Castle hill, it was built in 1015, and has been used as a coronation church by Hungarian kings for centuries, also a mosque for over 150 years by the Ottoman Turks, was once owned by Franciscans, Jesuits, and is now a thriving Catholic church. It has very pretty glossy tiles on the roof and ornate dark wood interior.

Other amazing sites of note in Budapest:

• St Stephens Basilica (1st pic.) is pretty impressive and sits on a big square.
• The Great Synagogue on Dehany street (2nd pic.) is the second biggest synagogue in the world and the largest in Europe. This impressive red and gold brick building was built between 1854 and 1859 in a mixture of Arab, Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque styles.
• The Opera House (3rd pic.) is big, ornate and just beautiful (apparently even more so inside with amazing acoustics)
• The New York café was just around the corner form our apartment and though we never went there (didn’t fancy spending $15 AUD for a coffee) we were impressed by the beautiful building and its fancy interior so if you’re into that kind of glamour, give it a go!
• Western railway station on western square is a very impressive train station with two ornate buildings flanking the train lines (first pic below)

• The singing fountain on Margaret island is a real treat. This huge fountain ‘sings’ an opera on the hour while the water dances to the beat.  Margaret Island (accessible via walking/bridge) is also a lovely place to walk or cycle around and once a year the whole island becomes an outdoor music venue!
• Gellert Baths is the famous thermal spa built in 1918. The building alone is impr4essive and you can go into the foyer for free or pay for a soak in the pools.
• The main shopping street is Vaci street and it starts at Vörösmarty Square and finishes at the Central Market hall.  it’s a pretty cobblestone street with cafes and cooling waterspouts in summer but it is a little touristy as is the Central Market hall. This market hall is not a place for bargains – instead we found prices in here for food, leather and linen almost twice the price of anywhere else.

Brutal Budapest bars:

The ruin bars are famous in Budapest and none are as famous as Szimpla Kert (Simple Garden). Set in a crumbling old building it is covered in graffiti, creeping vines and has an endless labyrinth of rooms all different sizes and décor – some with bean bags, others tables and chairs, others bar stools or couches. Super chill vibe this bar goes from brunch till breakfast and has live music, and a farmers’ market Sundays.

On the outskirts and dotted around the Pest side you can also find some good beer gardens such as The Dürer Kert outdoor music venue which is a big sprawling music garden with some food trucks and bars plus indoor concert and exhibition spaces. Good chilled vibe.

And to beat the heat you can head to the and even a riverside ‘beach’ area along the Pest side of the Danube not far from Dürer Kert which has a couple of cool bars for a hot summers night.

 The best Budapest street food:

There are two ubiquitous Budapest dishes that I have to mention: the Chimney cake and the Langos. Of course there is also goulash, paprika chicken and felafel bars everywhere but these two dishes are distinctively Hungarian.

• The chimney cake is everywhere – sold from little stalls or shops that bake this cone shaped sweet yeast dough and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar or dip it in chocolate or other diabetes inducing coatings. Some places also stuff the chimney cake with ice-cream or cream.
• The Langos – this deep fried flatbread was my fav and I liked it in the traditional style which is with cheese and sour-cream and lardons. You can get it from street stalls for a song or pay a bit more from a restaurant.

The brutal Budapest history

You cannot escape the brutal occupation of the Nazis and the communists in Budapest – this city does not shy away from displaying the atrocities that took place in and around Budapest during the comunist era and WWII – indeed they keep reminding us so we won’t let it happen again!

• The shoes on Danive promenade on the east bank of the Danube river – these metal monuments are very confronting as they honour the Jews who were massacred on this very site by fascist Hungary militia in WWII. The Jews were ordered to take off their shoes (which were valuable and could be resold) and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial represents the shoes the deceased were forced to leave behind on the bank.  
• The House of Terror Museum – showcases the dire effects of dictatorships, the persecution of Hungarians and Jews in the WWII and the propaganda and torture used by the Nazis and communists and dictatorships over the years.
• Memento Park is a momentous open air museum (be warned there is no shelter on a hot or rainy day) of 42 old statues and sculptures from fascist and communist political systems and is designed to remind people of the evils and pitfalls of dictatorships. The centrepiece is ‘Stalin’s boots’ which reminds us of the era of terror under Stalin that gripped Hungary from 1948 to 1956 until the Hungarian Revolution toppled the statue (leaving only his boots) and Stalin’s grip of power tumbled along with it. There’s also the Barrack Cinema showing communist propaganda films, the Photo Exhibition of communist rule and WWII, the Stalin’s Grandstand – which is the boots from Stalin’s famous statue and the Storage Showroom.
• The Budapest Ghetto was set up by the Nazis in 1944 and 70,000 Jews (those that remained after an original population of 200,000) were forced to relocate to an area in the old Jewish quarter that was only .01 sq mile – it included the two synagogues and remarkably the captors continued to practice their faith and try and live as normal a life as possible – until they were either shipped off to concentration camps or for a lucky few, liberated by the Russians.