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Sightseeing in Budapest

Chain Bridge, one of the symbols of the city, the earliest bridge to unite Buda and Pest across the Danube, was built in 1849. With a length of 375 metres, it helped greatly in the development of both sides of the city. You can easily reach the Castle Hill area in Buda by crossing the bridge.

The imposing Castle Hill, which “overlooks” the city on the west bank of the Danube is the main symbol of Buda. Take the cable car up to the 13th-century castle, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, you will find a picturesque neo-baroque district, with large tourist crowds, cobbled streets and colourful houses, second-hand bookstores and souvenir shops. As you wander around this hip neighbourhood, you will come to the large Holy Trinity Square and the wonderful royal palace, which today houses the National Gallery, Budapest History Museum and National Library. Matthias Church, with its colourful roof, is especially beautiful.
Address: cable car start, Clark Ádám tér, 1013, 0036 1 201 9128

One of the most beautiful points from which to enjoy a wonderful view over the city is Gellért Hill, on the Buda side of the river. Gellért was a bishop who in 1046 was killed by pagans who refused to adopt Christianity. They put him into a barrel, which they dropped into the waters of the Danube. His statue has been erected on the hill, opposite the Elisabeth Bridge. You can also still see the Habsburg fortress and the Soviet-era Statue of Liberty, a monument to the city’s liberation from the Nazis.

Staying on the Buda side, it is worth taking a look at the neo-Gothic Fisherman’s Bastion, an important 19th-century monument. It is comprised of seven conical towers that represent the Magyar tribes. From here you can enjoy an uninterrupted view over the whole of the Danube and Pest.
Address: Szentháromság tér 5, 0036 1 458 3030, www.fishermansbastion.com

The dazzling white Hungarian Parliament, one of the city’s main symbols, stands imposingly in Pest, on the eastern side of the Danube. Modelled on the British parliament, it combines neo-Gothic with neo-Baroque and Romanesque elements and is the largest building in Hungary and the third-largest parliament in the world. A section is open to the public.
Address: Kossuth Lajos tér 1-3, 0036 1 441 4000, www.parlament.hu

The famous Heroes’ Square, which immediately impresses the visitor with its size, is located on the east side of Budapest. Its centre is dominated by the Millennium Monument, a column 35 metres high with the Statue of the Archangel Gabriel at its peak, framed by semi-circular arcades containing the statues of kings. Also, in Heroes’ Square are the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) and the Museum of Fine Arts, which houses an excellent collection of classical and Egyptian culture as well as masterpieces by great artists, such as Raphael, Giotto, Goya and El Greco.
Address: Hősök tere, 0036 1 322 4098.

On the grand Andrássy Avenue, the equivalent of the Champs Élysées in Paris, you can admire a number of impressive buildings, such as the Academy of Music, founded by Franz Liszt, and the baroque Opera house. Stop for a coffee on this beautiful boulevard and enjoy its atmosphere. Book your tickets early to see a performance and the magnificent Hungarian State Opera House and to marvel at its fantastic acoustics.
Address: Andrássy út 22, 0036 1 814 7100, www.opera.hu/?lan=en

Music lovers and not only should visit the Franz Liszt Museum, dedicated to the great Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso, a rock star of his day over whom it is said that members of the public would faint during his recitals because of his passionate interpretations. The museum is located in the house where Liszt spent the last years of his life, from 1881 to 1886, and in which some of his personal belongings can be seen, such as his musical scores and piano.
Address: Vörösmarty utca 35, 0036 13229804, www.lisztmuseum.hu

Things to do in Budapest

In the middle of the Danube is the long, narrow and luscious green Margaret Island, which in the medieval period was a royal hunting ground. Margaret was a young princess who lived in a monastery on the island. The island is today a popular place among locals and visitors for jogging in the rose gardens, swimming in the pools and water slides or taking a dip in the thermal baths. You can easily take a tour of the island by crossing Margaret Bridge by bicycle or by train. Don’t forget to listen to the musical fountain, with the waters dancing to the music of Vivaldi, Brahms, Verdi and the Rolling Stones.

You should definitely take a river cruise in one of the riverboats that sail along the Danube and under its bridges, with the “waves of the Danube” as your musical accompaniment. You will find many choices for an excursion in the tourist offices, such as whole-day cruises and themed nighttime cruises.

In the spa capital of Europe, the Thermal Baths are one of the most popular pastimes for locals and visitors alike. There are many choices, such as the Szechenyi Baths in the City Park in Pest, where the waters boil at 74˚C, while in its neo-Baroque outdoor swimming pool you can play chase in the water even when it’s snowing! In the Ottoman Rudas baths, you can relax in the octagonal pool with an oriental aesthetic. In the fabled Gellért baths, with their Art Nouveau furnishings, Doric colonnades, the glass skies, mosaics and stained glass, you can swim in the emerald waters of the wave pool. Many of the luxury hotels also offer spa services.

Underground Budapest is particularly interesting. It Is worth exploring the caves in the Buda hills, the labyrinthine cavern complex, the wartime shelters and the underground hospital under the Castle area. There is even an underground museum dedicated to the city’s first Metro system – the Yellow metro line is one of the oldest in Europe.

Shopping

In Buda Castle you will find dozens of antique shops filled with Russian dolls, old toys and music boxes that play Liszt melodies, shops selling Hungarian folklore items and souvenirs, such as genuine Hungarian traditional costumes, hand-painted eggs, candlesticks, jewellery boxes, handmade bookmarks, and lace while in the glass shops you can find fine Hungarian porcelain tableware.

Along Andrássy Avenue in Pest and Váci Street, a main shopping street, you will find a huge number of shops as well as the boutiques of up-and-coming Hungarian designers.

In the city’s Central Market, you can buy some of the famous Hungarian salami as well as the “national” spice of Hungary – paprika!

Food and Entertainment

In Budapest you can dine in art nouveaux palaces, baroque villas with gardens, floating restaurants and more, often accompanied by the famous gypsy violins.

The best-known Magyar dish is the filling goulash, a soup made with beef, potatoes and paprika. Other typical Hungarian dishes are breaded chicken with paprika, foie gras with a buttery flavour and goose liver cooked with various sauces.

Wash your meal down with a deep red Egri Bikavér wine and a white semi-sweet Szürkebarát, two of the top selections from the vineyards of Hungary, from the wine-producing areas of Tokaj and Lake Balaton.

Hungarian cuisine also has its fair share of desserts, such as cake dobos torte, with chocolate, cream and caramelised brown sugar, and the delightful sweets you can try in the historical cafes and patisseries of the pedestrianised Váci Street, in Buda Castle, and in the “Water City” of Víziváros north of Chain Bridge.

Budapest has a vibrant nightlife and one of the latest trends is clubbing in a “rom kocsma”, a so-called “ruin pub”. And this is exactly what they are, ruined pubs and cellars in Pest with a drinks bar added, the best places for dancing and bands performing live music in an atmosphere of retro decadence.

Getting to Budapest from the airport

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport is located very close to Budapest, only 16 km southeast of the city centre. It is a modern airport with cafes and restaurants offering Hungarian and international cuisine, many shops, banks, currency exchange bureaus and car rental agencies, a hairdresser, spa, post office and smoking area. Wi-fi is free throughout the airport.

To get from the airport to the city you can use the Airport Shuttle Minibus service, which runs 24 hours a day. You can also take bus 200Ε from the airport to Kőbánya-Kispest metro station and continue on the M3 blue metro line (in the direction of Újpest Központ) for the centre. You can also disembark from bus 200Ε at Ferihegy railway station and continue by train for Nyugati railway station in Budapest or take a taxi from the taxi ranks outside the airport terminals for a fare to the city centre of around 25 euros.