A day in Budapest, Hungary

So my summer 2017 travel posts have come to an end, with my last post on my day trip to Budapest.

Budapest was about 3 hours by coach from Vienna, so it was a really early start. We decided to go with a tour company, because they picked us up from our hotel, and because we had only a day we thought it would be better as they could show us the main things.

This was a total mistake though! As soon as we got to the Pest side (as Budapest is split into Buda and Pest by a river), they had booked us into a restaurant for AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES, without making it clear that they were doing that. So we'd essentially lost almost an hour and a half, which is quite a lot considering we only had a day there. But anyway, at least the food was good. Paprika is a big thing in Hungarian cuisine, so we had some pretty tasty paprika chicken.

Thank fully, a lot of the rest of the day was given as free time, so we managed to salvage and day and see as much of the Budaful (ha ha ) city as we could. 

We started in Heroes' Square, one of the most important squares in Budapest. It has the gorgeous Millennium Monument, with a 36m column in the centre.

There was also a bake sale going on across the bridge from the square, so I got a pastry. I asked what the name of it was, but all I got in response was 'milk and cherry'. I tried googling the name for it, but no luck. Maybe just a pastry after all. Whatever it was, it was good.

We then walked up Gellert Hill, where we could see views of the whole city. If you walk slightly further up the hill from the panorama point you get to the Citadel, which is SO impressive and would look amazing at night, I can imagine. There are also lots of market stalls on your way up as well, with lots of hand knitted cardigans and souvenirs. 

The Hungarian architecture was beautiful as well. The two buildings in particular I really liked were the St Stephen's Basilica and the Parliament building, which was huuuugeee. The road leading to the Basilica was really lively with street performers, segway ride sellers and loads of busy cafes and shops. 

We then crossed over the Chain Bridge in order to get to Buda castle. There was a music festival going on at the bottom of the castle, so we sat in the sun for a while and enjoyed the music and scenery before going up the castle. The most popular way of getting up the castle (apart from walking) is getting the Funicular. But we were short on time and the queue was 30 mins, so we ended up getting the shuttle bus up. This worked out so much better because the route they took had the best views! And we couldn't resist getting some fruit punch and a hot dog on the way down back to the bus.

So there is a round up of our rushed, but great, day in Budapest. I wish we had that extra time where they shoved us in a restaurant, which I would've used to see the Thermal Baths, but I'm sure I'll be back one day.