Budapest is a lovely city retaining much of its Eastern European influence. I would say it's a more classic version of Vienna as its roads and architecture reminds me of Vienna yet it had this really old school feeling about it.
Granted, we got in during a long 4-day weekend since it was the country's holiday to commemorate their 1956 revolution against the Communist Government. And you'll read in a while why this could be both a good and bad thing.
First things first, it's good because there was literally no one. Okay, not no one, there are always people walking around especially in tourist areas, but it just felt really spacious, and I LOVE SPACIOUS. Haha, it was a rather stark difference than the last day we were in Budapest when everyone was back and you could actually feel the crowding, which by the way, is always mild compared to London's tube.
Also, this holiday was part of a Groupon offer so we got the room & flights earlier, and the hotel was way higher class than what I would have booked if I were going alone and trying to save money.
Base: Hotel Fashion Atrium
Location: 4.5/5
Environment: 4/5
Room: 4/5
As the name suggests, a hotel is definitely classy accommodation. If it was not for the package, one night would have cost 185 Euros, which is way way more than what I have paid for the Groupon deal. Of course, with money, comes quality. To start with, the location was really quite good - 200 metres from the nearest metro station, tons of trams going past and you can easily walk to city centre in about 20 minutes. Plus it was surrounded by shopping areas and fast food, so no worries about late night tummy rumbles. The room was neat, and cleaned everyday. Bathroom was spacious and hot shower aplenty. They even had a plasma TV! Though I would highly suggest spending time outside the hotel, haha. Breakfast was included and it was a decent spread of continental buffet with the breads, fruits, cheese, hot food and coffee machine (very important!). Service was excellent on the front desk and from the waiters/bartender.
Hotel Room
Day 1
Afternoon arrival to Pest
St Stephen's Basilica (Szent Istvan-bazilika)
Vati Utca
Our plane arrived in the late afternoon and we got the 72 hour Budapest card for convenience. After a good look around for the hotel, we checked in and headed out to change our cash. There is a really good exchange rate at the money changer near the hotel, I can't remember the name but it is next to a kebab shop and opposite the Margit hid entrance to the metro. Grabbed some late lunch, and then headed to the Basilica. It was a Sunday and public holiday so there were mostly tourists around. Entrance is technically fee though you are encouraged to donate 200 Forinth each. Hungary has their own currency, so only in bigger places the Euro is accepted. The Basilica was quite lovely, had a different main altar than all the basilicas I've been to as it has St Stephen rather than Jesus. This was not an easy feat as the Pope had to give permission and as St Stephen is the first king of Hungary who spread Christianity as a religion, this was allowed. Also, there was a small section of the basilica where you can see the supposed "mummified hand" of St Stephen when he died in battle.
The back exterior of St. Stephen's Basilica
View from Cupola of the Basilica, requires fee
Main altar of the Basilica
Left the basilica and took a walk around the promenade of Danube river, definitely worth it in good weather especially in autumn. Note that Budapest is literally made up of two parts of town, Buda and Pest separated by the Danube river. We were staying on the more commercialized side of Pest. Headed down Vaci Utca which is a long shopping street that basically is the city centre. Tons of souvenir shops, restaurants and most of the big names you would find in commercial streets. It's a nice walk though with a mixture of cobblestone and mosaic paths at certain areas.
Evening view of the Danube river from the Pest side promenade
A square in Vaci Utca at night
Day 2
Great Market Hall (Nagyvasarcsarnok)
Walking tour in Pest - free with Budapest card
Vajdahunyad Castle
City Park
Szechenyi Bath
Started early in the morning with a visit to the Great Market Hall which holds up to its name of being pretty massive. Has two floors with the bottom part mainly for fresh groceries while the top floor has food and souvenir stalls. While prices may not be the cheapest, I would say it is worth a visit, and it's an easy spot to find souvenirs (look out for the Secret Boxes). Then we went for a walking tour around Pest which took about 2 hours and is free with the Budapest card. It's a pretty simple tour, covering various places around the city centre and the guide has some interesting stories about the city to share. One regret is that we should have gone to the Synagogue on Day 1 as this walk covers the Basilica as well. Headed back to market place for lunch which gave plenty of choices.
Interior of the market hall from the 2nd floor
Then it was taking the metro to the north-east of the city centre where the famous Szechenyi Bath is. Budapest is a city of baths simply because of the thermal springs running throughout its geography so it would be silly not to try this tradition despite a relatively steep price (about 7000 Forinth = 20 pounds). Before we headed to the baths, we visited the castle grounds which had a museum but the castle was no entry, probably cause it's not properly renovated. The city park was the park that greeted us the moment we came out of the metro and there was a certain serenity in watching people just sit and watch the world go by. Autumn has such lovely colours!
Perimetre of the park
Headed to the baths, and spent a good 3 hours. Literally dunk yourself in the medicinal springs till kulit kedut, hahaha. There is a huge outdoor swimming pool which is heated to about 28 degrees, but it's the inside where the sauna, steam room and thermal baths are best. I especially love the 38 degrees one, because it is not fun to wear your swimming suit in autumn weather. And there is nothing to feel shy, the amount of tantalizing bikinis and shorts, and probably the occasional flash of body parts makes you feel like you are fully clothed anyway, haha. To be fair, we were the rare Asians in the premise. One thing though, if the smell of sulphur turns you off, being in the enclosed area too long may make you nauseous. Oh, and don't wear contact lenses, because then the steam room and sauna are risky. The steam room was funny because there were limited seats, so when you go in, you see foggy steam, and then realise everyone was just standing around, I found that to be rather hillarious.
Look at the amount of people! And I have to admit, the bath has quite amazing architecture
Went for a Mongolian BBQ dinner on the other side of town, thank God for good transportation system and kind old man. I would say the Hungarians have been the friendliest lot of Europeans on my Europe travels so far, or maybe they are just interested in my bestie, haha. And the Budapest transportation system deserves two thumbs up because the metro, bus and trams were so convenient.
As this travel post seems to be rather long, I've broken it to two parts, so see Part 2 ;)
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