The Best of Budapest in Three Days

I left Vienna feeling like it would be tough to top. I mean, I’d made some awesome friends, explored a huge chunk of the city and am now able to point out particular scenes in ‘Before Sunrise’ and go, yep, I’ve been there. Now, three and a half days later, I can say Budapest certainly held up it’s end of the deal.

I originally added Budapest into my itinerary, as I remember my nana had travelled there in 2019, and told me she had really liked it. Vienna was my real reason for heading east, but why not head that way as well.

Arriving in Budapest

I chose to get a slightly later train today, to test out whether it’s better to sleep-in than walk around a new city waiting for check in. Negative. Get yo ass out of bed and get going. The trains aren’t as delayed, there’s less people and you get to do more, even if you do have to take your bags a few more places. I should’ve gotten a locker.

My first impression of Budapest was one of the main central stations that looked like Grand Central back in it’s heyday. Almost immediately after stepping out of the terminal, the streets were shut down as a small green car came roaring past, masks strapped to the back of the headrests and weaving across the road. About 30 police cars and ambulances followed in quick succession, along with cars driven by men in black suits and even some army personnel.

I couldn’t find what it was about but hey, it was exciting.

I checked into the hostel which luckily wasn’t too far away. Only the biggest hostel I’ve ever seen in my life – I was on the fourth floor tucked into the brilliant multi-coloured buildings that have been pretty standard across Vienna and Prague as well.

BUDAPEST AT NIGHT

The waterfront was super close, so I figured I’d go for a walk around to sight see before it got dark. I then decided to meet up with Alec, Joe and Hans from Vienna who had arrived a few days prior. We headed across the river to a floating bar (of which we all felt severely out of place, it was a very nice venue) before going to a more local pub. The second one was an underground college bar and we were ushered in by a friendly Hungarian man who was excited to share his bar and beer with us.

One of the best parts of being in Budapest was exploring Buda Castle at night. I had three guys with me so heck, I had no problem being out late. The most incredible lights were illuminating the entire thing, as well as the Parliament building across the water. There are no words to describe how magical the view was from the terraces. The boys even met Eric Andre, the American comedian, which was very funny to see their reactions to.

It almost took a turn for the worse when we left however. A very sneaky Uber driver had a scam set up. Even though we’d already paid online he quickly requested cash only, to double dip. He had a pre-written translation and insisted it was the only way. Got us 50m down the hill though.

THEN, to make things even more exciting, we decided to take the tram. Alec didn’t have a ticket as it had supposedly gone for a walk when he left it on the shelf in his room. I hadn’t had many problems with inspectors checking tickets in Vienna and Prague but OH man. Hungarian S.W.A.T. teams patrol every single public transport you take (we were yet to find this out).

We were one stop away when we see people with purple armbands board the tram. By the time I’d translated it to ‘Inspector,’ Alec had ducked to the back, only to be confronted by three more people who had been on the tram and were now sliding their armbands on. He comes rushing back to Joe, who hands him his ticket to get scanned. Alec manages to pass it back to Joe without being seen and slips out the door before the second wave. The whole thing felt like we were in ‘Now You See Me Two,’ honestly.

BUDAPEST DAY ONE – 2nd October

Started the morning with breakfast at the hostel before meeting the boys at a local cafe. We took public transport across town to the Parliament Building, which both Joe and Alec had been recommended to do. Unfortunately the wait was until 4PM, and it was only 11. We jumped on another train to the outskirts of the city to explore the roman ruins of one of the original settlements of the area. In conclusion: even back then, they loved their bathhouses.

The house of terror was our stop on the way back into town, all about the soviet era and the Nazis in Hungary. Unfortunately most of it was in Hungarian, so it was a little tricky to piece together what was going on.

The Parliament Building was insanely cool. I’ve never seen so much detail in painting and trims on a building before. We got to see the Hungarian crown jewels as well which was pretty awesome to see. Alec had to head off for a work dinner, so Joe, Hans and I found a local restaurant to have some dinner at.

A couple of hours later we all went back out, straight to the ruin bar. Think of something straight out of the jungle, mixed with old buildings and graffiti. It was awesome. We spent the rest of the night chatting, and Alec & I stayed even later than the others catching up.

BUDAPEST DAY TWO – 3rd October

Slept in a little this morning – it was a very late but good night out. I met back up with Alec and Joe, Hans had already left to go back home by then. We were on the lookout for a market across town, but it turned out to be mostly organic food. I had to get going, as I had a caving tour booked on the outskirts of the city, so the goodbyes kinda sucked :(.

Caving. Was. Awesome. I’ve never had more fun in tight spaces than with Andrew from Adventure Caving Budapest. The cave system was used as a bunker in the second world war. Back then they had underestimated how far it went. We travelled u to 50 metres down into the ground, sometimes through gas that I had to raise my arms above my head to get into.

We had an epic group – two aussies, two americans and a mexican. Doesn’t get any better, or funnier for that matter, than that.

It was raining when we resurfaced, so I went with the two australians – Tom & Majella to a local pancake house. They were absolutely to die for.

Two new roommates had moved in when I got back – two girls from England. We made plans for the next day before they went out to town and I went straight to bed.

BUDAPEST DAY THREE – 4th October

LATE start today. Scarlett and Savannah were knackered after the night out so we left the hostel about 12.30PM. The central market was incredible. I’ve never seen an indoor space so large purely for stalls. I found a pin (yay), and had to peel myself away from a huge amount of random knick knacks that I really didn’t need.

We then took the train to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. I’m going to be so honest, for the 40 euros or whatever it ended up being – I wouldn’t go again. Maybe picking a friday wasn’t the best choice, but all the pools were insanely crowded, and the feeling of looking at the murky water and feeling all the floaties caress your legs wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Honestly the coolest thing was the togs dryer. A little machine you put your bathing suit into and then voila. Dry. Amazing.