#97 Budapest, Hungary

Budapest. Cheap, wonderful, exciting! I was really impressed with Budapest (ha, it rhymed!). The Hungarian capital inhabitants weren't the most polite or helpful, and the language is completely unintelligible, but if you get past these minor details it's a wonderful city.

The most famous sight is the Parliament building, located on the banks of the Danube river. You can get a great view of here from Castle Hill and Gellert Hill.

Parliament (view from Castle Hill)

Castle Hill is just absolutely fabulous! It is home to Fisherman's Bastion, a fairytale-esque wall, the colourful Matthias Church, and of course Buda Castle (Fun Fact: the Katy Perry video for 'Firework' was filmed there!). It also has some winding streets with cute cafes and shops. It has a magical atmosphere (even with the hundreds of bus tours and groups) and was a real treat. 
To get there take the 16 or 16A bus from the sloping hill opposite Szell Kalman tér station, it leaves regularly and only takes about 5 minutes. I took the bus, but despite what you hear on the internet I don't think it would be a struggle to walk it.

Fisherman's Bastion

Gellert Hill is less impressive and much smaller in comparison to Castle Hill, but is nice all the same. The main focus is a large 'Lady Liberty' type statue, and it still offers wonderful views of the city. It's not as easy to access, you need to walk up quite a few steps in a park type area to get to the top. It's lined with benches and I found it quite a nice walk, but I noticed some less-fit and elderly were struggling a little towards the top. Some bus tours drive you very close to the top, you only need to walk a short way uphill, no steps or anything involved, and I would reckon is suitable for absolutely everyone.

Gellert Hill

Other sights include the Shoes on the Promenade memorial, which is located very close to the Parliament building. Then there are the baths which are purported to be a 'must-do', but the thoughts of hanging out in our swimwear surrounded by other tourists didn't really appeal to us so we gave it a miss. There was plenty for us to do in the 2 days we spent there without wasting time going for a swim.

For nightlife, your only option is one of the ruin bars. Basically they're all just very hip and indie bars with oddball décor and layouts, with cheap alcohol. We popped into one before dinner and since it was early it was quiet, but it gave us a chance to look around and it did look pretty cool.

There are many cruises along the Danube available, but it would be useful to perhaps book in advance (especially on weekends) as there are hundreds of bus tours who take up quite a lot of space! (Alternatively if you are there for a few days, perhaps go to the office the day before and buy your ticket for the next day). We took a night time cruise, and it was lovely to see the Parliament building and Castle Hill lit up, since we had already seen both during the day.

The currency there is the Hungarian Forint, and 300 forint is about €1. Prices are cheap - a 72 hour travel card is about €13.

We got the train in from Bratislava, but Ryanair fly there too. The train is cheap, so I would recommend a trip to a neighbouring country since you're in the 'hood (Slovakia or Austria are probably the closest).

Panorama

Parliament by night

Budapest and the Danube from Gellert Hill

Parliament

Shoes on the Promenade memorial

Instant - ruin bar

#92 Good news, everybody!

So after about a year of travel draught, I have just booked my flights for a trip to Bratislava, Budapest and Vienna in October!

If you're not sure where I'm talking about - Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia, Budapest is the capital of Hungary and Vienna is the capital of Austria. So basically I'm going to Eastern Europe.

Why? Mostly because it's different - everyone raves about Paris and Rome but I want to go somewhere less explored - somewhere more exciting! They're also cheaper than the major European cities, which is a big bonus.

Why these three cities in particular? Well we're flying into Bratislava, and from there Vienna is only about one hour away by bus, and on the other side Budapest is about 2 hours away, so it would be a pity not to visit since they're so close!

So I'll keep you updated on my plans and picking out what I'm going to see, and feel free to comment and add your own suggestions!

A map to show you where I'm talking about

The old town in Bratislava

The Hungarian Parliament in Budapest

The city centre in Vienna