When my friends Sandra, Rebecca and I decided to go somewhere for a weekend, we randomly chose Budapest out of a bunch of other Eastern European cities that we had in mind, mainly based on pictures and because flights were cheapest. Little did we know what a gem we were about to discover.
Budapest already captured me on my bus ride into the city from the airport. Walking towards our beautiful and brand-new Airbnb in a central location, I was even more excited about this place: So many old, historic buildings, the streets buzzing with people. Just what I like.
Sightseeing on steroids
We only had a long weekend and thought we could maybe squeeze in a trip outside of Budapest to a little Hungarian village, but the truly fantastic sightseeing in this city already overwhelmed us. The history of Budapest began with an early Celtic settlement before the Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century. Formerly, the city was divided in three parts: Buda, the settlements on the south-west bank of the river, Óbuda in the north-west and Pest on the eastside of the river. With the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest on 17 November 1873, the name ‘Budapest’ was given to the new capital.
We spent our first day hiking up to the Citadella, a viewpoint in the former “Buda” part of the city, to enjoy some magnificent views across the city and the river Danube, before moving on to Buda Castle along the river. After so much walking, we definitely deserved a little treat in the oldest confectionary in Hungary, namely Ruszwurm Café. The mouth-watering cake selection made it difficult for us to choose.
Hungover in Hungary
When we went out for dinner on our first night, we enquired about the nightlife in Budapest and were told that more than 200 bars were situated just around the corner from our Airbnb on Dohány Street. We couldn’t quite believe this but it should have given us an idea about what the nightlife in Budapest is like. On the second night of our stay, after all that walking, we went to Budapest’s oldest “ruin bar”, Szimpla Kert. Ruin bars are located in derelict buildings and unused outdoor spaces in Budapest’s old District VII neighbourhood, which was left to decay after World War II. Szimpla Kert is also filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful artefacts, which really adds to the cheerful and colourful atmosphere of the place. Pretty much upon entering the bar, we met some nice guys from Namibia and started chatting to them. Upon leaving the bar at around 2 or 3 in the morning, none of us was really willing to go home so we asked the bouncers where else we could go. They recommended a bar called Instant to us, so off we went.
In contrast to Szimpla Kert, which is already big and busy, Instant turned out to be like a “bar-city”. With a large indoor dancefloor playing house, a courtyard leading on to another venue playing pop music and – as we only discovered on the second night – an entire underground section featuring a rock bar, another dance floor and games room complete with pool billiard, kicker and an ice hockey-themed kicker table, it certainly wasn’t what we expected.
With so much to explore, we spent two nights in a row at this bar until the early hours of the morning with our new friends from Namibia, and had an amazing time.
Read more about ruin bars here.
Bathing in Budapest
Budapest is also famous for its baths. According to estimates, there are approximately 1000 natural spring water sources in Hungary. Many of the thermal baths in Budapest are century old, most importantly the Turkish baths, like the Kiraly Bath, Rudas Bath or Veli Bej Bath (the former Kaiser Bath or Császárfürdő).
We visited Rudas Baths on the first night of our stay after all that walking, and whilst it was definitely relaxing to soak in the various pools of different temperatures, the bath didn’t really resemble the images. The outdoor pool in particular was a lot smaller than we thought, and it was literally packed with people.
Hence we went to Szechenyi Bath after the first big night out in the ruin bars, to revive our battered bodies. Szechenyi Bath is the biggest and most popular of all the thermal baths in Budapest, and it is also the biggest natural hot spring spa bath in Europe. I can say straight up that I have never seen anything like it. We spent most of the time in the two outdoor pools because it was a beautifully sunny day and we only went inside the buildings just before leaving, where we discovered many more pools. We didn’t even get to the sauna and steam rooms. If in Budapest, I’d definitely recommend pre-booking tickets for this amazing place, and stay for as long as you can.
Margaret Island
A tranquil getaway from the city, Margaret Island features pedestrian promenades around parkland, the ruins of a 13th-century Dominican convent, a musical fountain and a small zoo. Other attractions include jogging tracks, thermal spas and swimming pools. Summertime brings pop-up bars and restaurants, as well as live music.
