Budapest - one of the most photogenic cities of Europe. It's monuments, sculptures and skyline adds a dramatic beauty to the 19th-century architectural wonders. After having the most adventurous day of my life so far in Prague (skydiving), I took a midnight bus to Budapest. The bus had facilities of personal entertainment with songs, movies which wasn't much explored as I was only interested in getting a good sleep.
I had got down at the Kelenfold bus terminus at 5 in the morning with the world outside completely dark and no humans to be seen. I had to collect a 2-day official city pass from the adjacent metro station which I had purchased online. But my trend of initial struggles in a new city continued here as well. New country - new city - but same old problems. After close to an hour of tirelessly and helplessly looking for a tourist information center, I finally found one at the extreme end of metro station. Official city pass of Budapest is one of the cheapest one available around in Europe (2-days pass @Euros 33) with unlimited local transportation, free tours, free entrances to castles, museums and other attractions.
I had booked my stay at Hostel One (highly recommended) and it turned out to be the best stay of Europe. This hostel is centrally-located (literally) with access to stations, shopping, food, pubs at walking distances. Unlike most hostels which have the entire property to their name, this was based out of a floor in an old building. Walking through its entrance felt unsafe even at 8 am, with broken alcohol bottle pieces lying all around. But hold on to your judgement, it turned to be quite safe in the end. To get inside the hostel, one has to pass through three-layers of security gates. Although, my booking was from only 11 am they were kind enough to allow me use the staff's washroom to quickly freshen up for a city tour. Out here I met a Spanish (Godfather), whose job was to move around the 8-cities of Europe like London, Barcelona, Madrid, Prague and manage the Hostel One locations out there. An Argentine who has now been living in Budapest for over a year working as a hostel staff. An Uzbek who was born in Dubai but has been living in Europe since 16-17. I also met a few Indians - an independent girl doing her Ph.D in Mumbai and another self-made man who has organised the pre-wedding shoot of Mr. Mukesh Ambani's elder son (richest Indian). Hostel One across its branches have a concept of family dinner (free) wherein every hosteler would join in and have a supper which was strictly full vegetarian (Maa ki yaad aa gayi)! Post dinner, they organize a pub crawl at ruin bars and boat parties (recommended) at economical rates. The hostel had a common relaxing area with TV to watch Netflix, a puzzle on its wall and a big sleeping area.
Having suffered destruction of two World Wars, Budapest has been quietly growing financially into one of the best emerging economies of the European Union. Similar to Howrah Bridge separating the twin cities of Calcutta & Howrah, out here the Chain Bridge divides the city into Buda and Pest (Buda being the upper part and Pest - lower). With River Danube flowing beneath it, its sight at night is nothing less than mesmerizing. I took back to back walking tours for both parts of the cities. Guide on offer was simply amazing, sweet and quite knowledgeable. Sights at Buda castle & it's adjoining areas, the Hungarian Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica were memorable. There was a place equipped with sensor-based water flow. The best view on offer was from the Buda castle overlooking the Pest city and Chain Bridge. Witnessing the change of guard at Hungaraian Parliament and at the President's castle was amazing. Although it was tiring to go on back to back walking tours but my group made it quite easy. We were all in constant communication with each other, sharing stories about our journey across Europe thus far, talks about life. Basic human psychology is indeed identical across the world with language & political borders being the only barriers. As part of the tour, I climbed up the Buda Tower which is roughly 200m in height. Although, it was scary and tiring to climb up all the way to the top but the sight of sun quietly setting in the background was worth the effort.
Later in the day, post family dinner I went to take a cruise across the River Danube at 9 pm. Hopping on , I climbed up to the open-air seat. Despite wearing a jacket, the cold breeze made my body shiver with red wine being the rescuer. An open-air cruise, viewing lit up Buda Castle, National Parliament, Chain Bridge accompanied by a glass of red wine, champagne simply added to the magic. It is the most beautiful time to enjoy Budapest and what better than doing it under the stars.
Following morning, I took a segway tour across the streets of Pest. It was a great cruise on board this small vehicle with cool breeze blowing past my face. Post tour, I went back to the hostel to have snacks. I then introduced Indian food like bhel puri, khakra to my foreign friends who simply loved the spicy, masala food on offer. Later in the afternoon, I went in for a thermal bath experience. Budapest also known as the City of Spas has 6 thermal baths with Széchenyi Thermal Bath being the largest and most famous one around. These thermal baths are quite healing with known medicinal qualities. I had a good relaxing 2 hours spent there which eased out all the pains of last few days of tireless walks. Post the bath session, enjoyed a comforting sun-bath session.
List of places/activities that may be covered:
1) Walking Tours of Buda & Pest
2) Thermal Baths
3) Palvolgyi Cave
4) Zuligeti Chairlift
5) Danube Legends River Cruise (night tour preferred + boat party)
6) Open air theatre on Margaret Land
7) Budfok Winery Tour (check for availability before travel)
8) Ruin bars (as part of pub crawl)
With a heavy heart, I had to check out of the hostel as I moved on to my next destination - Austria. A trip during 3rd-4th week of August is the most ideal time to visit Budapest as Hungary celebrates St. Stephen's Day (National Day) on 20th August. A special mention to Anchal (my Indian friend from hostel), for kindly sharing her snaps from the hostel. Do enjoy the below pics from Budapest and stay tuned for the upcoming Innsbruck chapter in the series of My 1st European Experience.
