Even though we are in lockdown at the moment, I wanted to share this post as back in February I was lucky enough to visit Budapest. Although we are unable to travel currently, that doesn’t have to stop us thinking about places we would like to visit in the future! A city break in Budapest could be the perfect travel treat when ‘normality’ resumes!
I visited Budapest back in February with three of my best friends. It was actually a birthday present for me, so I’d been super excited to visit! As it was February it was a little chilly but that didn’t stop us from exploring.
Firstly though, let’s talk about where my friend booked for us to stay because it was amazing! She booked an apartment on Air BnB that was just beautiful. It had 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a little sauna and a huge lounge kitchen diner. The main bedroom even had a free standing bath in it! It was decorated beautifully and was in a quiet apartment block, meters away from the bustling city. I would definitely recommend if you’re planning a trip to Budapest.
We stayed in Budapest from Sunday evening to Wednesday. On our first evening, as it was quite late we headed out for a walk and to have a look around. We walked down to the Danube River and looked out over the bridge at the beautiful views.
We were fairly close to the party district, so there were lots of bars, restaurants and a few clubs around. We ended up buying a few supplies from the local shop and getting pizza to take back to the apartment from Pizza Me which was about 2 meters from where we were staying.
Pizza Me was great for a quick easy dinner. The pizza was sold in slices or as a whole (I loved this, why aren’t there more places in the UK that sell pizza by the slice?!). The pizza was delicious and over the next three days we visited frequently for a little pizza snack!
One of my friends had done his research and was super at knowing and directing us to the best places in Budapest, so on the first morning we set about visiting some of the popular tourist destinations. First though, we did visit a lovely Budapest cafe for breakfast and were able to sit outside with blankets on a beautiful high street.
The first tourist attraction we visited was the Statue of Liberty (Szabadság szobor) on top of Gellért Hill. On first look this attraction looks way to far up, I honestly thought we wouldn’t make to the top as I eyed it up from the bridge. However, hundreds of steps later with a few beautiful view stops we made it to the top and wow it was worth the walk! As well as the amazing statue, the view over the whole of Budapest was phenomenal! There was even a beer bar at the top!
Our second and third stops were Buda Castle and Matthias Church at the top of Buda Castle Hill. These were more amazing site to visit, the architecture was beautiful and again we were provided with some amazing views. We were able to walk along a walkway above the city from the castle to the church. We were able to view different parts of the castle, taking in all its history, which was so much fun. It was also free to visit.
Our fourth stop on our busy first day took us along from the church up to the Fisherman’s Bastion. This was by far one of my favourite tourist attractions in Budapest. It has lookout towers with seven turrets, which you can walk along and look out of. It provided some stunning views of the city but was actually pretty phenomenal itself! The sun was shining the day we visited, which only helped to make it more interesting.
Although this was a busy day already, we carried on cramming in some more of the beautiful sites that Budapest has to offer. We headed back down to the Danube River, so that we could walk along and have a look at the Hungarian Parliament Building which stands tall on the river side. This building is another stunning piece of architecture and although we didn’t go and visit it up close, it was worth seeing!
The next destination we headed to was St Stephens Basilica which is the largest church in Budapest and stands tall in the middle of St Stephens square. Again, another of the beautiful buildings in Budapest with some amazing history behind it. We walked over to the square, had a look at the Basilica and headed to one of the lovely restaurants surrounding it for a drink.
After such a busy day we decided to chill in the apartment for a while before heading to dinner. We didn’t have anywhere specific we wanted to go for dinner, so we ended up wandering about until we found a restaurant where we liked the look of the menu. The one thing we did notice about Budapest is compared to the UK it is very cheap, which is great for food and drink!
After dinner we had decided to go up to the 360 Bar, which is effectively an igloo garden at the top of a skyscraper. I was so excited to visit here as I’ve never been anywhere like it before and have always wanted to go in one of the cool igloos. We originally went up to have one cocktail and ended up staying all night!
You can reserve the igloos if you’re heading up. We didn’t book and just turned up. We were able to find an igloo to sit in and then when a booking arrived for it another one had become free! The cocktails were also delicious and very reasonably priced, I had a frozen Mango daiquiri and it was delicious.
As our first day in Budapest was quite busy, we decided to have more of a chill day on our second day. We had another lovely breakfast in a local cafe and then decided to head down to Heroes’ Square and the Millennium Monument before heading to Széchenyi Thermal Bath for a relaxing afternoon.
As the walk to Heroes’ Square was quite a walk, my friends convinced me to hire a Lime scooter. I am a bit of a wimp, so it did take a lot of convincing but when I got going I loved it! We all had one and we were zooming (I was the slow one at the back!) down the streets. We got to Heroes’ Square super quickly and were able to spend some time exploring it and the park behind it.
Heroes’ Square was quite spectacular and the floor was amazing! The Millennium Monument stands tall in the middle of the square and was completed on the 1000th birthday of Hungary in 1986. It’s one of Budapest’s top tourist attractions and is also part of UNESCO World Heritage, so it’s well worth a visit!
After visiting the square we headed over to Széchenyi Thermal Bath. It’s one of the largest spa baths in Europe with its 15 indoor baths and 3 grand outdoor pools. We obviously turned up super unprepared without towels or footwear, however they sell all of the things you need when you go down to the changing rooms.
You pay a fee to get in but then you can stay for as long as you want and can move round the different baths. As it was February, it was pretty chilly however all the baths are heated, so once you’ve done the run from the changing rooms to the bath you’re good! We stayed in one of the big outdoor baths the whole time we were there but you could easily move around if you wanted to.
To finish off our final evening we decided to go to the Szimpla Kert Ruin Bars. The Ruin Bars are effectively fun, eclectic rooms in an old building. There are so many different areas which have so many exciting decorations, from bath tubs to sit in, chairs hanging from the ceiling, bright lights, different tables and different decorations. It was one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited and had amazing drinks – I found my new favourite cocktail!
Although quite a bustling busy place, if you get there at 9 or before you will probably be able to find a seat. It’s free to get in and the drinks again are a really good price and quite strong, so you definitely get your moneys worth. I would 100% recommend a visit if you enjoy night life!
We packed a lot into our trip to Budapest and visited a lot of the popular tourist attractions. Budapest really surprised me, I mean I knew it would be nice but I actually loved it and would love to go back one day!
If you’re planning a city break for when we are out of this strange lockdown time we are in, I would 100% say consider Budapest. It’s very cheap compared to the UK, has lovely tourist spots, a fun night life and great places to stay!
I would love to know where your favourite city break in Europe is, as I really want to travel and visit Europe more in the future!
Also, If you haven’t already, check out my social media as I use it to update you all on new blog posts! Here are some of my previous travel posts!
Jordyn Amber x