When many people learned of my wish to see Budapest, they invariably gave me the same response: “You’ll like it! It’s the next Prague!”
(I’ve also heard this about both Krakow, Poland and Ljubljana, Slovenia, however).
So, of course since I adore Prague, I wasn’t surprised to love Budapest. On the surface, it is similar to Prague–a river with a famous bridge, a castle overlooking the town, gorgeous churches and a lovely castle district. Yet, I found Budapest completely different from Prague and a destination in its own right.
We arrived in Budapest after a long, somewhat horrible night bus (I’ve only been on two night buses that weren’t terrible, so I don’t know why I’m always so positive about this mode of travel) to find the city completely shut down. I guess Budapest is a party city, as they say, and in fact most places we saw were just closing down at 6 a.m., not opening. Alas, we had until 8 a.m. before we could check into our AirBnB. Eventually we found a McDonald’s–which actually turned out to be a historical one, as it was the first to open under the Iron Curtain–and I desperately gulped some coffee. We had our hash browns (!!) by the river and made our way slowly to our flat.
Our flat had the most amazing views–and unbeknownst to us, we were in Budapest on a national holiday which included everything being closed down, to our dismay. However, to our delight, an air show was visible from our balcony! Talk about a fun travel surprise. We drank the wine our host had left and watched planes all day as we waited for our friends to arrive on their delayed flight from the States. We walked around the get the lay of the land, but almost everything was closed that day and everyone was either watching the air show or some car races (definitely not something that would happen on the streets of Prague!).
Our friends arrived that evening and we had a wonderful time exploring Budapest. Budapest felt so different from other parts of Eastern and Central Europe that we’d previously traveled to. Partly because, we discovered, the Hungarians are thought to be more closely related to Estonians and Finns than their own neighbors. Another big surprise? The cuisine in Hungary! We ate so, so well there and the food quickly climbed to the upper regions of my best-in-Europe list! Who knew?
We had breakfast omelets at Gerloczy Cafe and incredible coffee and cake at the gorgeous Alexandra Bookstore. We wandered by the river, swam in the Szechenyi Baths, ate one of the best meals ever at Menza, and took a starlit stroll to the Parliament buildings, which ended up being about a block away from our flat. We gazed at the views from our apartment, had about six different kinds of crepes at Granny’s Pancake House, and took in the incredible sights of the whole city from Fisherman’s Bastion. We squeezed in one quick coffee break at the one of the oldest cafes in town, Ruszwurm, before hopping on a train back to Prague (no night bus this time, thankfully!).
^^the ceiling of the Alexandra.
Even with our jam-packed itinerary, Budapest is full of more to see (and eat!). I now sing the praises of this city to everyone I meet–and tell them it’s not the next Prague, it’s simply the only Budapest.
Linking up with Travel Tuesday.
I love Budapest! I’ve been twice and love the lovely baths and the general feeling of the city; I found it to be a relaxed feel and the perfect city to just wander and take it all in. Having said that, I loved Prague too and actually did one trip where I went to both Budapest and Prague. I totally know what you mean about them feeling quite different to each other despite having a lot of similarities too! Great photos, Amy 🙂
Thanks, Marcella! I love both too although I’m a tiny bit more partial to Prague ;). We are thinking of teaching in Budapest, though! It would be a fun city to live in for awhile, don’t you think?
Budapest is one of my favourite places!
Me too! I was surprised at how much I loved it 🙂
Oooh this is definitely on my list. I’d love to see those gorgeous buildings!
Budapest is really gorgeous–and a really fun city too!
Eastern Europe is next on my travel wishlist! I especially like that night picture…so gorgeous.
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Hi Jessica! Eastern Europe is such a great spot–and much cheaper than the rest of Europe, especially if you get into Poland. I am partial to Prague obviously 🙂 I hope you make it there soon!
Oh Budapest looks fabulous! Sad, I need to visit Budapest AND Prague! So many places I need to see!
Haha I feel ya! I guess we’ll just need to keep traveling until we see them all, am I right? 😉
I agree with Christine, now I need to see Budapest and Prague. Just to compare them 😉
Yes and then you need to get back to me and tell me what you think! 🙂
I can’t wait to see Prague and Budapest for myself — love the vibrancy of the colors of the ceiling of Alexandra!
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The Alexandra is such a gorgeous surprise–especially since the bottom floor is just a regular old bookshop :). I hope you make it to both soon–and let me know what you think!
I totally see why they are compared but I like your “it’s the only Budapest” better 🙂 Such a cool city. When we visited (oh my goodness, almost two years ago now!) it had such an amazing summer vibe and I loved all the public art and history. And the thermal bath!
Budapest would be so fun in the summer! We went in May and it was still chilly–but I would love to go back and explore some of the parks in nicer weather. I love how there’s so much to do there!
So gorgeous. Every place has something special!
So true, Ashley 🙂 Every place is a little bit unique!
Definitely an impressive place wow! It’s a destination that is so high on my European list right now!x
It is impressive for sure!! 🙂 It’s so fun, too–some cities are gorgeous but there’s not much to do. Not so in Budapest!