Budapest Travel Guide

12/12/2014

Back on the eastern side of the Danube I was looking for dinner and settled in at Café Dorottya close to Vörösmarty Square. A very friendly owner, some warm tea and fried cheese from Malta with a delicious salad strengthened me for my walk back through some of Budapest’s main shopping streets. I made it back safely to my comfy room at Gaia Hostel, started to work on downloading my photos and fell asleep after a long day of walking and explorations in Budapest. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Now I was ready to head back into Pest by crossing the Chain Bridge, the most iconic bridge of Budapest. Originally opened in 1849, this suspension bridge was the first permanent bridge over the Danube. It was severely damaged during the Second World War and rebuilt and reopened in 1949. Gorgeous views opened up from the middle of the bridge towards Castle Hill on one side and the Hungarian Parliament Building on the other side. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

It was getting very cold now, and I made my way down the hill to Adam Clark Square who was the engineer who oversaw the construction of the adjoining Chain Bridge. The view up Castle Hill with its illuminated Royal Palace, Matthias Church and Fishermen’s Bastion was amazing. At the bottom of Castle Hill is a tunnel that is the quickest way of getting to the other side of the hill. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Have a peek at this video I took from the top of Gellert Hill on a cold February day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwBmmyiy4sc

After a five hour train trip from Austria, I arrived in Budapest around mid-day and started my explorations right away. On a really busy day I covered the Ce...

12/12/2014

Flanking the Matthias Church is the famous Fishermen’s Bastion, a lookout terrace that was opened in 1895 that actually never had any defensive function. The sun was setting now and the view over the Danube to Pest and the Hungarian Parliament Buildings on the east side of the Danube was fantastic. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Then I walked over towards the Danube side and continued my stroll on the hill towards the Old Town which is anchored by the Matthias Church, an impressive construction that has morphed from a Roman Basilica of the 13th century into a Gothic hall church of the 1370s. The church was almost completely destroyed in the 16th century and became the city’s main mosque after the capture of Buda in 1541 by the Turks. The church underwent extensive renovations in the late 19th century and was restored with Neo-Gothic elements. An original church building had actually been located here as early as 1015 AD. The church was the location of several important coronations, including the 1916 coronation of Charles IV, the last Habsburg king. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Once arrived in the valley I crossed some busy roads and headed back uphill, this time on Castle Hill. Past the Baroque Taban Parish Church I climbed ever higher towards the Royal Palace that was initially completed in 1265 while the Habsburgs built a gigantic palace here in the 18th century. The castle was the location of the last German and Hungarian strongholds in WWII, and during the last days of the war, the castle complex was utterly destroyed. After WWII the complex was rebuilt and completed in 1952. Some of the major sights inside the castle complex include the Hungarian National Gallery, the Matyas Fountain, and the Lion Gate with sculptures from the early 20th century. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

A few steps away is the Citadel, a fortification that was built in the 1850s by the Habsburgs to intimidate the Hungarian population. Today it holds a restaurant and a hotel. From there I went down the steep northern flank of Gellert Hill on a pedestrian footpath with lots of switchbacks. Towards the bottom, a statue of St. Gellert overlooks the Elizabeth Bridge. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Back out in the cold I made my way up Gellert Hill which overlooks the Danube from an altitude of 235 metres. As I climbed higher and higher, an increasingly better view opened up of the city. The hill is named after St. Gerard, an 11th century bishop, who was supposedly put into a barrel and rolled town into the water from the hill. At the top of the hill, the Liberation Monument commemorates Budapest’s liberation by the Russian troops in 1945. The gigantic statue of a woman holding a palm leaf is often compared to a bottle opener. The view from the top is breathtaking. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/2/

12/12/2014

Check out this video for 5 things you are going to love and hate about Budapest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlicKu6JvOo

http://www.woltersworld.com Hates 1. Not as cheap as you think 2. Your lack of Hungarian will hurt you 3. Taxi Ripoffs 4. Intolerance 5. Bad Service Loves 1....

12/12/2014

Today, the bath and hotel complex are owned by two different companies and there is no direct publicly accessible connection between the two sides although the hotel guests have access to a special hallway connecting them to the bath area. I admired the imposing architecture, the colourful stained glass windows and sculptures in the long entrance hall and had a peek into the men’s and women’s baths. Then I headed briefly over to the hotel side and took in the attractive lobby with its stained glass window in the staircase that was added in 1933. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

Finally, on the other side I had reached another historic structure in Budapest: the Gellert Bath and Hotel Complex. Budapest is known for its thermal baths and the Gellert Baths are among the most famous. The enormous hotel complex was built between between 1912 and 1918 in the popular Art Nouveau style and is still one of the most impressive examples of this architectural style in the city. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

Now appropriately strengthened, I headed back out again into the cold and across the Danube on the Liberty Bridge. This bridge was built between 1894 and 1896 and is more than 333 metres long. It has an eye-catching cast metal structure with plentiful ornamentation and the view from the middle of the bridge of both the Buda and the Pest side is phenomenal. But the ice-cold wind was almost unbearable, so I hurried off the bridge as quickly as possible. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

The upstairs balcony is home to many souvenir vendors, who sell a surprising number of Russian matrioshka dolls, t-shirts, minituare folkloric dresses and much more. There are several food stands as well and I sat down for a quick Langos, a deep-fried flat bread that is made of yeast dow, salt and water. My version was a sweet Langos, covered with peach jam, raisins and powdered sugar. This was my introduction to Hungarian food. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

After getting organized I headed out right away on Karoly Körut Street, one of downtown Pest’s major thoroughfares. I passed the Hungarian National Museum and the attractive Kalvin Square and headed inside the Central Market Hall, a gigantic market hall that was originally opened in 1896. A cast iron structure with plenty of windows below the roof provides the setting for dozens of market stalls that sell fruits, vegetables, smoked meat, cheese, fish and many Hungarian delicacies. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

Have a look at this video about the Top 10 Things to See in Budapest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEQCkio1lq8

http://www.vidtur.com/en/budapest/budapest-city So you've got your flight tickets and accomodation sorted out? Now it is time to start planning the fun part ...

12/12/2014

I managed to find the building, rang the bell and my hostess Judy came downstairs to welcome me. Judy and her friend run a small hostel on the fourth floor of an old apartment building and I had booked three nights here for under $25 a night. After taking the old elevator four stories up, Judy and I had arrived at Gaia Hostel and she showed me to my spacious room. There were four guest rooms, a full bathroom with a bath tub and toilet, a shower room and a separate toilet as well as a kitchen. All the facilities were very clean and free Wifi was included. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

To make things easy, I purchased a 72 hour ticket for Budapest’s public transit service, and asked a female passer-by to tell me where the subway station was. The friendly lady didn’t speak much English, but she went one step further: she walked me to the subway station from where it was just two stops to the Astoria subway station. From here it would be just a few steps to my accommodation on Kossuth Lajos Street. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/

12/12/2014

In the very early morning of February 16, 2012, my brother drove me to the Austrian town of Gleisdorf from where I was about to catch a train to Budapest, Hungary’s capital. After having visited Prague in 2008, I wanted to explore another one of Eastern Europe’s renowned capital cities. After a long ride through the flat landscapes of Western Hungary, I finally arrived before noon at the Keleti train station in Budapest. The square in front of it was all torn up and locals were running around busily, trying to make it to their next destination. http://www.travelandtransitions.com/our-travel-blog/austria-hungary-2012/budapest-central-market-hall/