Budapest! You have long been a dream destination , a bucket list location even, and I can not believe that I made my dream come true. Budapest has always been on my bucket list as I have heard such marvelous and wondrous tales about how absolutely stunningly beautiful she is. How she is the Paris of Central Europe, and how she has that little twinkle in her eye to keep you on your toes.
I will be in Europe for a total of 30 days. Short for some , long for many, but I found it to be my sweet spot. I will spend 6 nights in Budapest before heading to Vienna Austria, Salzburg Austria and finally Athens Greece. Initially I was searching high and low to fly from Honolulu , Hawaii to Budapest, and unfortunately / Fortunately for me, I did a quick repositioning in my other now favorite travel destination, Las Vegas, where I spent a lucrative 2 nights before leaving to Europe..
I am traveling with my Travel Partner ( you’ve probably seen her or heard of her in my other posts ) Debra, but this time she’s meeting me there, instead of traveling with me. We will be traveling together for two weeks, then my friend Shanna meets up with me in Athens for another 2 weeks.
For my journey to Budapest, I booked what I thought was Swiss Airlines from LAS (Harry Reid International Airport ) with a 2.5 hr layover in Zurich on my way to BUD (Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport ) . But instead of Swiss, I got Edelweiss Air. Let me tell you as someone who has flown business class with Swiss, Edelweiss was far superior. Sure that business class cabin was a bit dated, but I was so unbelievably comfortable, and the dining service was impeccable as well as the bottomless pours of all sorts of different Swiss, German and Italian/ French wine options, that I had the best 8.5 hour rest during this long 11 hour flight to Zurich. Okay enough about how fabulous they were.
I was absolutely worried though, prior to traveling about a few things once I reached Zurich. First and foremost, I can’t believe im going to be so very translucent, but I had some facial work done, and I was afraid my Passport pictures won’t match. I know I could’ve gotten a new passport , but I did not what to have to deal with this current administration ( its 2026) and all their treacherous actions with regards to certain passports , that I just held on to mine as it isn’t due to expire until 2030.
The second thing I was terrified about what all the drama I’ve been hearing about the long waits ( hours for some ) because of Europe’s implementation of the EES system. I had so much anxiety that I may miss my flight. I was so stressed because I booked everything for Debra and I . I was so overtly paranoid ( thank you age, nerves and the internet ) that I gave Debra specific instructions, tools and reservation printouts incase I somehow don’t make it either due to passport or EES delay.
Im super happy to report that when arriving off my Edelweiss flight, I went from the Non Schengen Terminal to the Schengen Terminal and was #2 inline for passport control to which they took my picture and fingerprints in under 5 minutes. I was blown away. I felt so absolutely Lucky.
Here’s a quick overview of Budapest.
Budapest , the capital of Hungary, sits beautifully on the gorgeous Danube River and is actually made up of three cities. Buda and Obuda on the West Bank and Pest on the East. While part of the European Union and Schengen Area, it still uses its own currency , the Hungarian Forint or HUF , instead of the Euro. No building in central Budapest is taller than 96 meters, matching the dome height of the Parliament and honoring the year 896, when kingdom of Hungary was founded. Budapest also features continental Europe’s oldest underground railway line (the M1 line), opened in 1896. Known as the spa capital of the world with over 100 geothermal springs and Europe’s largest medicinal bath. The trendiest bars are in Ruins ( literally the name of the type of pubs ). The Rubik’s cube was invented there and their 3 most famous dishes are : Gulyás / Goulash soup ( with the country’s famous spice of Paprika which was also invented in Budapest ), Langos, famous deep-fried flatbread served piping hot, typically rubbed with garlic and topped with sour cream and grated cheese and Kürtőskalács (Chimney Cake): A sweet, spit-roasted spiral pastry coated in sugar and cinnamon or crushed walnuts. The city is famous for their gorgeous cafe’s and has the second largest synagogue in the world.
Day 1: Thursday June 25,2026
I arrived off a short hopper from Zurich on Swiss Air. Zurich was an oven within the airport , I was so happy to be in the airplane with full blast AC. Anyway. My flight on Swiss to Budapest was perfectly fine, it was a beautiful 1hr 15 flight over the gorgeous Alps and eventually into Hungarian Airspace. and I arrived an hour and half after Debra and went to retrieve my bags. Deplaning was so easy and next thing we were being shuttled to baggage claim. Because I already went through passport / immigration in Zurich during transit , there was no wait at all.
Bags came out quickly . The customs inspector asked me a few random questions and I was exiting meeting up with D. She was In terminal 2A and I was 2B. Less than 5 minutes walk later , we were reunited , exited and went to the OFFICIAL TAXI STAND. Gave the attendant our address and she quoted me the price , gave us the taxi number and we loaded in to our taxi on our way to Budapest.
We are staying on Karoly Kur a lovely area in the 5th. Having been wined and dined so much on our flights we decided to skip dinner tonight and just unwind and unpack our apartment where will be staying for the next 6 nights.
The sun was setting by the time we got to our apartment. And we were so happy that we canceled dinner.
The apartment is fabulous. Such trip back in time. The apartment has large high ceilings , 2 full bedrooms with en-suite baths and is absolutely comfortable. Here’s a link to the apartment we rented in Budapest for 6 wonderful nights: Airbnb Keroly Budapest Apt.
We are right next to a Spar grocery store where we went to pick up some water and little nibbles and supplies. I love shopping in local grocery stores. You get to see all the different and similar items that exist or don’t back home. I fell like it’s a great way to connect with local culture.
Sleep was on our agenda , and thus ended our first day/ night in Budapest. Wasn’t that just grand?
Day 2: Friday June 26,2025
Well what felt like a super long sleep ended up being a whole 4 hours. 😭
Here I thought I would sleep to 7 am , but instead I was up before the crack of dawn at the ungodly hour of 2 am ! Why !!!!!!??????
Seems that Debra was on the exact same schedule. Just great. We fumbled around the apartment for a while and was out the door dressed and ready at 5:30’am.
First order of business was to take out very very little money. I have been told by so many people on different forums that having cash on hand is not necessary since it a heavy credit card city. Still you never know when you need to go to the public toilets and plus I collect foreign money. We both took out 15,000 HUF each. A little under $50. Yay !
The city is in absolute peace and stillness. The air was crisp and cool. It was a beautiful time to start exploring the city
We decided to walk around a bit just getting lost making our way to the beautiful Danube river.
Our first beautiful landmark was the Anker Palace. I just can’t believe how quiet the city is It’s like a ghost town.
We made our way through Vorosmarty Ter admiring all the beautiful architecture with no one else around except for us and the local waste control peeps.
We finally made it to the Danube and beautiful Buda greeted us basking in the morning sunlight Wow !!! Absolutely breath taking.
We walked towards the chain bridge and walked over to the Buda side for a different perspective but in reality we really wanted To have coffee and breakfast on the Buda side. Sadly no where was open down below so we turned back and visited Gresham palace directly across the entrance to the Chain Bridge for a nice Four seasons bathroom break :). What a gorgeous hotel The interior is spectacular and so are their prices 😉
We walked around making our way to St Isrtvan Ter. Still so still and quiet but slowly waking up. We were now Full on “finding Breakfast” mode. Still, so many places were closed but bit by bit a few places were opening. We really wanted to have a full on breakfast even if it would mean a very touristy experience. We were willing to fork out to fill our jet lagged body up with fuel for the day.
We found a quaint little out door seating area that was open outside the very pretty boutique hotel Aria. I had the “Hungarian breakfast” which consisted of “Hungarian “ style scrambled eggs w/ Paprika and Debra had the Scandinavian version with salmon.
It was our first meal since arriving in hungry And a perfect respite to rest while waiting for St Istvan Basilica to open up.
St Istvan Ter ( St Stephen Square ) is very beautiful , clean and pretty. it was also very quiet as the hordes of tourists have not yet arrived The Basilica does not open for another half hour.
At 9am we purchased our all pass tickets for the church visit on the right hand side next to Starbucks. My recommendation is not to get the everything pass which includes the church , treasury and panoramic view of the city. The treasury was under underwhelming to me And totally skippable unless you like religious artifacts for mass. The panoramic view, however, was fantastic and it was very interesting to see the layout of Budapest on the Pest side. Very similar grid to Paris and the Arrondissements.
The basilica is very ornate and beautiful. Something you would expect from a gorgeous Catholic Church. The most interesting part was seeing the decrepit hand of St Istvan , Hungary’s first king. It’s actually eerily fabulous.
From there we walked to the Soviet Memorial taking little breaks. The many little green area parks and their benches. I feel this has truly saved us. As the heat was slowly creeping up on us so early in the morning. So taking breaks and hydrating saved me and us from disaster. The city to me is very green . Lots of foliage and parks around to enjoy a leafy break.
From the Soviet war memorial we said high to presidents George W Bush and Ronal Reagan making our way slowly to the highlight of our day … The Parliament building.
Nothing can prepare you for its regality and beauty. It is truly gorgeous. And the opposite facing Hall of Justice is equally breathtaking.
Our reservation for the audio tour of the Parliament building wasn’t until noon but we made our way to sit down inside where It was at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. They were offering to fill up your water bottles or give you a cup of water right before the entrance. The sun was blazing hot and it was a very generous and thoughtful way to keep everyone hydrated and cool.
Our tour was approximately 45 minutes in length. You are given an audio guide in many languages and it was a really perfect way to learn about the building and its contents. Which includes the actual original Holy crown of Hungary, the scepter, orb and Saber. The absolutely beautiful grand staircase was a huge highlight for me. It is so beautifully decadent.
Exhaustion was totally creeping up on us. It was already 13:00pm and I think I need a nap. I’m still fighting so many different time zones since Monday and not having a full rest is weighing me down. So a nap was in.
Using Budapest Go! and Budapest Transportation options :
I fired up the Budapest Go app and entered my destination. It showed me how to get there and which metro to take. I purchased one ticket , signed up and then headed into the metro station. There are little yellow boxes with QR codes and the app tells you to scan the QR code from my ticket and it validates it. This is a crucial and important step because there are inspectors who randomly check you and if you have not validated your ticket, you’ll be paying a very expensive price. You may be asking about my friend why didn’t she get a ticket while she is over the age of 65, which allows that person free use of all types of public transportation from the metro, buses and trams.
We haven’t even eaten lunch so we stopped real quick at the grocery store next-door and bought some bananas, fruits, and I had a little cereal. I wasn’t very hungry, but I know I should eat.
After that, we just crashed out for a good four hours in the coolness of our air-conditioned apartment
This apartment is everything , and I absolutely love it. It’s also so close to everything one can walk everywhere.
After a lovely nap, I woke up a bit confused. I thought maybe it was the morning and I forgot that it was actually late afternoon. We headed out of the house again around 6 PM making our way down to the Danube as we were not able to see the shoes on the Danube, which I had planned to see right after the Parliament building.
We took a leisurely walk through all the different squares, but decided to go back to the Aria hotel, and have a cocktail in the rooftop bar
It was very refreshing and the staff are young and beautiful
From there, we slowly walked and made our way to the shoes on the Danube. Debra and I just could not fathom why this type of atrocity even existed. It’s really surreal to witness. It was my very first casualty of World War II from Nazi campaigns that I have experienced. It’s very somber. My friend counted 62 pairs and two pairs of children’s shoes. So sad.
We utilize the Metro again to make our way to dinner as we kinda needed to somewhat cross town to go and eat at Mazel Tov
Dinner was absolutely fabulous. What a cute place but very hot no air-conditioning in there, but it was tolerable. We ordered the hummus, the stuffed pepper and the fennel salad. Very light, but absolutely perfect.
From there, we walked home passing through the beautiful Parisian inspired or should I say what reminded me so much of Paris, Andrassy UT. Seeing the Opera House lit up was so gorgeous and the W hotel was very festive.
The walk home was absolutely gorgeous. We passed through so many different friends of mine, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and a few others . 🙂
It’s 10 PM on a Friday and thus ended our official day 2 here in beautiful Budapest.
Day 3: Saturday June 27,2026
Happy Pride everyone !
I had an amazing sleep ! A solid 6.5 hrs hahaha okay we will work harder on that.
I stayed in bed a good hour after waking up. So lovely !
We were out the door by 8 am. First mission is to find Coffee ! Sadly so many places I thought would be open were closed until 9 am. Why !!??? Hahahaha oh well. We made our way to Deak Ferenc Ter on our way to Pesti Vigado which of course will not open for a few hours. We were hoping to find a quaint cafe to have a very light pastry and Cafe. So many places were closed. Even Gerebaud was closed. We are learning a quick lesson that the city likes to start late
I fired up Google Maps and found a small little cafe in Vorosmorty Ter . The coffee was excellent and the croissant absolutely fresh. It was already starting to get warm. We decided to make our way to the Great Market hall.
On our way we passed and walked through Vaci Utca , Budapest famous shopping street, where sadly most shops were still closed but we did stop to see the interestingly cool, Moon sculpture.
The Central Hall is vast and has all the perfect trappings for tourists. Magnets galore , paprika, and all the chachkees one could want. They also had some beautifully “handcrafted “ table cloths and runners in traditional Hungarian styles and designs with some coating a small fortune.
We ventured downstairs to see the fishmongers , and pickled sellers. We then tomato escalators to the top floor to browse some foods but the heat ) heat rises ) was intense. I felt for the merchants also to be working in such heat. Something to note : there are toilets on every floor but make sure you’re carrying some florints as they are pay for play hahaha
The heat in the great central hall really drained us so we decided it was time to leave.
Back on Vaci Utca we were temped for a “traditional” Thai foot massage
We really enjoyed the AC and the mediocre at best , Vietnamese pedicure style foot massage. Oh well at least we were able to rest. Hahahaha. My dreams of Having a fabulous Thai foot massage like back in Bangkok was just that , a dream 😦
We headed toward the water next to the Liberty bridge and saw some places to enjoy a cocktail. Feeling rested and in the spirit of official vacation mode. We decided to try our luck in this heat and have a nice refreshing apperol spritz. We found a place with Aperol signs everywhere. Well I mean it must be a sign from the universe. Luckily they were open and I had an Aperol spritz and she had a Campari spritz. We decided to stay in the luxury of an ac room instead of being outside like everyone else. It was lovely with good music. At the end when ready to leave and paying the check the waiter told us that the service charge does not go to the servers. I hope I’m right in remembering that it indeed does. So we left no tip .. he then said to us “ was the service bad. “ I said no but it’s starting to … and we left. I guess because he could hear our American accent. Too bad. I will say that as a US Citizen I of course have no problem tipping. However, I know that tipping is not really a thing in Budapest especially if they already have a service charge. So I don’t want to contribute to changing this custom by implementing “American” ideals of tipping onto a culture. So no…. No tipping unless it was exceptional or there is no service charge added to the bill.
We still had time to kill so we walked around again, doing some window shopping and exploring the area really nothing peaked our interest. 2 o’clock finally came and we went to. The Párisi cafe for our afternoon tea.
The Parisi Udva Hotel is absolutely gorgeous with its gothic / art nouveau architecture. An absolute beautiful place to dine. Sadly our tea service felt more like self serve , but the sandwiches and cakes were divine.
We thought we missed the pride parade today but it seemed as if it had not even started yet. We made our way back to our apartment in Karoly Utca amazed by how many police were stationed everywhere and on every corner.
As we pulled up the apartment , we were so surprised to see that the parade was actually coming right in front. So we had front row seats and eventually a Birds Eye view of the whole parade festivities.
There was amazing music , political statements , love all around , laughter , cheers and tears. It felt like pride albeit a bit more calmer than I’m used to back in the United States. However this was my first pride out side of my country. So definitely one for the books.
Even with the festivities I was so exhausted. The heat ( and a little bit of alcohol ) can really get to you. So I took a lovely 2 hour nap. 💤
Dinner was at 7:15 Hilda. I found it to be perfectly quaint. We shared the duck and the tomato watermelon salad.
Today was an extremely chill day we didn’t hit too many “sites “ but we did thoroughly enjoy our day interacting with the sweet local people of Budapest.
Tomorrow …. BUDA !
Day 4: Sunday June 28,2026
Happy Sunday ! What a gorgeous rest I got. A solid 8 hours. We made our way out of the house by around 8 am.
Stopping first at the neighborhood Mon Cherie for some coffee and pastry. Perfection.
Today is a desired plan to be on the Buda Side all day. We made our way to the gorgeous Chain Bridge passing through the same trek through Deak Ferenc Ter and down through Vorosmarty and Vaci Utca. The day is glorious albeit warm.
We decided to cross over through the left hand side of the bridge this time enjoying a different view from this past Friday.
Once on the Buda side , paid the exorbitant price to ride the funicular for all 1.4 minutes and it was worth every penny. We need to conserve our energy as we traverse this beautiful city and all her momentous sites in the belly of the devils fury. The heat is absolutely on.
First stop is of course the beautiful Buda castle. How absolutely grand and gorgeous with her neo baroque architecture.
We decided to visit the Buda Castle History museum with the side St Stephen corridor. I did not expect it to be so extensive. It was beautifully arranged and very informative. And we enjoyed a good 2 hours in the comfort of the palace.
Next we decided since we are here already, why not visit the Hungarian National Gallery as well. And we did. An enormous museum of art. To be quite honest. We were getting a little bit of museum out and Hangryyyyy
So we went and ate at the very touristy but really delicious Royal Guard Cafe where we both had a little cup of goulash soup and a lovely salad. Surprisingly the goulash was absolutely delicious to me, even though I haven’t tasted anything yet here but it felt and said like it was perfectly seasoned.
From there, we made our way to Matthias’s church and fountain.
Matthias church is absolutely beautiful and gorgeous The interior has such a Moorish design and reminds me a lot of of the Duomo in Siena Italy . It is such a cool church too because you can climb up top to see and have a better view of the high altar, and you can also continue up top and visit the beautiful pipe organ and have commanding views of the church. All in all, I found it to be a beautiful and peaceful respite from the heat, and also a deeply spiritual place that resonates spirit.
Next is St Istvan statue and the gorgeous and crew perfect , Fisherman’s Bastion. It really is everything you see and read about. So picturesque and beautiful and the views of Pest especially of the Parliament building was incredible.
From there, we went and visited the hospital in the rock. We were a little early and had to wait about a half hour for our 5 PM tour, as it is mandatory to be escorted throughout the maze of tunnels. I have to say it was very educational and well done. Towards the end I got extremely emotional as they tied in the threats of nuclear war , what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how it is our duty to maintain peace. So beautiful.
We took the elevator back up top by Matthias church and stopped by the Hilton to use the restroom. What a gorgeous and perfectly placed hotel
We decided it was fine to make our way back towards home on the Pest side. We walked back and made is as far as Vorosmorty Ter when I said to my friend that I need to rest as I’m over heating. It’s 6:45 pm and still 95 degrees. Yikes.
When all of a sudden … “Omg I lost my phone. “ what? !!!! Debra misplaced her phone. So I try calling it, but no answer. We try find my , but she can’t remember her password. Would happen to me too in times of stress. I’m sinful of that too. Always changing you password makes it hard to remember.
We tried back tracking and I remembered that she almost forgot her tote in the women’s restroom at the Hilton , so I called the hotel and they said they have found a phone We were hoping it was hers.
We went to the four seasons and grabbed a taxi to the Hilton Lo and behold the phone was there. Yes ! Exhausted we sat at the bar ordered a beer and some mediocre and expensive bar food and unwind. We were so happy to get her phone back and had a good chuckle. Not the best experience but it does make for a wonderful story and memory. I truly enjoy traveling with Debra. She’s my best travel partner.
The sun was setting and we then went to the fisherman’s bastion again This time in the glow of the setting sun.
We Uber back to the apartment as there is no way in hell I can do anymore walking. Im done…. Officially !
We have been out of the house for over 12 hours. We navigated the heat and exhaustion by visiting museums , churches and resting constantly. We talked about how had this been spring ( like when we normally come to Europe ) we would hardly ever take breaks as the weather kept us a float. But the heat , the heat demands attention and a plan to stay safe.
Only two full days left in this beautiful city.
DAY 5 : Monday June 29, 2026
Ugh not the best way to start my morning 😦 I did not feel good at all. I felt somewhat congested and weak.
It took me a while to gather my strength and we were out the door by 9am.
Today we are walking to Andrassy Utca and enjoying the beautiful wide avenue. The beautiful opera house is definitely a shining star on this grand avenue. She has truly one of the most spectacular facades I’ve seen for an opera house.
The day was warming up already. And so quickly. The high today is supposed to be 100 degrees. We decided to stop at a cafe and have some coffee and a pastry.
It felt very turn of the 19th century. Beautiful art Neuvoux interior and a classic cafe with gorgeous high ceilings. It felt like a step back in time and we were here for it all.
We then made our way to Franz Liszt Ter and the academy of music (which of course was closed ) but enjoyed walking through the arts neighborhood.
We took the retro metro to Heroe’s Square and Vajdanhunyan Castle & Lake What a gorgeous area. The heat was definitely on and we tried to stay as long as we could to enjoy the beautiful setting.
We then decided to do the Tram 2 line since we were really too tired and hot to do any more walks etc. So we took two different lines on the metro / light rail to the street of Tram 2 from start to finish and back. On the tram we experienced people not having a ticket or validating properly. This couple tried to argue their way out of paying the penalty and thought they were going to win until the aunty said “ okay I call police “ Then he tried the “oh I don’t know my pin. “ she said “okay I call police “ instantly his card worked.
Don’t mess with them !!!
The ride back and forth was lovely albeit HOT ! We got off after the round trip by the parliament bldg and headed for the most AC’d cafe for some very touristy Langosh. I did not care if it was touristy or not it was AC’d. I mean it says something that when I got off the tram, the air felt a few degrees cooler outside hahaha
Quick Side Rant…..Can we talk also about the word Touristy? I find myself and others constantly looking for places that are not touristy, and yet, here we are as Tourists….. making this visit to this place …. guess what? Touristy !!!! who cares anymore. Im so over myself and others always trying to not do things that tourists do while doing it as a tourist .. It makes no sense. Enjoy your journey and if that takes you to areas where many tourists flock , then enjoy that experience too. If you find someplace that is more local and unknown then enjoy that but know that you are still experiencing it as a tourist … You’re not a local. 🙂 Lets take that stigma away. Ok rant done.
Lunch was delicious actually and we hightailed it home on the metro 2 to rest up.
I was checking out and double checking our journey to Vienna on Wednesday and got nervous that our time changed to 10 minutes earlier and was not sure If we would be guaranteed our seat assignment. There’s more to the story but I’m too tired to explain , so I took a metro to Kelleti station and spoke with customer service in person. She said I was fine. Just leaving 10 minutes early. Ok great.
Unfortunately that is the extent of my day 😦 I felt so sorry for my friend Debra as I I just couldn’t do anything and did not want to get out of bed 😦 maybe dinner real quick at the Ukrainian Restaurant next door.
Tomorrow is our last full day. I hope I am a lot better. I have 3 more weeks of travel to go
Day 6: Tuesday June 30,2026
Today was our last full day in Budapest. Today was also the hottest day since we’ve been here with temperatures reaching a whopping 101 degrees F. Yikes.
Our plan today was to visit the Dohány Street Synagogue Dohány utcai Zsinagóga. However once we saw that it was about $45 USD or 14,500 HUF per person we quickly realized that maybe it was not a top priority to visit. I was a bit disappointed at the astronomical price to visit a place of worship. And I mean that with all due respect. I’m sure to some it is absolutely worth it but for me I’m satisfied with reading about its history. I don’t think any of the top museums in the city even costs that much. Anyway moving on.
We had breakfast and lovely coffee at La Casa Verde cafe and the sever was absolutely so sweet. Since i haven’t been feeling 100% yet we decided to stay as cool as possible and headed instead to WestEnd shopping mall for some retail therapy and some nice AC. It is your basic mall with all the typical stores. To which I just bought two items that were on sale at Zara and just walked around window shopping.
Getting there and back is such a breeze. I really like the public transportation here in Budapest. It’s thought out pretty beautifully. From the M3 line you can walk right under the street level avoiding the heat of the day straight into the mall. Brilliant !
We came home around 13:00 , stopped by a chimney cake stand and finally got ourselves some chimney cake with cinnamon for lunch 🙂
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the cool ac in our apartment.
Around 18:15 we headed out for our dinner reservation at Trattoria Pomo D’Oro. The food was fantastic. We ordered the Buffalo cheese appetizer and I got the tagliatelle with clams for my main. The restaurant was very busy. I also truly enjoyed Hungarian wine. I had a Hungarian Syrah and then a Sauvignon Blanc wines. Delicious !
After dinner we walked down to the Legenda pier 7 for our 9:30 ride. Waiting in the waiting area is so stuffy and hot, I almost passed out. Fortunately our boat came and we got to load on after 20 minutes of stifling heat. I decided to sit inside as the clouds were very dark and I kept seeing lightning displays. My friend went on top. I absolutely enjoyed my journey. It was very peaceful and the views were beautiful
Once the hour was up it was a quick 15 minute walk back to our apartment.
Tomorrow we leave for Vienna in the morning and my amazing time here in beautiful Budapest has come to an end.
Some observations I made :
- Budapest is absolutely gorgeous. So many different styles of architecture. On one side you can feel the Hapsburg influence and Neo gothic / baroque architecture and on the other you can feel the communist era of minimalism.
- The people are absolutely kind and lovely and not as jaded as other very popular tourist destinations in Europe.
- The food is divine. We have not had one terrible meal. And I’m happy to say I’ve tried of a few of the local specialties. Goulash of course , Langosh and chimney cake.
- It is surprisingly very expensive. I was not prepared for that. Italy feels way more inexpensive for basic things like coffee , water etc. but transportation is reasonable. I honestly had this terrible notion that Budapest would be cheaper than other places in Europe but I guess it is equal. So be prepared to shell out some coin.
- Love that everywhere cc are accepted
- Try not to come in the middle of a heat wave hahaha. Next time l need to come in either in spring or fall
Thank you Budapest. I really loved visiting you even in during the inferno See you soon.
I am a Wanderlust Princess 