When you hear “European holiday”, most people think Paris, London, or Barcelona. We, however, are not those people. Constantly in search of new adventures, we were fortunate enough to find ourselves wandering the busy streets of Budapest, Hungary earlier this year, Rick Steve’s guidebook in hand.
Budapest offers a fascinating contrast between the old world and the new. Many of the tourist attractions were built to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Hungary in 1896, then bombed out during the first and second World Wars. Some were rebuilt to their pre-War grandeur, while others have been replaced with electronics stores and restaurants. Somewhere in the middle, often buried down side streets, are remnants of the war and later Communist revolution, seemingly frozen in time for tourists to roam.
The city is also the living embodiment of a richest-to-rags story. A large portion of the grand Parliament building sits empty, the nation not longer able to fund its upkeep. Museums and palaces are mostly facades, with small rooms inside so the tourists can see parts of what was once the Hungarian empire.
And, mixed in with the buildings and history are restaurants and wine bars that rival most major cities in Western Europe.
Thinking of escaping to Budapest? The full itinerary for our trip is below. Tomorrow, we’ll add on another day in Hungarian wine country, only a few hours away and well worth the drive!
THREE DAYS IN BUDAPEST: ITINERARY
Our trip to Budapest was three days and two nights, excluding our trip to wine country. You could easily hit the highlights in a day and a half, or spend more time in each spot by extending a few days.
Hotel recommendation: The Boscolo Budapest may be a little further out of the city center, but the huge room, immaculate lobby, and glitzy coffee bar make up for the short subway ride.
DAY 1
Arrive in Hungary. We took an overnight train from Poland that arrived at 7am, though you could easily catch a flight via London or Frankfurt.
Start your day with a tour of Parliament. Buy your tickets online to avoid having to wait in line.
After the tour and a few photos outside, pull out your copy of Rick Steve’s Budapest guide (we never go to Europe without these!) and set out to walk through the city. His step-by-step walking tours ensure you get in plenty of exercise before you indulge in heavy Hungarian favorites, and provides you little insights into the history of different landmarks along your walk.
Stop for lunch at one of the cafe’s bear the market where you can get authentic Hungarian goulash.
Continue along a walking tour of Pest, the more industrial, developed portion of town near Parliament where you’ll find interesting sites like a larger-than-life statue of Ronald Reagan and the gorgeous St. István’s Basilica containing the relic right hand to St. István himself.
Stop into Borkonyha (WineKitchen) for an early dinner, one of four Michelin starred restaurants in Budapest (and the least pricey). In the colder months, you can easily dine without a reservation prior to 7pm; otherwise, reservations are required.
Take a cab straight to the river for an evening cruise along the Danube to see Parliament and the historic bridges from the water. Since we went in February, we took the 6:30pm cruise and were back at the dock by 7:30 – plenty of time before our dinner reservation.
Walk around the corner to the nearby DiVino Wine Bar to finish the night with a glass of Hungarian wine, looking out over the Basilica.
DAY 2
Arrive at the Hospital in the Rock, a secret WWI hospital and nuclear bunker, for the first tour of the day at 10am. After the tour, climb the stairs outside to find yourself atop Castle Hill in Pest.
From here, pick up the Rick Steve’s Buda walking tour, or conduct a mini tour of the area yourself, being sure to stop in at Matthias Church and take a photo from the Fisherman’s Bastions. Other top tourist destinations in Buda include the Labyrinth under Buda Castle (best known for housing Dracula) and the Gellurt Hill Cave Church.
After you go back to the hotel to relax after a long day of walking, change into your evening’s finest for dinner. Make an 8pm reservation at Costes, the first restaurant in Budapest to be awarded a Michelin star. If you have extra time, stop into one of the bars near Costes for a cocktail before dinner.
Visit the Ruin Pubs in the Jewish Quarter to end the evening. These bars sit in the remnants of bombed out streets and abandoned buildings that have been repurposed into charactered bars fills with odds and ends that double as furniture.
DAY 3
Walk along Andrássy út towards City Park. Along the route you’ll find the grand Hungarian State Opera House and Terror Haza, a museum documenting the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Hungary.
Allocate at least 3 hours to explore the sprawling Széchenyi Thermal Baths in City Park, one of the largest public thermal baths in Europe with 15 indoor and 3 outdoor pools (bring your swimsuit! You can rent towels and other needed items).
Select from one of the two remaining Michelin starred restaurants in Budapest, or pick a local eatery for dinner before heading back to the Ruin Pubs or DiVino for a nightcap.
Get to bed early so you can depart for Hungarian Wine Country early in the morning (See the full itinerary from wine country here).
SHOP THE LOOK: