Had an awesome trip with my friend in 2016 and have since been passing on our itinerary to other friends travelling to the bustling city. Equal amounts of culture and fun over 4 days in Budapest.
Day 1
Got an early flight from Leeds Bradford to Budapest and made our way to the bus stops outside the airport. Bought a ticket to the train station (they have that system where you buy a ticket then validate it on board) where we opted to purchase the 72 hour travel card (cost 4150 forint = £11), which worked really well for us. We got off the train at the Blaha Lujza stop before checking in at the Ibis Budapest City.
After dumping our bags we headed straight to the Gellert baths and enjoyed relaxing in toasty warm baths (swim caps are required for the inside main pool btw). The area surrounding the baths is quite hilly but worth it for good views of the city.
After having dinner at a local eatery we headed to the converted warehouse Szimpla Kert. We had loads of fun and ended up acquiring some Luigi outfits (don’t ask). It was this night I realised the importance of knowing a bit more than just the name of your hotel – when we got in the taxi and said we wanted to go to the Ibis, the driver replied with “there’s five”. Oops.
Day 2
Headed to the Castle area where we took the Siklo up to the main area. Enjoyed a hot choccy before going into the Budapest History Museum. It was alright, but we had a more immersive experience at the Hospital on the Rock. It was really interesting seeing how care was given to injured during the Siege of Budapest, and how it then became a nuclear bunker. Weird to think it wasn’t actually that long ago?
After this we headed on to the Fisherman’s Bastion area then to the Museum of Music History (musician alert). It was all fabby, but we were knackered so headed back to the hotel for a nap (it’s not a holiday if you don’t rest, right?).
That evening, we went to an absolute FIND, it was the wine bar DiVino that have basically every wine ever. We chose our wines and were also given the national drink – Palinka – to try. It’s a bit lethal but you’ve got to give it a go. We then went to another ruin pub, Instant, which had different music in each room and allowed you to go from pop to hip hop.
Day 3
Despite having a Palinka hangover we fully made it to the House of Terror, which detailed what it was like in Budapest under both Nazi and Russian occupation. It was quite chilling and I felt quite sad walking through the torture chambers. Interesting and sad, but just as we left there was a stag do on a beer bike which made me laugh. Can we get these in Leeds?
I then forced us to go to the Franz Liszt museum because I love Liszt (you will have heard the Hungarian Rhapsody 2 on Tom & Jerry: cat concerto) and anything piano related. Following on from this we paid a visit to the State Opera House and watched a short recital.
All the history got a bit tiring so we stopped at the renowned Gerbeaud cafe before going back for a nap (haha). Worth mentioning that this area was good for clothes shopping.
We swapped a night out for a night ‘trying to get out’ by participating in the Claustrophilia escape game. It was challenging, fun, and a bit scary, but overall a fantastic experience. We managed to solve all the puzzles and get out before our time was up – phew!
Day 4
Before catching our flight in the afternoon we had just enough time to visit Heroes’ Square where we went on the ice rink for a few hours.
Thoughts: 4 days in Budapest is always going to be packed and we and could have definitely spent more time there! Would 100% go back.
