Budapest – Sweating the Sites!

The Budapest sights are ENDLESS and that is what I loved about Buda, its such a small place but there is so much to be done and so much to see. I had a brief idea of everything I wanted to do and see before we headed away and I was so happy as we managed to see everything on my list and more!

Now I understand that Budapest is split into two, Buda and Pest. I have a sheer habit of just referring to the whole country as Buda, its quick and easy right? So if you see that I’ve written about a particular sight in a particular place of Budapest, but its in Pest and I’ve stated Buda, I promise its just me being awkward. I WILL TRY MY BEST to make sure I distinguish which part of Budapest the site is in properly!

Buda and Pest are split into two by the Danube river! With Buda to the left on the Danube and Pest to the right!

So where to start?

Going day by day would take absolutely yonks so I’m just going to go by each sight we went to see and our time there. If there was anything that I loved about the sights of Budapest was the architecture of the city. So many beautiful buildings and the STREET ART. There is some serious artistic talent in Budapest, Ill be doing a blog post solely on the street art!

So the best site to start with was the Synagogue as it was the site we lived closest too! Dohany Street Synagogue sits just outside the inner city With a Museum, Cemetery and Holocaust museum inside the walls! The building itself is absolutely beautiful, the architectural structure of the building and the beautiful patterns on the outside and inside of the building make it a wonderful sight as you walk through the streets. Unfortunately we didn’t to head inside but It gives me a real good reason to go back to Budapest! Especially as I LOVE dark tourism, so knowing there was a Holocaust museum inside and I didn’t go in and pay respect and gain information on the museum makes me want to go back, and I said I would never go back.

So a little more central to Budapest is the BEAUTIFUL building of St Stephen’s Basilica. A Roman Catholic church with regular concert events and open to the public with a small donation upon entry and the inside beholds the most beautiful sculptures, gold and artwork a place of worship has to offer.

The atmosphere was very wholesome and warm, It was a really beautiful building. I really wanted to head to the top of the Church as they have a spire where you can see over the whole of Budapest but we just could not figure out how to get up there! An experience for another time I think.  The building is also home to a large square situated directly outside the church where people can gather to eat and sit and admire the beautiful view. Not to mention have the obligatory pictures taken in front of it!

 

One stop on our trip was a visit to the Danube. Naturally to get to the Castle and Bastion we needed to cross over the iconic Chain Bridge that crosses from Buda to Pest over the Danube! Now myself I have seen the Danube before when I visited Vienna so it was pretty cool to be able to say that I’ve now seen the river in two different countries! so the Szechenyi Bridge was pretty funky, the view of the castle and Pest side of the river was absolutely wonderful to look at especially as you walked over to that side of the bridge!

One of the sites that we saw was something that I find really interesting and will stay with me as Dark Tourism is something I am studying at University. We saw the Shoes Memorial along the Danube. The shoes along the Danube represents remembering the Jews and when they were brutally murdered by the fascists and their arrow cross militia men during the second world war. It was a really simple but moving memorial. The shoes had been draped in jewelry and people had left flowers beside certain pairs maybe signifying a connection. Such a beautiful place for a beautiful memorial, it brings you back to the now and is a small reminder to be respectful when viewing things like such.

When I went to Buda I saw two of the most phenomenal and beautiful architectural buildings I’ve seen so far on my travels! The first one was the Hungarian Parliament building. As you can imagine it is definitely impressive. Beautiful cream and red colors with large spires and castle like turrets. It was really something. We also got to see the changing of the guard outside of the building. Their marching was so unusual and nothing like traditional army marching here in the UK! The best way to explain it would be for you to go and see it for yourself!

The second beautiful building we saw was one I have been DYING to go too so I am SO happy that we got to see the Fisherman’s Bastion! It was at the top of my must see list for Budapest because of the sheer beauty, history, views and the pictures duh. The stone fortress was beautiful marble with some lovely views over Budapest and the Danube. The stairs were so grand walking down and up and it also holds the statue of St Stephen in between the walls to also walk around. It was easily one of my favorite places we visited. Although to get to the higher tiers you do have to pay a small fee but I feel that is totally up to personal preference. You can see exactly the same on the lower tiers. There is also a wonderful cafe inside the walls of the Bastion as well, Imagine the view whilst sipping a cuppa!

Whilst we were crossing the Chain Bridge I mentioned above, we walked towards the hill to head up to Budapest Castle. Before we got to the castle up a fun old walk, which totally could’ve been done on the path, where we tried our luck at walking up the side of the hill instead of sticking to the path, surprisingly it worked and we made it all the way up! We totally could’ve taken the funicular but it would’ve taken forever to queue, we also saw the Zero Kilometer Stone as well before we headed up the hill. That is where all the distances are accurately measured from in Budapest! So at the top of the hill here was another impressive building to tick of the list. Inside of the castle is the Budapest history museum and around the castle are the amazing Budapest views!

So I realized that this post was REALLY LONG, So I have decided to split up the trip! So tune in for Sweating even MORE Budapest sights a little later on in the week where there will be another blog post on the sights we saw as I really am only halfway through on telling you all the things we did! 10 days is a long time to do things!

Stay tuned and stay lovely

x J x