I thought I’d post a few thoughts as I just returned from Budapest. I was there for five days and pretty much hit everything. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it really is a great city! A few comments on the main things:
- The castle is pretty cool. We went through the National Gallery there (there are two museums) and it was nice. They have a Bauhaus exhibition right now, and I’d like art and specifically that kind of art it was really cool. If art isn’t your thing, the other museum is probably more your thing. Nice views up there though.
- I found Fisherman’s Bastion and that area a waste of time. The best views are all ones you have to pay for, and I’m too cheap. In all honesty, Budapest is so beautiful, you can’t take a bad photo and I’m not paying to take one more. It’s a pure tourist trap. The church up there (St.Matthias) is probably beautiful inside as well, but I didn’t want to pay to go in yet another big beautiful church. My thriftiness probably means I shouldn’t comment on these two things though!
- We went to both the Széchenyi and Gellért Baths, and if you only do one I would say Széchenyi is better. While Gellért has the sauna/cold pool, and there are both indoor and outdoor pools, Széchenyi was just bigger pools and deeper. I just preferred there to Gellért, but it’s a bit of splitting hairs as they’re both great!
- One of the main highlights was the nighttime cruise. It was cheap (I think like $28CAD) and totally worth it. The buildings are all lit up as well as the bridges and it’s just beautiful.
-Also worth a walk is the Gellért Hill. Again, beautiful views and totally worthwhile!
- The House of Terror was a huge disappointment. First, the line to get in was about half an hour. Once you get in, maybe you need the audio guide, but there is really not much in the way of explanations. Then you have a lot of videos, all playing at once, and while they’re horrific, you just can’t stand there and watch them all. There are pages of writing in each room to read and while I did that, I felt that rooms weren’t a good reflection of what those pages were telling you. Don’t get me wrong; there are some terrifying and incredibly sad things in this facility, but it just wasn’t worth all the effort. It’s so close to being an unbelievably good place, but they need an editor and some better organization. I didn’t get into that side of things, but it’s a complete mess at some points both in terms of getting in and in terms of going through the museum.
- I also spent some time at the Ecseri flea market. This is the largest flea market in Central Europe, and if you like looking at junk, this is your place! I did find it a little unnerving that there was so much Nazi paraphernalia for sale. There are a lot of communist things as well, and I did debate buying a few but thought better of that. I really have no use for these things and at the same time, I have a hard time with people profiting from a couple of horrible regimes. Anyway, I wouldn’t be in a rush to go here as it’s out of the way and not really necessary.
There are so many things I haven’t touched on here. Great food, great beer and such a fantastic variety of places. The ruins pubs, fancy cocktail bars and both traditional and other restaurants make it a great place to visit. I would definitely go back!
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