My first trip since returning from travelling and what a place to start. It felt like forever since getting on a plane but after some serioust waiting, I was heading to Budapest for a long weekend with one of my friends. The weather was predicted to be super hot (hotter than planned) and I wasn’t sure if it would affect how much exploring I’d want to do, but we didn’t do too bad! After arriving quite late at night on the Friday, it was time for some shut eye before exploring begins the following morning. We grabbed a Bolt from the airport to make it easier due to the time of day but there is public transport options from the airport to the city centre too.

Saturday, day one. We were up and out by mid morning, in 30° temps, and it was roasting I’m not gonna lie. We were planning to get around on foot as much as possible, after hearing how walkable the city is, however, the heat was a killer and we didn’t want to make the experience unenjoyable, so did use other transport at times. We started the day at Fisherman’s Bastion, where I grabbed an iced coffee, very essential, and we explored this whole area which was picturesque really, visting Matthias Church which was here too. We really enjoyed wandering around and soaking up the views, albeit very busy! It was stunning through, and I’d recommend to everyone visiting to check it out here. As well as the views within the Bastion, the views of the whole city from above were remarkable.

We then flagged down a bus driver to take up further to Buda Castle. This again was beautiful. We saw some of the sights and then found a cool little cafe where someone was playing violent so stopped. We sat in the sunshine drinking Aperol Spritz for about an hour, we had admitted defeat and that it was too warm to do anything produtive. It was lush just sitting and people watching and taking up the views! We wandered around to a different part of the castle where we saw a street performance of some traditional Hungarian dancing, it was wonderful to see and we stayed and watched for a little while before heading to our next stop of the day.

We got the funicular back down to ground level which was cool, the funicular cost around £10 per person for a return ticket, however we only used the single. When we got back down to the bottom we wandered across the bridge to the other side of the Danube to head for some lunch (traditional Hungarian of course!). I had pork knuckle and it honestly was delightful. My dad recommended it and it did not disappoint. From here, we headed to St Stephen’s Basilica to check it out. We wasn’t keen on going up to the top at this time so just admired from the bottom but it really was stunning. We were so tired from the sun by this point so we headed back to the hotel for a nap before getting ready for our evening activities.

We were going on a bottomless prosecco cruise in the evening along the Danube River which was incredible. I booked with GetYourGuide, like I do for pretty much all of my activities when I’m travelling. The quality is insane, and they are super helpful with loads of info about activities so you can make the right decision. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Lots of very pretty sights, including Hungarian Parliament! And lots of prosecco and Aperol, definitely got our money’s worth. The cruise was 75mins and we definitely managed to make the most of the bottomless, staff made every effort to top your glass up as soon as it was looking empty.

After the cruise, we wandered around Margaret Island and saw the fountain show, which was cool. We then wandered back over the bridge before grabbing a Macca’s (again, always in another country you need to check out the menu and some of the items) and then had a stroll through some of the streets before heading back to the hotel for the day. We’d managed a lot in the day so we were happy to head back for a chilled night ready for another day tomorrow.

Before we knew it, day two was upon us and we’d planned to make the most of the heat today and head to Széchenyi Thermal Baths for the most central part of the sunshine, the most famous in Budapest and wow they did not disappoint. You know when something looks just like the pictures? This was that and they genuinely were delightful. There was construction work going on with one of the central pools but it didn’t take away from the atmosphere and still had a wonderful day chilling and soaking up the sun.

I think the only thing I’d recommend when visiting here is getting here early! We thought we’d got there earlyish but definitely not early enough, the sun beds were gone! We ended up staying for around 3 hours and we managed to enjoy the atmosphere, but reckon we would’ve stayed for the day if we’d managed to get a bed to lay down on too.

Evening quickly came, we wanted to check out some different areas, including the Shoes on the Danube Bank and Hungarian Parliament up close and personal, which we managed to before the most torrential summer downpour! However, it was truly incredible to see the architecture up close and personal, and the shoe memorial was really warming to see. Again, another must see! I love seeing things and learning about the history and why they are there etc and this was one of those things that even before leaving, was keen to make sure I visited.

We managed to escape just in time for the most part of the weather change. In the midst of the rain, we found somewhere to seek shelter for a little while (and have a drink) which was really cute and had incredible views of Parliament and the trams passing through. We still managed to sit outside as it was undercover so meant we could watch the world go by whilst sipping on Aperol. We’d looked online and found a really nice looking Turkish restaurant around the corner from where we were having a drink so headed there for a bite. It was stunning food and definitely a way to finish the trip with the last supper.

After dinner we went for a stroll back to our hotel as the sun had reappeared, which was a lovely way to end the day! We walked back across the bridge and by some of the monuments and stopped at a shop on the way back to pick up some snacks native to the country, which is something I love doing! We really enjoyed just taking each day slowly and enjoying the moment and this evening really let that be the case.

Day three and the final day of our city break, first up we headed towards Buda Central Market hoping for an explore around to taste different food (mainly) but to look at what else was on offer there, however, unfortunately it was closed due to a bank holiday so we found a place to grab a coffee and wandered some of the streets for a little while before heading to the mountains for a trip on the Zugliget Chair Lift.

This again was sensational for views, atmosphere and time to chill and recoup in nature rather than the city and definitely recommend as part of a trip to Budapest! The chair lift was fairly inexpensive and provided some of the most picturesque views both throughout the journey and at the top of the mountain. The trip takes around 12minutes one way, and there’s some cafés and trails at the top to explore. There was a little hut that sold Lángos which I was really keen to try so absolutely had to. It’s a fried bread with different toppings, we had sour cream, garlic and cheese and let me tell you it tasted stunning!

We stayed up the top for a little before taking the trip back down and heading back to our hotel to mark the end of our trip. The chair lift is in the opposite direction to the rest of the city so it worked well for us to do it last on our trip so that we didn’t feel like we were going forward and backward on ourselves a lot.

Before we knew it we were heading back to the airport for our journey back to England, it was nice to get out of the UK and finally do some explroing of somewhere new after feeling like I was starting to get cabin fever! Another country ticked off the list takes it to 32 now. Anyways, see ya soon on another trip, or maybe before. Mads x