Last week I went to Budapest and I think the best post to start with is what to do in Budapest by a local. I’m not the local but I work with someone who is not just Hungarian but born and bred in Budapest. Before I went, we sat down together and he went through the map and created a list of things for me to see and do. I dutifully wrote them down and then, over the course of a lazy week with a lot of afternoon naps, I crossed off pretty much all of them. And since that worked so well, I’m going to hand them to you – a local’s guide to a week in Budapest
Dandar Thermal Baths
I didn’t do this one because they’re closed for renovations but I’m assured they’re “small and low key”, so if you’re after a thermal bath that isn’t full of drunken stag parties, tourists taking selfies and doesn’t cost the earth, you should try Dandar.
Pesterzsébet Baths
Another low key, non-touristy bath, this one is a bit of a trek out of the city centre. It has a big modern pool in the middle with jets and bubble beds and you can swim through to the outdoor section and then cross to the warmer outdoor pool. It also has an outdoor lane pool, a wellness section with traditional Turkish-style baths and a “sauna world”. I visited six baths in my week and this was one of my two favourites.
Gellért Thermal Baths
This is the “big” one of the recommendations. The Gellért Hotel is a big Art Nouveau block of a thing on the Buda side of the river with some spectacular baths hiding round the side. I’ve heard it’s the most popular bath in the city but I think there were definitely more people at Szechenyi (which my colleague steadfastly did not add to my list). It’s got the most beautiful swimming pool in the world, it’s got five indoor thermal baths, various saunas, a small outdoor thermal pool and a large summer-only “adventure pool” which you might still see referred to as a wave pool. It’s not. The wave mechanism broke down years ago and for various reasons, it’s not been fixed and probably won’t be for the foreseeable future. This is my other favourite bath. I’m slightly annoyed that out of the six baths, my two favourites were the ones recommended by a local but I suppose, begrudgingly, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Central Market Hall
This is a must-do for anyone. It’s a big decorative hall with a labyrinth of small food shops on the ground floor and then an absolute chaos of restaurants and souvenirs on the balcony upstairs. If you want authentic Hungarian ingredients, especially paprika, this is the place to come. Even if you don’t want to do any shopping, it’s definitely a place to be experienced.
Gellert Hills
I didn’t get round to this but the hills on the other side of the river, behind Gellért Baths, are an amazing place to just spend some time enjoying nature and views and the various interesting trains that come up to and criss-cross the area.
Parliament
Almost too obvious to put on the list – who goes to Budapest and doesn’t see the Parliament Building? – the Hungarian Parliament Building is a magnificent neo-Gothic confection that actually only dates back to 1902. It’s a major landmark and lit up like a great golden beacon at night, so pop by during the day and during the night to just take it in. If you want, they run 45 minute guided tours but you’re probably best booking them in advance rather than turning up and hoping for the best.
Budapest Castle
On the Buda side of the river is a ridge, home to – from left to right, Buda Castle, now the Hungarian National Gallery, Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. You can visit the gallery, do a guided tour of the castle, walk the ten minutes to the church and the Bastion and visit both of them or just enjoy the more laid-back vibe of the old Castle Quarter. A fun way up is to take the funicular railway from the west end of Lánchíd, Chain Bridge in English. If the queues are reaching back to the river and you happen to have a transport pass, a better way might be to take bus 16 from across the road up to Fisherman’s Bastion and then stroll to the Castle, from where you can decide whether to walk down, try the funicular again or just get the bus back.
Margaret Island
Just past Parliament is a long thin island in the middle of the Danube, connected via a bridge at each end and with a bus running the entire length. The notes I was given say “island, untouched” and it’s certainly a good place to spend a few hours just enjoying peace and quiet and trees and ruins. But it’s not untouched. The entire north tip is a complex of hotels and spas, it’s got a Thai beach-style strip of bars in the south-east and one of Budapest’s thermal baths occupying the middle, to say nothing of the mini zoo, outdoor theatre and the aforementioned bus. Lots of people come here for picnics, tourists hire bike buses to pedal themselves around and it is a very pleasant place to spend half a day.
Budapest Zoo
I didn’t go to the zoo myself because I think it takes at least half a day and while it’s “the best zoo”, I wanted to use my time to see things unique to Budapest, not animals I can see in zoos in most major cities. But it is a good zoo, it has some interesting Art Nouveau and very modern architecture, and it seems to have a good record. My parents love a zoo and animals are always a good draw for children and this zoo comes highly recommended.
Heroes Square
While you’re up at the zoo, stop by Heroes Square, which is the half-moon shaped “square” at the southern entrance to City Park, home to the zoo, Szechenyi Baths, the balloon and various other delights. The Millennium Monument, two curved monuments with statues of the Seven Chieftains and various Hungarian kings, is the most obvious thing in the square, along with the massive pillar topped with a statue of the angel Gabriel, but included in the heading of Heroes Square is the Museum of Fine Arts on the left and the Palace of Art on the right, both in the neoclassical style. The Millennium Monument is not named for the year 2000 but for the 1000th anniversary of Hungary in 1896 and the square is where any major civic event is held.
House of Music
Still in the City Park, the House of Music was recommended to me with “I haven’t been there but the building is impressive” and he was right. It’s a circular glass building surrounded by trees. Half of it is a concert hall and it’s closed off from the outside world with dark curtains that fall the height of the building, their pleats blending in surprisingly well with the tree trunks outside. The canopy over the main door is filled with random nearly-tessellating shapes which read as a canopy of autumn leaves. Upstairs are various libraries, classrooms etc but there’s a cafe on the ground floor and a quieter one upstairs with a terrace overlooking the park. This, to be honest, was on my “probably won’t bother” list but I stumbled across it while spending a morning in the park, I was hot and wanted a drink and immediately decided this was a really good call. Absolutely stop by for a drink on the terrace while you’re in the City Park.
Opera House
The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance piece of magnificence, and yet only the second-biggest opera house in Hungary, although I can neither find nor fathom what the biggest must be. If you’re not a fan of opera or ballet, you’re probably not going to go in but it’s definitely worth pausing as you stroll past.
Andrássy út
Andrassy Avenue, in English, is Budapest’s big street, the Hungarian equivalent to Paris’s Champs-Élysées. It runs from Erzsébet tér, just south of St Stephen’s Basilica, all the way out to Heroes Square and City Park. Metro line 1 runs pretty much directly underneath it, so you can skip sections or just take the metro back to the start. It’s lined with expensive boutiques, cafes, museums, the Opera House and really, you can just use it as a guide to seeing a lot of the sights of Budapest without even leaving the one street.
House of Terror
Also on Andrassy is this museum to Hungarian occupation and torture. The building itself was the Nazi headquarters, known as the House of Loyalty, which was then used as the headquarters for the communist secret police. It comes with a warning, that it’s “heavy” and “not fun” but if you’re going to Budapest, maybe you should occasionally look beyond the baths, boats and beer. It documents the Nazi occupation followed immediately by the communist occupation on three floors, finishing in the reproduced basement torture cells. To get the best out of it, you should probably get an audioguide because a lot of the materials are in Hungarian and the audioguide gives you some context as to what you’re seeing.
Memento Park
An odd park a little way south-west of the actual city, something of a dumping ground turned attraction in its own right for all the old communist statues the city no longer wanted. I didn’t make it out here but I think it probably makes for a lighter introduction to some of the darkest times in Hungary’s history that many tourists just don’t discover.
Normafa
This is a hiking area to the west of Budapest accessible by bus. The paths meander around forests and hills adn eventually to Elizabeth Lookout, a stone tower with amazing views. It sounds very nice but I wasn’t sure late October was the time to be out hiking. If I’d had two weeks, or if I went back, having now crossed off most of this list, I would probably take a day or half a day to enjoy the nature.
Of course, there’s plenty more to do – you probably want to do a boat trip or go to St Stephens Basilica or sample the local cuisine – but I found this list a very good basis for planning my days. What can I tick off today? What did I tick off yesterday? What else does my friendly local think is important for me to see or do? I’m very glad I had it and I hope it gives you some inspiration for your own trip.