Debit,

Thank you.

Tripp, I'm enjoying your report very much as it brings back memories of my visit one year ago.

DebitNM, I saw the shoes on the Danube and it was heartbreaking. Also not to be missed is the Raoul Wallenberg memorial with the weeping willow tree comemmorating the 5,000 Holocaust victims who are buried nearby.

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/GALL34R/WALL02.HTM

Thanks Ann - I love the four hotels in one concept, and also that there is in-house massage! Winter appeals as a time to visit because of all the thermal spas, the thought of seeing Momento park in the snow, and the excuse to carbo load on even more cakes to keep warm.

Ann, we were lucky in that it wasn't too cold while we were there.

RM67, sorry to disappoint but we did not take any photos of the cakes and pastries.

Cathinjoetown, we did not see the florist but did duck in and out of a couple of churches on Petofi Sandor Street as well as on the street facing the Danube.

DebitNM, thanks for sharing the photos.

LouisaH, I'm glad to bring back some warm memories for you. It's part of the reason why I like to read the trip reports of others too.

A Day on Buda's Castle Hill

Our day began with a beautiful stroll from our hotel across Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city and a quick funicular ride up Castle Hill.

Atop the southern end of Castle Hill is the massive Buda Castle, site of the former royal palace. Surrounding the Castle are walls and ramparts complete with glorious views of the city, the Danube River, and its numerous bridges. We intentionally arrived here early (around 9:15, 45 minutes before the two museums inside Buda Castle opened) so that we would have the place to ourselves, and we certainly did. We walked around the castle walls, snapping photos, and just sat around and admired the perfect views.

Buda Castle was significantly destroyed during World War II and is now a reconstruction. The castle houses two museums: the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. The National Gallery contains works of art by Hungarian and other European artists, while the Budapest History Museum is home to objects and artifacts from the city's past. We enjoyed both museums, and spent about four hours between the two, focusing on a handful of exhibits.

Following our time here, we traced our way along the castle walls north to Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, passing some ruins of the former castle complex and quaint narrow lanes along the way.

Matthias Church ranks among one of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere. In addition to the beautiful works of art, the Gothic structure's extensive decorations and ornamentations really struck me as unique. All the interior walls, columns, and pillars are covered in colorful lines and geometric patterns, as is the church's roof. A small portion of the church's interior was under scaffolding, but it did not affect our visit. Visitors are able to ascend to the second floor of the church, from where we were able to get a closer look at the altar as well as the nave.

Following our visit to Matthias Church, we visited Fisherman's Bastion right outside. Constructed in the late-19th century in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style, the structure consists of seven towers representing the seven Asiatic tribes that settled in the country that became modern Hungary. Fisherman's Bastion, with its long hallways, terraces, and staircases, felt very whimsical, and was a great late-afternoon stop for us after spending most of our day in museums. The views here are equally as impressive as what we saw from Buda Castle this morning.

By now, the sun started to go down and we were ready to head down the hill. At the bottom, we found a casual Italian restaurant directly opposite the Parliament building that looked appealing and enjoyed an early dinner there. From here, it was a quick subway over to Pest and our hotel.

Given what we read from a couple of guidebooks on Buda, we didn't have very high expectations. The suggestions were to spend anywhere from two to four hours on Castle Hill. We were here for an entire day, and could easily had at least another half day and not run out of things to do.

Quieter and more residential than Pest, I found Buda and Castle Hill in particular to be rather charming. It is a stark contrast to the commercialism on the other side of the river and almost felt like a more distant hideaway.

I'm curious to hear what are others' impressions of Buda and what you like or dislike about it.

Up next: our final day in Budapest. Stay tuned...

we liked Buda too, TP, and rather wished that we'd taken up the offer that the Hilton had on when we were there - I can't remember what it was, but I remember that it looked pretty good.

We too faced little opposition from other tourists when exploring the castle and the museums, due to the extreme cold. Fortunately we were well wrapped up and took every opportunity to indulge in gluhwein and hot chocolate. we also ate an excellent goulash for lunch in a cafe on the Buda side, but I can't remember which one.

I think we spent about ¾ of a day over there - that was enough for us but the cold may have prevented us from exploring as far as you. And it was several years ago.

Following along, tripplanner.

Love your trip reports - the detail is just right, and you do an amazing job in covering so much in your visits!

Ann, thanks for sharing. For us it was quiet early but it became crowded by about 10:30. There were definitely lines at Matthias Church too.

Progol, thank you. Appreciate the feedback.

Our Final Day in Budapest

We began our last day in Budapest with a trip back to Great Market Hall for breakfast and some souvenir shopping. Unlike during our visit on Saturday afternoon, the market was mostly frequented by locals doing grocery shopping and grabbing food for the day. The atmosphere was different, and it felt more like a working market.

From the market, we made our way around the Small Boulevard to the Hungarian National Museum. The museum tells a narrative of the Hungarian national story, from exhibits on prehistoric Hungary to its settlement by Central Asian tribes to the glory days of the Hungarian kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to post-World War II Hungary. Everything up to the settlement and creation of Hungary is found on the first floor while the story of the last thousand years was told on the second floor. The imperial history was most appealing to me.

After about two hours at the museum, we continued our way around the Small Boulevard past a magnificent synagogue towards Deak Square and the Christmas markets. We grabbed lunch at the Christmas market and made some last-minute purchases.

From here, we headed back to our hotel to drop off our purchases and headed to the Danube riverbank for our hour-long river cruise. The cruise departed from a dock in front of the Marriott hotel. The ship consisted of two levels: an open and semi-covered upper deck and a closed lower deck. A couple of us chose the upper deck for photography while the rest took in the sights from the lower deck. The ship made its way north, passing under Chain Bridge towards the Parliament complex and Margaret Bridge. From here the ship turned around and headed back south, passing Matthias Church, Buda Castle, and Gellert Hill. While the first part of the tour focused on the blockbuster sights, the second half was more about some of the lesser known landmarks that the city had to offer. We went as far south as the Rakoczi Bridge, claimed to be the newest to be erected on the Danube, before heading back to the dock. The cruise was a lovely way to spend an hour in the afternoon, and was something I’ve always waiting to come to Budapest to do.

After the cruise, we wandered around the area around our hotel for a bit before taking a metro ride out to the Boscolo Budapest hotel located on the Grand Boulevard. The Boscolo hotel is home to the famous New York Café, a turn-of-the-20th century institution among the city’s literary and artistic elites at the time. We had reservations at the café for our dinner on this final night in Budapest. What a great way to cap off what has been a wonderful trip.

Still to come, reviews of our hotel and some of the restaurants and cafes we visited around town as well as some additional insights and impressions of our time in Budapest…

Hotel: Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge
The Sofitel is a 4-star business hotel centrally located on the Pest side of town right by the Danube River. The exterior looked like it was from the 1960s or 1970s but the interior lobby had a more modern feel. The rooms were small and felt quite dated. We booked rooms facing the Danube River and the view of the water and the Chain Bridge were great. Cannot say there was anything special about the beds or the bathrooms.

There are two restaurants inside the hotel: the Terrasse Restaurant and the Paris Budapest Bar. We had breakfast one morning at the Terrasse Restaurant, which offered a wide buffet selection including an omelette station. We had one meal at the Paris Budapest Bar, and came back for an afternoon break of hot chocolate and desserts. The food was decent, but we really enjoyed the desserts we had.

Restaurant: L'Aranceto
L'Aranceto is a nice Italian restaurant about half a block from the Sofitel near Vorosmarty Square. The restaurant is mid-priced and served good pizza and pastas. The four cheese pizza we had was delicious, as were the pasta dishes and the antipasti platter. We had a glass of wine each with our lunch, and the total bill for the four of us came out to about just under US$100.

Restaurant: Gerbeaud
Gerbeaud is one of Budapest's dining institutions. It opened in the 19th century and is famous for its Viennese-style pastries and desserts. We came here for breakfast but mainly to sample its desserts. The restaurant serves a good selection of breakfast plates. I order the Norwegian plate, which came with salmon, eggs, and warm brown bread. The ingredients were quite simple, but they were delicious. After our main courses, we ordered a sampling of desserts (yes, we had cake and ice cream at 9 in the morning). We ordered a strawberry mousse cake, a chocolate torte, a hazelnut ice cream sundae, and some macaroons. We came here primary for the desserts and it did not disappoint. We even bought a couple of cookies home with us, and are enjoying them throughout this week.

Restaurant: Tokyo
Tokyo is a nice sushi restaurant across the street from the Four Seasons hotel and the Danube Palace theater. The restaurant was darker than we would like but had a nice overall atmosphere. The sushi was good quality and the udon noodles and tempura we ordered were quite good as well.

Restaurant: Eataliano
Eataliano is located at the foot of Castle Hill on the Buda side of the city, just a block inland from the Danube River facing the Parliament building. Eataliano had a nice, casual décor and atmosphere to it and the service was good. You can find salads, pizzas, and pastas, as well as a few Hungarian dishes. The pizzas and salads we order were good, and were relatively inexpensive.

Restaurant: New York Café
Like Gerbeaud, New York Café is a 19th century institution frequented by Budapest's elite back in the day. The restaurant is located inside the Boscolo hotel and has been restored / reconstructed to fit its glory days. The room is exquisite and complete with paintings, gilded ceilings, etc. I felt like I was dining in a traditional European palace. The service matched the décor, as did the food. I order the goulash soup, which was very good, as was the Wiener schnitzel. The pickled cauliflower that came with the schnitzel was a nice touch and provided the perfect balance to the crispy meat. For dessert, I order the Opera cake, which consisted of chocolate and espresso - pure heaven!

In addition to the city's restaurants, I really enjoyed eating at the Christmas markets. Whether it's goulash or sausages or pork knuckles, everything we had was delicious.

Overall we had a very good time in Budapest. It is a good size European city and makes for good walking / strolling. It has some of the sophistication of Paris or Vienna, but hasn't lost all the grittiness of its former Soviet days. I thought the city has a lot of charm and could feel romantic in some ways. We also greatly enjoyed visiting Budapest in the winter; it's the first time we visited Europe during this time of year and experience its Christmas markets. The holiday atmosphere made it feel special, almost magical. We definitely want to do it again.

Truly enjoyed sharing my experiences with you.

This is a wonderful TR and will absolutely help me planning our 4 nights in Budapest this Spring. Thanks so much for sharing your impressions and all the details of your itinerary!

GinnyJo, you're welcome. Glad you enjoyed my report.

Great, detailed report. Thanks so much!

Cathinjoetown, you're welcome.

Agree with your overall impressions, we'd go back.

yes, thanks, TP, for sharing Budapest with us. We had an equally pleasant experience when we went did a short break there a few winters ago. It has the advantage over some places in Europe in that like Prague and Vienna [and probably other places as well] it is geared up for cold weather and snow, so the whole place doesn't come to a juddering halt when 2 flakes of snow fall.

we did find that public buildings like museums and galleries were very well heated so we took to wearing quite light clothes underneath our winter coats that we then left at the garderobe. That way we "got the benefit" as my granny used to say, when we went outside and didn't boil inside.

I would definitely go again, but perhaps in spring/autumn to see another aspect of the city and its surroundings.

DebitNM and Ann, thanks for following along and for sharing your thoughts about the city with me.

Wow - thanks for all the info - our family dreams of visiting Budapest one day - hopefully soon!

I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing trip report. I got so many ideas for my trip this Nov/Dec! I'm really excited about the tip to get to Castle Hill 45 minutes or so before the museums open to have the place to ourselves, I wouldn't have thought of that but really want to have that time to just explore without a ton of people around!