Traveling Through Europe: Budapest I

We have arrived at the best part of the trip! They always say, “save the best for last”, which is exactly what we did on this trip! it was actually an accident, and only ended up in Budapest as our final city because the flights were cheaper that way, but I am so happy it worked out like that! I hope, through what I write and my pictures, that you will see why Budapest was my favorite and you will make it a point to visit one day.

In case you missed it, here are the previous posts:

Budapest was our third and final city on this 10 day trip, and I am so happy to say that we ended on a high note.

A VERY VERY VERY high note!

Budapest was my (our) favorite city of three, even though almost everyone said Prague would be our favorite. Of course, Prague and Vienna were beautiful and unique in their own ways, but Budapest was incredible.

Not only did it have the beauty, but it also had present-day LIFE that we didn´t really see in Prague nor Vienna. There was a really great mix of locals and tourists and the city was completely full of places to sit and relax. It had it all- history, museums, places to see, incredible restuarants, parks, nature, natural thermal pools, and MORE.

We were blown away by the number of pedestrian streets, as well as the beer gardens, food truck halls, and artsy feel to just about everything. Budapest is a city I would go back to, and given a choice of the three, it is the one I would choose to live.

From the ancient baths, to the beer gardens, to the Chain bridge connecting Buda and Pest, to the hundreds of unique and modern restuarants, Budapest has so much to offer. Here is what we did in two and a half days!

Day one:

Arrived, found AirBnB, went food shopping so I could curb my meat and bread diet. Luckily, we got a great AirBnB that was RIGHT in the center of town. it was a new AirBnB, so we got it fairly cheap and the location couldn´t have been better. After food shopping, we went exploring!

First, we headed out of our AirBnB to see what was around with the ultimate goal of crossing the Chain Bridge and heading over to Buda (the smaller side).

According to Wikipedia, the Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Danube between Buda and Pest (the western and eastern sides of Budapest).

On our way to the bridge, we came across a huge… I don´t know how to explain it….outdoor arena with food and drinks for sale and a HUGE outdoor screen to watch the Eurocup games.

This was just one of the many “outdoor arenas” that we came across in Budapest, which I think is awesome. The city was full of people sitting in the sunshine with friends out and enjoying life.

(MOM– I know I need a haircut in the above photo)

Much more my type of city. We meanedered through the city, which both felt “touristy”, but also like it had a lot of local life. Does that make sense?

Eventually, we crossed the bridge, which had some crazy wind!

And made it over to BUDA!

The Buda Castle (historical castle and palace of Hungarian kings, first completed in 1265) sits at the top of Buda, and to get up there, you have the option to take a funicular (cable car) for 4 Euros or…. you can walk up.

If you have legs and can deal with moderate exhaustion for 5 minutes, you should walk up!

We followed a few Mexican guys…

who appeared to know what they were doing, and we made it up there- safe and sound. Doesn´t take long at all and you can spend your 4 Euros on a liter of beer.

The views are worth it.

SO WORTH IT.

And then I proceeded to take around 500 more photos of the same sunset. And now here is the only one I like:

We walked around the Buda Castle grounds while arguing about whether or not it´s possible for Kim Kardashian to rent the Buda Castle for her wedding. What do you think? Leave your vote in the comments! The sunset was amazing from the other side, as well.