We FINALLY entered "Central Europe"!

After visiting several parts of the European continent, Budapest was going to be our first foray into Central Europe. (Some would still call it Eastern Europe, but I beg to differ).

Budapest, Hungary

When: Oct 2023

Where, exactly?: Along Raday Street, a hip street of restaurants, cafes and bars

Why/how we picked it: We wanted to stay somewhere for a month after a hectic month in Germany, and were choosing between Budapest and Prague. Based on our research, Budapest was more ‘liveable’ and of course, cheaper. So we went with it.

What we did: 

We stayed within the boundaries of Buda and Pest the whole month, rarely if ever, venturing beyond that. 

PEST

• Restaurants, bars and cafe on Raday and surrounding areas, of course. Claro Bisztro, Kaffelandia, KISPEREC cafe, Bonbonier Chocolate, Ukrainian courtyard restaurant, Gravity Brewing, Paprika Jancsi Restaurant, Bageri cafe (best pastries!), Butter Bros (which I actually DON’T recommend) Esetleg Bisztro by the water

• LOTSSSSS of pastries from SPAR, yes you heard right, SPAR the chain supermarket!

• Central Market Hall

• The Palace district (which was once a desirable area for the rich and a playground for the wealthy, but it isn’t so palacey anymore), had brunch at Lumen Cafe and checked out Gutenberg-otthon, a palace someone built for himself but now looks like a dilapidated apartment building. It was a weird sight to see (to quote Eric: this hurts to look at).

• Csendes Tars Wine Bar and Garden – a chill drinking spot by a park

• Admired the architecture (some in the Secessionist style, a Viennese variant of art nouveau, some by the Gaudi of Hungary, Odon Lechner) of Klotild Palaces, Brudern House, Thonet-haz, Turkish Bank House, Vigado Concert Hall, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Anker Palota, Hungarian State Opera, Franz Liszt Academy of Music and most importantly the Postal Savings Bank! 

• Looked at statues like the Little Princess Statue and The Policeman

• People watched at Vorosmarty Ter, Elizabeth Square

• Had Kurtoskalacs at Molnar’s 

• A WONDERFUL meal at Retek Bisztro, recommended by Eric’s friend’s brother who also lives in Budapest, and whom we visited outside of the city centre (the only time we left the city!)

• A WONDERFUL bar that is Wine Not? And Rabbit Hole Bar & Cafe

• Satisfied a ramen craving at Ton-Ichi Ramen AND WAFU in the Jewish district; and also a KBBQ craving at Yamato Etterem

• Went inside the St Stephen Basilica

• Also learnt more about Hungarian history at the House of Terror, Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation, Liberty Square, Soviet War Memorial, Ronald Reagan Statue and Shoes on the Danube Bank

• Went to a cat cafe called Cat Museum Budapest hahahahaha

• Booked a trip into the Hungarian Parliament Building… which I found nicer on the outside than on the inside tbh.

• Andrassy Street, the Champ-Élysées of Budapest

• Of course we went to the Jewish quarter where we visited the must-see Dohany Street Synagogue

• And also the must-go ruins bar, Szimpla Kert. We also REALLY LOVED Hotsy Totsy Budapest – best bar ever. We went to its sister bar that wasn’t even on Google Maps on its first day of opening. KAA Mixology was another bar we went to with great decor but so-so drinks.

• Coffee and croissants at Madal Cafe before “cycling” on a car on Margaret Island, where Eric dropped his wallet – and later got it back!

• The classic Szechenyi thermal bath, the Vajfahunyad Castle with its Gatehouse Tower, the neighbouring Heroes’ Square

• Date night on a cruise along the Danube - HIGHLY recommend

BUDA

• Gellert Thermal Bath, a less touristy, slightly different hot bath experience from Szechenyi

• Sunset hike to the top of Gellert Hill, just a stone’s throw across the bridge from our place

• Fountain of King Matthias, the ‘Trevi mountain’ of Budapest

• Buda Castle

• Fisherman’s Bastion

• Admired Matthias Church from the outside

• Walked along the backroad along a beautiful stretch of big trees 

• Hospital in the Rock, an extensive cave system that the Hungarians converted into a into a hospital and bunker during the war times

Our favourite part about it: 

There was lots to do in Budapest and everything was all at a relatively reasonable price! Things were also much cheaper compared to other parts of Europe (although I wouldn’t say it’s full-on Eastern European prices… but still relatively cheap). So I’d say our favourite part about it was the value for money in accommodation and F&B experiences. 

Key takeaways

I was very drawn to the colourful architecture in Budapest! But the city was also less developed than other parts of Eastern Europe that we’ve been to, which quite surprised me. Paint on different buildings were peeling, streets still had potholes, many beautiful buildings looked abandoned… A lot more work could still be done to “beautify” the city. Although I know that some would argue that the charm of Budapest is that it’s a little rougher on the edges…

There was also oddly a large Chinese-Hungarian population, with lots of Asian people walking on the street looking like they live there. Unfortunately the Chinatown was a little out of the way so we never made it there!  

SPAR pastries in Hungary were surprisingly GREAT, better than pastries we’d paid a premium for at cafes like Butter Bros (great name, but honestly not so great pastries there). Whoever said we need to pay more for better croissants is wrong! 

While many people find Budapest very liveable, we didn’t think it was a place that we’d wanted to live in ourselves, unfortunately. To each their own I guess! Onward to the next destination for us ;)