City break Budapest

April 2023

Flying from our local airport, Bournemouth. Celebrating Col’s birthday whilst we’re there Read more

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City break Budapest
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- Apr 23, 2023, 6:59am
- ☁️ 9 °C
- Altitude: 15 m
- England Christchurch District East Parley Bournemouth Airport 50.777596, -1.83317750°46’39” N 1°49’59” W
Day 1
Home to Bournemouth airport
April 23, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Early start, literally electrocuted out of bed by all our alarms! The good bit was only had a 20 min drive to the airport, so that was a plus.
Bournemouth Airport has changed from the tiny shed I remember when I was last here! Flying Ryanair (who I normally avoid like the plague) so hoping it isn’t too an brutal experience 😬Read more
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 23, 2023, 3:21pm
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 121 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest VI. kerület Budapest-Nyugati Pályaudvar 47.51012, 19.05658947°30’36” N 19°3’24” E
Day 1
Achy feet = a good first day
April 23, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Relieved to say our Ryanair flight passed without incident (dare I say it was even pleasant!)

We emerged from the airport, into bright warm sun - lovely. Checked into a fab studio apartment, bought some essential supplies from the local Spar, then off we set on a tram towards the Danube (love a tram!)
We started on the Pest side and crossed over to the Buda side, finding ourselves at Buda Castle. Took a ride on the castle funicular railway for a view of the river - good timing as it closes next week for maintenance. (The funicular, not the river!)

We were starting to flag at this point, so bussed it back and after an early dinner we’re now resting our full bellies and throbbing 👣
A good first day!Read more
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 24, 2023, 4:06pm
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 115 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest V. kerület Dohány Street Synagogue 47.495708, 19.06033947°29’45” N 19°3’37” E
2
Day 2
Sightseeing proper
April 24, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
It’s so comfy in our studio, it was hard to get out the door!

Started off walking to the biggest synagogue in Europe (in Donhany Street). As with most of Europe, many Jewish lives were lost in WWII and these losses are commemorated here. The first time I’ve been in a synagogue for 30 or so years, and the interior had a very church like layout - very different from the places I remember as a kid. Was glad we visited and paid our respects.

Next we trammed it to the Great Market Hall, a massive indoor market with fruit, veg, meats, plus a high proportion of merchandise for tourists. The veg is beautifully displayed, rainbow like and the paprika (essential constituent of goulash) was a glorious red.

We treated ourselves to a ridiculous strawberry cup, smothered in dark chocolate (from a chocolate fountain!) The decadence was worth the calories….,

Currently sitting in a cafe, whilst the heavens have opened - the only bad weather day expected this week, so good to get it over with early on.

The weather has curtailed our wondering a bit, so not sure where we’ll end up next!Read more
Traveler aww nice pic of you two
4/24/23Reply
Traveler Thank you 😊. Shortly after that our cafe table and the surrounds turned into a river, such was the rainfall!
4/25/23Reply
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 24, 2023, 4:34pm
- 🌧 16 °C
- Altitude: 117 m
- Hungary Budapest Kelenföld 47.469032, 19.02474247°28’9” N 19°1’29” E
Day 2
General observations….
April 24, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Getting to grips with the forint is tricky. There are 425 forint to the pound and a cup of tea costs around 1500 (in £ terms about £3-£4) - but it feels far more expensive than that!

So far everyone at the accom and in cafes etc have spoken English - even tram stops are announced in English (although the actual place names are tricky!) so it seems to be the second language here. Hungarian is a fiendishly hard language to learn, so everyone’s brilliant English has made our interactions much simpler ‘Koosunum’ (thank you) to all!

To dodge the rain we took refuge on the first tram we saw and travelled to the end of the line and back! By the time we got to Margaret Bridge, the rain had stopped so we walked across before tramming back to our accom.Read more
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 25, 2023, 3:59pm
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 112 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest VI. kerület 47.500706, 19.06738947°30’3” N 19°4’3” E
Day 3
Columbo, boat, buggy, blooms
April 25, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
With good reason, Lieutenant Columbo is revered here with his own statue, which demanded a photo op! (apparently Peter Falk had Hungarian roots?)

After saying good bye to the lieutenant and Dog, we meandered to Margaret Island, a green space on the Danube, crossing a perplexing three way bridge arrangement. As we were walking around, a tourist boat docked and next thing we knew we were on a cruise along the river. It was nice to be on the water, but a determined wind kept blowing which chilled us unpleasantly.

Disembarking where we got on, we continued around Margaret Island, where Col spotted a bike buggy thing. We hired one and very slowly peddled along. I’m ashamed to say Col did all the hard work, on account of this old bird’s dodgy knees 😬Read more
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- Apr 25, 2023, 4:05pm
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 84 m
- Hungary Budapest Lipótváros 47.504025, 19.04476747°30’14” N 19°2’41” E
Day 3
Memorial, macaron, heros
April 25, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Onward to a very poignant memorial, normal sized shoes, cast in iron, lined up along the river side, honouring Jewish people who were massacred on the water’s edge during WWII. Such a simple but effective visual representation of the tragedies of war and grief (which of course made me cry).

We caught a random tram and ended up at Cafe Gerbeaud, an opulent place serving scrummy desserts and patisseries. Tea, a beer and a posh macaron were thorough enjoyed! Primarily for tourists, and defo over priced, but one of those ‘had to be dones’.

Last stop was hero’s square, where we debated what these guys had done to warrant their statues and who in this modern day would be worthy?!

A busy day, which turned out differently to the one we’d planned when we left this morning!Read more
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 25, 2023, 5:09pm
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 115 m
- Hungary Budapest Erzsébetváros Heroes' Square 47.512314, 19.07380947°30’44” N 19°4’26” E
Day 3
Trams & trains
April 25, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We bought a 72 hour travel pass which gives us unlimited travel on all public transport - we’re defo getting our forints worth 😊
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- Apr 26, 2023, 5:41pm
- ⛅ 12 °C
- Altitude: 114 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest VI. kerület 47.500626, 19.06759847°30’2” N 19°4’3” E
Day 4
Street art and other distractions
April 26, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Traveler Fabulous!
4/29/23Reply
Traveler ❤️
5/1/23Reply
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City break Budapest
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- Apr 26, 2023, 6:54pm
- ☀️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 112 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest VI. kerület 47.500706, 19.06738947°30’3” N 19°4’3” E
Day 4
Basilica, brunch, murals, pinball
April 26, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Started the day being all grown up and finished the day the complete opposite…..

First up, St Stephen’s Basilica, historic, ornate and awaiting a special guest over the next few days, only The Pope! Loads of chairs and massive screens had been erected out front and there was TV tech in and out. Looks like it’ll be quite a show.

Next was a fab brunch at the up market New York Cafe, where we enjoyed scrummy plates of eggs Benedict (such tastefully sized portions, we could easily have eaten the same again!) and a ‘naughty but nice’ taster selection of desserts. We endured this hardship for a special cause, Col’s birthday!

Then we walked in search of some murals, there is street art in unexpected places, so it’s lucky if you notice it - in particular we were looking for a large Rubik cube - which we eventually found. (The Rubik cube was invented by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian professor).

After much walking, trams, and the splendid M1 metro, we found ourselves at the pinball museum. Yes you heard that right. A museum FULL of pinball machines, from old to relatively new. Some other arcade faves lurked there too, such as space invaders, Pac-Man, Tetris etc. When those doors opened, the sedate group of grown ups who had been patiently queuing at the door, morphed into a crowd of excited children! Eyes like saucers, such was our disbelief. We almost ran in, and picking a machine randomly, pressed that flashing ‘start’ and got flipping. As the place filled up, the ting ting ting of machines increased in volume. Two hours went in a flash (literally, as all the machines flickered and flashed in a rainbow of displays). At the end, I was still rubbish at pinball, but boy, what a brilliant way to end the day!Read more
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- Apr 26, 2023, 10:55pm
- 🌙 7 °C
- Altitude: 114 m
- Hungary Budapest Tabán Elisabeth Bridge 47.490585, 19.04870847°29’26” N 19°2’55” E
Day 4
Good night Budapest
April 26, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Lovely last meal out, then took our trusty no 4 tram across the bridge to the river to see the nite sites.

Both sides of the bank looked good. The brightly lit parliament and Buda Castle, plus key monuments on the hill, but it was pretty chilly so we didn’t linger too long.

Glad I managed to stay up past my bedtime for once!Read more
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