Budapest was my first group trip when I studied abroad in Rome in February of 2019. I had never been to eastern Europe and fell in love with Budapest. We left Friday morning and got back Monday morning (our university did not have Friday classes).
Day 1:
We flew Ryanair for about €60 each. We left early Friday morning from the Rome Ciampino airport and landed in Budapest at 10:10 am. We got off the plane and figured out how to get to the city center, to our Airbnb using public transportation. We had an amazing Airbnb, with a great location near the city center. Since it was so early we couldn’t check in yet, so we went to have brunch. I had a Croque madame with a green salad.
1:00pm
After dropping our stuff at our Airbnb and getting ready, we went to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. It was 6800 fornit or about €20 for admissions. It is a little cheaper to go on a weekday, which is why we chose to go on our first day. The baths consist of many pools, some indoor and outside, basically a large hot tub. There are also some chairs to layout, but it was very cold when we were there. You have access to the pools for as long as you want. We stayed for about 2 and a half hours. We took a bunch of pictures, videos, enjoyed the architecture and the hot water.
5:00
After we rinsed off we were pretty hungry so we decided to stop for dinner. We went to the Franz Liszt Square and stopped at the first place we saw. We had some strawberry daiquiris and a burger with fries. Not super traditional, but it hit the spot. We went home and hung out together before calling it an early night.
Day 2:
10:30 am
We stopped at a nearby place for breakfast. Budapest Bagels was the name, I had an incredible bagel with brie, arugula, fig jam and bacon on a sesame bagel. It was about a block from our Airbnb.
11:30 am
Today, we wandered to the Buda side of the city. Buda is the West side of the city and Pest is on the east, they are separated by the Danube River. We took a bus to the bottom of Castle Hill, where the Budapest castle was and climbed up the steps to the top, little did we know there was a funicular. We looked out over the Danube at Pest and saw the amazing Parliament and a great view of the city. We wandered the grounds looking for the Fishermans Bastillion to see the lookout tower made of Gothic Limestone, that provided us with panoramic views of the city. Both attractions are completely free and provide a great look at the city. I highly recommend making this a stop when you visit Budapest.
2:30 pm
After we saw the Buda side, we went back to the Pest side and stopped at the Central Market Hall for lunch. Our hopes were to find some traditional Hungarian food, but we were a little late for lunch and a lot of places had already closed. The food was not what we expected. It’s a lot of meat, I had some potatoes and sausage. After lunch, we walked back to the Airbnb to rest up, shower and get ready.
7:30 pm
We walked to the Hummus Bar to get dinner;, I had an amazing dish of falafel, hummus and some veggies. We also picked up some liquor and snacks for later.
10:30 pm
Budapest is famous for their Ruin Bars, the are in the old Jewish quarter and are made from abandoned buildings. It started out as an underground bar scene. We went to Simplza Kurt, the walls were decorated with interesting mis-match artwork and furniture. We met a lot of nice people and danced for a while.
12:00pm
We went to Instant, a club we had heard good reviews for, after waiting in line for about 15 minutes, we got into the club. This was one of the best nightclubs I have ever been to. Each room had a different kind of music playing, there was a room for rock, EDM, 90s music!!! It was such a fun time. We spent hours dancing and laughing. It was a fun but a late night.
Day 3:
It was our last day in Budapest. We had already accomplished must of the sights we wanted to see on our list so we decided to take it easy. We slept in late and decided to go for a late brunch.
1:00pm
We had an amazing brunch at Vintage Garden this was a pink amazing cafe with floral decorations. We had a feast of hot chocolates, egg dishes and coffee.
3:00pm
We wandered around the city, just exploring. We went to the top of St. Stephen's Basilica and saw a great view.
6:00pm
We were still full from our huge brunch, but some of us were craving sweets so we stopped at a candy store for some snacks.
8:00pm
After we had dessert, we walked for over 2 hours along the chain bridge and along the Danube River, looking at the lit-up parliament building. After, we went to bed because we had an early flight the next day.
Day 4:
We woke up at around 3:30 am to catch the 4:30 am bus to the airport for our 6:20 am flight. We arrived in Rome at 8:05 am, just in time for our 10:50 class.
I loved every moment of being in Budapest and our itinerary was the perfect balance of history, sightseeing, relaxation, and going out. Check out my youtube video from Budapest!!