Buda was lovely, but the traffic in Pest…

Phew! Budapest is huge and after two days and more than 40km of walking we’re back on the train on our way to Vienna. The feet and legs are definitely grateful for a rest. Our first impression of Budapest is the wonderful metro system and the new line M4 which opened quite recently and has won a number of awards. Very clean and modern! Our hotel (City Inn) was the same with an excellent buffet breakfast.

As we set off to explore the sites on Monday morning, we rapidly began to understand the size of the city; much bigger than anywhere else we’ve been on this trip. James informs me that they have seven major football teams! Our first stop was the National Theatre closely followed by the Müpa museum where we experienced a sanitising, revolving toilet seat 😂!!

Whilst strolling along the Danube, we came across a number of ornate and impressive bridges alongside some fabulous architecture. Lots of photo opportunities!

The Pest side of the river explored, we headed back to our hotel in search of food. With little choice in the local area and tired legs, we opted for a Serbian grill!

At least we will have tried some Serbian food considering we’re not able to travel to Belgrade due to engineering works.

Day 2 took us to the Buda side of the river, older, more traditional and featuring the castle and its magnificent grounds.

The Hungarians have decided that there is a need to renovate some of their beautiful buildings and the National Hauszmann Plan to accomplish this is well under way. The climb up to the castle and the views beyond were well-worth the effort and the history and political significance attached to this area enlightening. The changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace was only slightly more interesting than the beautiful tulips in the surrounding flower beds!

After checking our list of places to see, we realised we had missed Heroes’ Square the day before. Not to be outdone, we decided to trek the 4km across the city to see this impressive site.

Feet and legs totally exhausted, we opted for the metro to whisk us back towards our hotel. We found a lovely place to eat, serving traditional Hungarian food, very tasty and well-presented.

Chicken strudel in a delicious sauce followed by beef goulash/pork tenderloin and a chocolate soufflé to finish.