Travel Notes – Budapest

 

I guess I love Budapest… so my travel notes might be a bit biased. It is one of these grand European cities, with charm slightly hidden, not a pretty touristic town like Prague, not a Museum workhouse like Vienna, but it is a treasure all around, with streets and streets of beautiful building, much still in dear need for repair and renovation. And, in the middle runs a river… beautiful Danube is here, perched with stunning bridges.

 

Arrive in the evening, and after a short cab ride, head for one of the many wine bars… a good start is Michelin starred-Bock Bistro, where you can just trust the waiter to make pair beautiful wines with delicious food. It is a Friday night, so you head to one of the famous garden bars (and then wish we would have the same in Paris, London, or New York), Simplza is a staple so maybe a good start! An entire building, with graffiti and rooms one after the next, corridors and balconies, to raise up your alcohol level. The night is still young and you make it grow older at Ankert, a ruin bar, or in one of the many bars of the Jewish district, or Piaf, where the basement dancefloor, with its red carpet and chic underground feel where late nighters seem to look for desperate sex. More drinks, more dancing.

 

Don’t wake up too late on the next day, at least take a dip in your thermal pool, just off your bed, or on the roof (the Zara Continental hotel was not bad, with a stylish executive suite, and pools on the roof; the Corinthia welcomes you with a grand Atrium and gorgeous indoor spa; the Four Seasons is grand luxury near the river), and warm up to breakfast at the New York Café, once the most beautiful café in the world, at the Boscolo. I love staying at the bohemian, inexpensive, Gerloczi Rooms de Lux. You geared up to start walking, looking around at all those beautiful buildings… head to the Parliament (worth a visit, but you need your tickets booked early on the day) as gothic as Westminster, and the grand squares of Pest, walk all the way to Marguerite Island, for the beautiful views over the river from the bridge. Slowly it gets time for the favorite daily ritual, heading to the thermal bath to spend a few hours relaxing in the waters and royal surroundings of the spas… start with the Gellert, after a long walk along the river and the many bridges.

 

The days go, and you feel you need many to get the pace of the city, from the breakfasts at the 404, the discovery of the Castle (with a nice traditional lunch at Speiz restaurant), with the stunning views over the Danube and over Pest, more romantic walks in the hills of Buda.

 

Always end your days relaxing under the sunlight setting over the incredible Szechenyi baths or the more Turkish Rudas bath. A night in the stunning State Opera House. And in the middle of all this, more to pack in with so many wine bars (try Klassz with a great selection of Hungarian wine and excellent selection of Hungarian food; Baraka; Csalogany), more fun and grungy ruinpubs (those places opened in tenement houses and factory buildings doomed to destruction, with rejected furniture of old community centres, cinemas, and grandmothers’ flats, a total retro feel – try the more upscale Bodos, or the tougher to get in, or Kertem, Corvin Teto), and even better, a night enjoying Lakasetterem, a gourmet dinner cooked in a personal apartment, with local guests to engage with. Or for the view go to 360 bar!

 

And of course… don’t forget to try the wines…

 

(From August 2015)