Home travel – The top 14 marvelous attractions of Budapest

I thought that I am going to make a series from this topic. My goal is to show you that you can travel home, you don’t have to leave the country to see beautiful places or to have fun. And usually, home travel is cheaper than going to another country.

Amazing Budapest

First I will present the city, where I live. This is also the capital of Hungary. One of my favourite cities of the world, Budapest. Exciting, vibrating, beautiful and tourist-friendly. It has many famous places and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
Almost the 20% of the country’s population lives here. And I think even more people work or study here. So it is quite a big city, with lots of universities, parks and places you must visit at least once in your lifetime (especially, if you are Hungarian).
Also a lot of movies and music videos were filmed here, for example Selena Gomez – Round and Round, Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible 4, Tom Hanks and the Inferno, Bruce Willis and the Die Hard 5 and the list goes on.
So, let me show you the top attractions in my beloved Budapest. Of course, there are so many places that worth a visit, but I must narrow down the list for these 14 sights.

1. Buda Castle and the castle district (UNESCO WH)

Probably one of my favourite places in Budapest. I always smile when I see the castle from one of the bridges as I travel. It is spectacular and fascinating! I really like to go up there and walk among the houses in the castle district. The view is so amazing, you can see the Danube and half of Budapest from the castle.

There are a few museums in the district: Budapest Historical Museum, Budapest National Gallery, Institute of Military History and Museum and a little bit further, the Hospital in the Rock, which definitely worth a visit. You don’t see a hospital everyday which was built in a mountain, and prepared to be a nuclear bunker if there is a need. It is so popular that when there is a national holiday (the next one is on august 20.), and you can go in free, there is always a registration and the places are full in like 5 minutes or less. So check it quickly!

2. Gellért Hill (UNESCO WH)

Also in Buda, Gellért Hill is part of the World Heritage. The view is spectacular from here too. You can go here for a hike, or just an afternoon walk, it is always great. You can see the Liberty Statue, and the Citadel (UNESCO WH as well) is found here too, it used be a fortress, which was erected in 1854 by the Habsburg emperors after overcoming the Hungarian army in the revolution of 1848-49.

According to the legend, in 1046 the participants of the pagan rebellion tossed Gellért bishop from the mountain. There is no proof of that, but since the 15. century they call the place Saint Gellért Hill.

3. Fishermen’s Bastion (UNESCO WH)

So unique and beautiful building! It was designed by one of my favourites architect, Frigyes Schulek, who was also in charge of the reconstruction of the Mathias Church (that is found nearby). You should see around here, the landscape is enthralling, and you can take wonderful pictures like this one.

4. Gresham Palace (UNESCO WH)

Gresham Palace is a prominent building of Hungarian Art Nouveau architecture. The palace was built on the basis of plans by Zsigmond Quittner and Vágó Brothers in 1907, the headquarters of the London-based The Gresham insurance company in Budapest. On the ground floor, was once the famous Gresham Café, where meetings by the so-called Gresham Circle took place.
I think it is a beautiful building, which is now a Four Season Luxury Hotel. I would like to travel at home and  stay here for a night or two. But it’s ridiculously expensive…

5. Chain Bridge (UNESCO WH)

Opposite the palace, there is the famous Chain Bridge. I like bridges very much, they link two sides together. My favourite is this one, but in Hungary. I would like to see the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Fransisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the Stari most in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina. I was lucky to see the Tower Bridge in London, the Rialto in Venice, the Charles Bridge in Prague and so on.

Do you like bridges? What is your favourite?

Returning to the Chain Bridge, „it was designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark in 1839, following an initiative by Count István Széchenyi, with construction supervised locally by Scottish engineer Adam Clark.

The bridge was opened in 1849, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and thus became the first permanent bridge in the Hungarian capital. At the time, its centre span of 202 metres (663 ft) was one of the largest in the world.” Source: Wikipedia

6. Heroes Square (UNESCO WH)

An amazing square near the City Park. If you see a movie that takes place in Budapest, you probably will see this area. Even a music video by Groove Coverage starts here.

The Heroes’ Square, along with the Andrassy Avenue in front of it, is part of the World Heritage. They built statues here, and this monumental work symbolized the size of Hungarians, their thousand-year statehood. The square was often the venue for mass events, as well as numerous demonstrations and political assemblies.

So it is Budapest’s most spacious, most impressive square in the XIV. district. You should definitely check this out!

7. Andrássy Avenue (UNESCO WH)

It is the most beautfil boulevard in Budapest, I always like to walk through it. There are a lot of villas and palaces on the two sides of the road. Impressive and gorgeous buildings! I wish I could have one of those.
It starts from the Heroes’ Square (or ends there – it depends how you see it), and it is 2,310-metre long, including the Millennium Underground Railway, running beneath the surface, and the Opera House.
I recommend to take a walk there.

8. The City Park (Városliget)

My favourite park in the city. Of course it’s not the Central Park, but quite spectacular its own way. You can find the Vajdahunyad Castle there and the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, which has sometimes really good exhibitions. Once I was here for an optical illusion themed show, it was awesome.
Another time at the Night of Museums (which is held every year in the country), I could try an old vehicle, called „omnibus”. They managed to get one somewhere, found two horses and we could sit on the top. It looked like this on the picture. Interesting, isn’t it?

You can take a nice walk, or have a picnic on the grass, play frizby, badminton with your family/friends or drink a fresh lemonade in one of the restaurants/cafés. It is so cozy and refreshing.
What I like doing with my friends, is having an icecream at the nearest confectionery (I will link it down below). They give you a big scoop of ice crea – which is probably the best in the city – for less than 1 euro. After that we go to the park and walk around, sometimes we lay down a blanket and sit on it. So comfy!

9. The Hungarian Parliament (UNESCO WH)

I think this is the most famous building not only in Budapest, but Hungary. The first thing that pops in our minds when someone mentions Budapest or Hungary. How do you feel about it? What was the first thing that you thought about when you started reading this article? Am I right?

I find this building fascinating and magical. Especially at night from the outside, it looks spectacular. It is currently the largest building in Hungary, and it is still the tallest building in Budapest. Budapest was united from three cities in 1873 and seven years later the Diet resolved to establish a new, representative Parliament Building, expressing the sovereignty of the nation. The building was planned to face the river. Imre Steindl drew the plans for the parliament. About 100 000 people were involved in construction, during which 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40 kilograms (88 lb) of gold were used.
Besides it is the place of jurisdiction, the Holy Crown is stored here too.

If you plan to visit, it is open to the public almost every day, from 8:00 to 16:00/18:00.
Discount ticket for adult citizens of Hungary and the European Union is 2400 HUF.
Entrance tickets to visitors from outside the European Union: 6000 HUF.
You can find more information on there homepage.

10. St. Stephen’s Basilica (UNESCO WH)

Another home travel destination not just for religious people. This basilica is beautiful from the outside and the inside as well. Truly fascinating and worth the visit. It is free to go inside and look around, but if you want to go upstairs to the tower, you have to pay about 2 euros. I highly recommend it, because the panoramic view from the tower is enchanting and remarkable.
You can also see here the illuminated Holy Right Hand of St Stephen, our first king. It is a significant relic, a lot of people come here to see it. And they organize Holy Right procession every year on August 20. for the pilgrims.

For more information, see the basilica’s website.

11. The second largest synagogue in the world – Synagogue in Dohany Street (UNESCO WH)

Also a religious place, but this time jewish. If you like this culture – or if you are a part of it – it is a must-see! Or even if you like great architecture as much as I do.
This synagogue is considered as the second largest in the world, and the largest in Europe. The church was built in the so-called Orientalist style with Moorish, Byzantine and Turkish elements. It is a neologist synagogue, which means that worships are in Hebrew, women and men sit separately, the chantor sings, and besides, organ music and a forty member choir accompanies the worship.
At the opening ceremony Ferenc Liszt and Saint-Saens played on the 5000 piano organ (which has been renovated since then).

It is quite expensive to go inside but this is a historically and religiously significant temple, so once in a lifetime you must see it.

12. Aquincum Museum and ruin garden (UNESCO WH)

If you want a little bit of Roman culture, this is your place! As you may know approximately half of Hungary’s territory was part of the Roman Empire. It was called Pannonia. The border was at Aquincum, which was a Roman military camp and a civic settlement in today’s Budapest (Óbuda) area.
During the Severus period, Pannonia and the Pannonian Legions were given a special attention as they helped Septimius Severus to power. Serious construction began in the province, several municipalities received municipal rankings and became Aquincum colonia.
In Pannonia there were two Legion camps (Aquincum and Brigetio) and several auxiliary camps.
In Aquincum Museum you can see ancient ruins and archeological artefacts from the old-world. Outside you can walk through these ruins, and imagine what life could be then. As I remember, there were chronoscopes that help you imagine it.

In the museum, there are a lot of artefacts, ancient objects and even interactive games, you can try. I had a really good time there!
For further information visit their website.

13. Margaret Island

I think this is also must-see place, good for relaxing, playing with your friends/family, have a picnic or running, because it has a good way to run.
Also there is a little bit of the Zoo, and you can find here some ruins, which I really like. If you would like to swim or just have fun in an aquapark, there is the Palatinus, which is really good, and not that expensive. They have a lot of swimming pools and water entertainment tools like a machine that imitates waves. If you like to slide, you can try it there too, it is included in the price.
For culture lovers I recommend the outdoor stage, where they usually organize concerts, theater plays and other good things during summer. I will go for a movie soundtrack concert with my boyfriend, I am looking forward to it. 🙂

14. „Erzsébet-kilátó”

Located at the highest point of the capital, at the top of János Hill, at an altitude of 527 meters. If you want to go for a hike, this is the first place I would recommend. Not that hard to climb up there, but the view worth it!
Frigyes Schulek planned it, and the tower was built on the 8th of September in 1910. It was named after Queen Elizabeth (wife of the Habsburg Emperor), who was on the mountain in 1882.
This building was one of Europe’s most powerful constructions of that time.

This is for now, next time I will share with you the top things to do if you are in the city. I hope you liked it, and will come to visit this amazing city. If you are planning it, don’t be afraid and write to me. I am here to help you. 🙂

Love,

Suzie