Budapest: Five Wonderful Experiences
On my trip to Budapest, I discovered something for foodies, history lovers, and nightlife party goers everywhere. Although there is lots to do and see in Budapest, you may only have a couple of days in this beautiful city. These are the five experiences that I enjoyed the most in no particular order:
1) Walking Tour: Take advantage of the free walking tour—but don’t take advantage of the tour guide. Please leave them SOMETHING since they do provide an excellent tour. The walking tour lasts approximately three hours and you will get an overall idea of the city, things to do and eat, and how to get there. There are several walking tour companies in every city. Pick one that you like. I don’t have a preference. I loved walking from Buda to Pest on this bridge behind me. Go ahead and put on your walking shoes. It’s an experience you will not forget.
Aren't bridges way better than walls?
2) The Bathhouses are an old tradition in Budapest. It’s the only capital city with thermal waters that provide numerous healing qualities. We chose The Gellert because we heard it was the quietest one. By all means, try any of them because it’s simply a matter of personal preference. One thing I know for certain is clear your schedule. After sitting in thermal waters for many hours–you won’t want to do anything else but sleep afterwards.
3) Cream Cake: This cake is amazingly delicious and fulfills enough calories for your daily requirements. Ruszwurm Bakery is rumored to have the best one in Budapest. I went straight there and can’t compare it to the others, but can’t imagine it being any better. If you are a foodie, this is a MUST try dessert after a good bowl of Hungarian Goulash of course.
4) The Hospital in the Rock Museum is as the name suggests. It’s a hospital hidden under the caverns of the Buda Castle built in the 1930’s in preparation for World War II. It’s a fascinating site for the history buffs. You are not allowed to take photos in the museum, but they do take one pic of the whole group for your memory.
5) Ruin Bars. Ah yes. I heard all about it. If you are into sitting down for hours and hours while enjoying drinks, go visit an area ruin bar. Literally, old bars built in Budapest’s old District VII or The Jewish Quarter. After World War II, these buildings were abandoned but are now modern day Ruin Bars. What’s trash to one generation are simply business opportunities for another generation.
As promised, above are simply suggestions for history lovers, foodies, and bar hopping tourists everywhere. Enjoy Budapest.
***BONUS***BUDAPEST SUBWAY SCAM ALERT: They ask for your subway ticket at exits (sometimes) even though you already showed it to two other subway officials upon entering. It’s a scam because they are aware that you wouldn’t be ON the subway unless you had a ticket, but they hope somewhere along the line you either threw it away or lost it. This happened to me and they charge you money if you lose it regardless of whether you had a ticket to get on. It’s a very uncomfortable and unfortunate experience. CLEARLY a SUBWAY SCAM hoping you just give out your hard earned money away to them as a penalty for unsuspecting folks that aren’t even aware of this rule. If you google subway scams in Budapest, you will find many articles commenting on this issue.
Scams are in every city and country out there, but if I can pass down my unfortunate experiences to you–you can prevent them.