3 days in Budapest, the Danube Pearl
If there is one city in Europe that we know and would repeat over and over again, it is Budapest, the pearl of the Danube. We have been lucky enough to visit it three different times and have been able to explore the city in depth and see different places. In this post, we are going to summarize what we did in our last experience, visiting Chris’s brother who was on Erasmus there and where we were able to enjoy our most intense and in-depth visit of the city. We bring you our 3 days in Budapest.
Before we begin, a few details about the city:
- It is divided into two areas, Buda and Pest, separated by the great Danube River. The city was formed in 1873 by the union of three cities, Buda, Pest and Óbuda. Nowadays, Buda is the most local part where many people of Hungarian origin live and Pest is the most touristic and working area.
- If you go there, we recommend you to take a look at its interesting history, which tells a lot about what Hungarians have lived through throughout their history. One of the most influential periods in the city today is the presence of the Ottomans in the city for 150 years, hence the numerous thermal baths in the city.
- It is impossible to visit the city without talking about the Second World War. It is a country that suffered a lot as it was on both sides and was occupied. Today, it has one of the largest Jewish districts in Europe and the second largest Synagogue in the world.
Hopefully with this introduction we have whetted your appetite and you will want to discover the city on our 3 days in Budapest itinerary.
If you want more details about the places mentioned below, a comprehensive guide to food in Budapest or where to stay, check out our other blog posts:
Unfortunately, the first day of our 3 days in Budapest started at noon as we teleworked at the hotel during the morning. But also a big advantage of going in winter is that it is a cold city and it can snow. And that’s what happened to us, it snowed all morning and when we left, it had stopped but we had a beautiful white city to visit.
We started with a takeaway lunch and then headed to a very interesting part of the city, walking along Andrassy Avenue, one of the city’s main streets, to end up in the famous Heroes’ Square, which commemorates historic moments in the city and the country. It is a very cool square to take pictures as it is super wide and has beautiful buildings on both sides.
Next, and due to the area where this square is located, we have Varosliget Park, the main park of the city. This park is a marvellous place to stroll around and have a quiet drink, especially in summer. In our case, as we mentioned, it was all snowed in, so we were able to see it in a different and super cool way.
Inside the park, you can see places like the Vajdahunyad Castle, a very beautiful small castle that houses some museums inside, the Széchenyi Thermal Baths, the most famous (and touristic) of the city or the Botanical Garden.
If you go in winter, a great place to go and where you will see lots of people is the famous skating rink they put in the same park. We wanted to try it out and it was a super fun experience.
Afterwards, we took the metro from the Heroes’ Square stop and went straight to the Buda stop right in front of the Parliament, Batthyány tér. Seeing the Parliament at night from the other side of the river is one of the best things to do in 3 days in Budapest, so we recommend it 100%.
After taking some photos, we walked back along the river to the famous Chain Bridge and headed for dinner.
To end the day, we visited the most famous ruin pub in the city, the Szimpla Kert. For those of you who don’t know what a ruin pub is, they are bars located in strange places like abandoned buildings, deserted factories and have a super cool bohemian vibe. You might think that since it’s the most touristy, it’s not worth it, but we really love it. It’s a real madness, a huge place with a thousand atmospheres and a touch of ruin bar that has so much magic.
Day 2
This second day of our 3 days in Budapest is a real madness of visits and activities. It was a crazy day as we squeezed in as much as we could, but we wanted to really enjoy the city and do a lot of things.
We started the morning by visiting St. Stephen’s Basilica, one of the most important places in the city. We took the entrance ticket to visit the inside of the basilica, the treasury and climb to the top for one of the best panoramic views of the city you can see. For us, if you have the time, it’s great to go up, as we love the viewpoints and they always give you a different view of the city.
Afterwards, we wanted to go down to the riverbank to take some pictures of the river and approach the Parliament along the river. If you do this, you’ll see the famous Shoes on the Danube, which has one of the creepiest stories we’ve ever heard from World War II. If you’re interested, here’s an article that explains it super well.
Just ahead, you will find the great jewel of Budapest and our favourite place, the Hungarian Parliament. This place is the most iconic and important site in the city and it is highly recommended to visit it in several ways. As we said, you have to see it from the other side of the river at dusk and illuminated, but you also have to go to Kossuth Lajos Square and admire it from there.
We wanted to go a step further and enter the enclosure to admire it from the inside. We liked the visit and we think it is recommendable, but it is much more spectacular to see it from the outside.
When we left, we walked back to the area where we had come from, visiting very interesting places to see such as Freedom Square, Erzsébet Square (where the famous Ferris wheel is located), Deák Ferenk Tér and the Budapest Opera House.
After lunch, we went to the Budapest market, a very interesting place to buy souvenirs or try some typical food. We didn’t buy anything, because as we told you it was the 3rd time we went there, but the first time we couldn’t resist 🙂
From there, it is the perfect place to visit a place that is also super cool as a viewpoint, Mount Gellert. Just cross the Szabadság bridge and the climb up Gellert is a bit steep, but nothing that anyone with a minimum of fitness can take on.
Once we had taken the necessary photographs, we headed down towards Buda Castle to get to the statue at Kilometre 0, where we had our next activity. And this is none other than the free night tour of Buda, which is highly recommended, as it is the most beautiful area of the city and it is much more beautiful when lit up at night. We took this free tour which is highly recommended.
On the tour we were able to see and learn about:
– Origins of the city and main events up to the present day.
– Buda Castle
– Explanation about interesting stories of the Danube.
– St. Matthias Church
– Fisherman’s Bastion
For us a free tour in Buda or Pest is a must if you go 3 days in Budapest, as the city has a lot of history and we think it is necessary to know it.
To end the day we still had two super activities that we recommend 100%. The first is a 1-hour boat trip on the Danube, one of the best ways to see the city from another perspective in a relaxed way. We did it with the company Legenda City Cruises, which we think is the best value for money in the city.
After leaving the boat and having dinner, we were left with the star activity of the day. There are thermal baths on the banks of the Danube River in Buda called Rudas thermal baths, which open their doors on Saturdays at night (from 10 pm to 3 am) to bathe in their thermal baths. The star of the show is the open-air hot springs with a view of the river, a brutal place. One problem is that there are a lot of people, so you can bathe but you won’t be super lonely or relaxed. The hot springs are very cool, totally recommendable, for us better than Széchenyi.
Day 3, 3 days in Budapest
After such an intense day 2 we had, we had few must-see places left to visit on this last day of our 3 days in Budapest. However, as we saw the most beautiful area of the city, the Buda Castle area and the Fisherman’s Bastion at night, we decided to go again at daylight and on our own.
We had our breakfast and headed there. As it was on the way, we stopped to photograph the Great Synagogue, the second largest in the world. It is an impressive sight to see, a beautiful place in the middle of the Jewish quarter of Budapest. If you are interested in the history that took place there, we have been highly recommended to take the Budapest Jewish Quarter tour.
From there, we head to the Chain Bridge, Budapest’s most famous bridge, to cross over to Buda and see again the area we visited the day before. There are several options for getting up to Buda Castle. The quickest is to take the lifts located here, which quickly take you to the top. We repeated the route we had done again but at our own leisure.
We spent an hour or so there and decided to walk back down from the Fisherman’s Bastion.
We didn’t have much time until our flight left, so we decided to have something to eat and rest from the previous day, but if we hadn’t seen it before, we had time to go for a walk to Margaret Island, which is a very large park on an islet of the Danube, where you can stroll, picnic or go cycling. In summer, it is one of the liveliest places in the city, with many activities, concerts, places to have a drink…
Where to eat in Budapest
If you want to know where you can eat in Budapest, we leave you our complete guide of food in Budapest after three times in the city:
Map of places
Here is a list of the places we have explained in this post so that you can easily find them:
The Pearl of the Danube, a city that we think is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Spending 3 days in Budapest is always a great option, as you have a lot of things to do both day and night, entertainment, cultural options, history, monuments…
If you have any doubts, contact us and we will be happy to help you, we also have the experience of Sergi, Chris’s brother after having lived there for 6 months as an Erasmus student.
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