Accommodation
If you want to be close to Budapest’s nightlife, cafés and central sights, the best places to stay are districts V, VI and VII in Pest. Buda’s lush residential district (XI) is quieter and less hectic – as long as you’re game for a sprightly half-hour walk to get to downtown Pest.
Andrássy út
To the east of St Stephen’s basilica, Andrássy Út runs dead straight for 2.5km, a wide avenue lined with grand if sometimes tumbledown buildings. Including the magnificent Opera House at no. 22. At no. 60, out east towards Hősök tere, is the House of Terror. Once the headquarters of the fascist Arrow Cross and later of the Communist secret police (the ÁVO), the House of Terror is now a hard-hitting museum to the “dual terror” of Fascism and Communism. Original footage, photographs and interviews with survivors are powerfully used to tell the story of the twin tyrannies that Hungary suffered in the twentieth century.
Bathing in Style: Budapest’s Spa Scene
Budapest has some of Europe's grandest baths, and they are much more affordable than you might expect. Hungarians love to wallow in the thermal waters bubbling up from subterranean springs, and a Budapest spa visit is a must-do experience – it’s fantastically restorative and sure to ease any aches and pains. A basic ticket covers three hours in the pools, sauna and steam rooms (gözfürdo), with services such as mud baths (iszapfürdo) or massages (masszázs) extra: for information on all Budapest’s baths check w budapestgyogyfurdoi.hu.
Built in 1913 on the Buda side of Freedom Bridge, the magnificent Gellért baths, with original Art Nouveau furnishings, stunning mosaics, sculptures and stained glass, offer the most exclusive experience (daily 6am–8pm; from 5100Ft pool and locker). The atmospheric Rudasbaths at Döbrentei tér 9 on the Buda side of Erszébet bridge, meanwhile, house a charming octagonal pool beneath a characteristic Turkish dome (men only Mon & Wed–Fri, women only Tues, mixed Sat & Sun; daily 6am–8pm; from 3200Ft). The popular, highly recommended Széchenyi Baths, by Heroes’ Square in Pest, are the hottest in the capital, with large outdoor pools where old men play chess on floating boards, and fun features such as water rapids and underwater bubble jets (daily 6am–10pm; from 4700Ft). On Saturday nights they stage steamy, extravagant SPArties with drinks, DJs and dancing in and out of the water (10.30pm–3am; tickets from €35/10,900Ft at w spartybooking.com).
Buda: Castle Hill
Castle Hill stands on the western bank of the Chain Bridge (Széchenyi lánchíd), opened in 1849, and – amazingly – the first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest. From Clark Ádám tér on the Buda side, you can reach Castle Hill on the dinky nineteenth-century funicular or Sikló (daily 7.30am–10pm; 1200Ft) or take bus #16/16A from Széll Kálmaán tér metro station direction Disz tér.
Buda Palace
Topping the crest of Castle Hill, close by the point where the funicular railway emerges, stands Buda Palace. The fortifications and interiors have been endlessly remodelled, with the palace’s destruction in World War II only the latest in a long line of onslaughts since the thirteenth century. The National Gallery (Tues–Sun 10am–6pm, last ticket 5pm; 1800Ft; t 01 201 9082), which occupies the central wings B, C and D of the palace compound, contains Hungarian art from the Middle Ages onwards including heavily symbolic nineteenth-century representations of idealized national myths.
On the other side, facing the Palace’s Lion Courtyard, the Budapest History Museum in Wing E (Tues–Sun: March–Oct 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb 10am–4pm; 2000Ft; T01 487 8800) gives some further historical context with a gathering of artefacts from Budapest’s dark ages and medieval past, but is rather old-fashioned, and arguably underwhelming for the price.
Mátyás Church
On Szentháromság tér, the busy square at the heart of Buda, stands the bright-roofed Mátyás Church (Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 1–5pm; 1500Ft). Inside, the church is fabulously exuberant, with the original thirteenth-century structure used as the base for a late nineteenth-century redesign in a Romantic Nationalist style. The splendid gold leaf and nationalist motifs clearly reclaimed the church as Hungarian – it had been a mosque for a time under Ottoman rule. A statue of King Stephen (Szent Istvan) on horseback stands outside - he is revered as the founder of the Hungarian state and the one responsible for converting Hungarians to Christianity.
Behind the church is the neo-Romanesque Fishermen’s Bastion or Halászbástya, constructed in 1902 on the spot supposedly defended in the past by the guild of fishermen against would-be invaders. Today it’s an excellent place for looking out across the river to the splendid Parliament building rising up on the east bank.