Best Tourist Attractions in Budapest, A City of Change, A City of History, A City of Sound

By cnwriter, 4th Feb 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/f-mjew-j/
Posted in Wikinut>Travel>Europe>Hungary>Budapest & Around

Explore the hiways and byways of medieval Budapest, City of Change. Enjoy the markets, narrow streets, crossing the bridge, exploring the food and wine of this ancient city.

The Musical Sounds of a medieval City
More Symphonic melodies....
Ancient Buda..a symphony in colours sublime

The Musical Sounds of a medieval City

Heroes Square

There is a lilting quality to Budapest that changes to crashing crescendos as one visits different parts of this medieval city that has been prey to many conquerors…the Mongols, the Turks and as most people know the Germans and then the Russians. Now it has been restored to its own people the Hungarians who arrived to create their first settlement early in the 9th century.

This beautiful city straddling the Danube has much to offer to visitors and residents alike. Not only is it considered the financial hub of central Europe but offers a quality of life that is enjoyed by many.

I recently visited Budapest and spent time wandering the winding streets both in Buda and across the river in Pest. So totally different they are, to me anyway. Pest is the heart of Hungary’s commercial empire with tall buildings, large shopping areas and best of all, an enormous market, more of which I will tell you later. There are fabulous bus and tram ways which get you anywhere you wish to go with an amazing get on, get off system. Buying a pass or travel ticket is easy and advisable for if you get caught without one dire consequences ensue! The trams run along the banks of the Danube and offer startling sights of the fabulous Buda Castle and its surround of tiered hills lush with greenery. Andrassy Avenue dating back to 1872 and now a World Heritage site is lined with incredible neo-renaissance mansions and luxury boutiques and is the one of the main shopping streets in Budapest. There are the fabled coffee houses strung along the way to tempt you with Hungarian sweet treats and coffees.

Not far behind this meandering street can be found the second largest synagogue in Europe filled with treasures and always mobbed with people! Not too far away is a lovely courtyard adjoining another holy place where a silver weeping willow tree bears the family name on each leaf of a Holocaust victim. Very nice to know is that the tree was donated by Tony Curtis of Hollywood fame and whose family came from Hungary.

A recommended visit is to Heroes Square surrounded by museums of note namely the Palace of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts. In this enormous square are bronzed statues of Hungary’s heroes some mounted on noble steeds dressed in the costumes of their time period. It is well worth an effort to walk around and read about the many triumphs of these masters of war and chivalry especially the seven Magyar chieftains who entered the Carpathian basin and founded the Hungarian nation. It might be a bit over the top but for those of us who vivid imaginations we will enjoy the pictures they evoke.

More Symphonic melodies....

Market Hall, yummy!

There are a multitude of bathhouses in Budapest because of its many geothermal springs and the world’s largest thermal water cave system. Enjoying the relaxation and health giving waters of these springs is a must and thanks are given to the Turks in the 17th century who built the baths for their own enjoyment, a custom that has been passed on through many generations. It is a wonderful experience to let the waters flow softly over one’s body and feel the relaxation spreading through every cell!

The Great Market which sometimes is referred to as ‘a symphony in iron’ has three floors of delightful stalls. Traders in meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruit, cheese and butter showcase their wares so it is well night impossible not to buy and buy and buy! Oh how I yearned to have a stove so I could have cooked the beef and quail myself! Coffee stalls and wine emporiums join the glorious cacophony of sight and sounds as you wander through this veritable paradise

Another fabulous property is the Four Seasons Hotel formerly the Gresham Palace. Built in 1906 it has now been restored to its Art Nouveau and Secessionist grandeur. The glass mosaics, stained glass windows, wrought iron railings and peacock gates were all created by talented Hungarian artists and craftspeople.

Ancient Buda..a symphony in colours sublime

Over the bridge to....

Over the Chain Bridge is the more ancient Buda. Here the greenery seems to shoot up into the sky as if guarding Buda Castle and the city that has grown up around it. Yellows and blue, green and red are painted the houses some of which were built hundreds of years ago. Here is found a lilting quality of life as people seem to slow down this side of the Danube. It is the home to many artists, writers and those who create pictures from their hearts.

Exploring Buda Castle and the labyrinth below is exciting. The castle first built in the 1200’s has gone through repeated destruction and rebuilding by the Hungarians, the Ottomans, the Palantines and so on. But now it is totally restored and houses several museums and National Gallery. You can wander from room to room enjoining the paintings and furniture some from earlier times whilst down below in the labyrinth the stagalites and stacalites hand from jagged rocks or pierce up into the murky depths. Such a contrast to the beauty above ground!

Although I was fortunate to stay at a friend’s loft in Budapest I did find a great hotel that I would like to stay at when I revisit this wonderful city. The Lokat Inn is its name and it stands on the Buda side but more on that at a later date. The Mercure are another quite comfortable and central chain of hotels especially for business people and I would like to thank the front desk staff at the Mercure Budapest Duna who were so helpful to me answering questions and giving me good guidance advice how to get around their city.

So I do hope you find this piece of interest and will gird up your loins and venture to explore the marvellous city of Budapest.

Meet the author

cnwriter
I have been writing on food, wine, travel etc for the past 26 years. I do horoscopes and numerology and readings.
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