The capital city of Hungary situated on the bank of river Danube has mainly two parts - hilly Buda and flat Pest. Both the parts are connected by beautiful chain bridge.
Spending few days here will make you realize that this Instagram friendly however little costly city can offer everything that a traveler could ask for. Tasty food, lazy riverside walk, luxurious cruise ride, hike, cycling, shopping in central market and so on.
I will be sharing 3 days itinerary of ours which could help you to plan your trip to Budapest. Here it is important to mention that, if you are travelling by your own, you should definitely buy city transport ticket of 72 hours as the beautiful city is nicely connected via tram line.
Day 1:
Elisabeth Bridge/ Central market hall area
After reaching to our Airbnb we took some rest and went to central market hall. This huge railway station like structure is full of shops and restaurant. You will get fruits, meats, vegetables, garments, souvenirs and many more things useful for your day to day life.
Note that the market hall is open only till 6pm, which we did not know before and saw it closed when we reached there. Hence we packed some food and thought to take a riverside walk. However, the plan did not go well as it was heavily raining. We came back dishearten to get some rest as we knew that next 2 days are going to be very hectic.
Day 2:
Explore Inner city
An early morning walk is best to explore the inner city. As soon as we woke up next morning we went out to explore the inner city.
We started with Chain Bridge followed by St Stephen's basilica and house of terror. It was already time for lunch and we could not miss to visit central market hall again, hence we reached there to have some authenticate Hungarian Goulash.
Visit Gellért Hill
We saved the second half of our day to visit Gellert hill. We have to do a small hike to reach the top, but the breathtaking view from top will take all your tiredness away. Cold and dense greenery, songs of unknown birds, smell of beautiful flowers will make this hike memorable.
Day 3:
Explore Castle Hill
It's time to explore the castle hill!! We took an amazing funicular ride to reach the castle hill, explored the castle and walked to Mathias's church and fisherman's bastion.
There is a nice garden cafe beside the church where we stopped for some authentic Hungarian food.
Relax in Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Visit to Budapest is incomplete without stopping over a thermal bath. Our next stop was at Szechenyi thermal bath, which is one of the biggest and most beautiful thermal bath of the city. This place is a must visit when you are in Budapest, specially after a long hectic day. You have to pay a certain amount to access the pool. You can also get private room or locker and spa services according to your need.
Gatehouse Tower and Hero's square
After visiting thermal bath we walked towards hero's square. On the way you should definitely visit gate house tower to see the unique and castle like structure.
Then we returned to Danube bank to relish our last few hours in the city. It looks heavenly once the sun goes down and lights are on.
Thought the hours spent here are less but the memories that we have created and the love that this city has given to us will remain for ever.