Three (3) Day Itinerary to Budapest and Bratislava.

Well,I embarked on this short trip as one of my other plans got cancelled. My trip was quite cool, so I decided to document it for others' benefit 

I arrived on a Sunday, having taken an early morning (4.30) flight out of India. My usual practice is to never do any sight seeing on the day I land. I just take a short walk in the city center if possible. I was staying at the Novotel Danube hotel, which was right next to the Danube river, bang opposite the river to the Hungarian parliament. I walked up and down the Buda side of the river and was treated to marvelous sites of the lit parliament, which looked awesome !

So, let's exclude this day and start from Monday Oct 2.

Day 1.

10.00. Fisherman's Bastion, Mathias Church and St Stephen's statue. 

I decided to hike it up to the castle hill. It was much warmer than I expected as the sun shines without any pollution here. Jacket was a heavy carry around and I was out of breath when I finally got there. (Bus, train and tram are easy ways to get around. It's literally free with the Buda card, otherwise it's quite cheap as well).

You need to pay nominally to visit the Fisherman's Bastion view point, but boy, was it an awesome view of the entire city! Quite the thrill for instagrammers! For me it was a great view to absorb.

You could pay a nominal charge and enter the church, which was quite popular, but I decided to skip visiting inside.

11.00. Buda castle.

Took the bus to Buda castle as I was tired with the previous experience, but it was short downhill drive, something I should have walked !

Don't forget to take the famous photo where the Szecny steel bridge and the St Stephen's basilica line up. The castle itself was beautiful, I decided not to go in, as I personally am not a fan of seeing how Kings and Queens lived. You could start an hour early to include a trip inside.

12.00. Walk across the the Steel bridge

This by itself is an experience. The amazing architecture and the stunning views make you walk across very slowly.

12.30. St Stephen's basilica. 

This one I did enter. The splendid architecture and the mummified hand was awesome. You could also climb the stairs to get a great view of the Pest side it seems, but I decided to skip it, as I had another plan for the same view.

13.00. Lunch. 

There are many highly rated restaurants in the area. I got into one such restaurant to eat up the famous Goulash soup and Chicken with paprika sauce (a must try if you have non veg food. It is the traditional cuisine and it was awesome ). The food was served late, and I was served an extra drink (lemonade is famous here, I took the kiwi lemonade, and boy, was the extra drink needed on that day!). You should use the washrooms here, otherwise prepare for shelling out 1 euro every time you want to pee!

14.00. Buda eye. 

It was a giant Ferris wheel, that took you around 4 times. But it offered stunning views of the whole Pest side of the city

15.00.  Pest

Book your evening cruise now at the tourist center near Buda eye (ofcourse one can pre-book on the net as well). Walked through the streets of Pest. The Vaci utka is a street full of souvenir shops and restaurants. Did some shopping here.

16.00. Great Market Hall

Walked to the Great Market Hall, and it was some experience . It is a railway station themed architecture and it was an old fashioned mall. Have the chimney cake here, which is famous in Budapest. Did some more shopping.

17.00. 

Went to Starbucks for Coffee and ermm.. washroom.

17.30. The evening cruise on the Danube. 

There are 3 ways to do it

a.During the day, which is least favourable 

b.One that covers the sunset. The one I took. Stunning views all over 

c. Dinner and cruise. Many people rest, change and come for the dinner cruise, which is also beautiful as all the monuments are well lit and look beautiful

It is a one hour cruise and totally worth it.

At night you could head out to the Ruin Bars of Budapest, which by itself is a tourist attraction. I rested as I had an early start the next day 

Day 2.

08.12. Train to Bratislava. 

It was a comfortable journey that costed 35 euros. Reached at 11.

11.30. Free Walking tour of Bratislava. 

It is one of the most popular ways to tour this small capital city. The tour guide expects an average tip of 10 euros, which is by the way, well worth it!

12.00. Bratislava castle. Puff up your lungs and take the climb. But the view from here is awesome. The tour guide explained the relevant history.

12.30. The walls of Bratislava and St Martin's cathedral. 

Beautiful place. Walk past the Kapitulskas street, the oldest street where the Kings used to walk after Coronation. Around the corner is the old Townhall, where u can take a beautiful picture of the townhall and the castle in the background.

 

13.00. City centre. 

Start at Michaels gate, the only standing gate of the wall. Many people climb up the tower for panoramic views, I didn't .Multiple statues dot the city centre and you will feel like taking a photo at everyone of them, as they are all funny  

13.30. Primates Palace and new Townhall. 

Beautiful place to take photos. 

14.00. Communist quarters. Reminds you of how Communist regime and houses looked like.

Tours end at the main square. 

14.00. Lunch at any one of the restaurants 

15.00. Blue church. 

Instagrammers will go crazy. Very neat indeed.

15.30. Photos at the presidential Palace. 

15.30 to 17.00. You could use this time to..

Go up the UFO tower to get a panoramic view (I had enough of panoramas)

Go to Levin Square (war memorial)

Go to casino and win/lose cash. I did and halved my expenses for the day  

17.05. Train back to Budapest 

20.20. Back at the room. If you have energy, take the funicular up to Castle Hill for excellent night views.

Day 3. 

Started a little late.

10.00. 

Booked the parliament tour later in the day. You can book it online before you reach here or be prepared for an otp to be sent to your local number (something which I did not carry)

10.15. Shoes at the Danube monument. Reminds you of the times when Jews were marched to the river, shoes were removed, before they were shot dead and fell into the flowing river. Sad.

10.45. House of Terror museum. 

Very interesting as it gives a clear picture of how the communist regime operated. Visual and sound effects were nerve wracking. You will spend 2 hours easily here

13.00. 

Walk past the opera house or get into it. I walked past it having seen Sydney and Vienna before.

13.30. Jewish quarters. 

You can take a photo at the Ruin Bars if you have not already visited. You should then look at the grand Synagogue which is a majestic building at the Dohany street

14.00. Lunch.

15.00. Heroes square

Take the M1 to Heroes Square. Again Instagrammers delight. Beautiful.

15.30. Vajdahunjad castle and city gardens

Go to the Vajdahunjad castle. One from the fairy tales. Again photos galore. Then, stroll around the city park. Beautiful and serene

16.00. 

U can jump into the Scezeny baths. Thermal springs with healing powers. Many people like it but somehow I didn't find it appealing to jump into a pool with so many people. It is supposed to be one of the most unique experiences In Budapest 

17.45. Parliament tour. 

Well organised tour of the wonderful building 

19.00. Danube promenade

Walk the Danube promenade for photos of the Buda side..awesome experience 

2000. Some shopping 

2100. Champions league match oh TV (must watch for me)

Well that was the 3 day Itinerary I followed. Maybe u can draw an inspiration from this. Maybe not! However, I enjoyed documenting it. 

Cya soon.