It was around 20 years since I was last in Budapest and that was a work trip, so I had very little time to explore the city. We arrived the day after a heavy snowfall and settled into our hotel in the Castle district. Next door was St Matthias Church which dates from the 14th century but which was rebuilt in 1896
and the Fishermens’ Bastion, dating from 1905, built by the same architect who renovated St Matthias Church: Frigyes Shulek.
The following foggy morning, we walked down past the Bastion towards the River Danube and across the Chain Bridge. It was built between 1839-1849, designed by William Clark and built under the supervision of Adam Clark. The iron component was replaced in 1914-15 and it had to be rebuilt in 1949 after being blown up by German troops.
In Pest, Christmas markets were underway in some of the squares and outside the Basilica of St Stephen.
We saw a couple of bookstalls and some bookshops. Booksellers is the only English Language one we saw but the books are more expensive than in the UK.
Andrassy Út is an almost mile-long boulevard which ends at Heroes Square and City Park.
I admired the pediment of the Contemporary Arts Museum and made a mental note to visit on another trip.
Back at the river we walked down the bank back to the Chain Bridge, passing the Shoes Memorial. Members of the Jewish community in the city were shot on the riverbank and thrown into the water during the Holocaust.
In total we had walked 9.5 miles that day. Our second day began by exploring Castle Hill.
Buda Tower has survived several sieges and is said to be the only surviving medieval building still in its original form in the city.
We then walked along towards the Castle and National Gallery. We passed the top of the which Funicular Railway is an option if you do not want to walk up the hill. We had a coffee in the Gallery but did look around as there were several school trips inside.
This hooded crow was watching the world go by from the castle wall.
It was too foggy and very icy to walk over to Gellert Hill and explore do Cittadella and there would be no views from the top.
Instead we headed back down to the river and across to the Parliament Buildings where changing of the guard was underway. There are several museums in the area including a chocolate one.
I also spotted some street art.
We came back over the more modern Elizabeth Bridge and back up to Castle Hill. That day our mileage was a little less at 8.2 miles. It was still grey but milder on our last day. We walked down to the river again and north towards Margaret Bridge. It touches down at the south end of Margaret Island which has an outdoor gym and sports facilities.
On the other side we passed the Parliament
Department of Defense and various other government buildings before topping up the caffeine levels in a side-street café. Budapest has numerous statues all over the city but near the café was this man & dog one.
We nest had a good look round inside the Basilica of St Stephen which has an impressive ceiling
and even a stained glass portrait of St Andrew to make me feel at home.
Before crossing Liberty Bridge, we explored the market hall which has a great selection of food and other goods.
Interestingly the food stalls in front of the market were more expensive than any cafes we had been in. Back at the hotel (only 7.3 miles today) we had a look at some of the old cloisters within it
and then at the back of the hotel was the lit-up bastion and church.
The following morning it was time to leave but we hope to return in a different season to explore further.