Europe Trip Post 6: Adventures in Budapest, The other side of hostel life, Steps update

When we first started booking our early destinations for our trip (a step we took only to avoid places booking out over the Christmas holiday period – the rest of our trip remains unbooked at this stage) we decided to pop in Budapest for a couple of days between Prague and Vienna. Neither of us knew much about Budapest – and if we had, we would have allowed more than two full days…

Adventures in Budapest

We very quickly worked out there was going to be a lot to see and do in Budapest. The city has a lot of beautiful buildings and spaces, particularly along the Danube river. What is particularly interesting is that almost all of Budapest’s seemingly ancient buildings actually date to either: the late 19th century (post-Budapest becoming a centre of power within the Austro-Hungarian empire, a massive city/nation building project was undertaken); were then partially or entirely rebuilt post-WW2 devastation; or, are actually modern complete rebuilds of previously demolished buildings, as part of the Hauszmann Program. It is hard to know how to feel about this – it is great to see beautiful buildings being built, but it feels disingenous to be using modern building methods (concrete shells with facades added on) and also to be presenting these buildings as genuinely historic.

Regardless, we visited everywhere we could in a short time there – here’s our favourites:

Széchenyi Thermal Bath: One feature of Budapest we were aware of is the famous thermal baths. We spent an entire afternoon at the Széchenyi Thermal Baths on our first day exploring. They were packed full of visitors and had hiked their pricing for the holiday period (a common practice across central Europe apparently) but we still had an absolute ball – soaking in the soothing waters and trying every variation of sauna, steam room and spa we could. Highly recommend!

Ruin Bars: Budapest is also extremely well known as a party city, and for its ruin bars. Personally, I thought the ruin bars were a little overrated – I’ve seen more “ruined” bars in inner-north Melbourne – but it did give us a great excuse to catch up with some French-Canadian friends we made in Prague, and we had a great night out exploring the bars.

Danube River Cruise: We spent our second full day in Budapest walking the city, trying to take in as much as possible. While we were walking by the river front, we were offered an unbelievable cheap offer for a one hour river cruise. We decided to take up this offer and save our legs a little, and boy am I glad we did! This gave us a great opportunity to see the Hungarian Parliament, Buda Castle, and many other famous buildings in our limited time.

Gellért Hill at sunset: We got a hot tip that it was worth climing Gellért Hill to see the entire city at sunset, so we headed up with minutes to spare. It was well worth the brutal climb – magical views over Budapest in the golden hour.

Walking Budapest: In a single afternoon, we managed to walk through the city, along the Danube, up Gellért Hill, through Buda Castle and past the Fisherman’s Bastion – so many beautiful sights. A great city for walking.

Rudas Thermal Baths Night Bathing: We loved the thermal baths so much, that on a whim, we decided to see if any were open in the evening the next day. We discovered the Rudas Thermal Baths were – from 10pm until 3am! We decided to brave this rather brutal timeslot and booked in. We turned up at 10pm, surrounded by largely other couples, and spent the next several hours pool hopping between the ancient baths (absolutely spectacular), modern baths and hot/cold plunge pools, and the rooftop spa with views over the city. We stayed in right until close, by which point most people had left, leaving us plenty of space to relax and explore. The 5 hours of bathing left us with enough residual warmth that the 3am 40 minute walk back to the hostel didn’t really leave us that cold!

Overall, Budapest is a must-visit, and I wish that we had allowed more time. Guess we will just have to try and come back.

The other side of hostel life

Alas, after the highs of Hostel Elf in Prague, it was inevitable that we would have a less pleasant hostel experience. That was certainly the case for us at Avenue Hostel in Budapest. The rooms were stifingly hot, we were right next to the common area so it was quite loud until very late, and the whole place felt too busy and bright. As a result, we didn’t meet anyone at all in this hostel. It was still ok by hostel standards – but by the end of our stay there, we had been in hostels for 10 days straight, which didn’t help make it feel any more appealing. Luckily, we’ve got Airbnb for our time in Vienna – definitely think it is essential to vary up accomodation styles to retain your sanity while travelling long term.

Steps Update

Unsurprisingly, we are continuing to do remarkably well on the step count – I’m just grateful we don’t have some form of calorie counter, as I imagine we are still doing impressive numbers there too. The walkability of European cities definitely helps, as does the relatively cold weather, which encourages brisk movement (though by all accounts it is actually unseasonably mild at the moment…). Our legs are holding up fairly well, though the knees got a good challenge on one of our walking days in Budapest… we did the equivalent of 77 floors in uphill walking!

We’re in Vienna for a week now, bringing in the new year, slowing down a little, and starting to think about what January looks like – hoping to finally get some Workaway stays in. Until next time!

Next Destinations: Vienna, Český Krumlov, Berlin (TBC)