With a less than 24-hour stopover in Budapest, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I hadn't done much research and figured it'd be a city that I simply spent the night in, checked out briefly and headed back to the airport. Boy was I wrong...
Driving from the airport to my hotel, I knew this would be a fascinating city to explore, with stunning architecture and lighting at night. Right behind my hotel was a castle! Time to get to bed and check this out bright and early!
Having set my alarm, I woke up at 8am and outside my window was literally a castle - how cool is that?!
After breakfast at the hotel, I checked out and stored my bags so I could walk around. The hotel provided me with a map and recommendation of visiting the castle and citadel, then wandering across the river.
An armory and gun manufacturing site from the Austro-Hungarian empire days.
The castle wall.
Heading up the south side of the castle briefly. I decided to explore it more later and headed to the citadel.
Down the river towards the citadel, just beautiful - even more so in person than pictures.
Looking towards the Buda side of the city.
After a solid walk uphill, at the citadel.
And the stunning view over Budapest. The right side of the river in the picture is the Buda side and the left of the river is the Pest side.
Vendors around the citadel.
Some solid looking food, but I unfortunately they didn't take Apple Pay or credit cards - I know, how Silicon Valley of me...
Back down from the citadel and time to checkout the Buda-side.
Just gorgeous architecture.
For a late lunch and since this would be my only chance for a bigger meal, I found a great restaurant called Borkonyha which turned out the have a Michelin star. Check out this link for the experience.
After an absolutely stunning lunch, I headed back to my hotel to grab my bags and head to the airport. As I started walking across the bridge, a pic of the Four Seasons decorated with Xmas lights.
But far more stunning was the castle illuminated perfectly!
That's incredible, one of the most beautiful sites.
My all too brief visit had me captivated, from now knowing anything to having fallen in love with the city. I think it's easy to say it's one of my favorite cities in the world and I wanted to make sure I came back to visit for longer.
After grabbing my bags at the hotel, it was a quick 20-minute drive to the airport and I was off to Zurich.
Smooth flight on Edelweiss.
Trip links:
- Onyx
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