Zayna

OH MY GOD BUDAPEST WAS FREEZING❄️🌨️

It was a cold I’ve never ever felt before and at one point my hair was literally frozen! Whenever we would get into a restaurant, cafe or back to our apartment, my knees would hurt like an 80 year old granny. I’m guessing that’s the reason we got such a cheap deal because nobody in the right mind ventures to Budapest at the end of Feb when it’s that damn cold!

The deal✈️

Dates: 24th – 27th Feb

Flights: Ryanair from Stansted to Budapest – £60

Hotel: Lord Residence, Budapest – £136 for 3 nights

Transfers: Arranged by the hotel but 60euros return

Parking: Purple Parking – £38.69

Budapest is a pretty city and at times as you walk around you do think you’re in a different decade altogether because everything seems quite old and dated. The pavements are cobbled, old cars line the roads, broken signs hang in unused shops with and there’s just a sense of nostalgia in the air.

It was my first time in Eastern Europe and I had zero idea what it was going to be like and on returning from my short trip, I don’t think I’ll be recommending it as a must-visit city anytime soon.

I say that because there’s not much to see or do there and we managed to cover most of the tourist hotspots in the space of three days. The people weren’t very polite and we experienced a LOT of bad customer service and dodgy looks throughout our stay (it could’ve been the brown faces🤷🏾‍♀️)

Food

Normally when we go on holiday, we spend so much time sightseeing and exploring the city that food becomes a secondary thought (this only ever happens on holiday otherwise it’s food all day every day 😂). But because it was so cold in Budapest, we found ourselves running into coffee shops and restaurants whenever the weather became too unbearable. As a result, we ate at a couple of different places including Italian, Mexican and Thai. I’ve written a post all about the food in Budapest so read ‘Hungry in Hungary‘ for more food places!

This is a chimney cake which is one of the most-famous delicacies of Hungary.

Hotel

We stayed in an aparthotel called Lord Residence and it was fab! We had a very spacious two-bedroom apartment with balconies, fresh towels, kitchen and a washing machine. There were massive windows in every room so lots of light coming in but also slightly intrusive as we could literally see what was happening in the rooms in front of us. Surprisingly there were no teas and coffees – I thought this was the standard everywhere especially in apartments!

The place was also centrally located – all the main touristy places were about a 15/20 minute walk from our apartment so if you’re going to Budapest then I would definitely recommend staying here!

Attractions

If you’re planning a holiday to Budapest then I think two days are more than enough to see all the popular tourist sites.

We were there over a long weekend and in the freezing cold but still managed to see:

• Buda Castle
• Parliament Building
• Fisherman’s Bastion
• Matthias Church Budapest
• St Stephen’s Basilica

There are two parts of the city – Buda and Pest which are two different landscapes within one city. As you walk across the chain bridge over River Danube, you’re taken from the old to the new city.

Széchenyi thermal bath

Budapest is known for it’s thermal baths so we had to check it out on one of the days and I think it’s the strangest place I’ve ever been to.

The most famous is Széchenyi but it is very VERY disorganised. The tickets are 5700HUF per person which is £16 and for that you just get entry and a locker to store your belongings.

You can hire a towel at an additional cost so it’s a good idea to take one with you. We went on Sunday and it was FULL of people! Every single bath was swarming to the point where you would feel uncomfortable getting in.

We spent most of our time in the outdoor pool where the water is 28degrees. You go from freezing outside as it’s -12 to 28 degrees in the pool – mad!

I think we spent about 2 hours here and were ready to get out of there!

For such a popular attraction in Budapest, you would expect a great experience but in actuality you’re left quite unimpressed! Especially when you have to traipse through every indoor pool to hand your towel back after getting dressed to leave arghhh🙄

I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone!

All in all, Budapest isn’t somewhere I’m going to start recommending as a must-visit city as there just isn’t much to do there. Tbh I’ve heard Budapest is a hotspot because it has the cheapest alcoholic drinks in Europe but as I don’t drink, this didn’t matter to me at all and aside from that they don’t have much to offer.

If you’re planning a road-trip or a holiday with multiple city stops then add Budapest to your list. Otherwise I would say pick somewhere else in Europe which you will probably enjoy much more and cost you the same.