City trip - Budapest 04/2025

Arrival

In the morning, I made my way leisurely to the main station.

There, I boarded the RJX 63 to Budapest. Fortunately, I had booked a seat reservation, as it was very busy. The journey was smooth, and at 6:51 hours, I arrived at the main station "Budapest-Keleti."

There, I looked for the metro station and bought a 72-hour ticket for 5500 HUF at the information center, which is equivalent to €13.65.

Then I took the M4 for three stops, changed to bus 15 at Kalvin Square, and rode two more stops. Then I was standing in front of my hostel (Maverick Central Market). The check-in was friendly. I was told that there would be "free wine tasting and karaoke" starting at 7:00 p.m. That made me want more, but first I moved into my bed in a women's dormitory with six beds. The bed has a curtain, so privacy is guaranteed.

Then I freshened up, grabbed my camera, and set off. After a few minutes, I reached the banks of the Danube and part of the promenade. At Fovam Square, lots of people were sitting on the grass, drinking, listening to music, dancing, or playing chess.

But I was looking for something to eat and found it. With a view of the Liberty Bridge, I enjoyed a salad and a fresh lemonade. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so I grabbed my umbrella, which I had in my backpack, and went to the bridge. Here, I let loose a bit with my camera, and on the way back to the hostel, I stopped at a waffle bar. Back at the hostel, the karaoke night and wine tasting were in full swing. But I was just exhausted and retired to my room. I browsed the internet for a while, studied the city map, and fell asleep early.

Day 1 – April does what it wants

The night was good, even though there had been a heavy thunderstorm.

Unfortunately, I had to wait a while for breakfast, as a large group of Asian tourists had already eaten everything shortly after 8 a.m. But I got a second cappuccino on the house. Otherwise, the breakfast is rather poor for €10.

Refreshed, I set off through the alleys of Budapest, past the National Museum, until I came to a neighborhood that looked a bit run-down. But there was graffiti everywhere; you just had to turn around or look up to discover something special. It was always worth it. Besides, it was still very quiet; it was a holiday and people were sleeping in.

Then, by chance, I came across a small market called the "Gozsdu Weekend Market." Here, I bought my father an old Russian camera. On my street life tour, I passed the opera house, the famous Chain Bridge with a view of the Royal Palace, and the Fisherman's Bastion.

But before I wanted to cross to the other side of the Danube, I looked for a café because it had started to rain lightly and it was getting a little cooler. Besides, I had left my umbrella at the hostel. Warmed up and feeling fit again, I got on a bus and went to a house where there was supposed to be a blue spiral staircase. But when I got there, the building was locked. Oh well, so I went to the nearest tram stop and rode to the "Széllkapu Park Fountain." Maria had given me this tip. I met Maria in Bali in 2016. She has been living in Budapest with her husband since the Russia-Ukraine war. Unfortunately, a real thunderstorm rolled in when I got there, so I quickly took a few photos and ran back to the tram.

No sooner had I stepped inside than there was lightning and thunder and it started pouring with rain. I decided to go back to the hostel to get my jacket and umbrella. But the 300 meters from the bus stop to the hostel left me soaking wet. I changed my clothes, grabbed my umbrella and jacket, and left the hostel again. But when I came out, the sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky, and I quickly warmed up again. The weather truly lives up to the saying, "April does what it wants."

Since I had a 72-hour ticket, I took the tram and rode along the Danube to the Chain Bridge. There I changed to the bus and rode up to the Fisherman's Bastion. From here, you had a wonderful view of Budapest. Unfortunately, it was really busy. I tried to let off some steam photographically and find new perspectives, but then my stomach made itself felt. I went back to the center. There I headed for an Indian restaurant that I had found on the internet and which had top ratings. It was inconspicuous from the outside, but the food was really good.

By now, I was feeling the 23,000 steps I had taken despite all the driving, so I decided to skip the sunset and head back to the hostel. I still have two more evenings in the Hungarian capital.

Day 2 In the fairy tale forest and street art

After breakfast, I went to the metro station and took the M3 to Lehel Market. This is where the locals go shopping. But when I got there, I saw signs everywhere saying that photography was not allowed.

Well, anyway, I strolled through the large hall and then took bus 75 back to the blue staircase, hoping that I would somehow be able to get in today, since it was nearby. But no luck, I was once again standing in front of closed doors. Since the transport network here is very well developed, I took bus 76 to Heldenplatz. Here I looked around a bit, took pictures of the Millennium Monument, and then walked towards the castle gate, which stands at the entrance to the city forest at Vajdahunyad Castle. There were several food and sales stands set up and already open.

After looking around the courtyard, I took another walk around the lake and then headed for the "House of Hungarian Music" in the park. This gave me the opportunity to indulge my passion for photography before leaving the city forest.

I took the bus three stops and stopped at Ivy Coffee https://ivycoffee.hu.

Afterwards, I decided to walk through the 7th district, which is rich in Jewish history but combines it with a modern and unconventional atmosphere.

Among other things, I also passed by the "Ruines Bars." It was very interesting to see how run-down this area was, but also how some bars had been spruced up with lots of pizzazz and street art.

I continued on toward the banks of the Danube, where I enjoyed the famous tree cake at Molnár's kürtőskalács.

After a quick snack, I took tram 2, which has been named the most beautiful tram line in Europe, along the banks of the Danube and got off at the Chain Bridge. From there, I walked along the riverbank until I reached the "Shoes on the Danube Bank." These are shoe sculptures commemorating those murdered by fascists during World War II. However, it was much too crowded, so I continued on to the parliament building.

From there, I took the M2 metro across to the other side of the Danube. I wanted to check out the photo location for tonight, as I plan to photograph the parliament building at sunset, during the blue hour, and at night.

Afterwards, I strolled through the alleys and took tram 19 to the Liberty Bridge. I got off there and looked for the "Szent Gellért tér" metro station. It is said to be the most beautiful station in all of Budapest. Of course, I wanted to check it out and found that it was quite small but really beautiful, so I took a few pictures there.

Back on the other side, I took tram 48 across the Freiheitsbrücke bridge. Once I arrived, I took a short detour through the large tourist market halls and returned to the hostel for the time being.

I rested for a while, googled a restaurant for dinner, and packed my camera equipment for the evening.

I took various trams back to the other side of the Danube, to the Pest district, and got off at Batthyány tér H. From there, I walked along a few small streets until I found my restaurant.

Then I went back to the promenade. There I found a good spot on the wall, set up my small travel tripod, attached my camera, and waited. That's how I got some good atmospheric shots. Little by little, I tried out a few more settings and really enjoyed the long exposure at night. Back at the chain bridge, I continued to indulge in photography. It wasn't cold, so I lost track of time and walked over. I also tried to photograph the "Royal Palace" and the "Fischer Bastei" at night. Once I had my photos in the bag, I took tram 2 to the Liberty Bridge, because I wanted to photograph it at night too. In doing so, I managed to take what I consider to be my favorite picture of Budapest.

Back at the hostel, I uploaded my photos to my external hard drive, looked them over, and realized: Budapest at night is really beautiful.

Day 3 Last day – Happy Easter

In the morning, I made my way back to the Fischer Bastei. The weather was much better than on Friday, and I hoped there would be fewer people. That was indeed the case, and I was able to indulge my passion for photography once again. Afterwards, I strolled through the alleys to the Royal Palace. There are a lot of construction sites here, with rebuilding and reconstruction work going on everywhere. I didn't go inside, but I took a look around outside. From up here, you also have a great view of the Pest side. The Buda side is where the Fisherman's Bastion and the Royal Palace are located. I had confused the two yesterday.

And I found a great spot to take photos of the sunset tonight. Let's see if I can make my ideas come true.

After enjoying the beautiful view, I made my way down to the Danube promenade and crossed the chain bridge back to the other side. There I walked to St. Stephen's Basilica. But it was very busy there. Of course, it was Easter Sunday.

So I looked for a nice café and found one. Cheesecake by Cookie Beacon https://www.cookiebeacon.com/cafecito offered a variety of cheesecakes. I chose one with pistachio cream and ordered a cup of cappuccino to go with it.

As it got busier around noon, I walked back to the hostel through the streets and alleys. I packed my things and put my feet up for a while, as they were already starting to ache after walking over 15,000 steps that morning.

In the afternoon, I enjoyed the sun on the banks of the Danube before taking the tram back to the Royal Palace, climbing the steps, and positioning my camera for the sunset. Unfortunately, it didn't come, but like yesterday, I was able to capture various atmospheric images while enjoying my last evening high above Budapest. One last photo stop at the Chain Bridge before walking across and then taking tram 2 to the Liberty Bridge. Here, too, I took one last photo before heading back to the hostel.

That was Easter in Budapest, because tomorrow morning I'm heading back to Munich.

With that in mind: HAPPY EASTER!