Date: 13-14th August 2023
Travelled: 200 kms from Zalakaros to Budapest
Visited: Budapest
Stayed: Parkolรณ Stellplatz, โฌ25, N47.48560, E19.03130
Budget: 84 days @ โฌ88 per day
After a last swim in the spa we wave goodbye and make our way out of Zalakaros and back onto the motorway. Itโs an easy 200 kms of dual carriageway to Budapest, the road has a lot of deformations and is generally not as good as they were in Slovenia.
Approaching Budapest the traffic intensifies as the road becomes triple lanes. Itโs late Sunday morning and surprisingly busy. Once we hit the city it becomes quieter , but then thereโs the buses and trams to deal with.
There are only two dedicated motorhome parking places close to the city. One is Lehet, itโs only small with room for 5 campers. Luckily we get a spot, mind you itโs a sardine can job but it has all the services and itโs 200 m from the Lehet Ter (subway station).
We settle in have some lunch and go for a walk to get our bearings.
Below the Danube, the Margot Bridge looks golden but itโs just yellow.
Budapest is all about the glory of the past and huge bronze and stone memorials are all around the Hungarian Parliament Building pictured below. It sits on the Danube so you need to be on the other side of the river to get a better photo.
We late lunch in a fabulous Turkish restaurant, so good and the least expensive meal of the last few weeks. Itโs been a long walk after a long drive we stop at a little corner bar for a drink and our first day in Budapest is done.
It was a very quiet evening in the sardine can stellplatz. Whilst the high buildings surrounding us limited the breeze, we find we are in the shade most of the day. It was a hot night but comfortable once the AC got going.
As weโve got our Budapest travel card sorted yesterday, the city is our oyster. Once again we stick to the east side of the Danube. Our first stop is Pesti Vigadรณ, the upmarket shopping area is pictured below. Itโs all fancy watch shops and boutiques.
More by accident than intension we find ourselves overlooking the Danube once again. There are some nice views of the Castle District
Having jumped a tram on the line behind Pam (above) which runs along the Danube, we cross to Vฤci Utca. Which appears to us to be a long street of cafes and touristy places. It catches the full sun on a hot day and we are glad to find the city market at the end of the street.
After wandering the market which was really quite good and Iโm not a market type of guy we catch a good (but expensive) coffee and chat with a couple of Aussieโs from Melbourne who were FOV. Fresh of a Viking river cruise which they said was great.
After our coffee we continue our walk to the Great Synagogue, built in 1859. We pay the substantial entry fee of โฌ23 pp, which if we had thought about it too carefully we would have walked away. But to be honest it was a wonderful, yet sad experience. If you click any of the images they will open into a full screen gallery.
Anyway the blurb tells us this Synagogue is the largest in Europe and together with the museum in the basement it was a memorable experience.
We have a very late lunch in a small Japanese fusion restaurant, sort of Japan meets Hungary. The goza was amazing. Then a tram and the metro back to the Hymer. Itโs been a long day, so a couple of hours rest is required.
Coming good about 6 pm we jump on the metro again this time to the Square of Heroโs and Budapest City Park. Difficult to get a photo as there building a temporary stage in the middle of the square.
We continue on into the park, which has various museum and small lakes scattered throughout the square kilometre of manicured lawns and forest. Exploring as best we can and thankful all the museums are now closed we eventually walk back through the Square of Heroes catching a bus to the nearest tram stop which is on the same line as Lehet and the Hymer.
Deciding itโs too late and hot to cook we wander down a few block to a trendy little street of restaurants for dinner before calling it a long day.
Weโve found the internet here in Budapest a real drama so getting a blog done and posted took an eternity.
Michael + Pam
2 thoughts on “Budapest (1), Hungary ๐ญ๐บ 2023”
Great to catch up on you again as we we only stayed in Budapest for one day with our granddaughter in 2010 and the temperature was 43 degrees ๐ so always wanted to see more of it .you are certainly having a wonderful time โค๏ธ
Safe travels Johannes โค๏ธ
Budapest looks beautiful, a testament to the joys of good public spaces and design. You both look very relaxed and soaking up the experience. Travel safely.