WHERE: Budapest

WHEN: January 2015

HOW LONG FOR: 2 Days

We flew to Budapest on New Years Day for a little trip at the end of our Christmas break. Even though it was FREEZING we had a great time wandering around, exploring, and eating the yummy food on offer (more on food at the bottom of this blog post).

On our first day, we wandered along the river (in old Buda) to Castle Hill and took the funicular railway up to the top (with hindsight, we didn’t need a return and walked down in the end!). From the Castle, we went to the Fisherman’s Bastion, which was my favourite part of Budapest. It’s so pretty and looks like a fairytale – I love a good turret and Budapest is full of them!).

On our second day we took a walk over Chain Bridge to ‘Pest’ to see the Hungarian Parliament buildings, which were beautiful. Then we took a long walk down to the City Park where we were greeted with the grand Hero’s Square. We strolled around the picturesque park, which is also home to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths. Unfortunately, because we had a flight to catch that evening, we didn’t make it into the thermal spa – maybe next time!

GREAT FOOD:

Restaurants:

– Hungarikum Bistro – Delicious Hungarian food. We had the set menu – Goulash Soup to start, Crispy Duck Leg for main, and Apple Pie for dessert! Was yummy! They also gave us a free shot of Pálinka, an Eastern European brandy which was VERY strong!

–Taverna Dionysos – AMAZING greek food. I had the halloumi to start, mousakka for main, and a lovely glass of wine on the side!

–Bagolyvar – We ate here in city park. The duck was delicious, but we found it a bit on the pricey side.

Cafés:

– The Cake Shop: we LOVED this place. Delicious macaroons and cute decor

– The Book Cafe: Located in a book shop this super grand cafe serves yummy cake