By Tammy Reed
By Lepeltier.ludovic (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Budapest is the capital city of Hungary, and at the heart of Europe. It is sometimes referred to the as ‘Little Paris’, and it doesn’t take long to see why. Charming street side cafes and boutique restaurants (without the Paris price tag) make it an ideal place to while away your spare time! The Neoclassical to Art Noveau architecture is an absolute eye-opener, with its astonishing beauty far-outreaching the city into the surrounding countryside.
Straddled by a river it may come as no surprise that Budapest is divided into two parts: Buda, (The hill filled West side) and Pest (The flat East side). It is a huge city that plays it part centrally in terms of not only location, but within commerce, industry and politics- to name a few.
Don’t be fooled and fearful of the archaic beauty of Budapest, however, as it has a nightlife to rival any European city and is increasingly crowned as the party city of Europe. This being said there can be no avoiding the cities pride in art with various museums and galleries to visit, not to mention a whole host of cinemas showing both independent and mainstream pictures. If that isn’t your scene it has the most shopping centres in Europe (and the biggest in Eastern Europe!)
It is accepted that a number of services and commercial venues work in English (as well as their native tongue) so getting around isn’t an issue. Despite being a British/E.U national (and permitted to stay up to 6 months) you may still have to sort out a working visa, so it is advised you make arrangements to find out if it is necessary.
Travelling within the city is astonishingly diverse, and with countless options available you’ll find the biggest decision you have to make about your journey is the mode of transport. Budapest offers a bus, tram, metro, boat and suburban rail service. If you get extra confident then you may even be tempted to try their Trolley-bus service, a service exclusive to the Northeast and Central Pest. This means there’s no excuse for you not to visit one of their 4,500 historic mansions or castles!
So, pun intended, get your blood pumping by connecting with the heart of Europe.
Very interesting post. Thank you for sharing. Budapest is also a great spa city and there are a great number of healing waters and thermal spas which attract many visitors to the city.
Great post Tammy!
I wasn’t expecting much when I decided to visit Budapest, but I was impressed with the beauty, nightlife and charm of the city. It’s a relatively cheap city to go as a tourist (if compared to other main cities in Europe), and there’s something for all kinds of travellers. I highly recommend visiting Budapest!
Eduardo Santos