7 Days in Hungary

Introduction
I travelled alone to Hungary in Mid-March 2017. I chose Hungary as my travel destination largely due to the fact that Hungary is comparatively cheaper than Western European destinations. Overall, I think Hungary is a great European tourist destination which definitely worth a visit.

The places visited in Hungary for this trip

Day 1 - Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton is the "sea" of Hungary. Since Hungary is a landlocked country, Hungarians definitely appreciated the existence of a big freshwater lake in the country. Lake Balaton is mainly a summer vacation destination. Hence, my visit to Lake Balaton is not in the usual tourist season.

Started my trip rather differently as I decided to head to Lake Balaton first instead of staying in Budapest for the first few days. I stayed overnight at Budapest airport, before getting the 200E bus from airport to the city around 4.30am.

I took the 7.35am train from Budapest Deli station to Szántód, arriving around 9am. I took a walk around the village, a 2.2 km walk from the train station to the ferry point towards Tihany. At the sight of Lake Balaton, my first thought was that the lake is greenish in colour.

View of Lake Balaton from Szántód

I left Szántód around 11am for Keszthely, arriving around 1pm. Keszthely is located at the western tip of Lake Balaton. Keszthely is the main town of around Lake Balaton region.

Festetics Palace in Keszthely

It was enjoyable walking around Keszthely. Since it's not the main tourist season, the town and lake shore were relatively quiet.

Our Lady of Hungary Church in Keszthely town centre

Lake Balaton shore in Keszthely 

Day 2 - Pécs

Woke up early to catch a train towards Pécs from Keszthely. My train journey transferred at the town of Nagykanizsa. I decided to take a look around Nagykanizsa, a medium-sized city at the crossroad between Croatia and Austria/Hungary. It was an opportunity to see a Hungarian town without too much touristic elements, observing the everyday life of the citizens.

Town Hall of Nagykanizsa at the town square

I left Nagykanzsa for Pécs around 11am, reaching Pécs around 1.45pm. Once arriving at Pécs, I realized I'm at one of the most beautiful cities of Hungary. Pécs is rich in history, with various monuments and buildings dating back to the periods of Hungarian, Ottoman and Habsburg Empires. This city is quite international as well, mainly due to the presence of University of Pécs, enrolling students from all over the world.   

Cathedral of Pécs

Hungarian Bishop's Palace

Love Padlocks in Pécs

Mosque of Pasha Qasim at the background and the Holy Trinity Statue. Mosque of Pasha Qasim is a fine example of Ottoman Turks architecture, built during the Ottoman period of Hungary. Today it functions as a Catholic church.

John Hunyadi Statue at Széchenyi square (town square) 

Synagogue in Pécs

Calvary Hill near Pécs town centre

The view from Calvary Hill. The towers of cathedral can be clearly observed

I left Pécs around 7pm for Budapest. The beautiful sights in Pécs is the reason it remains as one of the top tourist destinations in Hungary.


Day 3 - Budapest

I reckon it might be worth getting the Budapest Card, which offers discounts on attractions and free public transport. My visits in Budapest is closely related to the offers available from Budapest Card. I visited the Hungarian National Museum, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Hungary National Gallery, Budapest History Museum for free using Budapest Card. Overall, I think these attractions are very informative, particularly useful to learn thoroughly about the identity of the Hungarians.  

Hungarian National Museum

Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music

Chain Bridge across the Danube River, connecting Buda and Pest. Chain Bridge is the iconic sight of the city.

Hungary National Gallery - containing amazing works from Hungarian artists.

Monument in Buda Castle District dedicated to King Matthias

Budapest History Museum - presenting the history of Budapest stretching way back to the stone age

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I decided to visit one of the ruin pubs in Budapest for the evening. Ruin pubs are a major part of Budapest's night life, which contributes to Budapest's uniqueness and identify. The ruin pub which I visited is Szimpla Kert, located in the historical Jewish quarter of the city, not far from the hostel which I'm staying (Maverick City Lodge). It was a nice experience spending the night in Szimpla Kert ruin pub.

Live music in the Szimpla Kert ruin pub

Unique decorations in Szimpla Kert

Day 4 - Budapest

The second day in Budapest, I joined the Budapest Card walking tour of both Buda and Pest side of the city. Being tired after the walking tours (I basically walked for more than 7 hours), I went to Lukacs Bath for a relaxing time in the thermal bath. Thermal baths are popular in Budapest, and definitely a must-do whilst visiting the city. 

Today (March 15) is a national holiday, which is the date of the start of Hungarian Revolution of 1848/1849. Buda Castle district hosts various stalls, performances and activities for the visitors. As one can imagine, the area was extra crowded with local Hungarian families and foreign tourists.   

St Stephen Basilica - The largest church in Budapest

Monument erected during the communist era

The Parliament Building

Stalls around Buda Castle District, in conjunction of the national holiday

Live performance around Buda Castle District - Hungarian Folk Dance

Traditional Music

Chimney Cake Stall - Chimney Cake (Kürtőskalács) is a Hungarian dessert

Church of St Mattias at Buda Castle District

Fisherman's Bastion

View from Fisherman's Bastion

Steps to Fisherman's Bastion

Lukacs Bath - Tram stops right at the entrance of the bath

Leisure Pool of Lukacs Bath -  Lukacs Bath was originally mainly used by the locals. The inclusion of free entry by Budapest Card ushered more international tourists to the bath.  

Parliament Building as seen from Batthyany Ter Metro station

I went to Café Astoria for dinner. According to the tour guide, Hungarians generally love eating in Italian restaurants, and that Hungarian food restaurants are mainly for tourists. Café Astoria is a mixture of both. Budapest Card offers 30% off for the food here. I would rate the food at 4/5, quite good.

After dinner, I visited another ruin pub, Fogashaz. It's one of the most popular ruin pubs in the city. The atmosphere was amazing, and the live music was great.

Live music at Fogashaz ruin pub

Fogashaz ruin pub is a complex with separate bars and dance floors

Day 5 - Danube Bend & Folk Dance Cruise

I joined Danube Bend Tour organized by cityrama, costing around 50 GBP. The tour covers Esztergom, Visegrad, and Szentendre. I think the tour is worth every penny and would recommend this tour to anyone who wishes to have a day trip out of Budapest. The tour starts at 9am and ends around 5pm. Due to the fact that it's not summer yet, the trip from Szentendre to back to Budapest was on bus instead of boat. Boat transport will be used in months of April to October.

Esztergom Basilica - The largest church in Hungary

View from Esztergom Basilica

View of Esztergom Basilica from the Slovakian side across Danube River

View of Danube Bend, near Visegrad

Beef Goulash - Traditional Hungarian Cuisine, available at restaurants near Visegrad (not included in the tour price)

Szentendre - An artist's town, not far from Budapest. This place is rather touristic, filled with souvenir shops.

The evening was allocated for River Cruise with Folk Dance Performance. The price of this programme is around 25-30 GBP. Viewing the city from the river at night was an unforgettable experience, and the energetic Hungarian Folk Dance performance was one of the highlights of the trip.

View of Buda Castle District from River Cruise

Chain Bridge at night, as viewed from River Cruise

The Parliament Building at night - picture taken during River Cruise

Live music performance during River Cruise

Hungarian Folk Dance performance during River Cruise

Day 6 - Eger & Budapest Operetta

Woke up early to catch the 7am train from Budapest to Eger. Eger is the town famous for Hungarian wine, known as Bull's Blood. There are also many interesting sights in Eger worth visiting.

Eger Basilica

Eger Basilica - Front View

Fresh Market in Eger - a lot of local produces can be found here

Minaret - An Ottoman Turks structure

There's even a Beatles Museum here

Eger Castle - Entrance

View from Eger Castle

Eger Castle - 3 crosses

Town Square within Eger castle - I saw many local Hungarian families visiting Eger castle, but not many international tourists on that day

Dobo Square (Town Square)

Valley of Beautiful Woman - No beautiful girls here, but beautiful stalls/huts selling the best wines

Valley of Beautiful Woman - more stalls/huts

In the evening, I went to watch a musical play, "Marie Antoinette" at the Budapest Operetta-Theatre. I sat at row 4 (and hence quite near to the stage) and the ticket price is less than 10 GBP, which was great! The show was amazing. Although the dialogues and songs were in Hungarian, English subtitles were provided. The actors, actresses, costumes, lightings, music were all brilliant!  

Budapest Operetta-Theatre

"Marie Antoinette" show

Day 7 - Budapest

On the last day in Budapest, I decided to take a walk at the Heroes' Square area. Day 7 of my trip was characterized by heavy rain, which was a bit discouraging. Nevertheless, I made it there, though soaking wet. It was a shame I didn't get to look at the statues closely and thoroughly at Heroes' Square due to the heavy rain.

Hungarian Agricultural Museum - also known as Vajdahunyad Castle, Built in 1896 for the Hungarian Millennial Exhibition, and later became permanent feature of the city.

Building within Vajdahunyad Castle

There's a section of the museum dedicated to horses in Hungary

Heroes Square - picture taken during a heavy rain

My Hungarian trip ends when I got to the airport around 2pm. The airport is modern and comfortable.

Budapest T2 Airport Terminal

Conclusion
Hungary is a nice place to visit. Although I don't think I'll be back in the near future, the memories made during the visit is worth a lifetime keep.