While Buda may offer some of the most spectacular views of the city, Pest is where it’s at for the fantastic sights and food.
Head away from the center of town and stroll down Andrassy Street. This is one of the most famous shopping streets in the city and is home to all the brands you can’t afford. But that doesn’t mean it’s not super fun to window shop and wander down the tree-lined street. There is also a great museum, The House of Terror, about communism in Hungary. I didn’t have time to go inside, but I wish I did. There is a great exhibit out front about the uprising of October 1958. At the end of Andrassy, you will come to Hero’s Square, a huge plaza celebrating the unification of different tribes to form Hungary. It’s grand and very impressive. I hitched on the back of a tour group for a little while and listened to the different stories about the leaders.
From there, keep walking towards the park behind the square. I was lucky enough to be there in fall and got a little taste of some autumn trees. There are all sorts of great places to take a seat and enjoy a snack along the way, like right next to the fountains. If you want, this is also the location of the other very famous baths in Budapest, thr Szechenyi Medical Baths. I’ve been told it’s like going swimming in a wedding cake.
This around when I started to get peckish, and so I decided to go to Paprika, a restaurant suggested to me by someone who worked at my hostel. It’s a pretty traditional place with half-timber walls and wooden chairs and some classic Hungarian cuisine. I got some delicious pork fillet thing with potatoes which I just barely finished. It was SO GOOD. Then I just decided that I needed to eat more, so I ordered a bowl of ice cream.
Be warned: this is no ordinary bowl of ice cream.
Three massive scoops (Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry) topped with fruit and whipped cream. It was the best strawberry ice cream I have ever had. I fought with it and ate as much as I could but I was too full. I could not do it.
I could not finish my ice cream.
After this I had to go back to my hostel and have a quick nap. Too much food + not enough sleep = hobbling back across town to my bed. I don’t regret it though. Perfect.
If you’re stronger (and smarter than me) though there are so many other wonderful places to visit in Pest. There is of course the Basilica, which is huge and massive and spectacular, with gold plating and gorgeous paintings. And to enter, all they ask is a 300 HUF donation, so it’s easy to get in and spend some time looking around.
And closer to the river there is the towering Parliamentary Building. This place is crazy with its neo-gothic drippy-sand-castle towers and its rust-colored dome practically rising out of the Danube. It is truly a sight to behold.
Don’t forget to walk a little ways down the Danube to see the poignant Shoes on the Danube, a memorial to the Hungarian Jews who lost their lives to the Danube during World War II. If you continue your way down the Danube, there are even more beautiful sculptures and memorials sitting on park benches or leaning against trees. If the sun’s out, it’s a beautiful walk.
Other highlights of this side of the Danube include the famous Dohany Street Synagogue, where you can pay for tours of the building and its Jewish History Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts, which I didn’t make it to but did see from the window of my car.
If you have time, make sure to visit the German Occupation Memorial in Liberty Square. It’s not included in many travel lists, but it created quite a stir when it was built in 2015. Many do not feel that it correctly represents the tragedy faced by the Hungarians during the occupation in WWII. Protesters have instead created their own memorial in front of it with posters, old photographs, and candles.
If you want to taste more of that delicious Hungarian cuisine, then go to Cafe Vian, a local chain. It’s just down the street from Liberty Square and it has some of the best goulash in town! Or, if you would rather get something to go, visit the Marketplace down the river, though be warned, it closes at 6PM many nights!
And with your belly full of food and your mind full of beautiful architecture, crash into your bed and put your feet up. Or you could go out to a Ruin Pub like Szimpla, because you can sleep later, right?
