Budapest is the big-city heart of Eastern Europe. This Hungarian city is one of nuance and paradox – cosmopolitan, complicated and challenging for the first-time visitor to grasp. But even though Prague and Krakow have more romance (and crowds), travelers in the know find Budapest to be Eastern Europe’s most fascinating and rewarding destination.
| Costing about $12 a day, the Budapest Card is a worthwhile convenience. It’s a great tool for efficient sightseeing, covering public transportation and entry to virtually all of Budapest’s museums. It provides discounts to other attractions, including boat tours and the Gellert Baths. With the Budapest Card, you have the freedom to hop the Metro for one stop or drop into a semi-interesting sight for a quick visit. You can buy the card all over Budapest, at tourist information offices, travel agencies, major Metro stations, sights and many hotels. |
No question, Budapest is hot – literally. The city sits on a skinny layer of earth above thermal springs, which power its many baths. Splashing and relaxing in Budapest’s thermal baths is the city’s most worthwhile activity. Though it might sound intimidating, bathing here is far more accessible than you’d think. The two baths I recommend are the best known, most representative, and most convenient for first-timers: one casual, the other elegant. Both are equally good.
To soak with the locals, head to the Szechenyi Baths complex. Relax and enjoy some Hungarian good living. After checking in and changing, you follow the crowds to a series of indoor pools (quite hot – most around 104 degrees Fahrenheit). Beyond these pools, you’ll find your way outside, where women and men float blissfully in the warm water. Intellectuals and Speedo-clad elder statesmen stand in chest-high water around chessboards and ponder their next moves. This is the city at its best (and cleanest).
Budapest’s more touristy bath destination is at Gellert Baths, in a fancy hotel. You’ll pay more than at Szechenyi, you won’t have as much fun, and you won’t run into nearly as many locals. This is definitely a more upscale scene. But if you want a soothing, luxurious bath experience in a fancy setting, this is the place.
If a day at the baths is a little too splashy for your tastes, consider spending an afternoon exploring more of Budapest’s big sights, many clustered on Castle Hill. While visitors may expect this high-profile district to be time-consuming, for most it’s enough to simply stroll through in a couple of hours.
Castle Hill’s most worthwhile attraction is the frilly-spired Matthias Church, a structure destroyed and rebuilt several times over its 800-year history. Today, visitors see a sumptuous gilded interior with a Gothic nucleus. In 1896, the year of Hungary’s official 1,000th birthday, a flamboyant steeple and other fanciful elements were added for the city celebrations.
Inside Matthias Church, the Loreto Chapel holds its prize possession, a 1515 statue of Mary and Jesus. Anticipating Turkish plundering, locals walled over this precious artifact. The occupying Turks used the church as their primary mosque, oblivious to the hidden statue in the niche. Over a century and a half later, during the siege of Buda in 1686, gunpowder stored in the castle up the street detonated, and the wall crumbled. Mary’s triumphant face showed through, freaking out the Turks. According to legend, this was the only part of town taken from the Turks without a fight.
Whether relaxing in the Szechenyi Baths or surveying the city from Castle Hill, seasoned travelers like Budapest more and more with each return visit. A city of stories, local flavor, and proud history, Budapest will add Hungarian spice to any European trip.
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425-771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 27 European travel guidebooks including “Europe Through the Back Door” (published by Avalon) and the host of the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe.” This week’s schedule on KCTS:
Monday, 5 p.m.: Dublin and mystical sidetrips
Tuesday, 5 p.m.: Southern Ireland
Wednesday, 5 p.m.: West Ireland
Thursday, 5 p.m.: Berlin
Friday, 5 p.m.: Germany’s romantic Rhine
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