Budapest is a city of two halves; so much so that it was once two cities, Buda and Pest, separated by the River Danube. Although now united as one, each has its own characteristics. Buda is hilly, with historic buildings, panoramic views, and winding streets. Meanwhile flat Pest is the city’s commercial hub and home to the country’s parliament. Its grand boulevards are lined with elegant buildings, the place to go for shopping, fine dining and nightlife.
That’s a generalisation, of course. You will find quaint streets in Pest and elegant buildings aplenty in Buda. But the division is helpful in planning sightseeing as well as in understanding the ‘vibe’ of the different areas.
Getting to Buda from Pest
On our first day in the city we decided to start our explorations in Buda. But like most visitors we were staying in Pest, in a cute apartment on József Attila u., by Erzsébet ter (Elizabeth Square). The obvious way to reach Buda is to cross the Danube on the iconic Széchenyi Lánchíd or Chain Bridge. This is the bridge that first united the two cities in 1840, although they were not to become one until 1873.
So from our ‘home’ by Erzsébet ter we walked west towards the river, passing a small square, József Nádor ter, with pretty fountains and attractive surrounding buildings. The square is named for Archduke Joseph Anton of Austria and there is a statue of him in the centre.
In and around József Nádor ter
We continued down to the Chain Bridge which we crossed. There were great views of the Hungarian Parliament building, though the wind made stopping to take photos a bit chilly!
On Széchenyi Lánchíd
On the far side we took the funicular up Castle Hill. We lucked out on boarding and were able to get a spot with the perfect view back down the hill as we climbed.
Riding the funicular to Buda Castle
Buda Castle
Once we reached the top we turned left to walk along in front of the castle and enjoy the expansive views of the river and Pest on the far side. It was very crowded but not so much so that we couldn’t stop and get photos.
The castle was built between 1749 and 1769, but badly damaged during World War II and rebuilt in a less ornate copy of Baroque style. It’s possible to tour the interior, and to visit its various museums including the Hungarian National Gallery and Budapest History Museum. Some sculptures are displayed outside. My feature photo was taken looking down at the castle and at one of these sculptures from the walkway.
Buda Castle
We decided against going inside the castle, as it was too lovely a day to spend a lot of time indoors. Instead we retraced our steps past the funicular and the Sandor Palace (a government building) where the guards were exchanging guns in a short ceremony.
Beyond that we had to negotiate an area with a lot of restoration work before reaching some attractive historic streets. I was surprised to see some of the roofs with the feature I had first encountered many years ago in Sibiu, where they are dubbed the Eyes of Sibiu.
An appealing terrace at the Spiler Biergarten caught our attention so of course we stopped for a drink and enjoyed relaxing there for a while watching the world go by.
Signs at the Spíler Biergarten (the two on the right are for the toilets)
The Matthias Church
Eventually we continued our walk and arrived at Holy Trinity Square (Szentháromság tér) in front of the Matthias Church, also known as the Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle. The church is thought to have been founded here in the early eleventh century, but the current Gothic structure dates from the second half of the fourteenth century and was extensively restored in the late nineteenth.
The Matthias Church
We decided to go inside, which meant buying a ticket at a booth on the far side of the square. It proved well worth the admission cost, even if I do slightly resent having to pay to visit a place of worship. The interior was beautifully decorated, there was some colourful stained glass and an ornate pulpit.
Inside the Matthias Church
The museum area up in the gallery had a few particularly interesting treasures, especially a 15th century Madonna, as well as great views down into the church.
The Madonna of Buda Castle (early 15th century) and a late 19th century Head of Christ
Looking down at the church from the gallery
Szentháromság tér / Holy Trinity Square
After leaving the church we took some photos around the square, including the statue of St Stefan. A man there had a hawk and was charging tourists to pose with it.
The Statue of St. Stephen I, and a tourist posing with the hawk
I grabbed some shots through the arches of the Panorama restaurant under the famous Fisherman’s Bastion, but we decided not to pay to walk up on the ramparts as we’d already got plenty of photos of the views.
The Fisherman’s Bastion and views
Back down to the Danube
We descended the hill via some steps below the Bastion which took us through a quieter residential area. We passed a memorial to Péter Mansfeld, a young student revolutionary who was executed at the age of just eighteen for his role in the uprisings against the Soviet government. A full account of his torture and death can be found on the Atlas Obscura website.
The memorial to Péter Mansfeld
Descending the hill
Further down more steps led through a lovely small patch of woodland to the impressive Hungarian Heritage House building. This houses a folk arts museum and theatre showcasing Hungarian folk music and dancing. With more time, and in less good weather, I might have tried to persuade Chris to visit the museum, but we had other priorities for our short visit to the city!
The Hungarian Heritage House
Eventually we came back to the river bank, with more great views of the Parliament Building.
We followed the river north for a short distance and stopped for more drinks at a lovely open-air restaurant called The Spot. From here it was an easy journey back to the Pest side of the river from the nearby Metro station, Batthyany ter. It had been an excellent morning and hopefully an interesting Monday Walk for Jo.
I visited Budapest in April 2026
55 Comments
sheetalbravon
Terrific walk Sarah. The photos were wonderful and the description detailed. I was taken up by Peter Mansfield memorial. It looked unusual . One day I hope to walk in your footsteps and see it all for myself.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Sheetal 😊 I’m sure you would enjoy the history and beautiful architecture here!
Annie Berger
Smiled at the toilet shots of course, Sarah, after our recent exchange about toilet signs! You certainly had great views from the funicular. Enjoyed the memories your post brought back of our trip to Buda many years ago.
Sarah Wilkie
I thought about that toilet signs conversation 😀 Glad you enjoyed the memories – thank you Annie.
wetanddustyroads
I didn’t know that Budapest used to be ‘Buda’ and ‘Pest’ – never too old to learn something new, right? Thanks for the funicular ride – it was nice to see – and the views from Buda Castle are beautiful. Oh, and the windows in The Matthias Church are stunning too.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you enjoyed the views and windows Corna, and learned something new! Thank you 🙂
the eternal traveller
What a lovely morning of wandering and discovery. The Matthias Church is beautiful.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Carol 😊 Yes, the Matthias Church was wonderful, and so too was St Stephen’s Basilica in Pest which we visited later in our trip – photos in a forthcoming post!
Rebecca
The view of the Parliament from Batthyány tér is iconic! I believe I took a photo of the building from that exact spot. Budapest is one of my favorite cities in Europe, and I like how you can see two sides of the Hungarian capital, on Buda and Pest, historical and more-modern, respectively. It’s been several years since I last visited Budapest, and now, I need to return! Thanks for sharing, Sarah 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Rebecca 🙂 Yes, I liked that ‘dual aspect’ of the city. I expected to like Buda more, and it has some undeniably beautiful buildings, but in the end I preferred Pest I think – it had more variety and more character.
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
We liked Budapest and spent a whole week there. I think that’s probably enough though – we’ve visited in some depth and didn’t love it quite enough to want to go back.
Sarah Wilkie
Even though we only spent three days (four nights) and didn’t see everything, I think we too probably felt that we didn’t love it quite enough to want to go back 🙂
Tanja
Great photos. Budapest is an amazing city, my kids really loved it
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Tanja 🙂 It’s interesting to know your children loved the city so much.
Anonymous
I love Budapest, definitely one of my favorite cities! And the language is beautiful too, I heard the street and place names in your text, thanks for taking me a walk with you! 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you ‘anonymous’, I’m glad you enjoyed the walk 🙂
Tanja
We were there in Christmas season so it was a different experience
Sarah Wilkie
Ah yes, Christmas must be lovely there but very different 🙂
Suzanne
Yes, I was another who never knew that about Buda-Pest, very interesting and the video gave a wonderful view of what you experienced. Looks like you had a fabulous time there, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Suzanne 😊 I’m glad you enjoyed seeing the video!
Sylvia
What an interesting look into one of your days visiting Budapest! And what marvelous photos to accompany it!
We visited both ‘sides’ of the city as well and I found the Pest side more interesting.
Compared to the other cities we visited in Central Europe, I thought it had more character than all except Krakow.
It would have been fun to see you in Budapest!
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Sylvia 😊 Yes, we found Pest more interesting on the whole and spent more time exploring there (posts to follow!) It would have been fun to see you there, but hopefully next year in Moldova???
Egídio
Fascinating post and gorgeous photos.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Egidio 😊
Marie
I missed Buda on my visit. Bronchitis kept me moving slow. Thanks for the tour.
Sarah Wilkie
Those hills wouldn’t be great with bronchitis 🙁 Glad you enjoyed this virtual tour – thanks Marie.
restlessjo
That funicular’s in a good place to save your legs, Sarah, and the views up by the castle are lovely. No shortage of sculpture either. A bad night for Portugal so I’m a little late here. Thanks, darlin xx
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I was glad of that funicular and it was a lovely ride too 🙂 I was sorry to see Portugal lose last night, but I think many of us were very happy with the Belgian win! Not to mention Fery in the tennis 😀
restlessjo
I’m not able to watch the tennis but I was following scores online. Dismal, really, but I so enjoyed that win xx
Sarah Wilkie
I missed it as we were out but hope to catch his next match
Marie
What a lovely day you got for your walkabout. I’m sitting here trying to put a date on our trip – maybe 2010…. it was much too rushed – one of those weekends with a bad flight schedule – arrived late Friday night and home lunchtime Sunday! Silly stuff. We got a feel of the place all right but need to revisit. Your photos certainly show Buda at its best….
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you enjoyed revisiting thorough my photos Marie 🙂 We had three days there, Friday late afternoon through to Tuesday morning, and that felt OK though we could easily have filled another day!
Monkey's Tale
Budapest has been high on my list for a while, so I’ll keep this in mind when we visit. Love the Sibiu eyes, we saw a few recently in Poland too! I just read another blog on the cathedral, and how they hated to pay, but felt it was worth it. Your pictures of the city and the river from above are what draws me to the city. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie 🙂 I think you two would definitely enjoy Budapest. I’ll have a few more posts covering Pest, where we spent most of our time. There’s arguably more to do there but you don’t get those views as it’s pretty flat.
grandmisadventures
Beautiful pictures from around Buda and Pest. It’s so interesting when two distinctly separate cities then mold into one
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg – yes, it’s a very interesting ‘back story’ to the city and they still have very different characters 🙂
margaret21
Well, i never knew that about Buda-Pest, which has long been on my Must Visit list. You demonstrate here that a long weekend just won’t do! On the other hand, your photos seem to suggest that you can do quite a lot of sightseeing simply by enjoying the urban views. Cultural overload? Ther DOES seem a lot to take in.
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Margaret 😊 We had three days there which was enough to give us a decent flavour of the city but not to ‘do’ many museums. If you wanted to include the best of those, and a Parliament building tour (which we discovered too late has to be booked months in advance!) you’d probably find five days ideal, but we were happy with everything we did in the time. We found a great little apartment and some excellent restaurants too 🙂
margaret21
That sounds like a perfect get-away. Noted.
Sarah Wilkie
And if you want an apartment recommendation do ask!
margaret21
Thanks! Will do.
Anne Sandler
Thank you so much for the beautiful tour Karen. The architecture is amazing.
Sarah Wilkie
You’re welcome Anne, although I think you’re muddling me with someone else?! I’m Sarah 😆
Anne Sandler
Where did “Karen” come from??? If I knew or blogged with a “Karen,” I’d understand…..but!
Sarah Wilkie
😂😂 In a funny coincidence, my husband’s last serious girlfriend, before me, was a Karen!
Anne Sandler
Your husband chose correctly!!
ThingsHelenLoves
A beautiful place. I looked up Péter Mansfeld, such an interesting, but sad, story.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Helen 🙂 Yes, I found that story very sad when I read it, he was so young. The memorial is very appropriate and moving.
Sue
Over 2 decades since I visited Budapest, and my abiding memory is of theFishermans Bastion, so lovely to read your post which reminded me ofother places!
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Sue 🙂 I’m glad to have taken you back. To be honest I was underwhelmed by the Fisherman’s Bastion, perhaps because it was so crowded. We got just as good views from other nearby spots!
Sue
We were lucky when we went, not crazy busy
Anonymous
Eight years since our last visit, 30 since the first. Such a lovely city with so much to see and do.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you for commenting, though it’s frustrating that you’ve left no name!
bushboy
A lovely city to take a lot in
Sarah Wilkie
It is lovely and we were so lucky with the weather! Thank you Brian 🙂