Wanderings in Pest

They said that, of course, Budapest is beautiful. But it is in fact almost ludicrously beautiful.

Anthony Bourdain

While we enjoyed exploring Buda, and loved the views of the Danube and Pest beyond, it was the latter that we spent the most time in. We stayed there, we ate and drank there, we visited museums and we wandered its streets.

Let me take you on one of those wanderings for this week’s Monday Walk*. We’ll start with St. Stephen’s Basilica, just a couple of minutes’ walk from our apartment. We actually made two visits here: one for Mass on Sunday morning and one to tour the church.

St. Stephen’s Basilica

St Stephen’s Basilica

The Latin inscription above the door reads:

EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA

(I am the Way, the Truth and the Life)

Construction of the church began in 1851, and it was finished and consecrated in 1905. Thus it is relatively new. That shows in the richness of its decoration, art works etc.  The gold gleams, the paintings are rich with colour. While not enthused by the use of dark red marble, I was much more taken with the many mosaics of saints, cherubs and Bible scenes that adorn the dome and ceiling.

Inside the basilica

The church is dedicated to Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038). One of the side chapels holds a casket with a relic, his right hand (see photo bottom right in the gallery above).

After visiting the interior we took the lifts which in two stages take you almost all the way to the terrace (if you prefer to walk, there are apparently 304 steps in total). But the lifts don’t do all the work; there are still several flights of metal stairs to negotiate. Once outside the views are wonderful, especially looking towards the Danube and Buda beyond.

Views from the terrace and a look up inside the tower

Elegant streets and squares

Leaving the basilica we walked north along Hercegprímás u., lined mostly with elegant buildings. I was especially taken with one, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), on the corner with Bank u. Designed by architect Ignác Alpár and built between 1902–1905, this neo-baroque palace has served as the bank’s headquarters since it was founded in 2024.

Magyar Nemzeti Bank

North of here we came to the Light Art Museum which I have already described in a previous post and spent the rest of the morning exploring its current exhibition. When we left we turned along Perczel Mór u., which flanks the US Embassy. Security in this area is tight and no vehicles can enter the street but it’s open to pedestrians. It leads to a large open space, Szabadsag ter (Liberty Square). This is surrounded by beautiful buildings, including that embassy. In the centre is the Soviet War Memorial. This commemorates the Red Army’s liberation of Hungary from Nazi occupation.

We spent some time here, enjoying a cold drink in the café and engaging in some people-watching as well as photography.

In Szabadság tér

By the Danube

Eventually we left the park, taking Zoltán u. towards the river and north to the iconic Parliament building. I’d left it too late to book one of the very popular tours of the interior (these are booked up months in advance), but we were happy just to get photos of the exterior and of the nearby Palace of Justice.

The Palace of Justice (bottom left) and Parliament building

South of the Parliament building were some interesting statues, including a traditional equestrian one of Count Gyula Andrássy, a Hungarian Prime Minister (1867–1871). This is a replica of the original which was destroyed by the Communist authorities in 1945. The stone plinth is decorated with bronze reliefs, including scenes of the coronation of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. Nearby is a more modern monument to Attila József, a renowned twentieth century Hungarian poet.

Statues of Count Gyula Andrássy and Attila József

Following the river we came to the very moving Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. This was installed in 2005 to remember victims shot by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. It features 60 pairs of rusty, cast-iron shoes, representing the victims (who were forced to remove their footwear before being killed). My photos show it devoid of other visitors. In truth however it was very busy here with both tourists and locals out enjoying the spring sunshine. I would rather, perhaps, have visited on a quieter day.

Shoes on the Danube Bank

River cruise

Further still and we came to a man selling tickets for river cruises. This was something we’d considered doing and it seemed a good way of enjoying the sights while getting out of the strong wind that was blowing today. We bought our tickets for the 15.00 sailing, which would be in twenty minutes’ time. We were then told the boat was moored on the far side of the Chain Bridge about 300 metres along. That proved a bit of an optimistic statement as it seemed significantly further as we hurried along the cobbled path to make the departure time. We arrived with five minutes to spare and secured good seats inside near the front.

The ride was relaxing and the commentary interesting. It was hard to take photos through the window, so I went up on deck a few times to do that. The Parliament building can only really be properly appreciated (and photographed) from the river or from Buda. But for the most part I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Taken from the river boat

The boat tour was a round-trip so an hour later we found ourselves back at the mooring opposite the rather grand Vigadó Concert Hall building.

The Vigadó Concert Hall

We passed through Vorosmarty ter in the heart of the city’s shopping district, with its statue of the poet Mihaly Vorosmarty.

The Monument to Mihály Vörösmarty

Erzsébet tér

A short walk further brought us close to our starting point, the apartment we were renting on the north side of Erzsébet tér. Sights here include a surprising Michael Jackson memorial on a tree opposite the Hotel Kempinski where he used to stay when in Budapest. One of his videos, ‘History Teaser’, was filmed here. Fans left tributes here after his death and have continued to do so ever since.

There is also a large Ferris wheel (which we rode one evening for some lovely after-dark views of the city) and an ornate fountain named for the Danube, the Danubius-kút.

In Erzsébet tér

I’ll share a walk from a very different part of Pest in a future post, but I think this is more than enough for one day!

I visited Budapest in April 2026

* Jo’s away this week so I’ll add a link next week on her return