I had enjoyed Budapest so far and so I considered lengthening my stay from 2 days, and luckily I could do that when the owner came in the morning to ready a room for someone else. As I thought that this could be my only full day in Budapest, I did try to be out and about quite early - but not quite as early as I'd wanted. It was still early enough to need breakfast though...
As I was not staying in a hotel, I was supposedly a little self-sufficient and so went to a local bakery for an espresso and some form of pastry. Although not too bad, I did not leave wondering why Hungarians did not have a reputation for pastries.
As I was not staying in a hotel, I was supposedly a little self-sufficient and so went to a local bakery for an espresso and some form of pastry. Although not too bad, I did not leave wondering why Hungarians did not have a reputation for pastries.
Buda Castle Complex
I then took the no.6 tram across the river as I wanted to go to the palace - which I was told is the longest urban tram line in the world[1]. I do love trams and I don't think I can think of a city that I have not considered pleasant that had a tram system - it seems to be a civilising force. Even in Croydon [link].
Anyway, not being one to go directly to places, I took the tram along the eastern bank of the Danube for a sightseeing trip and then walked back from the terminal at Batthyány tér M+H to the astonishing Buda Castle complex which is now home to a few museums. Buda Castle is quite high up and so there are two ways to get there from the banks and the tram line. One, is to simply walk up but the other is to take a funicular tram up the hill - the 95m Castle Hill Funicular which is the oldest, still-running, funicular in the world. It seems public transport was pioneering in Budapest... I would not normally pass up on the chance to ride a piece of history like this but the queue was pretty long and when you are on your own, queuing is even more boring than when you are with people, so I bailed out and walked up instead. There was quite a lot of building work going on around the site and it was quite strange to see the heritage stuff being put up and the cobblestones being placed - it felt a little behind the curtain actually.
The walk up to the castle area was very much worth it with an interesting path and excellent views from the garden it comes to. That garden then leads to the museums and I went, initially, to the Budapest History Museum which was in three parts. A fairly dry section on the history of Budapest, a floor underneath which was the actual castle and quite evocative and then a floor telling the story of 1000 years of Budapest which was a little better with more text and a much more modern feel. It was well done and interestingly put together in a fantastic building. It was also free, and not because I had prepaid through my Budapest Card - it was free because of World Tourism Day[2]. I was a little worried that this would make the museums very busy but they were nothing like as busy as museums [link] in London so it was pretty comfortable to get around. The museum exhibits, here and in other museums were bilingual and so I was able to read most of the bits - and I can only assume they were accurate.
Leaving the museum into the castle district meant I had a great view down and there are quite a few interesting places there, other than the museum within the grounds. The Fisherman's Bastion and the Matthias Church are particular highlights with amazing views and being very impressive buildings in their own right. I spent a fair bit of time up here although there were quite a lot of roadworks up there with a relaying ofthe cobbled flooring being made. Again, it is interesting to see heritage being built.
Up the hill
As I had not ridden the funicular, I did still want a hill climb of sorts and thought that the Cog train would be a good substitute with supposedly good panoramic views. They were not particularly and it was not really worth the effort as there was not that much up there. It was interesting to see some of the suburbs though, but it was not as good as I was expecting and did not have the views of the city from where I was.
What I did find quite interesting was the junction at Moscow Ter that I walked past to get to the cog train at Varosmajor which was very old fashioned and looked really "socialist". It was quite a large tram interchange with metro station with a functionalist style and was quite different from the grandeur that I had seen in the rest of the city. I, personally, quite liked it but it clearly needed a little maintenance spend. They did also have the roundel[3] on a shop, but I would guess they have not paid royalties - and anyone that has been to the LT museum [link] shop will know that they value their IP very highly.
Sights to see
There were still a few places in Budapest that I wanted to go to and one of those (which I had been told about before by someone that had been to Budapest the week previously) was the "Terror House"[link]. This was a museum that was actually inside the old HQ for the secret police stationed here throughout much of the communist era. Appropriately enough, the museum is about the way that the secret police used terror, or terrorism, in order to police the state and also to try to extract information. It sounded very interesting and I had not planned it the day before as it was not on the (almost entirely pointless) Budapest card. As it is on Andrassy Road, I thought it would be simple enough to walk there from Oktogan but I was a little worried about missing it - an unfounded fear. The boldness of the "Terror" sign was brilliant as the building was framed with the sign. It was a bit late when I got there though and so it would only have given me 30 mins to go in - and the ticket office advised against as it was normally a 90 minute visit. Thwarted[4] again.
This was a little annoying, and I was a bit thirsty so I found my way to a relatively famous coffee shop. The original metro line terminated, in the city, in Vorosmarty Ter. and that station was just outside a coffee shop called Gerbeaud [link] which was actually there when the line started. I had a drink there, which was very pleasant (actually, the coffee in Budapest was generally pretty good) but was quite surprised at the low, and almost constant rumble of the trains underneath. I guess the tracks are only just under the surface but it was definitely felt regularly throughout. They must have been very annoyed when the city first opened the metro.
The walk up to the castle area was very much worth it with an interesting path and excellent views from the garden it comes to. That garden then leads to the museums and I went, initially, to the Budapest History Museum which was in three parts. A fairly dry section on the history of Budapest, a floor underneath which was the actual castle and quite evocative and then a floor telling the story of 1000 years of Budapest which was a little better with more text and a much more modern feel. It was well done and interestingly put together in a fantastic building. It was also free, and not because I had prepaid through my Budapest Card - it was free because of World Tourism Day[2]. I was a little worried that this would make the museums very busy but they were nothing like as busy as museums [link] in London so it was pretty comfortable to get around. The museum exhibits, here and in other museums were bilingual and so I was able to read most of the bits - and I can only assume they were accurate.
Up the hill
As I had not ridden the funicular, I did still want a hill climb of sorts and thought that the Cog train would be a good substitute with supposedly good panoramic views. They were not particularly and it was not really worth the effort as there was not that much up there. It was interesting to see some of the suburbs though, but it was not as good as I was expecting and did not have the views of the city from where I was.
Sights to see
There were still a few places in Budapest that I wanted to go to and one of those (which I had been told about before by someone that had been to Budapest the week previously) was the "Terror House"[link]. This was a museum that was actually inside the old HQ for the secret police stationed here throughout much of the communist era. Appropriately enough, the museum is about the way that the secret police used terror, or terrorism, in order to police the state and also to try to extract information. It sounded very interesting and I had not planned it the day before as it was not on the (almost entirely pointless) Budapest card. As it is on Andrassy Road, I thought it would be simple enough to walk there from Oktogan but I was a little worried about missing it - an unfounded fear. The boldness of the "Terror" sign was brilliant as the building was framed with the sign. It was a bit late when I got there though and so it would only have given me 30 mins to go in - and the ticket office advised against as it was normally a 90 minute visit. Thwarted[4] again.
This was a little annoying, and I was a bit thirsty so I found my way to a relatively famous coffee shop. The original metro line terminated, in the city, in Vorosmarty Ter. and that station was just outside a coffee shop called Gerbeaud [link] which was actually there when the line started. I had a drink there, which was very pleasant (actually, the coffee in Budapest was generally pretty good) but was quite surprised at the low, and almost constant rumble of the trains underneath. I guess the tracks are only just under the surface but it was definitely felt regularly throughout. They must have been very annoyed when the city first opened the metro.
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| Budapest 2013 day 2 - click here for photo album |
1. I am not sure this is true and can find no proof but I have read that it is the busiest route in the world for a traditional tram system - many others have been upgraded to rail standards.↩
2. This was making my Budapest Card almost entirely worthless - I had only used the travel portion of it to gain any benefit at all.↩
3. This is the name given to the London Underground logo.↩
4. But obviously only by myself, again. ↩
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