Budapest

So, as you know if you follow me on instagram ( @izzy_manuel), you’ll know that I recently went on a minibreak to Budapest with one of my friends! Just like my trip to Cornwall and Copenhagen, I thought it would be a nice idea just to write a little synopsis on our trip and what I would suggest doing etc!

So firstly, I stayed in district VI, which is near Heroes Square, one of the famous tourist spots in Budapest. SO naturally, we thought the area would be pretty central and close to everything major such as parliament, Buda castle etc… However, we were slightly surprised when we realised that we were around a 45 minute walk from the centre of town ! So I you decide to go, make sure that you’re in the “inner city,” this essentially means less travelling and a nicer area !

So the first thing you have to do when you go to Budapest is to go to a spa !! They’re famous for their spas so you really can’t go there without visiting one! On our first day in the morning we went to Gellert, which is one of the smaller “less busy” spas in the city. We wanted to go somewhere where 1) there were less tourist and 2) was fairly cheap ! We managed to get in with an unlimited time slot (so aka a whole day) all for £15. This allowed you to use any of the baths, hot tubs, swimming pools etc… I must admit… I was completely blown away ! The spa was incredible, it was just so lovely to be able to sit in a nice warm pool for hours on end (okay maybe a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean 😉 ) Honestly, it was the best start to the holiday and I cannot recommend anything better than that really !

After spending a couple of hours relaxing, we got super hungry… so we stopped off at the Hummus Bar, which honestly is the BEST fast/cheap food I’ve ever had ! If you like falafels, hummus and all the Mediterranean goodies then HELLO … you’ve found yourself the best restaurant in town ! I think around £6 for one the best lunches out… so as you can tell… I VERY highly recommend 😉

(Parliament: Literally the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen ! I would definitely say that you should go and see it ! It’s 1000000% worth the visit and I would definitely say you should see it from both sides of the river 😀 )

For the rest of the day, we just decided to wonder around a little, go to the central market hall (which is definitely worth the see for its amazing architecture and just the fact that it’s buzzing with amazing market stalls, food to eat and everything else you could imagine !

Day 2, I must admit we were a bit stuck. We walked over 20km on the first day so we were completely knackered ! So we didn’t want to walk an hour all the way to Buda Castle, instead ,we grabbed a coffee in the morning and decided to do some more wondering (aka visiting parliament which is AMAZING) and little bit of shopping ! I heard a lot about the vintage stores in Budapest and I wanted to see if they were as good as everyone said! So we headed down into what I would call the “trendy” district, where all the cool ruin bars (apparently a must see but I wasn’t too fussed by them) and vintage shops… So basically the Shoreditch of Budapest. It was actually so wonderful just to walk around and experience the place really ! Of course naturally, I did end up doing a little shopping ( I know my bad…) But I couldn’t say no to a pair of vintage Levi 501’s for £15 now could I ?! 😉 We also ended up buying some jewellery which was hand made in Hungary, I think it’s so lovely to support independent jewellery and clothing brands, even if the products do cost a little more! Although, we did end up spending £8 on a thread bracelet without realising… omg so embarrassing hahahah 😉 I’m sure you’ll see the most beautiful necklace that I managed to get on Instagram some time soon ! 🙂

(Can never go wrong with a cheeky travel selfie 😉 )

So day 3, this was the last day before we flew back home, so we wanted to do as much as we possibly could ! So finally, we had the “courage” to walk all the way to Buda Castle, and it was definitely worth the trek ! Despite it being called a castle, it’s actually home to two museums, The National Gallery and Budapest History museum. I’m not the biggest fan of history, but I’m a huge lover of art. So of course we decided to go to the art gallery, there was also student discount on tickets which meant that they were SO cheap ! We were absolutely shocked to find out that we happened to be there when there was a limited exhibition on Frida Kahlo… OMG…. it was so funny because I recently listened to a podcast about her and I was so interested by her history and her art ! So it was sooo amazing to be able to see her art work in person, and I tell you… I was completely blown away! Her art was so expressive and really did show how she felt at certain moments of her life. I don’t really want to give anything away, but all I can say is that YOU NEED to see a Frida Kahlo exhibition at some point ! Sadly, the exhibition in Budapest lasts only until the 4th of November, so if you’re there… go and see it ! {With student discount the Frida Kahlo exhibition was only £4!!!!}

( I didn’t take any pictures because I don’t think pictures do artwork justice!)

(The £15 Levi’s just had to make an appearance hehehe)

In the afternoon, we just chilled at a coffee shop before heading back to The Hummus Bar for one last meal…. (couldn’t resist hahaha,) then headed off to the airport ! Sadly, that was the end to our short, yet amazing trip to Budapest. I hope this little blog post can be used as a guide to the city as well as a little insight into what I did while I was there !

I hope you enjoyed this blog post ! I’ve got so many lined up for the next couple of weeks so stay tuned :* (Sorry about this being late ! I was a little bogged down with applications so I didn’t have a chance to just sit down and “get on with it”.)

I’ll see you in my next one ! Izzy xxx

Thank you to my amazing friends, Ari, Joe and Imogen for all the suggestions on where to go and what to do before I headed over there !