{"id":1747,"date":"2018-09-11T10:45:53","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T14:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefullpassport.com\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2023-03-08T08:36:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T13:36:04","slug":"best-of-budapest-in-two-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefullpassport.com\/best-of-budapest-in-two-days\/","title":{"rendered":"How to See the Best of Budapest in Two Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oh, Budapest, you unexpected gem. We didn’t anticipate loving you as much as we did, and we certainly didn’t expect to be able to experience the best of Budapest in just two days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M and I visited the Hungarian capital in the fall of 2017 after finding a fantastic travel deal<\/a> through TripMasters<\/a> on TravelZoo<\/a>. We were able to book a week-long vacation to Prague<\/a> and Budapest that included flights, three nights of hotel accommodations in each city, and train transportation between the two for less than $1,000 per person. Considering how much flights alone would have cost us, how could we say no?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"City
Beautiful Budapest on the Danube<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I’ll be honest with you: Prague was the real draw for us when booking this trip. M, in particular, had been really curious about the Czech city for a while, and we were both looking to spend more time in central Europe. Budapest was a bit of a spontaneous addition; the original deal had included Paris, but we explored other options and chose to go with Budapest instead. (I think I just heard a collective gasp of dismay from all my francophile readers – don’t worry, we made it to Paris<\/a> the following summer.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funnily enough, despite its status as a last minute add-on, we ended up loving<\/em> Budapest, perhaps even more than Prague. The combination of incredible architecture, fascinating history, delicious and sophisticated cuisine, and all-around beauty made it a quick addition to my list of favorite cities I’ve ever visited. We hated to leave after only three nights, but we were able to pack a lot of exciting activities into our short two days without feeling rushed! It’s definitely a city that deserves more time and a slower pace, but here are my recommendations for how to see the best of Budapest in just two days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The Itinerary at a Glance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

For those of you who were unaware, like I was before I started researching for this trip, the city of Budapest is actually the result of a late 1800’s merger between three cities called Buda, Pest, and \u00d3buda. Nowadays in Budapest, the eastern side of the Danube is referred to as Pest and the western side as Buda. (\u00d3buda sort of got the shaft, as it is now just a part of one of Budapest’s many districts.) Both Pest and Buda have their own distinctive flavors, and this itinerary devotes a day apiece to exploring each side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1:<\/a> Pest (Shoes on the Danube Bank, Parliament Building, Great Synagogue, the Jewish Quarter, St. Stephen’s Basilica, ruin bar)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2:<\/a> Buda (Buda Castle, Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion, Gell\u00e9rt thermal baths, Gell\u00e9rt Hill and Citadel, dinner cruise on the Danube)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n