Buda Castle photographed from the Pest side of the Danube
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Buda Castle photographed from the Pest side of the Danube |
Click on any image to see a larger (2400 x 1600 pixel) version!
As it turns out, we had some Air France miles that were due to expire later this year, so we tried to find a way to use them. We had always wanted to visit Budapest, so we decided to use our miles for round-trip air transportation from Nice to the Hungarian capital. We flew to Paris on May 14 and connected to our Budapest flight that got us to our destination around noon. We had booked a lovely and spacious apartment for four nights in the heart of town, a mere five-minute walk from St. Stephen's Basilica, so we settled in, unpacked, had lunch, and began exploring. As we had done on our trip to Edinburgh last year, we purchased unlimited rides on the local hop-on hop-off bus; this also included a sight-seeing boat tour on the Danube. The photos from this trip are not shown in chronological order; rather, I tried to group them based on where they were taken.
This is the first page documenting our trip to Budapest; from here, you can also access page 2
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Corvinus University of Budapest |
Elisabeth Bridge |
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Liberty Bridge |
Looking across the Danube |
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The Széchenyi Chain Bridge |
Looking across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge |
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Margaret Bridge |
The Matthias Church on the hill and the reformed church at the right |
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The Hungarian Parliament Building |
Departure point of the Budapest sightseeing boat tours |
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Along the waterfront |
Along the waterfront |
Along the waterfront |
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Getting ready to cross the Liberty Bridge |
Some of the photos in this section were taken from the open upper deck of a bus (with all the challenges this entails), and many were taken walking about town and exploring on our own. The architecture and history of Budapest are incredible! As a small bonus for fans of the Alistair MacLean novel The Last Frontier, I'm happy to add this street sign.
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Façade on Andrássy út |
Façade on Andrássy út |
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Anantara New York Palace Budapest Hotel |
Párisi Udvar Hotel Budapest |
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Hotel Gellért |
Gellért Monument on Gellért Hill |
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Eravisci House on St. Gellért Square |
"Ch" building of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics |
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St. Catherine of Alexandria Church |
On Dohány Street |
Chapel of Saint Roch |
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Nyugati Square |
Nyugati railroad station |
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The glass façade of the train station |
Inside the Nyugati train station |
The Great Market Hall, or Central Market Hall, is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest. It was the idea of the first mayor of Budapest, Károly Kamermayer, to build such a larg market, and it was his largest project. He retired in 1896 and participated in the opening ceremony on February 15, 1897. The market is located at the end of the famous pedestrian shopping street Váci utca on the Pest side of the Liberty bridge.
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The Great Market Hall |
Inside the market: 10,000 square meters (2.47 acres) on 3 floors |
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This is essentially a place to buy food... |
...but s few non-food items are also sold. |
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Inside the Great Market Hall |
Inside the Great Market Hall |
Visitors can ask questions at the entrance |
This is a major, and arguably the most famous square in Budapest. It is noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statues featuring the seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes, often erroneously referred as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park. The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history and has been a host to many political events, such as the reburial of Imre Nagy in 1989.
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The Zielinski Bridge leads from Heroes' Square to City Park |
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Vajdahunyad Castle (built 1896) |
Labor and Wealth on the outer edge of the left colonnade |
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The statue of peace on the right colonnade |
Outer part of the right colonnade |
Inner part of the left colonnade |
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The archangel Gabriel on top of the Millennium Monument column |
Millennium Monument |
One of the things we really wanted to do while in Budapest is to have brunch at the New York Café located in the Anantara New York Palace Budapest Hotel whose façade is shown several rows above. The building opened on October 23, 1894, as a local office of the New York Life Insurance Company. The famous New York Café, located on the ground floor, has been a longtime center for Hungarian literature and poetry. The statues and other ornaments on the facade of the building, as well as the café's 16 imposing devilish fauns, are the works of Károly Senyei.
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The New York Café in Budapest has been called... |
...the most beautiful café in the world, and it's easy to see why. |
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In addition to the décor, there was an excellent stand-up violonist |
The place is incredibly popular, so reservations are a must |
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Food is served on several levels |
In the New York Café |
This guy was really amazing! |
A few more photographs taken while walking around Budapest.
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On Szerb utca, Serbian Street |
In a pedestrian street |
Colorful building on Akácfa (Acacia) Street |
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Taking a closer look |
Strolling along Váci utca |
The photos on this page were taken between May 14 and 18, 2024.
This is the first page documenting our trip to Budapest; from here, you can also access page 2
The photos of both pages can also be found in a gallery
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