Some cities are more known for the food than the attractions.  Budapest isn’t one of those cities.  So we didn’t have high expectations for dining in Budapest.  But we gained a new appreciation for Hungarian food after dining at some great places.  Here are some our favorite restaurants in Budapest…

We enjoyed the Blue Tomato Pub so much, we went back twice.  The corn soup was thick and chunky, filled with pieces of bacon and topped with toasted almonds.  My favorite dish was a heart attack waiting to happen: bacon-wrapped chicken served over cheesy potatoes.  Also delicious was the paper thin steak topped with an inhuman amount of friend onion strings.

Mátyás Pince is an elegant, old-fashion restaurant that serves huge portions and entertains guests with traditional music and dancing.  It was a typical tourist thing to do, but it never felt tacky and was actually really entertaining.  I’m not sure if I was more impressed with the performance, the King Matthais feast (beef sirloin, leg of duck, bacon wrapped goose liver, sausage, potatoes, cabbage) or the table of 50 Germans who seemed to know the words to every song.

We put off going to the Nagyi Nonstop Palacsintazoja until the second to last day in Budapest and we regret the days we lived without it.  Nagyi Nonstop Palacsintazoja is a 24-hour palacsinta shop offering over 100 types of crepes for less than a buck each.  It’s a chain with a bunch of locations throughout Budapest.  We had a cheese crepe, a sour cherry crepe and a chocolate crepe, and that was enough to keep us filled until lunch.

Our favorite restaurant in Budapest was a trendy placed called Menza.  Read our review here.

Blue Tomato Pub
www.bluetomato.hu
XIII. Pannónia u. 5-7
+36 1 339 8099

Mátyás Pince
V. Március 15 tér 7-8
+36 1 266 8008

Many of Budapest’s most treasured attractions are located in Leopold Town and Inner City.  In this compact and easily walkable area, history and modernism complement each other.  Even the fast food restaurants look like something out of a history book.

Our hotel was located next to Deak ter, which is a great place to begin a tour of central Budapest (it’s the main hub where all three metro lines converge).  Right across the street is Erzsebet ter, a quaint little park with a pond, a restaurant and plenty of grass to attract tourists, sunbathers and homeless people alike.

When we first arrived in Budapest around 11 p.m., the park was packed with literally thousands of teenagers.  It looked like the lawn at a rock concert, an intimidating sight considering we had to pass through it to find somewhere to eat that late.  But thankfully, Hungarian kids didn’t seem to be anything like the rowdy, obnoxious kids you see at the mall every weekend in America; they were quiet and respectful, staying within their cliques, listening to music and playing games.  They even tried to make friendly conversation with us.  It was a comforting experience that made us feel instantly safe.

Near the park are two shopping areas: Jozsef Nador ter and Vorosmarty ter.  The latter is livelier and includes some casinos as well as an H&M clothing store in an unusual and mostly empty glass building.

We took a break at the terrace in front of the Vigado Concert Hall, the second largest in Budapest.  The terrace is right along the river Danube where we got a great view of both Chain Bridge and the more modern Elisabeth Bridge.

The Danube Promenade is lined with expensive restaurants, tour boats and street performers.  Oddly, the most interesting performers were a trio of Indian musicians (they’re not Native Americans and they’re not Native Hungarians, so what are they?).

A short walk up the river bank took us to Roosevelt ter, a large park in the middle of a roundabout right in front of Chain Bridge.  To the north of the park is the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and across the park is Gresham Palace, one of the most exclusive hotels in Budapest.

Next, we walked down Zrinyi utca.  As we walked up the street, St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest, tallest and most famous church in Budapest, grew larger and larger.  If you’re into morbid stuff, you can go inside the church and look at St. Stephen’s preserved hand for less than a dollar.  If that’s not your thing, you can pay two bucks to view the city from the panorama tower.  The large square outside the basilica is lined with trendy clubs and restaurants.

In the center of Leopold Town is Freedom Square, which contains a Soviet monument congratulating themselves for liberating Budapest.  Naturally, this monument brings back bad memories for the people of Budapest since the Soviets imposed a communist regime that lasted until 1989.  The Soviet monument is the last remaining Soviet star in the city – you can find others in Statue Park, just outside the city — and because it was vandalized so often, permanent barricades had to be erected around it.  Not surprisingly, this was the only square we ever visited that was empty.

The U.S. Embassy and the Hungarian Television building flank Freedom Square on opposite sides.  The TV studio is unusually large for a place that pumps out over-lit shows that look like they were made by high school film students.

Our last stop was also the most important: Parliament.  The Hungarian Parliament Building is not only the second largest Parliament in Europe (behind London’s Houses of Parliament), it’s also one of the oldest (over 100 years old).  The exterior resembles a temple more than a legislative building.  Kossuth Lajos ter, the park just outside Parliament, was a great place to sit down and take in the scope of this humongous, incredibly ornate building.

The entire walk was a great way to explore the city and appreciate the history of Budapest.  The best part?  The walk only took half a day.

A walk through Budapest’s Jewish District, or Erzsébetváros, is equally impressive and depressing.  During World War II, the Nazis crammed over 220,000 Jews into Erzsébetváros with nearly half dying behind its wall before the war ended.  The area hasn’t really recovered, which is a shame considering how rich it is in history and architecture.

The star of the Jewish District is the most easily accessible:  The Dohány Street Synagogue.  This 150-year old synagogue is the second largest in the world (behind the Temple Emanu-El in New York) and includes the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and Heroes’ Temple.

There’s an unusual sight on the left side of the synagogue:  a cemetery.  Jewish law forbids cemeteries from being on the premises of a synagogue, but Jewish law also states that the deceased must be buried within 24 hours of their death.  The Jews had nowhere to bury their dead in the ghetto during WWII so one of the laws had to give.  2,000 poor souls were buried in this yard despite its small size.

The courtyard behind the synagogue houses the stunning Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs.  The silver leaves in this weeping willow monument are inscribed with the names of the 400,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.

Just up Dob utca, past the Orthodox Kazinczy Synagogue, is Klauzal ter, the district’s largest square.  It’s a nice, shady area to take a break, though it could use a little upkeep.  The square includes a monument dedicated to the failed Hungarian war for independence in 1848-1849.

Near the Dohany Synagogue is another impressive work of art:  the Rumbach Synagogue.  This place hasn’t been nearly as well-maintained as Dohany (supposedly the interior is crumbling), but it’s just as beautifully colored and impressive.

Down the road is Madach ter, where the old city of Budapest originated.  There’s a cool arch that provides a great view of the Liberation Monument on Gellert Hill.

We accidentally stumbled upon the Elektrotechnikai Muzeuma.  Too bad it was closed when we passed by because the Hungarian Museum of Electrical Engineering supposedly has a pretty cool free exhibit that shows you unique ways to produce, distribute and use electrical energy.

Budapest is a beautiful, intimate city that is made for walking. But it can also be noisy and congested. So where’s a great place to escape and get some fresh air? Margaret Island.

Margaret Island is a mile and a half long island that sits in the middle of the Danube River. It spans the area between the Margaret Bridge to the south and the Árpád Bridge to the north.

The island was named after Margaret, the daughter of King Béla IV, who vowed that he would relegate his daughter to the island if he successfully defeated the Mongols in 1242 (what a nice guy). Today you can see the remains of the Dominican Convent where Saint Margaret lived her entire life.

There is also a Music Fountain, which isn’t as grandiose as the fountains outside the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, but it’s still nice. On the day we visited, the music selection was cleverly limited to Strauss’ “Blue Danube”… over and over again.

Besides sunbathers, joggers and the occasional homeless person, the island is also home to a famous water tower and open-air theater, an outdoor water park, a sports pool, a small soccer stadium and athletics center, a small zoo, and a couple of hotels and restaurants. For all that, the island is surprisingly quiet and never feels crowded.

Since the 1980s, car traffic has been banned on the island: only a single bus line and the occasional taxi, along with the service traffic of local stores and restaurants are allowed to enter. But the island is easily accessible by the tram stop on Margaret Bridge.

We walked along the shaded paths, passing numerous statues of famous Hungarians we know nothing about, and decided to take a break near an unusual tree. The tree had a thick branch that was crooked like a swing on a playground, and we all took turns lounging on it as if it was a hammock. There may be more quirky and unique things like this hiding in the island’s many nooks and crannies, but it’s difficult to see everything on this vast landscape in just a few hours.

Buda Castle, completed in 1265, is home to the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest Museum and the National Archives.  But the real treat is overlooking Budapest from 300 feet above city level.

Athletic people could walk to the top of Castle Hill, but we took the lazy man’s way and used the funicular.  From the top, Budapest is absolutely stunning and it seems larger than it really is.

It was hard for us to enjoy the view because an older man was trying to harass us.  This man had squinty eyes, red hair and a red moustache, and constantly approached people like he was a tour guide offering assistance.  After about a minute, people would turn and walk away from him as fast as possible.  Then he would shout things at them in Hungarian.  I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure “idiota” doesn’t mean “thanks for visiting.”

We happened to arrive just in time for the changing of the guard, which takes place at noon in front of the Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary, right across from the castle.  This elaborate performance has always befuddled me.  I mean, the poor guy with the shift ending is probably exhausted and they make him go through this whole routine before he gets to go home.

Afterward, we went inside the main courtyard of the castle.  Perched atop a wall overlooking the city is a statue of a mythical bird called a Turul.  With a wingspan of 49 feet, it’s supposedly the largest statue of a bird in the world.

This must be one attractive Turul, because a small bird flew down and actually hit on it.  Seriously.  He would dance around, try to get her attention.  His chirps sounded like questions.  He played it well for about two minutes before finally giving up.  Don’t worry, little fella, it’s not you, it’s her.

Outside of a few statues and well-manicured bushes, there’s not much to see in the main courtyard.  On the other side of the castle in a different courtyard is Matthias’s Fountain.  The fountain depicts a successful hunting expedition led by King Matthias Corvinus.  (You just don’t find fountains depicting unsuccessful hunting expeditions.  When is someone going to create a monument featuring a bunch of grumpy men coming home empty handed?)

The nearby Castle Hill District, a small city enclosed behind a tall wall, is a charming reconstruction of old-world Budapest.  We visited a strudel house called Retesbar and bought some candy from the marzipan museum near the Hilton hotel (okay, so the reconstructed district isn’t entirely old-world).

There are two fantastic sights in the Castle Hill District:  the Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion.  The church was undergoing renovations when we were there, but fortunately the beautifully ornate and colorful roof wasn’t overshadowed by scaffolding.

Fisherman’s Bastion is a terrace featuring 7 towers with incredible views of Budapest.  It was named after the fishermen who guarded the city from this hill in the Middle Ages.  This extensive ivory white terrace, with its pillars, arches and staircases, looks and feels like a small castle.  Unfortunately, the tall tower with the staircase that wraps around the outside was closed for renovation when we visited.

If we’re lucky enough to visit again the future, maybe we’ll check out the things we missed:  the House of Hungarian Wine, the Museum of Military History, and of all things the Telephone Museum.

Heroes’ Square is the kind of monument that makes me wish I had done more with my life.  Who wouldn’t want to be immortalized as a statue in one of the world’s most extravagant squares?

Constructed in 1896, the Millenium Monument dominates the center of the square.  The men with the awe-inspiring moustaches and Viking-like physiques on top of the horses are the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary a thousand years prior.  Towering over them is a 120-foot high column topped by the Archangel Gabriel.

The semi-circular colonnades that look like something out of the movie “Gladiator” each feature seven heroes of Hungarian history.  I don’t know who any of them are, but I’m sure they’re awesome and I’m envious.

Flanking the square are two of the largest museums in Hungary.  On one side, there’s the Museum of Fine Arts, which is renowned for its Middle Age and Egyptian collections, spanning over 100,000 pieces of work.  On the other side, the Palace of Art (also called the Exhibition Hall) is a contemporary art museum that showcases some modern Hungarian artists.

Heroes’ Square serves as the gateway to City Park, a 300-acre public park that could use a little more upkeep.  But there are plenty of things to see and do that keep you distracted from the plainness of the park.

There’s the nearly unpronounceable Vajdahunyad Castle, which is allegedly a replica of a castle in Transylvania.  The castle houses the Museum of Agriculture, which made me wonder why they couldn’t just apply some of the techniques displayed in the museum to liven up the park.  In the courtyard is a spooky statue of Anonymous, an early Hungarian record keeper.  Supposedly you receive good luck if you touch his pen.

City Park is also home to the palatial Szechenyi Baths, the largest medicinal bath in Europe.  You can read about our unique visit to the baths here.

Other sights include a couple of lakes (one of which was completely dry when we were there), the Municipal Grand Circus, Timewheel (the world’s largest hourglass), the Budapest Amusement Park, an unsafe looking trampoline pen, the Transportation Museum of Budapest and a famous-but-overrated restaurant called Gundel.

Let’s be clear:  Budapest isn’t the culinary capital of the world.  But that doesn’t mean restaurants like Menza are any less impressive.

Menza is a moderately-priced, trendy restaurant in central Pest that serves contemporary Hungarian cuisine in a fun and open atmosphere.   Menza is so popular that it’s ranked #7 out of 501 restaurants in Budapest, according to Tripadvisor.

On our visit, the clientele outside was made up of mostly young, fashionable men and women, mixed with the occasional older woman dressed for her midlife crisis.  There was a line of people waiting to get in, and hip music played in the background.

But the staff, the food and even the decor wasn’t anything like the people craving attention outside.  The restaurant has a playful, retro look with orange walls, wood panels and puffy blocks that look like a soundproof wall taken out of a ’70s music studio.  The crowd inside was mainly families and older people, and the atmosphere was still lively, but calmer than the patio.

We started with an appetizer that was so delicious, I would literally jump on a plane right now to have it again (if I was rich and capable of doing that).  It was a creamy garlic soup accompanied by pastry that can only be described as a doughnut stuffed with sour cream and topped with cheese.  This savory doughnut complimented the soup perfectly, but was so dense, I could barely conquer half my meal.

The food stayed with the theme of contemporary Hungarian, which means the basic dishes of meat and vegetables spiced with paprika are presented with more flair.  We ordered the pan-fried chicken over pasta and tomatoes, as well as a grilled pork dish that came with stewed tomatoes and onions and a heap of soft, steamed barley.  For dessert, we had fried poppy seed dough balls covered with a thin vanilla cream sauce.

Every dish was deliciously dense, and the prices were surprisingly reasonable for such a trendy establishment (the garlic soup was only $3!).  We can’t wait to return, but next time we’ll consider buying an imposter pair of Chanel sunglasses to fit in with the crowd outside.

Menza
http://www.menza.co.hu/
VI. Liszt Ferenc ter 2
+36 1 413 1482
Metro: Oktogon

The Kempinski Hotel Corvinus is a luxurious hotel in central Budapest named after Matthais Corvinus, a former King of Hungary.  So it should come as no surprise that the hotel was designed to placate the rich and powerful.  We’re neither.  We’re just posers who happened to get an unfathomably good deal.

This is one of those hotels where the valets intentionally park the Maseratis and Bentleys outside to get attention.  It’s also the kind of hotel where a small candy or a bottle of Evian costs as much as a full meal in a restaurant.

Underneath the braggadocious facade is a better-than-average hotel room by European standards.  The room and bathroom were both large, including a walk-in closet.  The TV was a standard size with a decent selection of cable stations.  The service was friendly and attentive.  But I’ll never understand why European countries don’t like thick, comfortable, fluffy beds.  Our “king” bed was literally two twins pushed together and the pillows were as thick as paper bags.

The staff in the lobby was incredibly helpful and spoke English perfectly, but the exchange rate was terribly low.  The guy who brought us room service on our first night in Budapest was so polite and so refined, he sounded like an emcee.  “And here we have… the classic ham and grilled cheese… served with a side of French fries… and your choice of condiments.”

The hotel has two great things going for it:

1.) The location is perfect.  There’s a beautiful park right across the street, a metro stop down the block, and it’s dead center to everything we wanted to walk to.

2.) The spa facilities rock.  The indoor swimming pool is about the size of a small school bus, but it’s situated on the third floor and is surrounded by windows that overlook the city.  The water was a little cold at first, but the powerful jets force you to stay active and warm up.  I made the mistake of turning on the fountain with no “off” button and it echoed like an obnoxious waterfall for a good ten minutes.

The facility also contains a segregated nudist section behind an opaque door.  Inside, there are various saunas and steam rooms, depending on your preference.  As Americans, we’re not really used to the concept of nudity.  We wanted to be daring enough to shed the prude American reputation and give it a shot, but not daring enough for people to witness our bodies (or as I like to call them, “works in progress”).

So we waited around until the place cleared out and jogged into the nudist area all giddy like we were pulling a prank.

I’ll tell you… the Europeans are on to something here.  It.  Was.  Liberating.  We stripped down and went into a sauna that looked like a chamber from an alien spaceship.  A humming sound vibrated the room and the domed ceiling was like a Christmas tree alternating different colored lights every few minutes.

It was a strange experience that took a little getting used to, but after a few minutes, we felt completely comfortable.  That is, until a woman entered; then we immediately shielded ourselves with towels.  Well, at least we can say we were nudists.  Temporarily.

Visiting a thermal bath in Budapest is a lot like riding a roller coaster: the wait to get on is stressful and nerve-wracking, but the payoff is worth it. And the Széchenyi Baths is the biggest roller coaster of them all.

Located in City Park, the Széchenyi Baths is the largest thermal bath complex (think public pool, but bigger, fancier, and more “medicinal”) in all of Europe. This neo-Baroque structure is the size of a palace. It’s a complicated and confusing maze of rooms, each one containing relaxing baths of different shapes, sizes and temperatures (some very cold, some piping hot). There’s also a snack bar, various saunas, and service rooms for things like manicures, pedicures and massages.

But before you can relax and enjoy the baths, you have to figure out what the heck you’re doing. The Széchenyi Baths is one of the only baths in Budapest that list prices in English (though it still manages to be confusing). We spent equal amounts of time trying to decide how to buy tickets and what teller looked most likely to speak English.

After successfully buying two tickets and a cabin rental, we passed through the entrance and immediately felt lost. A man who didn’t speak much English guided us into a cramped locker room that smelled like sweat and old shoes. We walked up creaky stairs to the second floor and gave our ticket to a nice older woman who opened our cabin. The cabin is nothing more than a small fenced cube draped with sheets and a bench to sit on. Prisoners get larger cells and more accommodations than this.

We changed into our bathing suits and walked downstairs to rent a towel. Americans and Hungarians must have two different interpretations of the word “towel” because what we received was a bed sheet. A king size bed sheet. It was white, thin, cold and crisp. It would have served better as a surrender flag than a towel.

And at this point, we were about to use it as such. We felt discombobulated and intimidated. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going… except us. But instead of turning back, we followed some locals. The stress immediately washed away once we stepped outside.

It was like crossing through a portal into ancient Rome. The exterior is indescribably massive, with two huge pools in the shape of half circles, enclosed by tall yellow walls and surrounded by opulent statues and stunning fountains.

The water is a warm and relaxing 77 degrees, thanks to natural thermal springs. We spent the majority of our time in the north pool, which contains massaging jets as well as an enclosed hollow horseshoe whirlpool that whisks you around the inner Jacuzzi in just a few seconds. It’s a thrill ride for those that aren’t brave, and you can get off at any time. There are hundreds of jets, varying in orientation and intensity, spread throughout the pools.

Surprisingly, the average age of the other bathers was probably around 45 years old. Men seemed to out-number women by at least 2-to-1, but it wasn’t a distraction, and at no time did it ever feel like anyone was being ogled. This is a perfect retreat for someone of any age, from kids all the way to grandparents.

The baths are expensive (about $40 for two tickets, towel rental, cabin rental and tips for the cabin and towel attendants) and it can be very foreign and confusing at first. But the experience is worth it.

Check out their website here.