If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat you will have seen that a few months ago my boyfriend and I went on a trip to Budapest. Even though visited Budapest last year I really felt like on this trip I got to explore the city so much and discovered some really amazing places that just needed to be shared. Because who doesn’t love a travel post?! I was going to split this post into two, one covering sites to see and the second with places to eat, but instead I just thought I’d combine it into one big, heafty post.
Firstly, I’d recommend trying to walk almost everywhere, your feet will hurt by the end of the day but it’s so worth it as there is so much to see by foot and so many little side rounds full of hidden treasures. Then as with any holiday, research is your best friend, this is how I mainly found where to go and places to eat. I also had a bunch of recommendations from friends and bloggers and so I thought I would pass on these little gems because Budapest really has some of the coolest bars and restaurants for a city break.
Starting with restaurant recommendations, Mazel Tof is a Jewish restaurant that has so much character that I absolutely fell in love with it. As soon as you walk in you’re greeted with a ceiling of zig-zag light bulbs that lead you straight through into the main part of the restaurant. Once inside the whole place is flooded with so much natural light with everything looking like it’s taken from an Anthropologie photo shoot. We were lucky enough to go here quite early so managed to grab a table but I’d definitely recommend booking as from 8pm there is live music and the place is completely booked out. They have a fantastic range of cocktails and the food has a really great mix of meat and veg Israel dishes. If you like pitta bread and hummus then you will bloody love this place.
Another favourite of ours from the trip with yet again beautiful interiors was Liberte. Oh Liberte, this was my absolutely favourite place that we went, it’s a blogger and Pinterest dream with the most stunning interiors of any eatery I’ve visited. It kind of has the vibe of a Soho House building mixed with a Miami beach house. Even the street it’s situated on is beautiful. There was literally no part of Liberte that I didn’t want to photograph. Unfortunately the food was just okay, so I’d maybe suggest going for a small bite to eat or just a coffee just so you can soak up the atmosphere and design of the place. I think I probably posted 4 Instagram photos from our one visit as the aesthetics were just a dream from the blue and white striped to the retro decor inside. Definitely worth a visit if you have time, it’s also super close to the river so a good pit stop during site seeing.
Moving onto site seeing there are so many places to take your pick from and it’s not like the odd one is spectacular, but almost every building or attraction has such an extravagant design to it, it’s hard to not stop and take pictures. Buda Castle is absolutely stunning both in the day and night. I’d recommend actually walking up to the top in the day because you have the most amazing view of the whole city (although this would also be spectacular at night too). But then when you see if from across the river in all it’s glory at night it really is stunning. On my last trip to Budapest I went to a restaurant called Spoon which has the most incredible view of Buda Castle at night.
The chain bridge is an easy site to see as if you’re going everywhere by foot you’ll walk over it numerous times and again this looks awesome both day and night and is spectacularly large up close!
Another must go to is Fishermans Bastion, which if you think this looks like a Disney princess castle in then you’d be absolutely correct. It’s at the top of a very, very steep hill but when you get to the top it’s totally worth it. You have a view over the whole of Budapest and so many beautiful buildings to explore. I’d recommend buying some gelato and sitting on the bench to take it all in.
So those are all the stand out part from my trip to Budapest, the other places I would suggest going to is a ruin bar. Budapest is famous for their ruin bars and they really are worth a visit. They’re essentially old abandoned buildings that have been turned into a bar and each room is totally unique and awesome with rooms full of vintage toys and then other totally filled with luminescent paint. I’ve been in October, which was freezing and then April, which I’d probably recommend as we had lovely weather which was perfect for walking around in.
