10.27.21

I woke up early to catch a 2.5 hour train to Budapest. I was never planning on going there, but I had heard such great things from over travelers, I was barely able to squeeze Budapest in with a day trip.

Once I got there, I definitely struggled with the public transport, but finally figured out a tram to the meeting point of a free walking tour I booked. The tour was so great! I loved the tour guide a lot, she was so funny and informative and I learned so much about Budapest’s pretty intense and rich history while also visiting some still standing communist statues, a memorial to the Holocaust victims, beautiful cathedrals, the shopping district, and so much more of downtown Pest. The tour was strictly on the Pest side and I honestly never had time to visit the Buda side which had the castle and more fancy buildings, across the river. I loved walking around Budapest though and definitely need to come back.

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I got a coffee and a muffin at a cafe after the tour, then walked to the House of Terror museum. This may have been my favorite and the most engaging historical museum I have been to so far on my trip. It went so in depth with the Nazi and (shortly after) Soviet occupation in Budapest and the city’s long lasting fight for independence which was fully granted until the 90s! The basement exhibition had recreated prison cells shedding light on the horrible torture that victims of the soviets underwent. I think I spent about 2.5 hours in this museum.

Afterwards, I walked to Maragret island- an island in between Buda and Pest. I walked through it and took in all of beauty of the fall leaves, a memorial to the victims of COVID19, and even a Japanese garden at the end!

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I walked around the city a little more before catching a train back to my hostel in Vienna. I loved Budapest and wish I could’ve had time to see more, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind for future travels 🙂