Best of Budapest

Freed from their Soviet masters for approaching 15 years now, the Hungarians are trying hard to enjoy their autonomy. The so-called "Paris of Central Europe", Budapest is a buzzing, busy capital city of c2m people, split by the river Danube (not very blue to my eye) into two distinct regions: Buda on the hills to the west and the more commercial Pest, set on a large, sandy plain to the east.

Quick Tips:

Obvious "sights" to aim for are Castle Hill, with most of the key monuments and museums (and therefore tourists) and a magnificent view of Pest across the Danube including a great shot of the Parliament building, next to the river. The walls of the Castle district contain two distinct areas -- the Old Town and the Royal Palace. The former is crammed with attractively painted houses, decorative churches (chief of which is the breathtaking St Matthias [Matyas])-- see entry and photos below) and the Fishermen's Bastion (again, good for views). The Royal Palace is also up here -- home to the National Gallery (mainly dedicated to Hungarian art), the National Library and Budapest History Museum.

Other highlights are the whole host of glorious buildings and churches (the State Opera House, the Franciscan Church, St Stephen's Basilica -- a recent facelifdt newly completed, the series of synagogues clustered around the Astoria area, the grand brown, spired Parliament itself -- try to get on a tour) and last but definitely not least the quite splendid Soviet Statue Park ("Szoborpark") out of town (see entry with photos below).

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting around is cheap and a doddle - the underground system is clean and regular, its wide corridors and stairways and platforms giving some hint of its Communist heritage. The map of the underground layout is easy to read and you'll probably only need to go perhaps 6 stops at a time. Single journey tickets cost 130Ft (about 30p/50c) -- buy yourself a little wadge of them upfront at the underground (the booths/platform machines normally only take exact cash and you can't usually buy them from the bus-driver). You have to validate the ticket (from which point in time it's valid for only 90 minutes) through a little machine as you go into the underground entrance or at the busstop - failure = a fine and I did see a couple of inspectors around. The expansive bus system is also easy to read and the buses generally do run as per the timetable.

Hotel Mercure Nemzeti is a four-star hotel on the Pest side of the city, on Blaha Lujza square and 30 seconds from BL metro station (on M2, the red line). It's therefore well situated for walking to the Jewish area and St Stephen’s Basilica, and onward on foot to the Parliament and Danube if you’re feeling energetic (or metro to the Buda side if less so -- four stops on M2 metro line to Batthyany ter).

Reception is efficient and brisk and offers currency change services, fax and a safe, as well as providing maps and information should you need it – booking rooms by email was also very competently managed. The hotel apparently has 76 air-conditioned rooms, which seemed clean and freshly painted, and well appointed with en suite (plus hairdryer, mini-bar, satellite TV, radio, etc.). The bedroom decor is a little loud (particularly the bed spreads) but the rooms are double glazed from real noise.

Its blue facade gives away its Art Nouveau heritage (built at the end of C19) and there's more inside. The pleasant restaurant (look up for a magnificent stained glass ceiling) serves a decent-ish buffet breakfast and also hosts dinner should you not feel like going out – the Hungarian goulash looked good but the “authentic” entertainment put me off somewhat.

This is a very smart little bistro, nearby to Astoria, but far enough off the main drag to avoid being inundated with tourists. It has only about 10 tables and seems very popular with locals as well as a few visitors.

There's a modest (with a choice of probably 6-8 starters and main courses and 4 desserts), but excellent menu plus daily specials chalked on the board. Food is mainly Italian (with a few French influences) in style but with some interesting twists such as carpaccio of salmon with tangerine marmalade (which was very pleasant indeed though the relish was entirely unnecessary) and fettucine with langoustine and basil, which sounded most odd but worked an absolute treat. On arrival, there's an amuse-bouche -- ours was foie gras toasts.

Its ambience is all crisp white linen, soft classical music and candle-lit hush so perfect for a romantic outing. The wine list majors on Hungarian wines -- not too madly priced -- plus some more expensive imported wines. Service is unobtrusive but well judged and informed (English, French and German are spoken). This is a great find in a popular area rife with similarly priced places whose quality and service is less worthwhile – it may be quite expensive, but worth every forint.

Rivalda is up on Castle Hill, right next to the Sandor Palace on the left and the National Dance Theatre on the right and a stone’s throw from the funicular entrance. Unless you’re staying up here, you’re unlikely to come here for dinner, but they do a cracking lunch menu too (in fact, they are open all afternoon for whenever you’re feeling peckish).

It bills itself as serving “creative, contemporary cuisine in the casual-chic restaurant or charming centuries-old cobblestone courtyard”. There was snow on the ground and a nip in the air when I ate there so I can’t attest to the latter (though its publicity material shows comfy cushioned chairs under sun-parasols with wicker tables) but certainly the décor inside is contemporary (some might say wacky) but fairly elegant. The theme is theatrical with posters and photographs at jaunty angles on the walls (even on the loo door), mock-stage lighting hanging from the ceiling, a tiny stage at one end which is either for show or else doubles for night-time karaoke.

Fortunately the theme-ing does not extend to the service which is modest and understated nor the food, which is served in fairly healthy helpings and of excellent quality. Having said that it’s untheatrical, the menu does nonetheless include some house specials and who could resist “chicken breast with mustard and maple syrup”? I scoffed, but later ate my words, as it was perfectly cooked and utterly delicious.

Part gallery/part park/part monument - the ultimate slapdown for proud Soviet history - a park housing 42 statues and friezes saved when the Soviet regime fell and now set out in an open-air museum.

The exhibits range from a colossus of a muscled sailor striding forth, shirt wide open and red flag clutched in his fist and proudly flying, to a frieze of townspeople including family, little old lady and courting couple, to the usual stern Lenins and Marxes.

On arrival you pass through a pseudo-classical gateway to the ticket desk and a bescarfed-woman behind the desk jumps up and switches on some stirring Soviet marching museum to get you in the mood. Then into the park -- past statues of all shapes and sizes, artfully placed to show you how the USSR wanted to embrace all its people (so hard that it choked some of them) and how it wanted to be remembered. Apparently, when the walls fell throughout the former Soviet vassals states and the populace began to revile its former masters, vengeance was taken out in no small part on the statues which were quickly pulled down and smashed up. The mayor, presumably sensing a portion of history going down the drain, put a temporary stop to it and asked people to nominate local pieces which they would want to see preserved.

And so they did -- the park opened in 1993 and is certainly one of the highlights of my visit. The only mystery is why it's so far out of town.

Most striking are the Goliaths - as well as the monumental giant sailor, caught forever charging forward (based on a 1919 revolutionary poster) is the stiff upright uniformed Red Army soldier who formerly guarded the golden victory symbol or "Liberation" monument at Gellert-hegy. Most moving of all is a statue towards the back, a male figure caught as he falls to his knees, head back and throat exposed, one arm held up, perhaps in supplication or perhaps in an attempt at self-protection...

On your way out (allow yourself an hour to mooch -- it's not big but you'll want to contemplate the enormity of what it tells you about the past), the music will be whisked on again, this time to remind you of your need for souvenirs -- these range from your very own CD of these Soviet marching classics to candles shaped as busts of Lenin (or, rather more tackily, can containing the "last breath of Socialism"). Also a variety of historic postcards and a good aeriel shot.

Open daily 10am (Winter w/es); entrance 600F (c£1.75/$3). Getting there is something of a test of ingenuity and endurance - touristbus twice a day (arriving with 25 others somewhat breaks the solemnity) - £6/$10 incl entry or a red 173 bus (outside Palazsi Udvar) to Edele ter and change to a Volan for Diosd - 130F single.

Semi-reminiscent of London's Palace of Westminster, this is another of Budapest's must-sees. It's enormous (spreading for 268m along the eastern, Pest bank of the Danube) and very attractive indeed from the outside; inside is a warren of corridors and chambers, mosaics and marble.

As you'll see from the photo at the overview entry above, it's a flat-fronted symmetrical brown building with what seems like hundreds of spires and spikes. In niches all around the edges are 88 statues of Hungarian leaders; the dome on top of the building is 96m tall -- construction began in c1885 and the whole affair is supposed to have the country back 38m gold forints. Not long after it was finished, the concept of democratic government fell somewhat by the wayside when the Communists took over but, in 1990, that persuasion's emblem (a red star) above the main door was symbolically removed and replaced by St Stephen's apostolic cross.

The content and extent of the daily tours (2100Ft pp) varies depending on whether parliament in sitting but almost all tours seem to take in the spectacular main staircase and the Lords' Chamber (now unused save for conferences), plus the highlight -- the specacular Cupola Hall. Here St Stephen's coronation regalia is on permanent display, flanked (for 15 mins each hour) by guards holding ceremonial swords -- look out especially for the original of St Stephen's crown (you may have caught the copy in the museum at St Matyas - see above), which has represented the Hungarian state for more than 1000 years (remember, his coronation was on Xmas Day 1000). Look closely at the double-crown with its beautifully enameled miniatures; you'll also see that the top cross is bent -- supposedly a casualty of being squashed when smuggled from the palace in a cradle. After Hungarian fascists stole the crown (recovered in Germany), it was kept safely in Fort Knox until its return home to be reunited with the accompanying crystal sceptre and sword.

Less splendid but equally fascinating is the scale model of the parliament building, apparently made of 100,000 match-sticks by one family over a period of 3 years.

For tour tickets, follow the signs to gate X (i.e. 10 in Roman numerals), catch the attention of a rather forbidding guard and he'll allow one person per group to enter via the car-park while the others queue. Check with the ticket-seller for a tour in the right language; the tour schedule doesn't seem to ressemble what actually happens. Tours are popular in peak times and numbers are limited. The ticket office is open from about 8am - tickets available on the day only.

The Gellert Baths at the Danubius Hotel Gellert (in the Gellert-Hegy area, opposite the market place and Szabadsag, raven-topped bridge) are a must. Probably Budapest's most famous and almost certainly the most beautiful and elegant, they comprise indoor pools, thermal baths, an outdoor wave pool (summer months only) and all kinds of treatments (mudpacks, massages, facials, pedicures, etc.). Budapest has been a spa town since the Turkish occupation, its waters valued for their medicinal qualities. Medicinal or not, one of my favourite memories will always be sitting in the warm thermal waters whilst gazing up at the stained glass ceiling with a flow of warm water beating on my shoulders and swimming in the indoor swimming pool, surrounded by marble columns and mosaic flooring).

Constructed in 1913, the Gellert tries to maintain its traditions of style and service, dating from the era of Emperor Franz Josef. It’s more expensive than the city’s other baths (though it won't break the bank) and you can visit even if you are not staying in the hotel. Many visitors are indeed tourists but it's definitely a favourite haunt of some local ladies as well.

There's little room for prudery or indeed much modesty at the Gellert but somehow your own inhibitions melt away alongside the locals’. On entering, men receive a strip of cloth, women a tiny apron (though many women don’t bother – apparently the men are more private and generally make the most of the fabric strip). Once inside and familiarised with your surroundings and the moist heat, you can take a massages (the short ones last 15 minutes, the more thorough, lasting 40 minutes, is an altogether more vigorous experience not to be embarked upon by the faint-hearted - other treatments happen outside so you'll have to get dressed). To the sides of the 2 thermal baths are separate steam rooms and saunas.

Swimsuits on for the main (mixed) swimming pool, a glorious Art Nouveau beauty surrounded by a colonnade of amber porcelain with water gushing from the mouths of blue dragons into the pool. Swans spread their wings across a mosaic floor, and flora and fauna mix in a riot of colour across a gallery of stained glass windows. There's an unforced hushed peace, broken only by the splashing of swimmers, the continual gushing of mineral water and the gentle human sighs of contented relaxation.

Pool May-Sept daily 6am-7pm (July-Aug also Fri-Sat 8pm-midnight); Oct-April Mon-Fri 6am-7pm, Sat-Sun 6am-5pm. Pool&baths 6-6 daily. Entry - 2700Ft (money back if you leave within 2 hours).

If for no other reason, you need to wander past this museum for the absolutely fantastic exterior (see photo below) with the classic coloured tiling and golden topping. (By the by, thinking along the same architectural lines, just a couple of streets away on the river is the Great Market Hall – giving over to splendid views across the Szabadsag bridge to the Gellert Spa Hotel and the Liberation monument up on the Gellert-Hegy Hill, which also has a magnificent funky tiled roof and is worth a nip inside for the wrought ironwork fruit and vegetables and meat stalls inside, some of which are strung with red chillies and chains of garlic.)

The Applied Arts Museum is somewhat off the main drag, but nonetheless handily situated bang opposite the Ferenc Korut Metro station (on the blue line - M3). Walking inside is a real shock – with an exterior so bright and jazzily coloured, so European, you don’t expect a bright white, unadorned interior with shaping and mouldings evocative of an Indian palace or Turkish mosque. On the ground floor, having bought your ticket (and dropped off your coat downstairs if necessary), have a look in the light, airy internal courtyard (often hosting temporary exhibitions) and the clear glass ceiling. Upstairs are exhibitions on (unsurprisingly) the way in which art and artistry has been used and applied in everyday articles – modern clothes and shoes/handbags etc plus some more classical pieces, watches and clocks (some being exquisite gold filigree work), photography exhibitions, chinaware and porcelain, jewellery – almost endless although some of the rooms seem to close periodically so there are no guarantees about what is on show at any particular time.

Open 10am-6pm each day save Monday; entry 600Ft (plus 400Ft if you want to take any photos). There’s a free cloakroom, as many loos as you could want, a tiny gift shop which basically sells postcards and a mini guidebook to the museum, and a small coffee bar selling sandwiches/cakes.

If you only have one afternoon in Budapest, it should be spent in the Castle District on Castle Hill. Most of the key monuments and museums (and therefore unfortunately tourists) are here, alongside a quite magnificent view of Pest across the Danube to the Parliament and beyond (see photo below). The District is contained within walls and is split into two fairly distinct areas, namely the Old Town and the Royal Palace.

The Old Town is charming -- painted houses, decorative churches (chief of which is St Matthias or Matyas) and the Fishermen's Bastion (again, great for views although there is an additional charge to go up there and the view is not so very much improved -- you may be better spending the entry fee on a coffee in the cafe that sets out tables under the balustrade formed by the Bastion and enjoy the panorama from there).

The Bastion was originally designed to be a viewing platform, and was built surprisingly recently (1905). Apparently it was named to honour the medieval guild of fishermen who defended this stretch of wall. It comprises seven gleaming white turrets (where you climb up) which represent the seven Magyar tribes who entered the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century.

In the square outside the church is a great statue of St Stephen on horseback - look carefully at the carved frieze on the plinth as well as at the statue itself. Stephen is famous for having brought together the Magyar fiefdoms into one state in c.990. On his coronation in Christmas Day 1000, he received an apostolic cross and crown from the then-Pope, Slyvester II, which have remained the symbol of Hungary (even during Communist times). He was canonised soon after his death in 1038 and the mummified relic of his right hand was famous in Hungary for its holy, healing qualities. See photo below.

Then, there's the church itself (entry 9-5 200Ft) -- a striking riot of colour both inside and out. The spiky, angular roof and spire bear colourful diamond painted tiles and every inch of the interior -- domes, walls, columns -- seems to have been painted with leaves or clouds or geometric designs; there are marble and gilded statues and bright, stained-glass windows. Pride of place in the centre, behind railings, are the tombs of Bela III and his consort. I'd give the crypt a miss and head instead up into the Royal Oratory where there's a copy of Stephen's crown (the original is the Parliament) with a small but excellent exhibition explaining what it was for, who is portrayed on the many perfect miniatures on tiny cameos and so forth.

Back outside, there's a quaint little street -- look out for the Golden Eagle pharmacy (signposted as you'd expect by a large gilt bird). They don't get many visitors judging by the enthusiasm with which they pounced on us and gave us 1 to 1 attention around the small museum. The curator is a retired chemist and talked us through each and every piece (gets a little wearing after a while) from the large marble pestle and mortar and inky black cauldrons to the primitive microscope designed by a Dominican nun whose portrait hangs on the inside wall.

The second part of the area is filled by the Royal Palace -- it has undergone various incarnations since the 1300s and the remaining castle today dates from partly 1700s/partly 1900s constructions, merged and consolidated after WWII. As well as impressive from the outside, it's home to the National Gallery (mainly dedicated to Hungarian art), the National Library and Budapest History Museum. Just behind the palace building you can access the gardens (via Ferdinand Gate under the conical Mace Tower, you'll see a flight of steps down to a historic Turkish cemetery with graves dating back to the Independence battle for Buda in 1686).

To get to the Royal Palace, take the Siklo, a funicular dating from 1870, from Clark Adam; the more energetic will enjoy the walk up the Royal Steps (the wide staircase that goes to the southern end of the Royal Palace).

This area is mainly residential but it's worth exploring both for the fine 19th century buildings and also the rich (and often chilling) history of what was not so long ago the Jewish ghetto. The area's resurgence is thanks to the 80,000 strong Jewish population of Budapest and the ties it has formed with international Jewry and organisations such as the Emmanuel Foundation fronted by Tony Curtis who was born of 1920s Hungarian emigrants to the US.

There are kosher restaurants where orthodox Jews meet and Yiddish is spoken, and food shops with interesting produce if you're in the market for a picnic -- look in particular for the cakeshop "Frolich" at Dob utca and the butcher's shop at no 41.

The ghetto was created by the occupying Nazis in April 1944, initially to house women and children but latterly whole families (though, by the time the men were herded in as well, the large proportion had already been sent to labour camps so that the 70,000 ghetto inhabitants of 162 blocks of flats (designed to house 15,000) were still women and kids.

Start perhaps at Kiraly Utca, formerly entertainment street, home in the 1870s to 14 of Budapest licensed brothels or, as I did, from Kiskorut. From the latter approach, your first site will be the magnificent Dohany Utca Synagogue (see photo below), which is unusual in that it is open to visitors (10-5 Mon-Thurs, 10-3 Fri, 10-2 Sat -- 1900Ft) for guided tours since its $40m 1990s restoration. It's apparently Europe's largest synagogue (capacity 3000 worshippers), second worldwide to the New York Temple Emmanuel. Its onion domes and brickwork are stunning -- red, yellow and blue (the same as the Hungarian coat of arms ironically) -- and the interior even more so. The ceiling in particular is striking and the overall impression of golden arches and ornate marble floor are most impressive. The tour takes you through the back towards the Heroes' Temple (used as another synagogue - not open to tourists) past a mass grave of 2281 Jews who died of hypothermia in the winter of 1944/45. Only part of the ghetto wall remains and ironically bears the plaque celebrating the city's liberation by the Red Army in January 1945.

The synagogue also contains the Jewish Museum, which proudly proclaims the Jewish population of Hungary precedes Magyar arrival by c600 years. It's worth a visit for the material from Jewish festivals and also, more depressingly, for the final room which is dedicated to the Holocaust and contains some shocking photos and WWII propaganda.

Head down Wesselenyi utca towards the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Garden, whose centrepiece is a weeping willow-esque Memorial, with each leaf engraved with the names of a family killed during the Holocaust. The park is named after the Swedish saviour of c20,000 Jews -- he used his placement as a consul to issue "Schutzpasses", stating that individuals were Swedish or Swiss citizens and should be allowed to leave the country (tragically, he was arrested the day before the Red Army took over, arrested on suspicion of espionage and is believed to have died in a Soviet gulag). He got his ideas from Carl Lutz, a Swiss consul with a somewhat less heroic history -- he's supposed to have given up his mercy acts when the Gestapo cottoned onto him -- after the war, he nominated himself (unsuccessfully) for the Nobel peace price. Look out for his statue (it's next to a towerblock wall in a darkish corner so you could easy miss it) on Dob utca.

There are two more main synagogues -- the Status Quo and Orthodox synagogues, but neither is open to tourists. The former bears a plaque noting that it served as a detention centre from which c1800 Polish and Slovakian refugees departed for deathcamps. Both are striking buildings which merit a place on a walking tour of the quarter.