Visiting Budapest in December
Christmas market by St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, Hungary
Budapest Walking Tour
The bus ride from Vienna was smooth and we enjoyed our reclining seats, bathroom, and Wi-Fi onboard. The drive took us through the Austrian countryside with more windmills than we have ever seen in one area before. It is a very strong contrast to Hungary when you cross the border there are no windmills at all.
The sun was setting and we drove the last 2 hours in the dark. We tried to rest, but ate our salad and worked on the travel diary.
Tram #2 runs along the Danube River in Budapest
When we arrived in Budapest, most passengers got off at the first stop. In hindsight, this might have been a better stop, as we later discovered the subway was under repair.
We arrived at Népliget and decided to walk to the metro station. It was only 800 meters and we had just been sitting on a bus for three and a half hours.
We followed the signs and headed out, up the stairs straight ahead. A helpful young man confirmed we were on the right track - Metro ahead, he said.
We walked what we thought felt like 800 meters but did not see a Metro station. Di wanted to check the map, but I said we would check at the next corner if it wasn’t there.
Széchenyi Chain Bridge on a rainy December Day.
Budapest Tram, Bus, and Metro
We double-checked, and now it was obvious we had walked straight ahead where we should have turned left. There was a tram, so we jumped on it, rode back to the station again, and turned left.
As we were walking, we were passed by six or more M3 buses. We should have taken one of those.
We bought a book of 10 tickets. We tried buying tickets from the machines, but they didn’t seem to work, and it turned out they were only for buses. We finally found the Metro station and took the metro to Deák Ferenc Tér.
Using maps.me, we got turned around but checked right away and made proper adjustments. We found the signs and followed them to the check-in. A sigh of relief, and we were finally at our destination.
Our central Budapest Neighborhood. Anker Köz Street near our apartment.
Senator Apartments
The front desk for the Senator Apartments was in a complex, around a corner, well hidden. There were four apartment towers, and we were in A204 at the end of the passageway.
We had a superior studio, a spacious unit with a bed behind a floating wall. We made a significant dent in our AirMiles account and splurged to have a nice place for five nights.
The apartment was well-appointed and had a kitchen and bathroom with a tub. There was a burger bar just below us, but there was a 25-minute wait, so we ended up at a small convenience store and picked up some noodles and bread with cheese.
We came home for dinner and then a soak. :) Then we went straight to bed, as we were pretty tired after a long “three countries in one day.”
The first couple of days in Budapest were damp but memorable and we enjoyed walking the empty streets
Settling In
We woke up tired (read exhausted from the day before), and it was wet and raining. A quick look at the wet and grey courtyard made it easy to decide to spend the morning doing a bit of work online and getting groceries.
Di found a “Spar,” and we made our way to pick up groceries: roasted veggies, eggs, pork chops, jam, butter, juice, cold meat, and cheese.
We found a bank with an ATM, took out some cash, and headed home for sandwiches and a salad. The walking tour was at 2:30 p.m. We had a quick nap and headed out at 2.
We found a Costa Coffee and had flat whites to break a 10,000 Hungarian forint bill and have some funds for a tip for the tour guide. It was the first time we had used our rain pants after packing and unpacking them for the last two months.
An elderly woman climbs the stairs to St. Stephen’s Basilica. I did not paste in the Facebook and Instagram logos. They are actually there. A shame really on such a magnificent building.
Budapest Free Walking Tour
St. Stephen’s Basilica
There are two options for free walking tours: a general tour of Budapest or a communist tour. Our guide, Regi, was lots of fun and very knowledgeable.
The weather was still wet and damp, but she did her best to keep the mood cheerful. We opted for the general tour.
The start was at St. Stephen’s Basilica, and we learned a bit about the history of Hungary.
896 was the first record of tribes. The tower is 96 meters high, and there was a royal decree that no building should ever be higher than 96 meters. The parliament is also 96 meters high to signify that the church and state are equally important. One is not over the other.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Christmas Markets
6-3 and Puskás
We heard the story of 6-3, as they call it. The reference is to the famous 1953 football victory, in which Hungary beat England with the equally famous footballer Ferenc Puskás, who is buried at the Basilica.
A Budapest mural commemorating the Hungary 6-3 football victory over England in 1953
Elizabeth Square
Next stop: Elizabeth Square and the Budapest Eye. They stole the name and idea from London, but the Ferris wheel is smaller and less well-known, so there were no issues with London.
Sisi (Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie Wittelsbach), Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria, was fond of Budapest, or perhaps it was her Budapest lover. They named the square after her.
The square is home to many special events. The Christmas market was on, but our guide recommended the market by St. Stephen’s Basilica. The central market is also nearby, which was recommended if you are looking to buy souvenirs. We didn’t make it to the market.
The Budapest Eye
Beneath Elizabeth Square, there is a bar and aquarium. Regi, our guide, spoke about the Hungarian language and the alphabet with 44 letters. It takes a long time to learn it and it ranks among the three most difficult after mandarin.
She also claimed there are three ways to learn the language. One, go to school. Two, find a lover. Three, drink the local schnapps, have three or four and you will speak Hungarian fluently.
Next stop. Vörösmarty tér commemorates a Hungarian poet with a statue of him. Mihály Vörösmarty (1800-1855), was a romantic poet of the reform era.
The Christmas Market at Elizabeth Square, Budapest
Underground Metro
Budapest has Continental, Europe’s first underground line, built in the late 19th century and commonly known as Kisföldalatti in Hungary. The line connects the downtown with the Városliget City Park and has a station right in front of the Gerbeaud Coffee House.
Originally, they wanted a tram line, but this was an area where the rich lived, so objections were made. Someone had the great idea to build an underground railroad, which opened in 1896, on the 1000-year anniversary of the first tribes.
More about the underground in our next post, where we visit the Széchenyi Thermal Bath.
A couple arrives to the city at the Földalatti Metro Station
The Danube and Széchenyi Chain Bridge
We continued to the Danube promenade and looked across at Buda in the hills versus Pest, which is relatively flat. Do not pronounce it Pest, as that refers to the Black Plague. They pronounce it Pech. From the promenade, you can see the castle district, the castle, and Matthias Church.
The tour continued along the boardwalk to the Chain Bridge. The story of the chain bridge goes like this: The man who built it, William Tierney Clark, had been called to Vienna by his dying father but was unable to cross the river for three weeks because it was frozen solid.
There were no bridges at the time. He rushed to Vienna, but it was too late. He promised his mother he would build a bridge so others would not face the same conundrum. The bridge was destroyed in WW2 but was then reconstructed.
Jogging across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge
Sculptor János Marschalkó, who was commissioned to sculpt the lions on the gates, spent every day for 15 years at the Budapest Zoo, observing the lions' actions, as he wanted them to be perfect.
When completed, he said that if anyone could point out something that was not correct, he would jump off the bridge and commit suicide.
Rumor has it that a young child asked where the tongues were, and the artist had forgotten, so he jumped off the bridge. But the tale does not fit. The bridge was completed in 1849, and he died 20 years later. In addition, the tongues are visible from the platform but not from the ground.
One of the lion statues at the Széchenyi Chain Bridge
Views of Pest and The Hungarian Parliament Building
After crossing the bridge, we turned right and began the steady climb to the castle district. We stopped at a lookout across from the parliament buildings, where we could also see St. Stephen’s Basilica. The guide asked which one was higher.
Both are indeed 96 meters tall, as mentioned above. The cloud and mist made it all quite magical. We continued on to a lookout on the other side, which looked out to the rest of Buda.
The Hungarian Parliament Building
The Castle District
Near Matthias Church, we quickly stopped at the Prince Eugene of Savoy statue. Our guide told us about the horse statue legend and believes it is a global understanding. We also heard about this in Belgrade and have probably heard it before and forgotten it.
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
We did not venture closer to the castle, as it no longer functions as a castle. It is mostly used for museums now. We walked on towards the church and saw a few more legends.
Regarding the statue around the corner from the Matthias Church, you should touch the balls of the horse for good luck. This is a tradition among university students, but we were told police are cracking down on it.
Matthias Church, Budapest. A spectacle in the rain.
Matthias Church
Our guide has a favorite spot in Budapest, and it was our final stop on the walking tour: the Matthias church. It was beautifully lit up at night, and there were not that many people in the square compared to Saturday when we went back. More will come from the Castle District in our next post.
Budapest Noir. The stairs leading to and from the Castle District
We took the stairs on the right and went down the hill. As we approached the bridge, we decided to drop into a cozy-looking bar for a warm-up with beer and white glühwein.
The place had a wonderful atmosphere, and there were lots of photos on the walls. This was just what we needed, and it gave us new energy to complete our walk back to the apartment.
Navigating our way back from the Castle District
More From Budapest
We made our way home to dry out. The rain was actually refreshing and added a different twist to the tour. It was our third walking tour in three days, so in a sense, it made it different and very memorable.
Back in our warm studio apartment, we had some screen time and made a late dinner of boiled potatoes, salad, and pork chops. Delicious!
By now, we were wonderfully tired but exhilarated to have had a great first day in Budapest.
We have two more posts from Budapest.
Soaked but very happy after an adventurous first day in Budapest
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The photos in this post are made using a Fujifilm X-Pro2 camera with the XF 23mm f/1.4 R (links to my camera and lens reviews). Editing was done in Capture One Express. I used Fujifilm film simulations in some of the photos.
