Whilst my last post reflected on Budapest By Night, we didn't spend all our time waiting for darkness. In fact, we were up early every day to make the most of the 30 degree heat and our 3 full days in Budapest. So, what did we get up and what would I recommend?

Today was the day for getting our bearings. We'd arrived at 2am and whilst the city was illuminated it felt completely asleep. We stayed at the Grand Jules Boat Hotel on the Buda side of the city and had a good nights sleep in our cabin on the River Danube. We first headed further down Buda and over the Szechenyi Chain Bridge, one of the many iconic bridges in Budapest, and made our way leisurely over to Pest. I hadn't known they had once been two separate cities until reading up on Budapest before our holiday, but you could tell that they had once been quite easily. They had such different characteristics. 

A view of Buda Castle from the Szechenyi Chain Bridge

Once over the other side we headed to Erzsebet Square where we found the Budapest Eye. We waited a short while and then hopped into our own little compartment to enjoy the view, which was absolutely beautiful. There was some construction work being done on one side, so we switched sides half way to both have a good view of the slightly more pleasant side. 

From here, we headed to the market just beside the square which Jen pursued for near to an hour. A true sucker for tourist gifts, she brought most of her presents for her family and a few for herself. After her shopping spree we continued our rather aimless wondering around the city, heading to some tourist shops (which had very similar gifts to that of the market stalls). 

Walking on, we soon came across St Stephen's Basilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika), which is in honour of the first King of Hungary. It was an absolutely beautiful basilica from the outside but we decided not to go in, I'm not sure why and I regret it a little now. 

We moved on and found somewhere to stop for lunch, settling on an Italian restaurant called Perfetto, which had the coolest wall inside the restaurant. Jen is allergic to eggs and nuts so we do our best when abroad to find places that are most likely to be suitable. The waiters here didn't seem overly understanding of the severity of her allergies but we communicated it in the end and unfortunately, she only had chips available. I just had a spaghetti bolognese (which is one of my favourite meals anyway!), and it was a really delicious one! I was stuffed after and definitely walked around a little more sluggishly. 

From here, we tried to make our way to one of the famous cafes' within Budapest. The New York Cafe is the infamous one but we wanted to see one that was a little less well know, but still very beautiful, that being the Alexandra Cafe. I'm kicking myself now because, as we discovered when we couldn't find the place and instead only stumbled upon the Alexandra Bookstore, it had been closed for nearly a year under apparent construction, though some people on TripAdviser suspected it wouldn't be reopening and the company had gone bust. Lesson learned, make sure you research your destinations a little better before you go! 

We had a well earned rest at the cafe within the Alexandra Bookstore which was perfectly pleasant, and then got back on our feet to head to Margaret Island (Margitsziget). I personally hadn't heard of this gem but Jen had done her research and I'm so glad we didn't miss out on such a beautiful location in Budapest. The Island is set just off Margaret Bridge between Buda and Pest and is full to the brim with beautiful gardens, restaurants and a trail around the whole Island which you can walk, cycle or take a pedal buggy all the walk round! We personally opted for walking but I'm confident our feet didn't appreciate that decision. 

We strolled for nearly an hour taking all the sites in before returning to a restaurant called Hippie Island. The restaurant was open top and the air had become a little cooler, so after dinner we began strolling back to our hotel though whilst walking we noticed lights and music coming from a beautiful fountain we had passed earlier. Realising this must be the Musical Fountain Jen had heard about, we hurried over to find a spot to view the show, which turned out to be amazing. We were hypnotised by the perfect synchronisation of the lights, water and the music.

We decided to leave a little early whilst an unusual advertisement was being projected on a screen of water, heading back onto Margaret Bridge where we got our first proper view of Budapest by Night. The reflection of all the lights in the River Danube was so beautiful and the Hungarian Parliament looked breathtaking. We took in the views for as long as we could before heading back to our boat for a rest. 

Whilst we didn't fill our day with all the tourist attractions, we certainly absorbed ourselves in the city  and thoroughly enjoyed going wherever our feet would carry us. We of course didn't let the tourist attractions escape us though and our next two days were filled to the brim with the beautiful places of Budapest so make sure you come back for more! 

MissIsGoode