During our stay in Vienna, we decided to take a One Day Trip to Budapest, city, capital of Hungary. Located 3 hours away from Vienna, by train.
Once called the “Queen of the Danube,” Budapest has long been the focal point of the nation and a lively cultural centre. The city straddles the Danube (Hungarian: Duna) River in the magnificent natural setting where the hills of western Hungary meet the plains stretching to the east and south. It consists of two parts, Buda and Pest, which are situated on opposite sides of the river and connected by a series of bridges.
Budapest’s beauty is not all God given; humankind has played a role in shaping this pretty face too. Architecturally, the city is a treasure trove, with enough baroque, neoclassical, and art nouveau buildings that colourfully satisfying.
Meet Our Fellow Flytographer, Rocky
Rocky our fellow photographer in Budapest has been to Bali few times, and finally we had chance to visit his home country, and meet him there. He took us to his favourite coffeeshop, and tell us a lot of what spot worth to visit during our short One Day Trip to Budapest; he said The Fishermen’s Bastion & St. Stephen’s Basilica.
Fisherman’s Bastion
Fisherman’s Bastion is one of the best known monuments in Budapest, located in the Buda Castle, in the 1st district of Budapest. It is one of the most important tourist attractions due to the unique panorama of Budapest from the Neo-Romanesque lookout terraces.
Although the Fisherman’s Bastion looks like a medieval monument, it was actually built in the early 20th century in a neo-Gothic style, specifically to act as a panoramic viewing platform across the Danube, Margaret Island and Pest. It is named after the Guild of Fishermen, which was responsible for defending that stretch of the city walls during the Middle Ages. The seven towers of the Bastion represent the seven Magyar tribes that helped to settle the Magyar people in the Carpathian Basin. Come at sunset to see a particularly beautiful view of the city.
St. Stephen’s Basilica
This basilica is one of the most important religious buildings in Hungary, and visitors to the reliquary can see the (reported) right hand of Stephen, first King of Hungary. As this is a holy site, visitors who plan on entering the church are asked to keep their knees and shoulders covered.
Those with a head for heights can travel up to the base of the dome and look out over the city. On a clear day, this is a great vantage point from which to survey Budapest from the air. Classical music concerts and organ concerts regularly take place inside the Basilica, and sometime spill out into the square outside.
One Day Trip to Budapest is our last minutes decision during our stay in Austria. It’s not in our actual travel itinerary. But it’s become one of our favourite city that we have been visited in Europe. I will recommend you to stay longer in this city, and explore more out of it. There are plenty of beautiful things to see here which we unable to cope due to the short time frame.
