Weekend in Budapest

Hi!

This weekend (18th - 20th October) I went to spend 3 days in Budapest with some classmates.

We travelled by train and a return ticket cost us 59€. The journey lasted about 6 hours which wasn't too bad, at least it wasn't for me because I brought a book with me and took advantage of being able to relax a little bit and listen to music.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Budapest at around 9pm, was change our money in the train station that we arrived at because the currency used in Hungary is the "Hungarian Forint". Although Euros are also accepted, you get more for your money by changing into the local currency. What's more, if you have any leftover money, you can get it changed back (like we did). One Euro is about the equivalent of 234 Forints.

After, we went to eat at a fast food place next to the station and then caught a taxi to get to the hostel. The hostel was called "Rastel" (very cheap for 9€ a night). It was 2 tram stops away from the city centre - we had a room for the 6 of us with 2 restrooms. Once there, the super friendly receptionist gave us the wifi password and told us about some places to see the next day, places to go out at night and explained to us how to get around the city.

That night we went to have a few beers at a bar in the centre which had quite the party atmosphere, young people and music... although we didn't stay out late since we were tired from the journey and we wanted to make the most out of seeing the city the next day.

(The river and part of the city as seen from one of the bridges)

On the Saturday, we woke up early and went on a guided tour of the city although we did not do the whole thing because there was a lot of history being explained and it was hard to follow so after a while we decided to go our own way. We saw the outside of the cathedral, we crossed one of the bridges which divides the city into two parts: Buda and Pest, we visited the fortress and went to the souvenir shops, we went through he city centre and we ate in a restaurant there. Also, we went to see the hot baths that are found in a park which is a little more out of the city so we had to take the metro to get there. After, we bought some sandwiches to takeaway and we went to have dinner in the hostel so we could relax a little bit and then go out to party.

In the evening, we went to have some beers in a musical bar which was situated in a centre full of bars. Once there, we chatted a little, listened to music... but yet again we didn't stay too late because we were so tired from walking around all day.

(Inside a bar in Budapest)

The following morning, we paid for the hostel, although they still let us keep our things in the room so we could go out and see the city again and then come back to get them in the evening. After, we went to see the synagogue, first we saw the actual synagogue, then the museum and the garden which is dedicated in memorial to the Jewish holocaust during the Second World War. After, we went to buy souvenirs at some nearby kiosks, we ate kebabs and we took advantage of the afternoon by going up to the highest point in the city; a statue of liberty on top of a mountain from which you can see the whole city - there were some spectacular views.

(Photo of our group by the statue of liberty with the city in the background)

After that, we went to see the parliament building although we could only see it from the outside since it was under construction so we then went back to the hostel to collect our things.

In general, for us to get around the city we used all possible modes of transport: the metro, the trams and as for the buses, we never paid anything to use them since you can get on at any of the doors and there doesn't tend to be any ticket inspectors. However, there are ticket inspectors on the metro so we had to buy a one-way ticket (it cost 350 Florints which is approximately 1. 50€ for each journey).

After arriving at the train station and asking a load of people which train was ours, we were told that it was a train whose final destination was Zurich and that to get to Vienna we had to change trains. We got to the train and on arrival in Vienna, we were told that we had to catch another train that we couldn't actually get on. Anyway, we went to the train that they pointed out to us and they told us that normally the train goes through Salzburg but this time, there was a route change that they didn't know about so we had to ask in the first carriages. Finally, we were able to catch the train and arrive in Salzburg although the train said it was going to "Salzburg Sud" station which is not the same as central station, but I didn't mind because it was then a lot easier for me because because I could get off closer to my halls and then just walk back to mine.

Photographs:

Here are some photos of the places that we visited during our trip so you can get an idea of what it's like there!

Photo gallery