How was the arriving
Driving by bus from Hamburg, my hometown, to Budapest was cheap, but taking extremely long. Including the transit in Berlin it was around 15 hours, which is just way too long. From Prague on, there was someone sitting next to us, snoring like a turban of an airplane carrier. It was hell, but as mentioned, it was only 45 Euros.
Arriving at five in the morning and freezing a lot, Budapest is definitely not a country to sunbathe in January! After arriving we were driving with the tramp in a few situations to arrive in a big park. It was just too cold, bright and open, to actually sleep for a few more hours. At least seeing the sunrise was nice. From this place we ended up walking over four kilometers in the city center on the Pest side.
Where staying
We sent many requests to people on couchsurfing, and also continued doing it on the bus. It was super frustrating, because nobody agreed to host and that felt not good. It is normal that people decline a message, but not as often. When I was visiting Budapest exactly a year before that, it was easier and I had two hosts during my four day stay!
After we waited for the clock to arrive at nine in the morning, nobody still accepted. We ended up booking an apartment, which was for me the first time in years that I’ve done it. It was a nice place, quite close to downtown and with two rooms. It was in a decent clean level and just a good place to start a trip. Maybe it happens for a reason, that nobody was accepting. We luckily don’t need to save money, just as more you spend, as less you can travel in general.
Before entering the apartment, it was necessary to find a place to kill some time and book the apartment, this was harder than it sounds. We both are no people, who you can find in a restaurant or cafe usually. Also it was important to have the internet, because we didn’t have sim cards for the trip!
What did we do at the first day
After resting for a while, it was time, to go shop and buy some things, to eat during the stay in the city. Having some pasta, pesto, fruits and tiramisu, which was recommended by a local in the supermarket, while walking around without a plan.
This day was actually a really relaxed day, with having nice food, watching some series and recovering from the long ride before.
Of course just staying inside the whole rest of the day was not an option, so we were just walking around the city, to get some ideas for it. It was crowded, but not too much, sadly cold though.
Second day
On the second day, it was time to do something, which I missed on the last visit. The thermal baths! We just went to the most famous one Click here to read all about it!
We arrived right in the morning at 9:00 for the opening. A bit earlier though, to take some drone pictures, which didn’t work because of the steam and fog, but after the stay it worked.
The thermal baths were really nice, we stayed for two and a half hours, because after it, the crowds of tourists were way too high. Still enough to enjoy!
On the way back to the apartment, we were exploring the nearby park, which was a lot of fun, many people enjoyed it as well. I really liked this labyrinth of metal sticks, where it was impossible to reach the middle, because there was not enough space. Also the buildings, which were possible to walk on were interesting, but we didn’t end up walking up them.
The thermal baths were actually not as time intensive as expected, so we basically explored after it again for a while. It was also the day at which we ate langos, a traditional food in Hungary. Usually it was only something which I ate in Hamburg during a festival, but in Budapest it just tasted so much better! We also bought some more food, because the food from the first day wouldn’t have been enough. Also the next day was Sunday, so we assumed that everything would have been closed, which was not the case.
Third day
The third day was a real walking day! We were walking over 10km through the whole city, maybe even close to 15km. We walked to the biggest island in Budapest, over to the Halaszbastya and moved further to the palace. Actually it wasn’t planned to walk so far, but one bridge was under maintenance, so it was not possible to cross. All of that didn’t matter, because it was not a bad thing to go for such a long walk. Exploring the city more, flying with the drone and enjoying the time together. All of that were things, which made this day for sure a good one.
Many people were doing the same thing, walking around the city and exploring. It was crazy for me to see the difference from one year back. In January 2022, there were way less people in Budapest. Even though this year more people visited Budapest, it was still not to that degree, that it would be annoying or something.
After being finally back home, it was time for some deep frozen pizzas, with pesto on top and watching some series. We finished watching the witcher, during the stay, which was quite nice.
My most favorite thing
My most famous thing was probably just going to finally go to the thermal baths, even though after two and a half hours, the masses of tourists arrived. It was just good for me, to finally complete my stay in Budapest. Generally speaking, walking around the city and just enjoying the time is of course something great. Budapest is made for it.
My least favorite thing
That was for sure not finding a place to stay at the beginning. It was just really annoying and stressing, because both of us were not believing that nobody wanted to accept our request, but it was exactly like that. Staying in the apartment wasn’t bad of course.
Flying to the next place
In the next personal blog post, the time in Abu Dhabi will be talked about. In these personal blog posts it will be more about the overall experience and not like in the articles, where things are explained.
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