The Pest side of Budapest was a bit more modern then Buda, but still very old with fun-structured buildings. If you are crossing over the Chain Bridge, as previously mentioned in the posting below, then you will end up in Roosevelt tér, a large open grass area. You will have the river on one side of you and the 'city center' of Pest on the other. The river-walk along the bank is a really nice stroll, which you can take North to reach the Parliament building. The Parliament sits on the bank of the Danube River and can be easily spotted from across the river in Buda. The Parliament has a definite Gothic style architectural feel to it and the roughly 700 rooms inside sets it off as the second largest Parliament building in Europe. The construction of the building was completed in the early 1900s, yet has been kept in pristine condition and definitely worth a tour.
Just North of the Parliament you will find a medium to large sized island connected by another bridge. Covered in grass and trees, this is a perfect place to spend the day hanging out or to stay cool and out of the heat. On nice days we had been warned that it can get pretty crowded with picnics, activities and families wanting to do the very same.
Along the river bank just outside the Parliament you will notice a display of about 60 iron looking statues of shoes, known as the Moving Memorial. The memorial was created in 2005 and the abandoned shoes on the river bank symbolize the Jews who were shot execution style into the river by the fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944. This very simple yet moving memorial bears a small cast iron sign which reads below. It's only after reading this sign do most visitors have an idea about the meaning behind the memorial, as many stop and wonder or even try and put their own feet in the shoes.
But if you head back to Roosevelt tér, where the Chain Bridge drops you off, you can head straight going south of the Parliament and run into the main tourist street of Vaci Utca. Along this street, for many blocks, are a lot of touristy stands where you can buy any sort of gifts, scarves, jewelry, etc. They can be more overpriced in this section but at least you can try and bargain down or see what souvenirs to look for in another location. There are also many cafes and restaurants along the street, but I HIGHLY recommend waiting to get a square courtyard opening to find food.
If you start walking down Vaci from Roosevelt tér you will soon come to a small openning in the street and it will make into a square courtyard place. Here there is sometime similar to an outside, Hungarian farmers market. There was a stage with live Hungarian singing and dancing, fresh food stands with most menus all in Hungarian. There are some more souvenir stands here, but they seem to be more reasonably priced. If you do anything then visit this spot to take a breather in one of the wooden benches, grab some amazing Hungarian food and look around the beautiful city. You can get a full meal of meats, potatoes, chicken, vegetables, and a nice cold beer for only about 5 Euros; An amazing deal. We came back here the following days just to eat. Plus, they have fresh bread stands where they make a variety of 'dessert' breads in a cylinder looking shape. This is a must try! If you get lucky too you will be there at the right time to see a really good street show with about 5 guys performing a mix of different moves.
You can follow that street all the way down and eventually get to the front of the Great Market Hall again, and one of the bridges we originally used to cross into Buda. But along the way we ran into many 'Easter Holiday Eggs' that were getting painted due to the Holiday weekend. Here they woujld sometimes have another large egg that children could decorate...I being one of them marked my name in blue paint.
However, if you are back at the Roosevelt tér then you can basically walk the opposite direction of the river and begin walking into the 'city center.' Using Andrassy Utca as a main street, follow that up into the heart of Pest and you will basically come across a range of other site seeing activities right off that street.
One of the first places you will come across from there is Saint Stephen's Basilica. Built between 1851 and the early 1900s, the Basilica is Budapest's largest church. Being able to accommodate about 8,000 at a time, this massive church is nothing but breathtaking from the inside and out. The domes are basically noticeable in any part of the city, keeping company with the Parliament building as the tallest building of the capital. In addition, this Hungarian Notre Dame actually houses the mummified right hand of their first king, rightfully named Saint Stephen. His right hand has been preserved in the church dating back to the early 11th century and is on display for viewing.
Continuing on you will then come across the State Opera House. If you have the time, take a guided tour (the only way to view the inside) but make sure to look ahead of time at the time table, as there may only be a few tours during the day. There are various bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants in this area, including many more expensive stores and brands.
The most powerful museums you can see while in Budapest would be the House of Terror, a museum devoted to outlining and illustrating the decades of Nazi and Communist repression in Budapest. What makes the self guided tour much more eery is knowing the museum building itself is the former headquarters for the secret police of both the Nazi and Communist governments. This location of Andrassy 60 was witness to not one, but two extremely shameful and tragic periods in Hungary's 20th century history. In 1944 the building was home to the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, the Hungarian Nazis. Then from 1945 to 1956 the communist terror organization of AVO and AVH took residence.
Eventually the whole block of Andrassy was occupied and the cellars under the buildings were connected in order to form an underground labyrinth of prison cells, some of which you can actually go underneath the museum and walk into. Until recently Andrassy Boulevard 60 looked like any other house or building, but now transformed into a tribute to the victims. With live video clips, photographs and testimonials from both victims and victimizers, the house demonstrates the struggle and price of freedom. This dark and eery building outlines the final freedom and Independence so greatly deserved from the fight against two murderous regimes, which we learned so little about back in the US.
With multiple floors and documents transcribed in English at the entry of each room, devote a good amount of time to this place as it seems to fly by fast. Try to immerse yourself into this unfortunate and horrid time period as you experience tense and extremely strong emotions. It might be the cellar tour itself where hundreds of people were tortured and killed in the same spot you are standing, the lack of light and windows, the 100% historic truth and yet educational ignorance to these tragic events which make it one of the most remarkable spots.
Unfortunately I only snapped a few photographs as nothing you see inside can actually be captured on film. The room, filled with hundreds of final screams and tears of so many innocent victims, would only simply look like another cold concrete room on film.
After the House of Terror, if you keep continuing down the main street then you will eventually come to one of my favorite spots, Heroes Square. This monument is located at the very end of Andrassy Avenue and is surrounded by two very important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art (or Art Exhibition Museum) on the right.
The central site of the hero's square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other main figures of Hungarian history. The construction of the memorial began when the one thousandth anniversary was celebrated in 1896, but it was finished only in 1929 and the square got its name then.
At the front of the monument is a large stone surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The sign is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence." While some books make reference to this as a "tomb"of the unknown solider, it is not an actual burial place.
If you continue right behind the square, you come across City Park, which in combination with Heroes Square makes one of the famous World Heritage Sites. Here there is a big lake, generally music and an outside market as well. You can take a nice stroll through the park, have a picnic or even cross over the street and visit the Vajdahunyad Castle. As we were running out of time on our last day we took a short walk through the park, the castle and then headed onto our final destination...the Turkish Medicinal and Thermal Baths.
There are a few of these located throughout Budapest, although it is not uncommon to have some of them closed for remodelling or manteniance. I LOVED the Szechenyi bath which is located behind Heroes Square next to the City Park. With a variety of inside and outside pools with various temperatures and spa and saunas, you definitely leave the most relaxed you've ever been. The best part with this particular bath is that if you enter from the entrance facing the Circus (yes, circus) you can stay inside until 10 p.m. closing. There is no time limit to the baths, you just pay and can spend the whole day or night there. Keep your receipt after buying a ticket because if you leave within two or three hours (varies) of entering the bath, then you will receive a partial refund and money back. We entered the bath around 6 pm and stayed until about 9 pm, the limit when we became too pruney to handle any more. I would definitely add this on my to-do again list and possibly go in the early afternoon. But be aware that afterward you want to do nothing else the rest of the day/night but just relax.
On our way back to our hostel after the baths, Stephanie and I found dinner in this amazing restaurant where we found our traditional Goulash Soup, Hungarian cold cut platter plus local beers. We planned on just sharing and appetizer and having soup, but like good Hungarian meals they definitely spoiled us and our small dinner turned into a traditional feast! Cheers to Easter!
