Pest... the busy and lively part of Budapest

Following my previous blog post (Budapest... Charming Buda) I spoke about the charm Buda has and how  quiet it is. During this post I shall take you on a tour of Pest, the other side of Budapest.  Pest is the place which is constantly ongoing.


What to visit in Pest?

• Parliament
• St' Stephens Basilica
• Heros Square
• Margaret Island
• Ruin pub
• Gozsdu Udva

On Chain Bridge

The Hungarian Parliament

Each time I go to Budapest, this is the place I always have to visit (at least from the outside). There isn't any word big enough to explain how beautiful this place is. Magnificent doesn't  even justify it. The building is  a Neo-Gothic architecture  with a hints of Renaissance too. It is found in the Lajos Kossuth Square and lying on the bank of the Danube river.  Until now the Parliament is the largest building in Hungary and the third largest in the Europe. To my knowledge to this date it is also the tallest  one.  The building is around a 100 years old. Construction works began back in 1885 and was fully completed in 1902.

The Parliament from the outside

When entering the building as expected you have to pass through a security check, no large bags are allowed and for obvious reasons no objects which might injure other people (like swiss knife) are allowed.  It is calculated that annually close to half a million people visit the parliament. For this reason there are long ques waiting to enter and to purchase tickets. After over an hour waiting in the que to purchase our tickets. TIP: I do highly suggest you purchase your tickets online in advanced.  When purchasing the tickets you will be asked for some identity cards. 

The tour is around an 45 - 50 minutes long and you can select from on of the seven different languages to follow the tour in. It is one of the best and worth tours I ever followed. During the tour you will see; the main entrance of the parliament, the grande hall, one of the lobbies and the Hungarian Crown Jewels. You are allowed to take photos, but some places like where the crown is held are restricted from taking photos. All the tour  is amazing however the best ones are the grand hall,  the first golden staircase where all the staircase including the ceiling is in gold, the assembly hall is another great piece of art, the holy crown central hall which is possibly  the most amazing hall and the best part of it all has to be the main hall of the parliament building.  Two grand staire cases, covered with red carpets,  the walls and ceilings covered in gold with chandeliers  going down from them....truly magnificent. Has anyone of you followers visited the Parliament from the inside? What are your toughts? Have you ever came across something this sort and if such beauty?

The main entrance

St' Stephens Basilica

One of the other places I love to visit is the square where Saint Stephen's Basilica is,  apart from the fact the the area is nice there is also a lot of good restaurants and activity in the area. To arrive to Saint Stephen's Basilica one must  stay on the blue line and stop at Arany János utca station. This Basilica is known to be the largest church in Budapest and was named after the first king St.Stephen. Since this Basilica lies so close to the Danube river there had to be made some big solid foundations beneath, due to this beneath the Basilica one can find a huge cellar almost as big as the Basilica. Inside the Basilica is decorated beautifully all in honour of King St Stephen.  You can also go inside the church at a small fee around 2Euro (600Huf), climb up the Basilicca and admire the view of all Budapest beneath you.

Around and close to the Basilica there are some really good restaurants, slighlt on the expensive side for Budapest but food was always great. Some of my recommendations would be 0.75 Bistro (Goulash is impressively good from here), the Hot stone  which is further up has also some great steaks.  Tom George which is an italian restaurant.

During Christmas season a huge market is set up and the square is  nicely decorated. Also every hour they do a projection over the Basilica which is synchronized with music, it is also very nice to watch. I would  definitely recommend people to visit this Basilica during this season.

If you continue walking straight in front of the Basilica  you can see the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel and also will end up  exactly near Chain Bridge, the easiest way to cross over to Buda side.

Heros Square 

Heros square, probably one of the most visited placed in Budapest. It is  also the largest square in Budapest. This square was built up in 1896 to mark the 1000th anniversary of Hungary. In Hungarian this square is known as Hősök tere.  There are another two important buildings next to the square, one of them is the museum of fine arts, the other is the Millenium monument found in the middle of the square. Getting to Hero's Square is  easy either by tram or by metro.

Margaret Island

Margaret Island is in between of Buda and Pest, it is a nice green gem and serves as a hideway from the hectic life in Pest.  This tiny island in Budapest is full of trees, plants and flowers, perfect for picnics. On the island there are two musical fountains which show their best effect specially during the evening, when the sun would have set.  There is a nice walkway which goes all round Margaret Island, it is also popular for joggers for a nice trip round the Danube, and joggers and walkers can also enjoy some lovely views. We found it slightly confusing to get to Margaret Island specially if you stop on the wrong side of the bridge it is extremely difficult to get to it.

On the beautiful Margaret Island

One of the best things in Budapest is the Budapest eye, this is only set up in the summer period and I do have to emphasis, it is something NOT TO BE MISSED. There is a small fee you need to pay in order to go up, but believe me it is possibly some of the best money spent. The eye takes you on this beautiful journey seeing all the best and top highlights of Budapest in one go. From it you can see; the parliament, St' Stephens Basilica, Buda Castle, St' Matthia's Church, The firshermans Bastionas and the Citadel. Basically all of Buda and Pest most iconic places to visit.  Definitely one not to be missed.

The Budapest Eye

Apart from these places one also has to make sure to visit some ruin pubs, one of the best known ruin pubs is Szimpla Kert. Another place to visit it Gozsdu Udva. This is a long street beneath apartments which is full of food outlets.  I will go through these places during my next blog together with Hungarian Cuisine. Stay tuned for more...:)

Gotta Love Budapest <3