When we got to Budapest we were totally exhausted, so we had a rest on our mezzanine in our amazing hostel room. Lavender Circus was recommended to us by someone, and it definitely lived up to our expectations – everywhere you look, there’s something interesting to see, it’s quiet, calm and cosy, and the staff are amazing. I was very glad to be spending a few days here.

We headed out for dinner at nearby restaurant, Jelen, which was also recommended to us. It was pretty cheap, but really delicious (we may have headed back another evening for more yummy food).

After dinner, we went to Szimpla on Kazinczy utca, where you can find loads of other really cool ruin bars of Budapest. Szimpla was our absolute favourite though, and we headed back there pretty much every night – they had so much weird/cool stuff to look at, live music, shisha pipes, food, cocktails…

There was one busy day of seeing sights of Budapest – we walked to the pretty bridge with the lions on (stopping in to a vintage shop to try on some amazing shorts on the way) and up to Fisherman’s Bastion, which is beautiful, and has lovely views across the river.

We walked back along the river, across the green bridge, and back to the hostel for a rest. All the travelling and sightseeing was wearing us out. For dinner we went around the corner to Hummus Bar, and ate LOTS of falafel.

Breakfast the next day was at a cool little place called Bonnie, and we noticed a sign for a flea market around the corner, so we had a good browse at all the old tat, and looked through lots of old photographs, which I now wish we’d bought.

Then it was off to the thermal baths – there are a few to choose from, but we went with Széchenyi Furdo. We bought our tickets from the hostel, which meant we didn’t have to queue. We spent all afternoon trying all the different temperature pools, the whirlpools, and relaxing.

Unfortunately, I felt pretty ill in the evening and the next morning, so it was a bit of a slow start. We went out for quiche and cake, before going to House of Terror. It’s a truly harrowing place, and gave me a really odd feeling that will stay with me for some time, but it’s really worth going to learn about the fascist and communist regimes in 20th-century Hungary.

The next day, we were due to head to Croatia at about 6am, but we had a nightmare trying to find the right train station, the right platform and the right train. It ended up in me crying, and us having to head back to the hostel until the next train at 2:45. The train station was full of confused people trying to get the same train as us – I don’t know why they have to make it so hard.

Finally, we boarded our train and started the long journey to Croatia.

My highlights of Budapest

• our beautiful hostel
• Szimpla bar
• the thermal baths

What I’d do differently if I visited Budapest again

• take a picnic & lots of water to the baths
• make sure we know which train station to go to and which train to get

This trip was part of a 2 week adventure through Eastern Europe. We also visited Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Plitvice Lakes National Park, and the Croatian coast – click the links to read those blog posts 🙂