A weekend in Budapest

Shockingly, it has been a while since we had a long weekend but with July comes the fête nationale - or Bastille day. This year it was on a Tuesday so I acted Parisian, took the jour de pont and made it a long weekend. As such, I went away for the four days - to Budapest. 

Before 1873 it was actually two cities, Buda and Pest divided by the Danube. Today it is one of the largest cities in the European Union though still uses the Forint as its currency. It is a stunningly beautiful place, easy to get around and boasts a large number of thermal spas. 

A few shots of Pest from Buda. . . .

And a shot of the two sides with the Danube snaking through them.

View from the Citadel

The first day I did a tour, to get a more informed view of the city. We started at Castle Hill and the Castle District. There are a number of museums, churches and traditional buildings.

700 year old Matthias Church

Matthias church 

Fisherman's Bastion 

Some of the oldest buildings in Buda

Former Royal Palace in the distance and Sandor Palace - now the official offices and residence of the President.

Heroes' Square and the Millennium Memorial - construction began in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the creation of the Hungarian state in 896. The square was completed in 1900. Andrassy Avenue, considered the Champs Elysee of Budapest, leads into the square.

Tomb of the unknown soldier

The first five kings of Hungary

Behind the square is Vjdahunyad castle also built in 1896. It has replicas of major castles found throughout the former Kingdom of Hungary - now most of them are in Austria and Romania. 

And finally for this post, St. Stephen's Basilica - completed in 1905 and named after the first king of Hungary.

This post is getting crazy long so I am going to split Budapest up into a few posts - luck you!