Budapest Hungary: Getting Around, Budapest Castle, Central Market Hall, Museum of Terror

 Budapest originally consisted of two towns, Óbuda and Pest, that straddled the Danube River (they were unified in 1873.) It has a tumultuous history of occupation, most recently from the Nazis then the USSR, but has been out from under communism since 1989.

They use Hungarian Forint which is 347.5 to 1 dollar. 

There are a few train stations. We arrived from Prague at the Budapest Nyugati Pu station (the journey took about 7 hours), and are staying in an Air BNB near Keleti station for convenience. It’s walking distance and we have an early train to Vienna after our time here.

We downloaded an app called Budapest GO ( the icon looks like a purple target) at the suggestion of our Airbnb host. We had a bit of trouble using it but it is good for finding the best way to get from point A to point B. Metro tickets can also easily be purchased at the machines in the station and 1 ticket costs 350 forints (about $1.00 US)

Sometimes it’s just easier to take a taxi, and the best way to do that is by downloading an app called BOLT, which is Hungary’s version of Uber. 

Do NOT just get into any random taxi. They will rape you on the fare. Use the BOLT app and just know that the Bolt cars look very similar to regular taxis. Rides were pretty cheap for most places around town (under $10).  Obviously, your phone would need to be operational for this to work, so best to research the best place to get a SIM card. 

We took the Metro over to the Central Market Hall which was an enormous two story bustling market with street food and vendors selling everything from souvenirs to clothing.  

 

Budapest is huge and there is tons to do. 

Buda castle is probably the #1 must see. The complex is huge and we went to a decent museum inside to learn all about the castle’s history.

Then we went back over to the “Pest” side of town to visit the Museum of Terror, a building where the  police during the communist era tortured people. There was no photography allowed, and we were so struck by what we saw in there that we forgot to take a picture of the exterior of the building. It was a good museum (not as good as the Communism museum we saw in Prague though), and we would recommend it, but just be aware that the subject matter is pretty heavy.

On a lighter note, we tried a local food called Lángos, which was a fried dough with sour cream and cheese on top. Margarite tried it with some cherry juice. It was delicious!