On Saturday the 5th April 2025, we woke up and had breakfast in our hotel. Checked out and left our cases at the hotel as we had a 8pm flight. Time for one last look about Budapest.
We decided to walk back into the city as we wanted to visit the New York Café made famous by Instagram. Dubbed the most beautiful café in the world.
As we got there we had other ideas, the queue was stupidly long. To pay through the nose for an expensive coffee wasn't worth the wait. It did long amazing inside through the windows though.
New York Café is celebrated for its breath-taking architectural splendour, with an interior that boasts ornate ceilings, gilded stucco, grand chandeliers, and luxurious furnishings, all housed within the Italian Renaissance-style New York Palace built in the late 19th century, during the gilded age.
We wandered along through the shops and ended up back on Vaci Utca and stopped for a drink by the moon at Molnár's kürtőskalács.
We now walked back along the Danube.
We pass the Girl with Her Dog statue.
Life-size bronze sculpture of a girl playing ball with her dog by sculptor Raffay Dávid.
A bit further on was the Little Princess Statue.
The Little Princess statue, the original 50 cm small sculpture of the statue sitting on the railing of the Danube Promenade in Budapest, was created in 1972 by László Marton (1925–2008), a Munkácsy and Kossuth Prize-winning sculptor.
The artist was inspired by his eldest daughter (Évike) from his first marriage, who often played in a princess costume, with a newspaper crown made by her father on her head, in Tabán, and at home, imagining the bathrobe as a cloak. This image prompted her father, the artist, to create this small sculpture.
This is how László Marton, the creator, writes about it: “ Évike was born from my first marriage. At the age of 5, she played in a little princess costume on the Tabán playground. As soon as I saw this, I immediately had the theme. I designed it under the title Little Princess. It was placed in an elegant place, on the Danube Promenade. It became a symbol of Budapest .” (excerpt from László Marton ’s autobiographical book, Életutam .)
“ I modeled it after my own daughter,” says László Marton in his studio (2007), “she was probably six years old and playing in the garden. She was dressed as a princess: she had a bathrobe draped over her shoulders and a crown on her head. I managed to capture this moment and I immediately felt that it was a well-done creation. Years later, the capital asked me for a statue. I immediately thought of the Little Princess and fortunately we managed to find a place for her where the statue would feel comfortable .”
This statue was placed on the Danube Promenade in 1990, and a duplicate was placed in Tapolca , the artist's hometown. A copy of the same statue still stands in Japan – donated by the artist – in front of the concert hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space cultural centre.[ The original small sculpture (1972) is the property of the Hungarian National Gallery.
We walk on and visit Vörösmarty Tér and the market square again, and visit the shops here.
Here in the square is the Mihály Vörösmarty Statue.
At the centre of the square facing west is a statue by Eduard Telcs and Ede Kallós of poet Mihály Vörösmarty. Behind the monument is a fenced park and a fountain flanked by stone lions. At the north end of the square is the Café Gerbeaud and stairs to the southern terminus of the Budapest Metro's line M1. The square is also a business area, including offices for Ibusz and Aeroflot. The British Embassy is located at the square.
We walk on after the market to the Langos and Beers opposite St Stephen Basilica again for lunch.
We had another Goulash covered Langos and some beer.
We walk on and towards Parliament again. Here we reach Liberty Square.
In front of the Square is a Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation.
The Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation is a monument created in memory of the German invasion of Hungary, located in Budapest's Liberty Square. The memorial has sparked controversy and angered Jewish community organizations, with critics alleging that the monument absolves the Hungarian state and Hungarians of their collaboration with Nazi Germany and complicity in the Holocaust. Accordingly, many individuals and organizations leave improvised individual tributes to Holocaust victims along the edge of the site.
The memorial features a stone statue of the Archangel Gabriel, holding the globus cruciger of the Hungarian kings, the national symbol of Hungary and Hungarian sovereignty, and this later is about to be grabbed by an eagle with extended claws that resembles the German coat of arms, the eagle representing the Nazi invasion and occupation of Hungary in March, 1944. The date "1944" in on the eagle's ankle. The inscription at the base of the monument reads "In memory of the victims." The statue is the interpretation of the Millenium Monument of the Heroes Square in Budapest.
The Holocaust Educational Trust has described the memorial as an example of Holocaust distortion, stating that the memorial "fails to recognise that almost all Hungarian citizens murdered during the Holocaust were Jews" and that the memorial deflects responsibility for the Holocaust by suggesting that "all Hungarians were innocent victims of the Nazi Occupation" without acknowledging that "Hungarian citizens were complicit in the process of rounding up Jews and putting them into ghettos and onto trains to be transported to camps."
A film crew busy filming something here in the square.
The square is a mix of business and residential. The United States Embassy in Hungary and the historicist style headquarters of the Hungarian National Bank abut the west side of the square. Some buildings on the square are designed in the Art Nouveau style. Ignác Alpár designed two of the buildings. The square houses monuments to Ronald Reagan and Harry Hill Bandholtz and a monument to the Soviet liberation of Hungary in World War II from Nazi German occupation. In 2020, together with the United States Embassy, it built a large statue of US Pres. George H.W. Bush. Some of the monuments like the WWII liberation sculpture were designed by Károly Antal. The Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation portrays Hungary as an angel being attacked by Germany in the form of an eagle -- symbolism that obscures Hungary's willing participation in the Holocaust. A counter-monument that includes photos of Hungarians who were sent to Auschwitz was created in 2014 in front of the memorial.
Ronald Reagan Statue stands in Liberty Square, Budapest, to commemorate the former United States president and his efforts to end the Cold War and Russian control over Hungary.
We walk back to Parliament and the statue of Count Gyula Andrássy.
Gyula Andrássy (1823 – 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (1871–1879). Andrássy was a conservative; his foreign policies looked to expanding the Empire into Southeast Europe, preferably with British and German support, and without alienating Turkey. He saw Russia as the main adversary, because of its own expansionist policies toward Slavic and Orthodox areas. He distrusted Slavic nationalist movements as a threat to his multi-ethnic empire.
The bronze equestrian statue of Count Gyula Andrássy, has been erected on Kossuth tér in front of the building of Parliament in central Budapest.
The late Prime Minister’s 6.5-metre high statue was the final artefact to be added to achieve the reconstruction of the square’s original setting. The original statue, the work of renowned Hungarian sculptor György Zala, was installed on the square, handed over to the public in 1904. The recast equestrial statue, which can be seen at the southern side of Parliament, is the work of artists at Bencsik Alkotóközösség Művészeti.
We sit by the river and people watch. So many fake people doing their fake poses for Instagram. What can you really trust what you see and read online? Seems now days everything is fake, people even more so, fake lashes, tans hair, boobs...wait the last one maybe not so bad ha ha!!
We catch the metro back to the hotel and call for a Uber to take us to the airport. Then eventually our Ryanair flight takes off and I get an amazing last view of Budapest lit up from the Air!
On Thursday 3rd April 2025 Mel and I woke up at the hotel and had breakfast before waking back through City Park and back through Heroes Square.
Heroes' Square is one of the major squares in Budapest, Hungary, noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statues featuring the Seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes, often erroneously referred as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park (Városliget). It hosts the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art (Műcsarnok). The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history and has been a host to many political events, such as the reburial of Imre Nagy in 1989. Most sculptures were made by sculptor György Zala from Lendva, with one made by György Vastagh.
We walk on over to Széchenyi Thermal Bath where we had tickets booked.
We had a morning session booked and paid extra for cabins for private changing and being able our valuables in there.
The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath in Budapest is the largest medicinal bath in Europe Its water is supplied by two thermal springs, one at 74 °C (165 °F) and the other at 77 °C (171 °F).
Components of the thermal water include sulphate, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and a significant amount of metaboric acid and fluoride.
From 1865 to 1875, Vilmos Zsigmondi drilled a hole beneath the park that was 975.36 meters deep (3,200 feet). This would later become the source of thermal water that would supply the spa.
During the planning phase from the 1880s, the bath had originally been referred to as the Artesian spa (Artézi fürdő), but when it opened on June 16, 1913, it was officially named Széchenyi spa (Széchenyi gyógyfürdő) after István Széchenyi.
The bath, located in the City Park, was built in Neo-Baroque style to the design of Győző Czigler. Construction began on May 7, 1909 with designs by architect Eugene Schmitterer. The pool construction cost approximately 3.9 million Austro-Hungarian korona. The total area covered was 6,220 square metres (67,000 sq ft). More than 200,000 bathers visited the spa in 1913. This number increased to 890,507 by 1919. At that time the Bath consisted of private baths, separate steam-bath sections for men and women, and male and female "public baths". The complex was expanded in 1927 to its current size, with 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools. It is now possible for both sexes to visit the main swimming and thermal sections.
After the expansion, the thermal artesian well could not supply the larger volume of water needed, so a new well was drilled. The second thermal spring was found in 1938 at a depth of 1,256 metres (4,121 ft), with a temperature of 77 °C (171 °F). It supplies 6,000,000 litres (1,600,000 US gal) of hot water daily. Between 1999 and 2009 the Széchenyi thermal bath was refurbished in a complete renovation.
The baths have pools of varying temperature. The outdoor pools (swimming pool, adventure pool and thermal sitting pool) are 27 to 38 °C (81 to 100 °F). The swimming pool's depth is 0.8 to 1.7 metres (2 ft 7 in to 5 ft 7 in). The adventure pool's depth is 0.8 metres (2 ft 7 in). Guests can use the water streaming, whirlpool and massaging water beam. The indoor pools are of varying temperatures, between 18 and 38 °C (64 and 100 °F). The complex also includes saunas and steam.
Szechenyi Baths in Budapest is one of the best and largest spa baths in Europe with its 15 indoor baths and 3 grand outdoor pools, saunas, steam rooms and even a rooftop spa greenhouse.
The cold water swimming pool outside was closed due to spring maintenance until further notice.
It being sheeted off ruined the view somewhat.
Szechenyi Baths (built in 1913) is the most visited and much praised attraction in Budapest: relaxing, fun, affordable and, in the evenings, romantic. In addition to the marvellous medicinal natural hot spring waters in the 18 pools, there are over 6 saunas / steam cabins, several massage therapies, facial treatments, and more.
We tried the indoor pools, these are a bit cooler and had no Chlorine at all like outside. We had a layer of salt on our skin afterwards. Was quieter and more relaxing inside.
Szechenyi Bath is in the biggest green park of Budapest, in the beautiful City Park, close to a bunch of Budapest attractions. The Neo-baroque palace was specifically built for hosting Szechenyi Baths as Hungary has been the country of baths (and Budapest the City of Baths) for many centuries.
The history of thermal bathing starts with the Roman settlers who built the first spa baths (Aquincum was the Roman’s settlement in today’s ‘old Buda’ district. Then, through the 16th century, Turkish occupiers built many of the famous and revived Turkish baths in Budapest. The 19-21st century even grew further in popularity, promoting natural medical trends where aqua therapies and their beneficial effects attracted hundreds of thousands to thermal spas all over Hungary. The beautiful building of Szechenyi Bath is the design of Gyozo Czigler (Győző Czigler) who started to build Szechenyi Furdo in 1909. As an exciting contrast, these days the bath welcomes thousands of young people to a dazzling laser disco with throbbing vibrations to enjoy an ultimate bath party almost every Saturday night.
There are extras like massages etc you can pay for. The beer Spa was simply too expensive for my liking.
We leave the spa and walk back the way we came to the hotel.
We walk back through Vajdahunyad Castle.
This 1896 lakeside castle shows the evolution of Hungarian architecture in its elaborate design.
The Siege Tower, which recreates the Diáková fortress , it is worth visiting the castle history photo exhibition located in the 37-meter-high Gate Tower , which presents the history of Vajdahunyad Castle through archive footage.
From the Siege Corridor, it is also worth observing the architectural special features of the castle, such as the rose window made in the workshop of glass and mosaic artist Miksa Róth , an armoured knight from Matthias's black army , or a raven holding a ring in its beak.
Opposite is the Jaki Chapel.
The Church of Jak village is located in western Hungary, near the Austrian border, and is in fact a huge basilica, which cannot be seen in the Vajdahunyad Castle where only the fascinating gate was copied rather than the whole building.
The Church of Jak was in fact the monumental basilica of the Benedictine monastery, most probably finished in 1256. The church was picked as the best representation of the Romanesque architecture in Hungary (somehow it managed to survive the many battles against the Ottoman Turks, the fires and other damages). The church in Jak was considerably restored in the late 19th century by Frigyes Schulek, the designer of the Fisherman’s Bastion (which was inspired by the Romanesque style).
The exact replica of the Portal of the Church of Jak shows the characteristic church gates of the 11th and 12th century, already blending in with the Gothic style where the portal was the main location for adding sculpted figures and images of the Bible.
You can see the elaborate carved Portal with narrowing ‘gates’ embedded into each other. This is the main gate of the church decorated with geometric Norman style motifs. Over the portal, you can see Jesus on the throne sided by two angels.
The tympanum over the portal shows the life size figures of the 12 apostles with Jesus. 2 of the apostles did only get place on the facade, outside the tympanum.
Next to the Portal, you can see the Madonna, and Samson’s fight with the lion.
Back at the hotel we leave our wet swimsuits and towels and head back into the city centre.
We visit Gelato Rosa, I had seen this place on many YouTube videos and wanted to try this.
It is located opposite St Stephens Basilica.
As you can see they turn the ice cream into a work of art representing roses.
Gelato Rosa is an independent chain of artisanal gelato stores in the heart of Budapest. They are a taste of tradition, intimacy, and romance in the glorious Szent István Square. Their gelato is hand-made on the premises, from the finest organic ingredients, using traditional (artisanal) Italian gelato making techniques, and shaped by our skilled staff into their artistic rose shape.
We wander around trying to get to the riverside, but it is all closed off by police as the President of Israel was visiting. So we stumbled upon a market on Vörösmarty tér.
Now we wander along Vaci Utca, the main shopping District.
After shopping we make our way to the river again, passing the Budapest Inner-City Mother Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.
At the Pest side of the Elisabeth Bridge there is a church, part of the foundations of which rest on the remains of a Roman building, the Contra-Aquincum military fortress built here in the second century. The ruins of this fortress can still be seen today on March the 15th square. However, archaeological excavations carried out in the church between 2014 and 2016 also revealed that the former fort's camp commanders' room is located just below the Inner City Parish Church, which has been made accessible through a glass floor.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the stones of this Roman fortress were used to build the Romanesque church, the foundations of which can still be seen in the undercroft of the Inner City Parish Church. This undercroft was built at the same time as the archaeological research. Its museum displays objects, sheet music, missals an icon of the Madonna of Brno recovered during the excavations. But it is also the site of the so-called Holy Cross relic, which was donated to the Order of St. Paul by Pope Pius XI in 1934.
The church also houses relics of three Hungarian saints. In addition to the relics of King Saint Ladislau I and Saint Elizabeth of the House of Árpád, the main altar also houses the heel bone and vertebrae of Bishop Saint Gerard of Csanád whose body was buried here in 1046, according to the legends. One of the building's most important treasures is the 14th century fresco of the Madonna on the Throne, whic
We board a No 2 Tram to take us towards Margaret Island.
The tram line 2 runs along Pest’s Riverbank, providing great views over the Danube and Buda Hills. The route passes by the Chain Bridge, the Hungarian Parliament, the Central Market Hall and other landmarks on the eastern bank.
The tram runs from Közvágóhíd to Jászai Mari Square, which is the closest stop to Margaret Island.
We walk across Margaret Bridge to get to the Island.
Margaret Island is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long island, 500 m (550 yd) wide, (0.965 km2 (238 acres) in area) in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, Hungary. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recreational area. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its importance in the Middle Ages as a religious centre. The island spans the area between the Margaret Bridge (south) and the Árpád Bridge (north). Before the 14th century the island was called Insula leporum (Island of Rabbits). Administratively Margaret Island used to belong to the 13th district, but now is directly under the control of the city.
Its appearance today was developed through the connection of three separate islands, the Festő (Painter), the Fürdő (Bath) and the Nyulak (Rabbits), during the end of the 19th century, to control the flow of the Danube. Originally, the island was 102.5 metres above sea level, but now has been built up to 104.85 metres above sea level to control flooding.
The island was called Insula leporum before being named after Saint Margaret (1242–1270) in the 14th century. Margaret was the daughter of Béla IV of Hungary, and she lived in the Dominican convent on the island. Other names of the island were during 13th century: Nyulak's Island, Nagyboldogasszony-Island, Úr-island, Budai-Island, Dunai-Island, during the 1790s: Nádor-Island, Palatinus-Island. (The names mean Island of Rabbits, Island of Our Lady, Island of Nobles, Buda Island, Danube Island, Palatine Island.)
We walk by a zoo, with plenty to see from the outside, we didn't bother to enter.
The island is named after Margit, the beautiful daughter of the 13th-century king, Béla IV. According to the legend, King Béla IV promised to commit his daughter to a life of devotion in a nunnery if the Mongols were successfully driven from the land and the city survived. The Mongols were defeated and Margit joined the convent.
However, Margit grew up to be a beautiful young girl and many European royals expressed interest in marrying her. It is said that King Béla IV now saw her as a strategic advantage, an opportunity to strengthen Hungary’s alliances with other powerful royal families. Margit however refused to become engaged to a Polish duke, telling her parents that she would rather die than get married.
By age 18, Margit had taken the veil and become a nun, but King Béla IV planned to ask the Pope to annul her vows so she could marry King Ottokár II of Bohemia, who was another European royal smitten by her beauty. Again Margit refused and remained true to her vows.
Rejecting a life of royal luxury, Margit is said to have walked barefoot and insisted on being given the lowliest tasks in the convent. She spent her time scouring pots and pans, scrubbing rough stone floors, and cleaning latrines. During her time as a nun, many miracles were attributed to Margit, she is said to have had a knack for curing lepers among other miraculous healings. Canonized in 1943, St Margit commands something of a cult following in Hungary.
A red marble sepulchre cover surrounded by a wrought-iron grille marks her original resting place within the ruins. Her story still resonates with Hungarians today and her resting place is often covered with fresh flowers and it is not unusual to discover people in silent prayer at the location. A short distance southeast of the sepulchre there’s a much-visited brick shrine with votives thanking St Margit for various favours and cures.
There's also a viewpoint overlooking the ruins, it is worth climbing up onto the metal structure to get a view over the remains spread out below you.
Walking on we reach the Margaret Island Water Tower.
In the heyday of Art Nouveau, many outstanding works of architecture were created by the architect and designer Rezső Vilmos Ray, including the Water Tower on Margaret Island. It was completed in 1911 – the architect successfully achieved the dual function, so the structure could be operated both as a water tower and a lookout tower. In 1977 it was declared a monument of urban significance. Every year, the Water Tower on Margaret Island hosts special exhibitions and galleries and offers young artists the opportunity to present their artworks.
We catch a bus back from Margaret Island back to just over the bridge and walk up to the statue of Columbo here.
The Columbo statue is a life-sized bronze work on Falk Miksa Street in Budapest depicting Peter Falk in the role of the fictional police detective Columbo. At the Columbo statue's feet is a statue of Columbo's dog, Dog. The statues, by the sculptor Géza Dezső Fekete, were put up in 2014 as part of a state-sponsored urban renewal project. Though Peter Falk and the street's namesake, 19th century Hungarian politician Miksa Falk, were both Jewish, and the actor Peter Falk had ancestors from Hungary, there is no known family relationship between them. The actor's Hungarian heritage did not derive from the Falk family on his father's side, but through his maternal grandfather.
We catch the No 2 Tram back and get off at The Hungarian Parliament for a walk pass.
The Parliament Buildings are the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, a famous landmark of Hungary and a well-known tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube. It is the largest building in Hungary and also the tallest building in Budapest.
We catch the Metro back from here back to the Hotel for the night.
