Budapest in the middle of July

So basically, this was one of those trips where we wanted to see a lot, eat a lot and walk absolutely everywhere — which sounds like a great plan until you realise you are doing it in the middle of July in Budapest. And MAN was it hot! We went when the temperatures were properly summery and there were moments when walking around the city felt like a workout of its own. A small hand fan became one of my most important travel accessories. Honestly, I don't know how people survived without one. :')

We spent a few days in Budapest and tried to organise the sightseeing quite logically, grouping places together so we wouldn't waste too much time going back and forth. We visited quite a lot of churches, castles, viewpoints and museums, but for me the biggest highlights were definitely the architecture, the views, the food and the Danube.

At the same time, Budapest wasn't completely perfect. There were quite a few things that I noticed during our stay that made me feel a little differently about the city.

One of them was the condition of some of the beautiful old buildings. Budapest has some absolutely stunning architecture and in certain streets it genuinely reminded me of Paris or Vienna. There were these huge, elegant historic buildings with incredibly detailed facades, decorative elements and beautiful old architecture that could have been absolutely breathtaking.

But unfortunately, quite a lot of them looked neglected and poorly maintained. You could see the paint and render literally crumbling off the facades, dirty walls and buildings that clearly hadn't been properly maintained or renovated in a long time. And honestly, that was a little sad to see because you could clearly see the potential.

It sometimes felt like the city had these incredible architectural treasures just sitting there, slowly deteriorating. If many of these buildings were properly restored and maintained, Budapest could look absolutely spectacular. The architecture is already there — it just needs to be taken care of.

Another thing was that we occasionally came across quite a lot of suspicious-looking people who seemed very poor, intoxicated or generally up to no good. It wasn't everywhere and most of the time we felt completely fine, but there were certain streets and situations where people were behaving unpredictably and it made us feel a little unsafe.

I don't want to make Budapest sound like a dangerous city, because that wasn't our overall experience at all. But there were definitely moments where we became more alert about our surroundings and kept a closer eye on our belongings.

New York Café

We started our first day with breakfast at the famous New York Café.

The interior was absolutely gorgeous and felt more like a palace than a café. Everything was very grand and decorative, with huge ceilings, chandeliers and all those dramatic details that make you feel like you accidentally walked into a completely different century.

I loved that Budapest has places like this where even going for breakfast can feel like sightseeing.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Next stop was St. Stephen's Basilica, which was another place where Budapest reminded me just how much beautiful architecture it has.

The inside was huge and impressive, and I especially liked standing in the square outside and looking at the building from different angles.

Budapest is really one of those cities where you can just walk around and constantly find another beautiful building. As an Estonian, I always find Central European architecture especially fascinating because it feels so different from what we are used to at home.

Vajdahunyad Castle

Vajdahunyad Castle was one of my favourites.

It honestly looked almost too fairytale-like to be sitting in the middle of a city. The architecture is a mixture of different historical styles, which makes the whole place look incredibly romantic and slightly unreal.

This was one of those places where I was happy just walking around without necessarily needing to do anything specific.

Gettó Gulyás

Obviously we needed Hungarian food.

We went to Gettó Gulyás for dinner and this was one of those meals that actually felt like part of the Budapest experience rather than just stopping somewhere because we were hungry.

Danube boat cruise

The Danube cruise was probably one of the best decisions we made.

We intentionally did it in the evening, because I wanted to see Budapest when the temperature had finally dropped a little and the city was covered with golden hour sunlight.

And WOW.

Seeing the Parliament and all the other beautiful buildings from the river, especially as the sun was going down, was absolutely gorgeous.

I think this was the moment when Budapest really came together for me. During the day you are running around trying to see everything, sweating and constantly checking where the next shade is. Then you get on a boat, sit down and suddenly you can just look at the city.

Definitely one of my favourite experiences.

Buda Castle

Day two was basically our Buda day, and this was probably the most physically demanding day of the whole trip.

We started around Buda Castle and spent quite a lot of time exploring the Castle Hill area.

The views over Budapest were amazing and I loved the contrast between the historic buildings on the hill and the huge city spreading out below.

Matthias Church

Matthias Church was another architectural highlight.

The colourful roof immediately caught my attention and the whole building looked so different from the churches I am used to seeing in Estonia.

The interior was also beautiful and much more colourful and decorative than I expected.

I think the churches in Budapest were one of the things I enjoyed most because they were all so different from one another.

Fisherman's Bastion

And then there was Fisherman's Bastion.

This is probably one of those places where the photos don't completely prepare you for how nice it is in real life.

The white stone architecture, towers and terraces make it look almost like something from a fairytale. And then you have that panoramic view over Budapest in the background.

It was definitely crowded, but I understand why.

Hungarian National Gallery

I also visited the Hungarian National Gallery, which was a nice break from the heat because, honestly, by this point any indoor place with air conditioning automatically became one of my favourite attractions.

The gallery is located in Buda Castle, so it also fit very logically into the Castle Hill day.

I liked that the day wasn't only about taking pretty pictures and looking at buildings — I also got to see some of the city's art and history.

Dobrumba

For dinner we went to Dobrumba.

After all the traditional Hungarian food, it was nice to have something a little different. The restaurant has more of a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired menu, so it gave us a break from all the goulash and heavier Hungarian dishes.

I really enjoyed the variety.

One thing I loved about Budapest overall was the food scene. There are so many different cuisines and restaurants that you can easily make the food itself part of the trip.

Royal Palace of Gödöllő

On our last day we went outside Budapest to the Royal Palace of Gödöllő.

This was a bit further away from the city, but I thought it was worth the trip.

The palace had a completely different atmosphere from the busy centre of Budapest. It felt more peaceful and spacious, and I enjoyed getting away from the city for a few hours.

The architecture and history made it a nice final sightseeing stop, especially after spending the previous days surrounded by people and traffic.

To sum it up

I really liked Budapest.

For me, the biggest surprise was probably the architecture. I knew Budapest was beautiful before going, but I didn't realise just how much there was to look at. The churches, castles, bridges, grand old buildings and the Danube all make the city feel very dramatic.

The Danube cruise was definitely one of my favourite experiences, Matthias Church and Vajdahunyad Castle were some of my favourite places to actually walk around.

The biggest downside was definitely the heat. Middle of July Budapest is HOT. If you're going during the summer, bring water, sunscreen, sunglasses and, most importantly, a hand fan. I am not joking. That little fan was working overtime.

I would also keep an eye on your surroundings in certain areas, especially at night, because occasionally we encountered people who gave us very bad vibes.

And while I absolutely loved the architecture, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed by how neglected some of those beautiful historic buildings were. Budapest has the kind of architecture that can genuinely compete with Paris or Vienna, but in some streets the crumbling paint and render took away from what could otherwise have been an incredibly beautiful cityscape.

But overall, I would absolutely go back.