From Budapest With Love.. x

Széchenyi Thermal Baths. Cost: 13 Euros. Opening Hours: 6am - 10pm

Lemon Bike Rentals. Cost: 11 Euros for 24 hour rental. Opening Hours: 9am-7pm

The Bastion (Neo-Gothic Masquerade). Cost: Free. Opening Hours: 9am - 11pm. Offers the best views in Budapest.

Central Market Hall (One of the largest market halls in Europe). Cost: Free. Opening Hours: 9am - 5pm

Dome of St. Stephens Basilica. Cost: Free.

My dream of travelling to Eastern Europe finally materialised this year! Budapest is a trip I have always wanted to do and I am so glad to have experienced it with some of my closest friends. Having been asked on several occasions as to which has been my favourite city in Europe, I can say without hesitation that Budapest makes my top 3 'all-time favourite cities' list. So here's a quick breakdown of how we did Budapest on a broke student budget.

TRANSPORT: We hired a car from Sixt Rentals and drove from Stuttgart (Germany) to Prague (2 nights), Budapest (2 nights), Slovakia (for dinner), Vienna (for one night) and made a quick stop over in Brno (Czech Republic) to top up on fuel. We did a total of 2100 kilometres and after splitting car rental, fuel and vignettes between 5 people it came up to a total of 150 Euros. 

LODGING: We stayed at the Adagio Hostel for two nights and paid 13 Euros a night. Location was central and really convenient.  

SIGHT SEEING: I would strongly recommend renting a bike or a scooter if you're travelling to Budapest! It's the cheapest, fastest and best way to get to know the city. Haren, Kres and I were tempted to rent scooters but decided to opt for bicycles from Lemon Bikes instead (Haren and I didn't want to take the safety risk as neither one of us had ever ridden a scooter before..that would've been disastrous to say the least). We paid about 3500 Hungarian Forints which worked out to about 11 Euros for a day rental. To rent a bike you need to remember to bring your Passport or ID Card & a credit card! Biking was probably the best decision we ever made as we managed to avoid crowded tourist routes and covered almost half the city in a day.

The Budapest thermal baths is also a must visit and was probably the highlight of my trip! You get access to 15 indoor and 3 outdoor pools for 13 Euros. SO. WORTH. IT. The Bastion also has the most breathtaking views of the city, however cycling up there can be quite a mission so if you have poor stamina consider taking a bus.. Budapest is a truly captivating city with so much backstreet charm I can't wait to visit again.

xxxx

Photography: Haren Dias & Li-Chi Pan

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