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Budapest one day
WHAT YOU MUSTN’T MISS...
Budapest holds a front-ranking position among the most attractive cities of the world. It successfully combines a centuries-old architectural and cultural heritage with the latest features of modern life; cherished historical memorials are steadily regaining their original forms (in line with available resources). Anyone who has just one day to spend on sightseeing around the capital needs a well-planned programme. It would be a pity to miss the Buda Castle, Danube embankment and Andrássy Avenue, all World Heritage sites. The Castle district is packed with museums, for instance the Castle Museum, Museum of Military History and the Hungarian National Gallery. The view from the Royal Palace across the Danube is breathtaking. Despite being rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, Matthias Church has managed to preserve its interior layout first shaped 700 years ago. Once the church where royalty was crowned, today its excellent acoustics make it an ideal venue for organ concerts. Its collection of ecclesiastical vestments is famous, and there is also a replica of the Hungarian Holy Crown preserved in the treasury. The pale masonry of Fishermen’s Bastion serves as a fine backdrop to Matthias Church. Close by is the Hilton Hotel, awarded the Hotel of the Year prize at the time it was built. In summertime the Hilton café and terrace are popular places to relax. The most attractive parts of the Danube embankment can also be observed while on the move. Tram No. 2 travels the entire length of the embankment, and a return trip affords an excellent platform from where we can pick out the most important buildings: departing from Jászai Mari Square we soon arrive at Parliament, and then a little further down the view of Matthias Church, Fishermen’s Bastion and the Royal Palace unfolds across the river.The tram rattles past one bridge after another, including Chain Bridge, the oldest in Budapest. Leaving Elizabeth Bridge behind, Gellért Hill dominates the Buda scene, and then the marvelous old Gellért Hotel and Spa Bath hove into view at the foot of Liberty Bridge on the Buda side. The Citadel (formerly a fortress, today a museum), the most important lookout point in the city, sits atop Gellért Hill and offers an unrivalled panorama of World Heritage Budapest including the Buda Castle district and both sides of the Danube embankment. At the end of our tram ride stand the new National Theatre and Palace of Arts on the Pest side close to Lágymányos Bridge. On the return trip (on the right-hand side) we have the dignified University Corvinus Budapest, behind which is the remarkable Central Market Hall.
Further back into town we pass a series of top class hotels and the Vigadó, whose concert hall and lobby are as dramatic as the external view. The Gresham Palace, which has been transformed into a luxury hotel (Four Seasons), and the neo- Renaissance building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, stand on Roosevelt Square.
Andrássy Avenue is a key element in the Budapest city plan. An early underground railway (in fact the very first on the continent) still runs the length of the Avenue; stations on the line have preserved their original designs created 130 years ago, and small exhibitions at each station detail the most interesting buildings of the age. Our tour concludes at Heroes’ Square where it is worth devoting time to the world-famous collection of Spanish masters and other treasures in the Museum of Fine Arts, or the contemporary exhibitions staged in the Palace of Arts on the opposite side of the square.