We arrived in Budapest at 8:30am by overnight train from Prague. We’re here for three days, a stopover, before continuing to Croatia.
After a long train ride, we thought a taxi to our apartment would be best rather than trying to navigate the streets as we did in Prague. The problem: none of them wanted to drive us because our destination was either too close or they were too busy smoking and chatting to bother. After approaching a couple of cabs, one guy relented and offered a fixed price, however, we became suspicious, when other drivers began smiling at the amount he quoted – we thought the metro would be best – and declined. Two metro stops and a short walk later, we arrived at our apartment. This time we checked in right away. Our apartment was located on the Pest (pronounced Peszt) side in the Jewish Quarter.
We settled in, showered and found a great little breakfast spot right next door which happened to make scrumptious prosciutto and cream cheese toasted croissants—the kids loved them – and fantastic espressos (for us, not the kids). We became regulars for the three breakfasts we had in Budapest.
The second night we booked an evening cruise along the Danube. During the day, Budapest is such an incredible city filled with magnificent buildings right along the river and in the evening it becomes even more magical as those buildings are lit up. The best views are from the river. The kids had a great time, as well, excited to see and document (with their new selfie sticks) the first gorgeous building we passed. After the half hour mark, however, they were more excited to catch up on Minecraft and Pixel Gun 3D, while we enjoyed the views and live music.
Later that evening we started packing to leave early the next morning. Elliot kept us company, hand selecting music and drying our clothes with a hair dryer. We had a very productive night, while Chloe slept through the evening festivities.
That morning (after our breakfast croissants…sad to say goodbye) we planned to visit Szechenyi Thermal Bath. Our train to Zagreb, Croatia, wasn’t until 2:30pm, so we thought a spa would be a good way to spend our last few hours in Budapest. We rented a cabin (sounds big but it’s the size of a tiny closet) to have a private change room (one person at a time, as stated in their FAQ!) and, more importantly, store our baggage. We stayed for 2 hours, visiting several different indoors and outdoor pools, hot and cold whirlpools, and dry/wet saunas. The weather was sunny and warm enough to enjoy the outdoor lounge chairs. Our favourite was the steam room + cold plunge pool + dry sauna combo. Reminded us of our getaways to Ste. Anne’s and how amazing your body feels (just missing the eucalyptus smell) after a day at the spa.
After the baths we took the metro to the train station to catch the 6 hour train to Zagreb, Croatia.
