Budapest & Bratislava · Destination is Infinity

Two cities on the Danube

"The only way to cure travel hangover is more travel!"

Meenu, May 2019

Meenu was still posting photos from Japan when we flew from Edinburgh to Bratislava on 2 May 2019. The line above is from her post there two days later. On the afternoon of the 5th we stopped at the Blue Church, painted pale blue from its walls to the top of its tower. By nightfall we were in Budapest, where Meenu had booked an Airbnb downtown for three nights. We spent our first two evenings around the Parliament, the river and the Basilica. On the 7th we were out soon after sunrise, then crossed to Castle Hill for the rest of the day. On the 8th we flew home through London.

BratislavaThe Blue Church · 2–5 MayFlight from Edinburgh
The ParliamentAnd the Danube · 5–7 May
St Stephen's Basilica6 May
Fisherman's BastionAnd Matthias Church · 7 May
Buda CastleAnd the Castle Garden Bazaar · 7 May
The Chain BridgeAfter dark · 7 May

The Parliament's façade lit gold at night, reflected in the wet stone of the square

A yellow tram blurring past the lit Parliament under a purple dusk sky

First evening: 5 May 2019, at dusk
Back again: 6 May at night · early on 7 May
Across the square: An arcade lined with busts

The Parliament

We reached the Parliament at dusk on our first evening. The square was wet, the building was lit gold under a purple sky, and a yellow tram slid past in front of it. Up close, the dome glowed against an orange sky.

Across the square, a long arcade lined with bronze busts was lit up yellow, and we stood in it for a photo. By the time we turned back, the whole façade was shining in the wet stone at our feet.

We came back the next night, and again early on the 7th. At that hour the square was empty and the building looked pale grey under the clouds. We sat on a low wall in front of it and had the view to ourselves.

Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion lit gold above the Buda riverfront, across the Danube at blue hour

A bronze rider on a carved stone plinth, with Fisherman's Bastion glowing across the river and beams of light in the mist

Bank: Pest, beside the Parliament
Evenings: 5 and 6 May 2019
Early morning: 7 May

Along the Danube

The river runs right past the Parliament. On the bank beside it, a bronze rider stands on a tall carved plinth. On our first night, Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church glowed behind him on the far side, and beams of light rose into the mist.

The next evening we walked along the bank at blue hour. Across the water, the church and the bastion were lit gold above the Buda rooftops. The Chain Bridge was strung with lights, and the castle glowed along the top of the hill.

We were out again before six on the 7th. Pink clouds sat over Buda, and on the steps by the river a bronze man sits with the Parliament behind him.

St Stephen's Basilica lit up at night, its two towers and dome reflected in the wet cobbles of the empty square

A bronze policeman in an old-fashioned helmet, seen from behind, looking up a lamplit street to the Basilica

Visited: 6 May 2019, late
Walk: A lamplit street from the river
On the way: A bronze policeman

St Stephen's Basilica

Late on our second night we left the river and walked up a long pedestrian street. Lamps lined both sides, and the dome of St Stephen's Basilica glowed at the far end.

Near the top, a bronze policeman in an old-fashioned helmet stands on the pavement. We photographed him from behind, looking up the street the same way we were.

We reached the square in front of the Basilica just before eleven, and it was nearly empty. The cobbles were wet and shining, and they held the lights of both towers and the dome.

Fisherman's Bastion's white turrets and terraces under big clouds, with Matthias Church's spire above and the Danube below

Meenu and Praddy smiling on Fisherman's Bastion, with the Danube and Pest behind them

Visited: 7 May 2019, late morning
View: The Parliament, across the river
Next door: Matthias Church

Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church

We were up on Castle Hill a little after eleven. Matthias Church's tower rose pale against a blue sky, and beside it Fisherman's Bastion spread out in white turrets and terraces, with the Danube far below.

From the walls, the whole of Pest lies across the river, with the Parliament straight opposite. We took turns posing at the parapet and stopped for a drink at a café table on the terrace, still facing the Parliament. In the stone arches we each sat for a photo, with the Parliament framed behind us.

Matthias Church's roof is patterned in coloured tiles, and a bronze horseman stands on a high stone base beside it.

The Chain Bridge seen from high on Castle Hill, crossing the Danube toward Pest and the Basilica's dome

The bronze Turul bird spreading its wings on a stone pedestal, against a blue sky with clouds

Visited: 7 May 2019, afternoon
View: The Chain Bridge from above
Lunch: A late one, on a terrace

Buda Castle

From the bastion we walked on to Buda Castle, under its green dome and a long row of flags. Guards stood at the doors of a white palace nearby.

We spent most of the afternoon at the walls. We peered through the round gaps in an iron railing at the Chain Bridge and at the little funicular car climbing the hill. We sat on the wall with the river behind us, and from one terrace we looked straight down on the Chain Bridge, with the Basilica's dome on the skyline.

In the palace grounds, the bronze Turul spreads its wings on a stone pedestal, and pink tulips stood around a fountain. We had a late lunch in the sun on a terrace, and a hooded crow posed for us on the wall above the river.

An ornate pavilion of the Castle Garden Bazaar, all arches and carved stone, under a blue sky

Meenu smiling among ivy-covered columns and clipped conical trees

Visited: 7 May 2019, evening
Where: At the foot of Castle Hill
View: The Danube and Elisabeth Bridge

The Castle Garden Bazaar

As the light turned gold we came down to the Castle Garden Bazaar, a long run of terraces, stairways and pavilions at the foot of the castle. One pavilion is all arches and carved stone.

The pergolas are covered in ivy, and clipped trees stand in rows along the walk. A lion's head looks out from a round plaque in a brick wall. Meenu found her spot among the ivy-covered columns.

Between the columns we could see the Danube and the Pest bank in the evening sun, and from higher up, the white Elisabeth Bridge downriver. When we left, the castle stood dark on the hill above us against a blue dusk sky.

A tower of the Chain Bridge lit gold at night, with Buda Castle glowing on the hill and the lights reflected in the river

Stone lions at the end of the Chain Bridge as night falls, with a car's headlights on the deck

Night: 7 May 2019
Crossed: On foot, as night fell
Last view: The Parliament, from the Buda side

The Chain Bridge by night

We stayed by the river until dark. From the Pest end of the Chain Bridge we watched its towers glow gold, with the castle lit along the hill behind and the lights stretching across the water.

Then we walked back across, between the stone lions. From the Buda side the Parliament shone across the river, and that's the view at the top of this page.

We finished at the tunnel under Castle Hill, lit orange at the end of the bridge. The next day we flew home.

From our bookings

Think about flying into Bratislava. In 2019 Ryanair flew direct from Edinburgh to Bratislava, so we started there and went on to Budapest three days later.
Compare apartments. Our first booking, a studio through Booking.com, was €260.54 for the same three nights, free to cancel until three days before arrival. The Airbnb downtown that Meenu booked instead came to €190.55, about €64 a night, and we cancelled the studio.
Some apartments want cash. That studio asked for the full price in cash at check-in, and ID from every guest. Its price included a 4% city tax.