Grant had visited Budapest on his Eurotrip over a decade before and it had always been on my list. (Cue, George Ezra). Budapest didn’t give us the immediate feels we had expected (I blame the area we stayed in), but by the last night we were in love with this city!
Fun fact: If driving from Vienna to Budapest, Bratislava is not the far out of the way. We used our lunch pit stop at Bratislava Flagship as an excuse to see a new country. Hello, Slovakia!
Budapest with Babies Day 1
We arrived to the city in the late afternoon and checked in our Airbnb. It was a decently nice and large apartment in a central location (and right above the metro), but the building itself was derelict. I would have preferred to stay in a cute hotel in a better area but we needed two bedrooms as I was hosting a virtual work conference in the US and needed to be on calls on an eight-hour time change while the boys were (hopefully) sleeping.
We quickly changed clothes and hit the town to meet up with Grant’s aunt who happened to be in town! She was leaving the next morning on a cruise and we wanted to meet for dinner. We decided on a random restaurant and had a nice time. On the late stroll back to our place we were yearning for a nightcap at one of the cute sidewalk bars but knew we needed to get the boys to sleep (hopefully) in our creepy-ish apartment.
Budapest with Babies Day 2
Dohany Utca Synagogue and Klauzal Square
We slept in and headed to the nearby Jewish Quarter. We checked out the Dohany Utca Synagogue and had brunch at Cirkus followed by a playground (with a zipline!) in Klauzal Square. My plan was to check out the cute Karavan street food market but we didn’t have an appetite since we had just had brunch… And all of this was part of our route to one of the ruin bars, Szimpla Kertmozi. But given it was mid day they weren’t yet open so we decided to do some sightseeing and circle back. Ah, travel always makes me be more flexible than planned.
Buda Castle, Matthias Church, and Fisherman’s Bastion
We headed up to Castle Hill to see Budapest’s finest buildings. Matthias Church is beautiful and full of rich history. I couldn’t get over how old everything was!
The view from Fisherman’s Bastion is amazing! Hobie enjoyed a nap in the carrier while Marin enjoyed riding the funicular down.
Szimpla Kertmozi Ruin Bar, Karavan Food Trucks, and the New York Cafe
Now we were actually hungry, so we stopped in Karavan to eat. We also stopped in for a drink in the super funky ruin bar, Szimpla Kertmozi.
Our food and drink tour (the best thing to do in cities!) continued with the classic New York Cafe. This place was amazing! This is what I had imagined when we visited the Viennese cafe. The building is absolutely stunning and the treats delicious. We had decadent cakes and coffee.
Budapest with Babies Day 3
Playground in Városliget
Our neighbor in Costa Rica frequents Budapest and had some great recommendations for kids. She said we must visit the playground in Városliget. This was hands down the best playground we’ve ever been to! There were ziplines, water tables, natural slides, and tons of play structures for babies and big kids. I was very impressed and the boys had a blast! The playground is nearby the thermal bath house which was perfect because that was our next stop.
Széchenyi Thermal Baths
You can’t go to Budapest without a trip to the bathhouse! The baths were refreshing on a hot summer day and the kids could do almost everything! There were some adults only tubs inside so Grant and I took turns checking them out. Three year old Marin’s favorite feature was the whirlpool!
St. Stephen’s Basilica and Gelato Rosa
We then walked to Distict V and I liked this area much better than where we were staying in Distict VII. We checked out St. Stephen’s Basilica (only outside because it was closed) and ate some dinner before I had to rush back for my conference call. The boys stayed and ate rose shaped gelato at Gelato Rosa.
Pontoon Bar and the Parilment Building
When I linked back up with the boys I found them on a stationary boat bar, Pontoon, listening to a live jazz band and watching the sunset. It was a fantastic spot! We watched the city light up and walked over to awe at the stunning Parliment building. Ah, this was the Budapest I was imagining. Day three was our best by far!
Central Great Market Hall
On our last morning we visited the Central Great Market Hall for an early lunch and to buy some local Hungarian paprika! This is when I discovered that paprika is in fact just red bell peppers! Who knew?!
We then bid farewell to Budapest and boarded our flight to Istanbul. Our Eastern European road trip had ended and now we were hungary for some turkey!
Babes in Budapest,
-Ray