Exploring Budapest - The city of fascinating elegance

Spreading across the banks of the Danube, this is really two towns in one. Buda on one side with the Castle Hill and monuments that remind of the country's glory days, and the flat side of Pest which is economic center.

After a two-day visit back in September I fell in love with the city and decided to spend a week there during the holidays and explore it. It is only 5-hour drive from Belgrade so getting there was pretty easy.

One of the first things you notice is the fascinating architecture of the buildings, bridges and monuments with wide range of styles varying from ancient Roman to modern and contemporary. Some of the most well-known landmarks include impressive neo-gothic Parliament building, Chain bridge, St. Stephen's Basilica and Heroes' square.

And yes, there is a lot of tourists in Budapest, especially around holidays so taking photos can be quite challenging (Unless you enjoy shooting street photography; more on that in my next post).

First thing that greeted me after I hopped off the bus was this beautiful sunset

Once you are there, there are some spots like Chain Bridge and the Parliament building you have to see right away. I took my tripod with me, went down to the river and waited for the blue hour to take some long exposure shots.

Shoes on the Danube river bank - memorial near the Parliament building on the Pest side to honor the people who were killed by fascists during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes and shot at the edge of the river which carried their bodies away.

Buda Castle

Parliament building from up close

Few photos from the beautiful Margaret Island located in the middle of Danube and connected to both sides of the city through a Margaret bridge. It's mostly covered with parks, gardens and perfect for recreational activities with long rubber-coated running track so you could see a lot of people jogging even with such cold weather.

St. Stephen's basilica, another landmark that looks beautiful from every angle.

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Let's pause here and leave something for the next post. If this made you consider visiting Budapest, let me know. :)

All photos taken with Fuji x100f

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