Budapest Instead

We were stifled by our Airbnb in Budapest! Look out for J28 - Joy of Wine when looking for places. The host is so wonderful, and she leaves complimentary bottles of wine for you to enjoy during your stay. The place was quite central too.

So after relaxing, and browsing the "Recommendations Booklet" our host had left us, we headed out for dinner at a vegan restaurant. There was some rally march on our way to the restaurant. We had no idea what they were marching for but we joined in for the fun of it, and then ducked out of it when our restaurant popped up. The restaurant did all sorts of dishes but we wanted to try some traditional Hungarian dishes (vegan style).

After dinner we were keen to explore more of Budapest whilst there was still a bit of day light, and our friend Sofia called us to join us for our walk.

We found the most beautiful spot to sit and enjoy the sunset and drink in the view of Budapest - St Gerard Sagredo's Statue. Our time slipped away from us. I really don't know how long we sat up there. We felt incredibly grateful once again for this journey we were embarking on.

We couldn't have been more grateful for our Airbnb hosts recommendation booklet on what to do in Budapest. There is so much to see and do there, we actually got really overwhelmed. And... it can be expensive.

So we looked up Free Walking Tours and were lucky enough to join our guide Istvan Kollath (look up his free walking tour). This was a game changer, and I would highly recommend this tour for anyone in Budapest - not just the frugal travellers out there.

Istvan took us around to all of the classic major attractions in Budapest and showed us some "off the beaten track" areas too. It wasn't just the sights that amazed me though, the history and controversy that Istvan taught us along the way truly intrigued me.

Trust me in saying there is no better way to see a city and truly learn about its culture than from a local who is passionate about where they live. Just bring warm clothes because it gets pretty cold there.

Following the free walking tour we were chatting with an older English couple who found out we were going to London and insisted on taking us out for coffee and giving us all the tips on how to confront their home town in 10 days.

We headed back towards the river to take what Istvan suggested as "one of the top 10 scenic public transport routes in the world". Why? We thought it was free... This turned out to be our first public transport fine in Europe. It was like the guy knew we had done it too, because as soon as we jumped on the tram the inspector was onto us.

Having paid 100 Euros for the fine, we thought we may as well try and enjoy the tram, but being the wrong tram it just started heading further out of the city and no where near the river.

So we jumped off and... began walking in the exact direction we had just come from, back over the bridge and into 'Pesc' to see more of Budapests amazing sights.

Fisherman's Bastion is a must-see! We walked our way there, and met some amazing young Christian Missionaries. The view from up on the castle is breath-taking so have your camera's ready!

We took a couple buses back to District VI and headed home to make some home made pasta for dinner to pair with the complementary wine we got from our Airbnb host. Honestly, choose this Airbnb - it is unreal!