Budapest: View from the Danube

Before I arrived to Hungary's capital, I had no idea that its name came from the two prominent districts on each side of the Danube River.  Along its western bank sits the district of Buda; on the other side: Pest.  Put the two together and you have Hungary's capital, a city of 1.7 million Magyarok, or Hungarians.

Coming on the heels of a fairly long mid-morning flight, I arrived to Budapest in the late afternoon with only a few hours of good daylight to tour around the city.  Having spotted a river tour advertisement in the shuttle between the airport and bus station, I figured it would probably be one of the better ways to see the city.

A couple hours later, I wasn't disappointed and would recommend the tour to anyone interested in seeing Hungary' capital.  Why?  Most of the downtown area straddles the river and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  For about fifteen euros and an hour, you get to see them all.

Highlights included the Castle Hill, Royal Palace, Matthias Church, Parliament, Hungarian National Gallery, Citadella and Margaret's Island.  Most of them follow below, so if you're not able to make it to Hungary anytime soon, you can still catch a glimpse of it here.

Our tour started with the multi-lingual Anya welcoming us in over five languages without a hitch.  Audio guides can be spotted on the back of our seats.  In the guide, two narrators played the roles of Buda and Pest districts as they pointed out the sites.

Cliffs from Gellert Hill line the western Buda side of the Danube.  Monuments of Saint Gellert, who was thrown to death of of the hill in 1046, are scattered amidst the trees. 

At the bottom of Gellert Hill, Saint Ivan's Cave (left of the small castle) leads to some of Buda's renowned thermal springs.

The Erzsebet Hid Bridge between Buda and Pest.

Corvinus University in Pest is consistently rated in the top 50 European universities for it's Masters in Management programs.

Sitting on the Pest side of the Danube, Hungary's Parliament Building was built in 1896 and is the largest building in Hungary.

Hungarian Parliament, the second largest in Europe (behind the United Kingdom).

Margaret's Island Bridge, linking the island to the mainland.  The island is over 3 km in diameter and houses multiple hotels, monuments and parks.  One of the parks hosted part of the Sziget Rock Festival that day.

The mouth of the Danube beyond the islands.

Saint Anne's Temple, Buda

The Royal Palace, since the 14th century.

Castle Hill and the Royal Palace near dusk.

Part of the Sziget Rock Festival downtown.  The closing act mostly shook us all night long with covers from ACDC.