Along the Danube

I don’t know about you, but I find that every now and again there’s a travel destination that suddenly everyone is talking about. Your colleague will be going there, and then your brother, and then people at a party you’re at will be talking about this amazing time they had there, and then you’ll pick up a magazine and find a four page spread on what a marvellous and magical place it is. Then you’ll get off the tube and find yourself faced with a huge poster of said place from the relevant tourism agency, and it starts to feel like a coordinated attack from someone, somewhere, to get you on a plane, post haste. It’s been like this for me with Budapest for the past year, so after what felt like the fiftieth recommendation, I finally booked a flight and an airbnb and made plans to go over half term. A friend wanted to join me, and we thought it would be fun if we could add a train journey into the mix - after realising that Vienna was a mere two hours’ away, we thought - why not? And soon found ourselves on a journey along the Danube to take in the two beautiful former capitals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

We flew into a sunny Budapest on a Sunday morning, and were whisked into the centre of the city by the impressively organised public bus service. After a delicious brunch and dumping our bags in our lovely 19th century apartment in the old Jewish quarter, we set off for an explore. We were immediately charmed by the gorgeous architecture; the streets are lined with beautiful nineteenth century apartment blocks, many of them with lovely art nouveau detailing. Narrower streets filled with quirky shops and hidden passageways criss-cross behind larger, stately avenues down which jolly yellow trams sail alongside the traffic, connecting the distant neighbourhoods of the Buda and Pest sides of the city, which are separated by the Danube. The main shopping streets by the river are an art nouveau masterpiece, and then as you walk through them, the Danube itself appears: a vast, glittering, shimmering mass of water that makes its stately way through the city and out to the countryside beyond. Along the water lies the magical fairy palace of the parliament building, as well as Buda Castle and a myriad of other beautiful buildings that were a delight to look at as we walked across the famous Chain bridge and took in the views. It is a remarkably old fashioned city scape, and one we found utterly charming. I had heard of Budapest’s beauty, but I couldn’t have been prepared for how truly gorgeous it is.

We had great fun over our three days in the city, exploring as much as we could on foot. We loved climbing up to Buda Castle and taking in the incredible views across the city, and visiting the Hungarian National Gallery, which is one of the best art galleries I’ve ever visited, with a comprehensive collection of nineteenth and twentieth century art that tells the story of this fascinating country. We spent a blissfully relaxing afternoon lolling about in the Szechenyi Baths complex, the largest of its kind in Europe, where we felt like we had truly stepped back in time (and the metro there from the centre is also like stepping back in time - tiny carriages and nineteenth century stations). We took the tram out to a suburban neighbourhood to visit the famous Esceri flea market, picking up some vintage treasure, and then hopped on to a bus even further out into the countryside, to go to the fascinating Momento Park, a repository of statues from the Soviet era. We also managed to fit in a night at the ballet - top price seats in Budapest’s opera house are about the third of the price of London, and we felt like royalty for the evening - as well as a gig on a boat, listening to an amazing Hungarian folk band, as well as plenty of delicious restaurants, buzzing ruined bars, and browsing around a multitude of fantastic vintage shops. We loved every minute and had our fill of delicious coffee, pastries and cakes, not to mention one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had at our neighbourhood restaurant. Budapest is a truly magical city, and one I know I’ll be back to visit again soon.

It was with slightly heavy hearts, therefore, that we boarded our train to Vienna. On arrival, as we wended through the streets to our apartment, we already felt ourselves missing the slower pace of Budapest, its fresh air, open views to the countryside, and the beautiful Danube. However, we were determined to take Vienna on its own merits, and soon set about exploring. Downtown Vienna - around the Ringstrasse - is all stately Haussmanian apartment blocks, enormous pillared official buildings and wide, tree-lined avenues, interspersed with parks and pockets of greenery. We were dazzled by the fancy shops with their beautiful nineteenth century fronts, the enormous Stephenskirche and the Hofburg Palace, sitting perched at the end of the main shopping streets. As dusk fell, we joined the queue for the Café Central, and enjoyed out first taste of Viennese life; nothing beats Austrian cake and coffee!

Over the next couple of days, we took in more beautiful architecture, visited the Klimts at the gorgeous Belvedere Palace, went to the Sissi exhibition at the Hofburg Palace (I must watch the new film, Corsage, about her), and then went to find out more about the Royals at Austria’s answer to Versailles, the stunning Schönbrunn Palace. We explored the canal and saw the art made by the locals along its walls, and stumbled across an 18th century porcelain factory and park next to our apartment, where we had some delicious cake in their fancy restaurant. We wandered around Leopoldstadt and took a stroll through the Prater, which was a place we both thought would be a fantastic setting for a horror movie. We visited the Austrian Parliament (largely because I needed to use their toilet), which was unexpectedly fascinating, and open to anyone (what a breath of fresh air!) and went to a concert at the Musikverein where the performers were dressed up in 18th century clothing. We ate so much cake that by the end of the week, I felt sick at the sight of it. We headed back to the airport surprised at how much we had enjoyed ourselves, loaded down with a suitcase of Manner waffles (how had we never come across these delights before?), and in agreement that these two glorious cities had won our hearts.