Our Trip To Budapest

After a few road trips around the UK, my boyfriend Will and I decided that we'd like to venture further afield and go on our first holiday abroad together. A few of our friends had visited Budapest, the Hungarian capital, and after some research we booked our flights and packed our bags. As we went for a weekend break, we tried to see as much of the city as possible as well as taking some time to relax and unwind. We had the most perfect time as it was one of those trips where nothing goes wrong - everything fell into place and went to plan, and we fell completely in love with Budapest.

Only taking hand luggage (one backpack each) was a shout and a half as we breezed through the airport and jumped straight into a taxi to take us to our accommodation when we arrived in Budapest. We used Uber for the rest of our trip which was much easier as there were no language barriers or trouble with having enough Forint on us, as well as working out cheaper. Our apartment was with Airbnb and having never used it before we weren't sure what to expect, but our place was gorgeously cosy and in a lovelier location than we could have ever hoped for. As we arrived quite late at night, Will went out to find a shop and grab some dinner whilst I pottered around unpacking - that evening we had pizza and watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!

The next morning we went to a little café at the end of our street for coffee and eggs before heading up the steps next to our apartment to see what was there. What we found left us completely speechless - Fisherman's Bastion! We didn't realise how close we were or just how beautiful it would be, and after exploring the Matthias Church we stopped for a latte overlooking the the Danube. I'd asked on Instagram for any recommendations and one lovely lady said that we must go to Zeller Bistro for dinner, so we did, and it was absolutely amazing! After a warm welcome from the owner and a glass of homemade elderflower wine we were taken to our table where we experienced top notch service (funny and friendly, our favourite!) and the most delicious food that we didn't stop talking about for days afterwards. We'd heard a lot about 'ruin bars' or 'ruin pubs' (give it a Google Image search) and after our meal we went to a few to get a feel for it all, which made for much more interesting drinks than your usual wine bar.

Will woke up early one morning to go to the thermal baths - I heard the word 'loincloth' and decided it wasn't for me! - whilst I rested for the day ahead, and we enjoyed some authentic goulash before making sure we'd well and truly explored the Buda Castle District and the surrounding areas. We crossed the Chain Bridge from the Buda side to the Pest side so that we could see The Hungarian Parliament Building and St Stephen's Basilica, as well as have a little mooch around and grab some pizza by the slice. Gotta be done!

After making a detour to Fisherman's Bastion on our way home to see the sunset we got ready to go out for the evening, first stop Escape Rooms! Neither Will or I had done one before and it was quite an experience - we decided to go for the 'Rabbit Hole' room which was Alice In Wonderland themed, and despite not being very savvy and needing quite a few clues we really enjoyed it and will definitely do more back in the UK. After solving clues and riddles we passed Mazel Tof which I remembered seeing in the book of recommendations our Airbnb host had kindly left for us in our apartment, so we went there for dinner and were so glad we did! The story of two brothers who founded it was really touching and there was live music by a wonderful woman and a guitarist playing just behind us, and enjoying the most tasty Mediterranean cuisine accompanied by proper margaritas with Norah Jones as a soundtrack was pretty magical. The waitress recommended we try Rumpus Tiki Bar for cocktails and we had the best time in there, the staff were so lovely (and made a mean Dark & Stormy) and the owner had the world's cutest Pomeranian - what's not to love!

Our time in Budapest was coming to an end so we made sure we saw anything that was still on our list (after having breakfast that consisted solely of pastries, of course!) and soaked up the remainder of our trip. We decided to visit The Invisible Exhibition which simulates being blind or partially sighted - you're led by a blind guide for an hour in total darkness through various different situations like crossing a busy road. It was definitely an unforgettable experience as we had an insight into a life we've never known, and you're taught how to help a blind person as well as read/write braille. After one final coffee and stroll around in the snow we went to the airport to fly home back to London, and that was where our adventure ended - for now!

Overall we'd wholeheartedly recommend visiting Budapest, there's something beautiful and special just around every corner and we had no end of things to do and see. It isn't too chilly if you wear the right clothing (this ASOS scarf served me very well indeed - read me!) and for the amazing time we had it was really affordable, we wished we could move into our Airbnb apartment and it was loveliest trip in the world with my favourite person.

If you have any recommendations for Budapest or other places in Europe please leave them in the comments below for anyone else wishing to visit, some of our best experiences we had were recommended by you guys and we were really appreciative for your knowledge and advice. I've definitely got the travelling bug again and hope to be doing a lot more Meg Says Travel posts this year and in the future!