Hungary

Budapest, Hungary. The very gothic-looking Parliament building, sitting right on the Danube River. It looks ancient but is really "only" about 120 years old - young by European standards.

Buda Castle, the former royal palace of a long line of kings dating back to the 1200's. The palace sits high on Castle Hill and is a centerpiece of the Old City.

Budapest, Hungary. There are great views from Buda Castle of the Danube and the surrounding city. This side of the river used to be a city called "Buda". The far side was a city called "Pest". In 1873 they were merged into "Budapest". History lesson concluded!

Like most major (and minor) European cities, Budapest is crammed full of spectacular historic buildings and monuments. It's easy to get "history fatigue" after a while - you tend to just walk right past spectacular thousand-year-old scenery without hardly noticing.

Budapest, Hungary. One of many cafes up on the hill at the Royal Palace. At this one you can relax with lunch and a nice glass of Hungarian beer or wine, overlooking the beautiful Parliament building straight across the Danube River. You can easily spend a half-day up here exploring.

Budapest, Hungary. One of the best views of the city is from the top of the dome at St Stephen's Basilica. It's a little bit of work getting up here but well worth it for the unobstructed 360-degree views.

Budapest sits near an active fault zone and is surrounded by geothermal springs. So it's no surprise that they have many public baths to take advantage of all this hot water. This is the grandest of them all - Szechenyi Thermal Baths, located in the main City Park. It's good for a quick soak, or you can spend the whole day here if you like. This is the huge outdoor main pool and there are over a dozen indoor pools that range from freezing to scalding. Plus steam baths, saunas, etc etc.

Budapest, Hungary. This is a great tourist town- lots to do.

Above: There's no lack of lush, well-kept public parks here. Many come equipped with wine bars!

Right: No, not a terrible flood sweeping away a bus full of passengers, just an amphibious tourist bus cruising down the Danube. How they ever came up with the name "Blue Danube" is beyond me - it's dirty brown everywhere I've ever seen it.

Szentendre, Hungary. The artsy little town of Szentendre sits on the banks of the Danube River, an hour or so from Budapest by train. It's full of quaint shops, cafe's, art exhibits, crafts, etc etc. It makes a great day-trip, or for a real chillout spend the night here.

Not much has been said in any of these webpages about sleeping arrangements. So here's some advice on that topic : Especially when in Europe, and especially when traveling solo, hostels are a great option. You get to meet lots of new and interesting and like-minded people very quickly. Hostels are clean, and a safe place to leave your stuff because you get a secure locker to put your things in. And very cheap compared to a motel room, which you're probably not gonna be in much of the time anyway. Most hostels have common areas, bars, restaurants, and some can even have live music or disco's! The main drawback: snoring and/or late-partying roommates. It can be a lot like college, in other words..

Budapest, Hungary. This is the famous (in hostel circles anyway) Wombat hostel in Budapest. There are a few more Wombat's scattered around other parts of Europe as well. They're well-run, fun, and popular. And a great value.

Top Left : The common areas are a great place to meet and mingle, get a beer, get travel advice, etc etc.

Top right : Wombat's bar area. There's always something going on in most hostel bars. And they usually have the cheapest drinks around.

Bottom left : The community bulletin board at any hostel can be a great source of info on goings-on all over the city, no matter where you are.

Bottom right : My room at Wombat's, a fairly typical 4-bed (2 bunks) setup. And a private bath. Most are coed.