Ahead of the official programme at Routes Europe, delegates that arrived early in the Hungarian city of Budapest were given the opportunity to view some of the sights of the ‘Pearl of the Danube’ where 2,000-year old Roman ruins and 400-year old Turkish monuments can be found side-by-side, in a tour organised by our event host, Budapest Airport and its partner Hungarian Tourism. Oliver Clark, editor, Routes News joined one of the tours around the famous historcal city divided into two parts – Buda and Pest - by the meandering Danube, and provided this report.
In 896AD the Magyars, a host of nomadic tribesmen and the ancestors of today’s Hungarians, first arrived in what is today Budapest and decided it seemed a good place to make their home. And travelling around the Hungarian capital on today’s Routes Europe city tour it is easy to see why. Boasting beautiful tree-lined Parisian style boulevards, such as Andrassy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, a thriving café culture and noble palaces harking back to its Imperial past, Budapest has a romanticism that attracts tourists from around the world.
Our tour guide Susanna, explains that the city of Budapest has gone through many transformations over the years. From a population of just 200,000 a hundred years ago, today the city is home to some 2 million people, with the majority Roman Catholics, but also with a sizeable Protestant and Jewish minority. In our journey around the city we see the variety of sites on offer to tourists from museums and art galleries, to circuses, zoos, opera houses and the nature lovers getaway of Margaret Island.
Today, the city is famous for the number of natural spas it offers, the oldest is a Turkish spa dating back to the 16th century, a time when Budapest was a part of the Ottoman Empire, but now in a poor state of repair. Originally two cities – Buda and Pest – that were separated by the mighty currents of the Danube, they were physically linked for the first time in 1840 by the Chain Bridge and were finally officially united as one in 1873. That being said the two are still very different, with Buda more grand and residential and Pest the life and soul of the city.
Hilly Buda falls on the western side of the Danube from where you can easily see the sights of the old cobbled Castle district which is on top of Castle Hill and ride the funicular railway to see the magnificent view of the city at the top, while flatter Pest is the country’s political, business and entertaining hub, livelier than its twin across the water and home to the bulk of the city’s restaurants, bars and cafes, alongside classy boutiques and striking 19th-century mansions.
Today the Chain Bridge, guarded by two lions on both sides of the river, is one of the iconic images of Budapest and we get a good view of it as we travel from Pest to Buda to visit Buda Castle. The journey to it is up a winding road but it is worth it as at the top Buda Castle dominates its surroundings and its Fishguard Bastion offers incredible views of the city below.
The vista includes the Hungarian parliament building, completed in 1905, and the third largest government building in the world. Also situated on the summit is St Matthias Church, built in medieval times and the place traditionally used by the Hungarian monarchs for their coronations.
Anthony Hadaway, sales manager for Orbitz Worldwide said: “It is my first time to Budapest and I think it is an enchanting place and I had no idea that St Matthias Church was used as a Mosque when it was under Turkish control, it’s like what happened to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, starting as a church and being transformed into a mosque. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Mantas Vrubliauskas, network development specialist at airBaltic said: “I really enjoyed the tour, I haven’t been to Budapest before and the St Matthias Church is amazing with its intricate, ceramic roof. I didn’t expect the city to be so nice, it’s so lively and full of people, more than many cities in Europe.”
As we return home to our hotels our tour guide explains that Budapest was recently voted the second most Romantic destination in a tourism survey. As such an idyllic spot, it is easy to understand why.
DON’T MISS THE CHANCE TO SEE THE CITY – additional two hour complimentary city tours are scheduled to take place at 09:00 on May 12, 2013 and 18:00 on May 14, 2013. Click here for more information or speak to Routes Europe officials in your event hotels.
Related Content
