Our March trip 2025 was to Budapest, another bucket list place for me personally. Initially I just booked me and Joanne but it was so cheap I decided to add Elly and Bonnie later! And just to be different I decided to pick somewhere a bit odd to stay while there. How about a boat on the Danube!? Fortuna boat hotel was very reasonable for a 4 bed family room with breakfast for a couple of nights. It stays moored but it was a lovely old fashioned boat with a cosy room and it was fairly well located on the Pest side, a short stroll from the main town and Margaret’s bridge and looking across to Margaret’s Island, upon which I scooted one morning. My first time to rent any kind of E-scooter. They go fairly fast!
Joanne had a bit of a lack of sleep induced panic attack on the plane. We were all in different seats, not together and she informed us when we disembarked that at one point she wanted to get out of the plane as it was flying! We got a fairly cramped bus from the airport then had a long enough walk to our boat. We settled in for a while then had something to eat in a local Italian and walked on over the Széchenyi Chain Bridge to our Night Vampire hunt at the base of the castle. It was very good value but went on forever in the freezing cold. Not their fault, we could have dressed warmer! Views from up at the castle over the city and Danube were spectacular though and Irish TV celeb Sharon Horgan and her daughters were on the tour too but didn’t last!
After an ok (just ok) breakfast on the boat, day two was all about Szechenyi Thermal Baths. We had to get a couple of underground trains to get there and back but it was worth it. We spent the whole day there. It’s some place. Piles of different shaped, sized and temperatured baths with changing rooms and cafe. The highlight had to be the “all you can drink” Beer Spa. We done our best!
We fill the 2-person wooden tubs with fresh medicinal water, into which we add beer ingredients. The malt, hops and beer salt create a special herbal bath. Our guests can enjoy unlimited Czech beer from the beer tap next to the tubs while bathing.
We were starving after the baths but I hadn’t really planned a place to eat and it was also lashing so we ducked into an all you could eat Chinese buffet place that was empty. One of the strangest meals of my life ensued! And not in a good way! It was like being in someone’s house..
On the final day I had my quick scoot to discover Margaret’s island after breakfast while the girls chilled then we headed into town to check out the vibes. I had intended to go see the famous New York cafe but there was a queue when we got there. We persevered though and spent an insane amount of money on a couple of coffees, 2 cokes and 2 cakes for the girls but it’s a place that has to be experienced! We also went to a cool record shop a bit later and had some more coffee and cake. The final evening we took a night time cruise up the Danube and got some free drinks as well as serenaded by a great Hungarian trio who pulled an Irish tune out of the bag just for us! Just before we got on the cruise we visited the Shoes on the Danube sculptures. If here’s a sadder, more evocative sculpture anywhere, I havn’t seen it. Emotional..
