Hi! Heading to Budapest in April and have a few questions/would love feedback on my itinerary.
A few things: I’ll be in Budapest from mid-morning on Saturday-mid-morning on Tuesday… this makes things a little tricky since a lot of museums/cultural spots are closed Monday. I’m staying at the Matild Palace. Late 30s, traveling solo, have a young kid so excited to enjoy fancier things that are harder to do with a kid. Know my time is limited so my goal is to not do it all, but to visit a few things that interest me and then spend the rest of the time just soaking in the city by walking around, having good meals, sitting at cafes with a book (love pastries), etc. Want to visit as many baths as possible, and have some downtime to enjoy my hotel. Not super keen on crowds (who is!), but I want to try to hit busy spots in the morning because I know it’s easier for me to enjoy. After Budapest I’m going to a low-key spot in the Austrian Alps for a few days and then two nights in Vienna.
Questions:
If I land around 10:30 a.m. (will be coming from a layover in Amsterdam) around what time can I expect to be in the city (I will have a checked bag)?
Do people typically head back to their hotel after visiting the baths to drop wet things and freshen up? I’m having a little bit of a hard time envisioning how I fit the baths into the rest of the day. For instance, on Sunday, it seems like it would make sense to go to Széchenyi since I’m visiting other spots nearby, but I want to do the baths in the morning before they get crowded and don’t necessarily want to carry around wet things the rest of the day.
I’m having trouble finding time to fit in a stop to the House of Terror… is this a mistake? I do enjoy learning about history. Open to ideas of where I can squeeze it in.
Itinerary specific… feels like I’m trying to squeeze too much in and not sure if the order of operations makes sense or if there is a better way to structure things. Also, I would love feedback/suggestions on restaurants. Planning to walk a lot between places but enjoy public transit to open to recommendations on where it makes sense to save time using that versus walking.
Saturday: Head to the hotel, have lunch (open to suggestions, something good after a long travel day, ideally not long lines/wait time, was considering a reservation at Fat Mama), do the 3pm Opera tour, head back to the hotel to freshen up, maybe a cocktail before (any suggestions?) and do dinner at KonyvBar. Trying to decide if I will be too wiped to try Rudas bath night experience? Also is it a party scene?
Sunday:
Breakfast at the hotel, Gellert Bath when it opens at 9am, back to the hotel to drop wet stuff, (trying to decide if I squeeze in a visit to the Sunday market at Szimpla), grab lunch at Bors Gastro Bar, visit the House of Music Hungary (know this isn’t on a ton of “must see” lists, but I love music and architecture and it’s really interesting to me), maybe visit the outside of the Ethnography museum because it looks unique, afternoon tea at Parisi passage (maybe cut this but it looks so beautiful and I want a coffee house/tea experience that isn’t super crowded), back to the hotel to relax before dinner, dinner maybe at Hilda or Dorumba, after dinner tram up to Parliament, walk back along the river and see shoes on the Danube
Monday:
Breakfast at either hotel or just picking up pastries (open to other ideas), Széchenyi baths right after breakfast, back to the hotel to drop wet stuff, lunch at Mazel Tov, Dohany Synagogue tour, maybe swing by library if I have time, Tasting Table wine tasting from 3-5 (open to striking this and visiting a different wine spot, just like the idea of having someone explain the wines to me/give me some history), back to the hotel to rest/relax, later dinner (8ish)... thinking somewhere on Buda side (Stand25 or Deryne)... could also make sense todo the night Parliament walk this night?
Continued in comments b/c omg this is so long.