Budapest is the capital of Hungary. You would have never thought how many interesting sights are in our capital! It is often called „Pearl of the Danube”. The city is devided into two parts by the river Danube. The flat side is Pest, which is twice as large as Buda. Buda is hilly, where the Castle District area is located. The Castle District belongs to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Foundation. In this area you can find tiny little streets with cobblestones and pretty baroque houses mostly made in the 17th-18th century. Our history was very stormy, because of wars, occupations and independence fights. The castle building itself was built originally as a fortress in the 13th century, but later we rebuilt it as a beautiful palace. The biggest works were made in the time of Maria Theresia in the middle of the 18th century, but in World War II almost the whole building was destroyed. After the war it took 30 years until we restored it again, and nowadays you can find a modern museum complex inside of the palace.
The two highest buildings in the city are the Parliament and Saint Stephen’s Basilica.
The Parliament is the most expensive and most beautiful building which was ever built in Hungary. It is possible to visit the building inside in case someone has an interest. It is remarkable that the Parliament building looks similar to the London Parliament.
Saint Stephen’s Basilica is the largest catholic church in Budapest, which is decorated inside with fifty different kind of marble. The church became hundred years old in the year 2005 and was restored completely.
If you walk along the river Danube toward south, you can find the Covered Market, which is the most beloved food and gift market in the city.
In case you leave the downtown area and you would like to reach the largest park of Budapest, it is highly recommended to use the Millenium Underground, which was built in 1896 for the thousand anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest as the first underground on the continent and as second oldest in Europe after the London Underground.
The famous park on the Pest side is City Park, where you can find Heroes’ Squere, the Museum of Fine Arts, Zoo, Funfair, Vajdahunyad Castle, Szecheny Bath and Gundel restaurant. This park was always the most beloved leisure time area in Budapest, and here we still have many programs at weekends.
