{Hungary} Buda Castle, Parliament and Fisherman’s Bastion – Stunning Sights in Budapest

Did you know that Budapest is made up of two cities – Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube River? After our recent visit to Budapest, we’d say Buda has more of the “old city”, “historical” vibe versus Pest which is livelier, more modern and full of shops/restaurants.

We visited both cities and for those of you who love to photograph beautiful sights on your trips, we’d recommend at the very least, photographing the Budapest Parliament, Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion (the Hero’s Square and the Szechenyi Thermal Spa are also highly recommended. We’ll share that in a separate post).

Buda Castle (aka Royal Palace)

Budapest has so much to offer and with the few days we had in Budapest, we didn’t have enough time to visit each and every attraction. So we opted to admire these places from afar. Buda Castle is one such location where we wished we’d had more time to actually go visit inside of the Castle. Maybe on our next trip?

Buda Castle – A stunning sight especially at night. We took this picture while standing on the chain bridge that connects Buda and Pest around midnight. It started to rain, otherwise, we’d have taken more photos!

Budapest Parliament

This building is hard to miss. Whether you’re walking along the Danube River, taking a Hop On Hop Off Bus or even cruising the Danube (Hop On Hop Off Bus tours in Budapest usually includes a Hop On Hop Off river cruise), you won’t miss the sight that is the Budapest Parliament.

It is supposedly one of the most luxurious buildings to house a parliament.

The best spot to take a picture of the building in our opinion is by taking a river cruise and capturing the sight from the boat or taking the metro to Batthyany Ter (metro stop) and taking the photo from across the river.

One of our regrets on this trip is not actually visiting the inside of this building. It is supposedly so stunning that it rivals the Buckingham Palace (with red carpets and lavish architectural details). It would make for beautiful HDR shots in our opinion! Visiting the inside of the parliament building is number one on our list the next time we are back in Budapest!

Budapest Parliament – Shot taken from the boat we were in while cruising the Danube River (smaller resolution here because this is taken on my Windows Phone Lumia)

Another shot from the boat (taken using my Windows Phone Lumia)

Batthyany Ter – station on the Buda Side of the M2 Budapest Metro line which is situated directly across from the parliament building (on the Pest side).

Family photo from across the river at the Batthyany Square (take the M2 metro line and stop at Batthyany Ter).

In addition to taking the metro to Batthyany Ter, you can also take a Hop On Hop Off river cruise that stops at St. Anne. Liam enjoying his river cruise on our Hop On Hop Off boat ride.

Fisherman’s Bastion

Last but not least, the Fisherman’s Bastion is a must visit when you’re in Budapest. Its fairytale like architecture makes it another stunning sight to visit and photograph!

This is the one of the few places that we actually spent more time visiting given our tight schedules and limited number of days in Budapest.

It is located on Castle Hill (also where the Royal Palace is situated) and can be seen hanging over the side of the Castle Hill beneath the Matyas Church. It is named after the medieval fishmarket whose Guild of Fishermen defended this section of the wall during past wars.

There are plenty of buses that can take you up to Castle Hill and equally important, to take you back down. We took bus #16 (last bus from the Hill is at 5:30pm) that stops at the Deak Ference Ter (transfer station for the metro lines) on the Pest side (and it was free!).

Fisherman’s Bastion – shot taken around midnight.

Fisherman’s Bastion lookout

At the Fisherman’s Bastion, you get a beautiful view of Pest across the river.

We just couldn’t get enough of the magnificent sight of the parliament building.

Reflection of the Fisherman’s Bastion towers.

The mounted statue here is of King Stephan (the first king of Hungary). He was declared a saint for his efforts in bringing Christianity to Hungary. He carries the apostolic cross with two crossbars, granted to him by the Pope.

Budapest has just become one of our favorite cities in the world to visit.

This is one place that we’d go back and visit again in a heartbeat (we usually like to visit new places instead of going back to the same places. Only very few places in the world are on our list of “will go back again and again” and Budapest is high on that list!).

Do you have a place where you’d visit over and over again? Is Budapest on that list?