budapest: part one

In the autumn I took my mum to Budapest for a few days (because I am a great daughter). It was such a good time to go as well since the weather in Finland was getting colder but it was still reasonably warm in Budapest! I had been telling my mum I'd take her on a holiday since my graduation (so, 2015), but she's a weirdo and despite wanting to go places she never does and has an excuse for not going to every place I'd suggest. But somehow as I found cheap tickets to Budapest and organised everything else, she finally said yes. And we both loved the city.

Although we spent the majority of our first full day at the Széchenyi thermal baths, we managed to see lots in the short time we were in Budapest (we stayed for three nights only). Széchenyi was definitely the highlight of the trip - even though I didn't take pictures inside other than with my film camera and my phone and will maybe post some pictures on Instagram if you'd like to take a look. Other things I knew I wanted to see beforehand were the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial (that I found very impressive and sad) and the Columbo statue (which is so random and fun). Another place that I really loved wandering around and that is perhaps not always on the top10 places to visit lists, was the Városliget/City Park, especially with its pretty castle and moat (in the first pictures here in this post). Even as I say we had time to see and do a lot, there's still all the other thermal baths (like Gellért) to visit and we didn't go on an obligatory Danube cruise (so maybe it isn't that obligatory, haha). So when my mum said she'd like to come back again, maybe bring the rest of the family along, I was definitely not against it!

I don't really have any good tips for travelling to and exploring Budapest as I'm not that organised of a traveller. I always only make a list of all the possible interesting places that would be nice to see and decide which ones feel good in the moment. That way there won't be must-see/visit places for me that I'll find out about later and feel gutted I've missed, but it also leaves a lot of room for exploration and stumbling across hidden gems. But I do still have a few more Budapest posts coming up, so keep your eyes peeled for those if you fancy seeing more!