Elegant Budapest has survived turbulent history beautifully
Most Americans choose Prague as their first foray into Eastern Europe, but the true powerhouse of the region is Budapest, capital of Hungary. Budapest can be challenging and complicated — but it’s a cosmopolitan place of unexpected elegance, fascinating and rewarding.
Sprawling across the banks of the Danube River, the city is really two towns in one. The west side is stately Buda, with its Castle Hill and remnants of Hungary’s glory days. On the flats across the river is Pest, with prickly spired buildings and the commercial town centre.
Although modern-day Budapest is fully European, there’s something exotic about the place. This area has absorbed wave after wave of migrating ethnic groups. First came the Magyars, who stampeded in from Central Asia about a thousand years ago to settle the region. They were followed by Turks, Germans, Slavs, Jews, and Roma, creating a cultural goulash that’s still simmering today. I swear I heard a dozen different languages the last time I visited.
Budapest boomed in the late 19th century, after the Habsburg rulers made it co-capital — with Vienna — of their vast Austro-Hungarian empire. Because of this heritage, Budapest feels more grandiose than you’d expect for the capital of a relatively small country.
That boom peaked with a flurry of construction in anticipation of a citywide party in 1896 — the 1,000th anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars. Not wanting to play second fiddle to Vienna, Budapest used the millennial celebration as an excuse to remake the capital with grand squares, heroic monuments, and even a subway (the Continent’s oldest).
Many of the city’s finest landmarks date from this era, including the neo- Gothic Hungarian Parliament, the opulent State Opera House, and the voluminous Central Market Hall. It’s worth touring these buildings to ogle their magnificent interiors.
By the end of the First World War, though, the Habsburgs and their golden-age elegance were gone. Very soon after Hitler came to power in Germany, Hungary ignobly allied itself with the Nazis. Their reward was to be “liberated” by the Soviets, who installed a communist government after the Second World War.
If communism was a religion during the postwar years, Budapest was sin city. While Soviet rule was harsh, Hungary managed to fashion a milder, yet still-acceptable-to-Moscow “goulash” communism. Allowing a little private enterprise, easier travel, and less censorship.
Today, that time feels like ancient history, and younger Hungarians have no living memory of communism. Nowadays 20-somethings shop in trendy one-of-a-kind boutiques and flock to nightclubs featuring everything from Romany rap to cool jazz.
Even with the tumultuous detours of the 20th century, Budapest has retained a keen knack for good living. The city’s once-vibrant café culture has made a strong comeback (the communists closed down the cafés, fearing a dissident breeding-ground). But now the old coffee shops are being restored, with red-velvet chairs and doodad-decorated columns dripping with Habsburgian nostalgia.
You can also relax with a splish-splash in one of the city’s famous thermal baths. Of two dozen or so traditional baths, Széchenyi is the most accessible and fun place to take the plunge. Magyars of all shapes and sizes squeeze themselves into tiny swimsuits and strut their stuff. You can paddle in the aristocratic outdoor pool, soak in indoor thermal baths, or steam in the sauna all day for less than $20.
The city boasts marvellous vistas as well. Ride the cute Buda funicular up to Castle Hill for panoramic views from the remaining castle ramparts. Or cap a day of sightseeing with an evening cruise on the blue Danube.