The good, the bad, and the downright fascinating: Budapest at a glance, part I

We all know that no city, region or country in the world is perfect – a fact that seems to become more and more glaringly obvious as the world becomes a more difficult place to live for everyone.

Personally, I’m fast approaching the three-month-mark of living in Budapest, Hungary, and I feel like three months is a good point at which to stop and take a look at where I am and what I’ve learned.

Three months seems like the perfect meeting point between that shiny tint of newness and unfamiliarity that still permeates some of my experiences, and just a pinch of predictability that means my life now resembles something of a daily routine. I know my way to most of the places around me, I have a rough map of the city in my head (the Pest side at least, which is where I live and work), I know how to read bus routes and train schedules and I know (finally!) what to do if I need to go to the doctor.

Surprisingly, however, there’s still quite a few things in and around the city I haven’t done. I only recently visited Margitsziget (Margaret Island), the island in the middle of the Danube, for the first time. There are still many museums I haven’t visited, many foods I haven’t tried, and I’m yet to indulge in the famous and locally beloved herbal liquor, Unicum.

Three months has also given me enough time to recognise that Hungary, like all countries, isn’t perfect. After all the excitement of moving and being introduced to entirely new surroundings died down and I started taking the necessary steps to build a real, sustainable life here, I started to notice both little things and big things that many locals, who have spent their whole lives here, consider to be real obstacles.

In this post, I’ll be covering just a few of the many things that, I believe, make Budapest a spectacular place to live.

[A quick disclaimer that the title of this post includes the phrase “at a glance” because I really haven’t been here long enough to make any real judgements about the city. These are merely my brief observations, based on my own experiences so far…]

What Budapest gets right

1. Architecture

The stunning historical architecture and the pristine condition at which it has been maintained was immediately one of the first things I loved about this city. What struck me most, perhaps, was the incredibly ordinary purpose of some of the most stunning buildings. Structures so magnificent that I figured they could only be courthouses or prestigious universities, were in fact simply Starbucks cafés or pharmacies. All the buildings are beautiful, even the most seemingly mundane ones.

The multiple bridges crossing over the Danube and connecting Buda and Pest are all so intricately designed and completely different, yet so beautiful in their own unique ways. Structures have such tiny, meticulous details carved into their exteriors that I finally understood how architecture can be seen as an artform – it goes so much further than simply designing for functionality, and truly makes the city more beautiful.

The parliament building, in my opinion, is one of the most stunning examples of Budapest architecture (and my favourite building in the city).

2. Clean, safe & easy to explore

These may not be characteristics of a city that other Europeans notice, but coming from a third world country, these qualities stuck out to me immediately.

It’s no secret that crime rates in South Africa are pretty sky-high, and it’s far from clean in most parts of the country, too. So suddenly living in a city that was almost magically spotless at all hours was quite a stark difference that I really appreciated.

I’ve never been able to walk home by myself at night, or walk anywhere at any time of day for that matter, so that kind of freedom has been truly blissful. I sleep with my balcony doors open on warm nights without a second thought now.

The public transport also makes getting around the city incredibly easy, although reading the schedules and knowing which bus/train/tram to catch took me a while. For a very reasonable 23€, you can purchase a monthly pass that gives you access to all public transport, and buses and trams continue through the night, too.

Again – these things are expected by Europeans, but for a South African, they’re a complete luxury I now can’t imagine ever living without.

3. Beautiful outdoor spaces

I learned from my years in Johannesburg that, if a city doesn’t have a coastline, it’s automatically forced to be more creative when it comes to providing fun things for citizens and holidaymakers to do outdoors. In Budapest, they fulfilled this need by creating an abundance of beautiful, serene, clean, and well-maintained parks.

These are also considered a necessity because many, many people in Budapest own dogs. You’ll see dogs absolutely everywhere, and they’re given almost as many liberties as people – I’ve seen dogs in malls, in grocery stores, on public transport, in my office…anywhere you’re allowed to go, your dog is allowed to go, too. They generally need to be on leashes, and some forms of public transport require that they be muzzled. But in the parks, they can roam free and get the real exercise they need.

Margitsziget, the island previously mentioned in this post, is basically one giant park in the middle of the Danube. It also features a water park, an outdoor pool stadium for water sports, botanical gardens, restaurants, and bars.

4. Nightlife

Generally speaking, there’s loads to do in Budapest. Between wine tasting, boat tours along the river, museum visits, open mics and comedy nights, a night at the opera house, karaoke…you’ll never be bored unless you really want to be.

When it comes to nightlife specifically, however, you’ll be spoilt for choice. There are many clubs, pubs, bars, concerts and festivals that will keep you up all night, although admittedly, I’m more of the ‘in-bed-by-eleven’ type. Ruin bars are especially a must-see even for tourists, and you basically haven’t been to Budapest until you’ve had a shot of Palinka.

5. A microcosm of diverse culture

One of the most fascinating aspects of being in Budapest for any traveler is the many cultures, languages, and nationalities you’ll be exposed to. This is one way in which Budapest greatly differs from the rest of Hungary – although a fair percentage of those living here are Hungarian, many are not. Budapest is filled with expats that have come from all over the globe to experience European life for a lower cost of living than what they’d get in Western Europe and, as a result, you’re constantly meeting people from other parts of the world.

And when you’re not meeting other foreigners who live here, you’ll meet travelers who are visiting Budapest for a couple of days or weeks or maybe for a summer before returning home or moving on to the next place. I genuinely meet people every day who speak three, four, or five languages and who have travelled all over the continent and even the world.

…Like I said, that’s just a few of the things I love about living here so far. In my next post, ‘The good, the bad, and the downright fascinating: Budapest at a glance, part II’, I’ll be looking at the flip side of that coin.