Budapest, Hungary

Budapest- Definetly not worth the trek out there from Vienna. It is a long drive there and a very long drive to Prague. The city is very old, very dirty, and don’t expect anything if you liked Vienna. There is only two good (ok) parts of town. The castle hill district in Buda, and the area around the Yellow bath and Andrassy ut (street) in Pest. Although it was a very dreary city, I stayed in a communist era hotel room that was so gross my sister and I couldn’t even sleep underneath the sheets and blankets on the bed. However, I very much enjoyed the bathes. It is a mineral spring bath that is very warm, and there are pools etc. it is called Scechenyi Furdo and it is a roman style bathe. There are beautiful statues and you feel like a true Roman going to the bathes. Also visited museum of terror. Very interesting background history on the Nazi and Communist era terror tactics. A little unorganized, but thoughtful and memorial. In the Rick Steves Eastern Europe travel guide, it suggests going to the statue park on the outskirts of town. Definetly not worth it. There are only four or five statues and they are all in one view, not a romantic park at all. I would not visit Budapest again, unless it was a life or death situation. If you must, one day, and maybe one night since it is so far and out of the way from everywhere else. I give the city a 2 for the bathes. They need about 20-30 more years to really pull themselves out of the communist mood that surrounds most of Budapest.