Heroes’ Square, Vajdahunyad Castle & Pest by night – Budapest & Eger, Part 3

This post is a continuation of a series documenting our trip to the Hungarian cities of Budapest and Eger in the Autumn of 2022. We had visited the interiors of the Hungarian Parliament ( A morning in & around the Hungarian Parliament – Budapest & Eger, Part 1 ) and seen the largest church in Budapest, the St Istvan’s Basilica and also climbed up to the viewing gallery for a bird’s eye view ( Visiting the St Istvan’s Basilica – Budapest & Eger, Part 2 ).

After resting our legs for some time after the morning’s sightseeing we set of again in the early evening to see more of what the beautiful city of Budapest had to offer. We set out from out hotel on the Buda side and made it a point to stop and take photos of the Szilágyi Dezsö Square reformed church which was very close to our hotel right on the riverfront. This red brick church reminded us of the churches in Poland from our visit a few years ago. Sadly the interiors were closed during the duration of our visit and we had to satisfy ourselves with a selfie outside to remember this church by.

The Szilágyi Dezsö Square reformed church on the Buda side

A selfie outside the church as the interiors were closed when we visited

The next item on our agenda was the Hero’s Square and the City park. So we hopped on the metro on the Buda side, changed metros on the Pest side and soon we were at the Hösök ter or Heroes’ Square. This square like most of Budapest was commissioned to celebrate the 1000th birthday of the country in 1896 ( But ironically only completed in 1929 when the empire had lost most of it’s territory and lost the first WW). This monument rich square would look even better lit up. So we stopped only for a moment before walked on towards the City Park which was right behind it.

Heroes’ Square early in the evening

The city park in Budapest is different from parks in other cities. Again the Millennium celebrations of 1896 are to be thanked for that. The Vajdahunyad castle was built as a temporary exhibit in 1896 for the Millennial national exhibition, to be torn down after the fair as most temporary exhibits are. The locals loved the exhibit so much that they insisted it stay and so it was rebuilt in brick and stone and preserved for locals and tourists to enjoy more than a century on. We walked through the green part of the park with the autumn colours on full display till we reached the bridge to the Vajdahunyad Castle.

Autumn in full force at the City Park in Budapest

The bridge to Vajdahunyad castle has a Gothic styled gate at the entrance. One of the various different architectural styles on display here. This mishmash of architectural styles makes this place great for photography & there is no entrance fee to walk around the park. The park is very popular with locals and tourists alike so it never felt dangerous to walk around the park even after it started getting dark.

The Gothic Gate at the entrance of the Vajdahunyad castle

As soon as we entered the gate we came across the replica of a Romanesque styled chapel. We read later that it is a functioning church and apparently a very popular wedding spot on weekends and for good reason. The intricately carved doorway to the chapel made for great photos. There was also a statue of a Hungarian agriculture minister facing the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, housed in a beautifully reconstructed Baroque mansion.

The better half poses with Mr Ignac in front of the Agriculture Museum

The intricately carved doorway of the Romanesque styled chapel

Even in the poor light the chapel and the statue of Darranyi Ignac looks pretty

The doorway to the Romanesque styled chapel

We had no interest in visiting the Agriculture museum so we took a photo of the beautiful Baroque facade of the entrance of the museum and went to the statue which was a monument to Anonymous – but this strangely was a specific Anonymous who penned the 1st Hungarian history in the Middle Ages. It was an eerie looking statue worthy of a photograph which we took before moving on into the park.

The Baroque facade of the Museum of Hungarian Architecture

The eerie looking monument to Anonymous

We then came across a canal which was looking pretty with the Autumn colours all around and we stood on the bridge and enjoyed taking photos of the colours on display.

Autumn colours on full display at the City Park in Budapest

The last of the architectural styles on display was a Renaissance styled castle replica which mimics a castle in Transylvania. We reached the bridge towards the castle and were about to go over it and out of the castle when we saw a coffee house in the park which had heated plastic domes to sit and enjoy the coffee in. It was getting chilly now and we decided to take a coffee break before returning to Heroes’ Square.

The Renaissance castle replica part of Vajdahunyad Castle

Enjoying a coffee break at the City Park in Budapest

I mess up the photo as the better half poses with the castle in the background

The Renaissance castle replica

Refreshed by the caffeine we headed on towards the square when we saw the beautifully lit up House of Hungarian Music in the park. It houses regular concerts but we sadly didn’t have the time to attend any but we didn’t miss the opportunity to click photos of the building itself.

The House of Hungarian Music in City Park

To add to the Reagan statue we had seen in Liberty square there was a George Washington statue here. Budapest sure loves  US presidents!

A George Washington statue at Budapest City Park !

As it started to get dark we watched the castle start getting lit up and took a few photos from across the huge parking lot in front of the castle to capture the castle in its lit up glory.

Vajdahunyad Castle all lit up

By the time we walked to Heroes’ Square it was dark and the lights had taken full effect making for some dramatic photos. The square has a central column and 2 colonnades with statues of the  Hungarian Rulers from the glory days of the Empire. The Left colonnade has statues of the early rulers while the Right colonnade which originally had Habsburg kings in it now has statues of Hungarians who fought the Habsburgs. The Hungarians used the damage to the monument in WW II to replace the Habsburg statues with local leaders.

The Left colonnade with St Istvan (with cross) leading the line of rulers

The right colonnade with Hungarian rulers who fought the Habsburg empire

In the centre is the Hungarian War Memorial and the whole square has a symmetry to it which any photographer would enjoy. We walked around the square which had very few people on this cold autumn evening before taking the metro back.

The symmetry of Heroes’ square is a photographers delight

A selfie at the relatively empty Heroes’ Square

The fine arts museum near Heroes’ Square

We rode the metro back to near St Istvan’s Basilica as we wanted to see the Basilica all lit up and have dinner at one of the numerous restaurants around the square.

The metro station near St Istvan’s is done in a retro style

As we got near the Basilica we saw that it was beautifully lit up and we enjoyed walking around the square in front of the Basilica taking photos and building up even more appetite.

The back of the St Istvan’s Basilica at night

The bust St Istvan Ter and the lit up Basilica

The facade of St Istvan’s Basilica looks even more beautiful at night

Symmetry is always fun to photograph – St Istvan Ter at night

We walked around the square and selected the Akademis Italia Budapest to have dinner that night. Italian cuisine is a favourite of the better half because of the variety of vegetarian options available. She enjoyed a plate a delicious gnocchi in tomato sauce while I had Tagliatella with Meat sauce and a local beer to go with it. Everything was perfect and we enjoyed a great meal to go with the great day we had in Budapest.

Enjoying dinner at the Academia Italia Budapest

The better half with her bowl of Gnocchi

Tagliatella with Meat Sauce

Nothing like a tall glass of local beer even on a cold autumn evening

Back in front of the Basilica after a great dinner

We found a good looking gelato place on Zrinyi Utica leading from the Basilica to the river. We never say no to a gelato and bought ourselves a cone and enjoyed the gelato with a view back to the lit up Basilica.

Enjoying a gelato with a view

Zrinyi Utica at night

We then decided to walk towards the Parliament building and see that lit up at night which would cap off our Pest side walk at night. As expected the Parliament was lit up making the already spectacular building even more so! We walked around and saw the building we had seen in the morning in a different light (literally!).

The Hungarian Parliament lit up at night

Buda Castle and Matthias Church from across the river

We then walked took the metro back from the  Kossuth Lajos Metro station near the parliament back across the Danube to our Hotel on the Buda side.

The long escalators in Budapest Metro

We got a nice surprise on the Buda side outside Batthyany Ter metro where a clear autumn night meant that we  had some great views across to the lit up Parliament building with the moon peeking out from in between the clouds. It made for some great photos and we even got a fellow tourist to click a few photos of the both of us with this breathtaking view across the Danube.

  A night cruise boat passes in front of the Parliament building on the Danube

The Hungarian Parliament all lit up at night from the Buda side

The better half poses on the river embankment with the Parliament in the Background

Getting a few photos of ourselves at this beautiful spot

We then walked back to our hotel and went right to sleep as we had walked a lot in a day filled with sightseeing. We were scheduled to take a train to the small town of Eger the next morning. Before that I wanted to go and see the sunrise from the Buda Castle, but that would depend on if it was a clear morning.

Whether I would get my wish and see a sunrise from the castle is topic for another post, some other time, some other day.

Till then,
Bye.