Enjoying a sunrise at the Fisherman’s Bastion – Budapest & Eger, Part 4

This post is the continuation of a series documenting our travels to the Central European country of Hungary in the autumn of 2022. We had been in Budapest for 2 nights and were heading out to the small town of Eger on the third day ( We would be returning to Budapest for 2 more days ). Having lost half a day of sightseeings to flight delays on our way in we had gone on a sightseeing blitz & already been to the Hungarian Parliament ( A morning in & around the Hungarian Parliament – Budapest & Eger, Part 1 ), visited the largest church in Hungary the St Istvan’s Basilica ( Visiting the St Istvan’s Basilica – Budapest & Eger, Part 2 ) and seen the Heroes’ square and the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park ( Heroes’ Square, Vajdahunyad Castle & Pest by night – Budapest & Eger, Part 3 ) in one eventful day.

On the day we were heading to Eger I woke up early and peeked out of the curtains hoping that it was a relatively clear autumn morning. The only thing on my mind was going up to the Buda Castle hill and watch the sun rise over the city from the famous Fisherman’s Bastion. The clear view of the skies from our room brought a smile to my face as I quickly got ready, not wanting to waste a clear autumn morning. I left the better half sleeping peacefully in the hotel room and started on my way up the Castle hill.

The Buda side Park Plaza hotel (Art’otel at that time – renamed now) where we were staying was convenient to see the sunrise at the Fisherman’s Bastion since it was just a short hike away.

I might have taken twice as long as the Google maps suggested time as I stopped to turn and take photos of the peaceful residential area around the castle. The skies had a beautiful colour to them and I was already sure that I would have a great time at the top.

The peaceful residential area around the castle hill on the Buda side of Budapest

My only worry was that the Fisherman’s Bastion was a very popular location with the Instagram crowd and I didn’t want to jostle for position to take photos as that would take the fun right out of it. As the staircase up to the Fisherman’s Bastion came into view I realised that all my fears were unfounded – I seemed to be the only one there. I guess the Instagram crowd doesn’t like cold autumn morning hikes!

The empty stairs upto the Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest at Dawn

I reached up to the top and saw that the entire space was empty except for a handful of people. I took the opportunity to capture the beautiful Matthias Church in the soft light of dawn.

The Matthias Church looks even more beautiful in the soft light

The Fisherman’s Bastion is a part of the fortifications of Buda castle that have existed since the 1700s. The current look and restoration in the Neo Romanesque style with arched windows and round towers with spires was done from 1895 to 1905. As with most things in this part of Europe it was damaged in WW II and restored again in 1953. The upper gallery is a ticketed one and though there was no one guarding the turnstiles at dawn I decided to restrict myself to the lower corridor which is always open to the public. I walked the corridor and then took a spot on the tower that gave the best possible panoramic view across the Danube and the Pest part of Budapest.

The colourful skies and the beautiful view in front of me meant that the smile plastered on my face kept getting bigger. Autumn is not the time to catch a perfect sunrise as the skies are usually hazy and there can be a dense fog enveloping the city. That morning was hazy but not overly so, most importantly the light fog made the scene dreamy, the colourful skies were an added bonus.

The sun was still not clear of the low hanging clouds so I got the chance to photograph the views across the Danube with the soft morning light and colourful skies overhead. The well recognisable landmarks in Budapest looked even more pretty from that perfect perch up on castle hill.

The iconic Fisherman’s Bastion of Buda Castle with the Danube flowing below

The Pest side panorama from the Fisherman’s bastion with colourful skies above

The mild haze on that autumn morning made Budapest look dreamy

Silhouette of the St Istvan’s Basilica at dawn

Framing the Parliament building with one of the windows of the Fisherman’s Bastion

There seemed to still be a few minutes for the sun to peep out from beyond the haze so I moved around that square taking photos of the square with a statue of St Istvan / Stephen the first king of Hungary and the Matthias Church with the moon still high in the sky. Composing photos at such an iconic location is a pleasure as everywhere you turn the camera there is something worth taking a photo of.

Statue of St Stephen I and Matthias Church with the moon in the sky

Hazy low hanging fog with clear skies above

The instantly recognisable Fisherman’s Bastion tower at sunrise

The Neo Romanesque architecture at the Fisherman’s Bastion

St Stephen / Istvan on his steed looking all lonely early in the morning

The sun finally started to peek out from behind the clouds and the handful of people gathered there that morning enjoyed that beautiful sunrise over Budapest. I wished there was a coffee shop nearby as that would have been the perfect place to enjoy a hot coffee on that cold autumn morning. Sadly there was no cafe that was open that early in the morning and I continued to enjoy my photography without my dose of caffeine – because of the thrill of the view in front of me the coffee wasn’t missed that badly.

The sun starts to peek out from behind the clouds in Budapest

That appearance by the sun made the couple of photographers there including me go on a mad clicking frenzy trying to capture everything in sight with in that golden light. If you ever wondered what was so special about the golden hour that photographers are always yapping on about I hope my photos make you understand why we enjoy that light so much!

The Fisherman’s Bastion of Budapest in Golden hour

The beautiful Danube panorama from the Fisherman’s Bastion at golden hour

The Matthias Church looks transformed with the golden light

The difference light can make to a photograph – Matthias Church at Dawn

St Stephen I looks on as the golden light hits the Matthias Church

The iconic Budapest frame – in the perfect light!

Couldnt resist taking more photos of Budapest panorama

Soon it was time for me to leave as I had to return to the hotel where the better half was waiting for me. I hoped that we would get at least one more clear morning when we returned from Eger, so that I could drag the better half along to enjoy this must do activity in Budapest. I took some photos with my Motorola mobile to quickly show her what she had missed and make her want to do this early morning walk again with me.

Some photos with my Motorola mobile of that sunrise from Fisherman’s Bastion

Couldn’t resist a couple of selfies

I started on my walk down ecstatic that I had been lucky enough to be there on that chilly morning  and the effort to hike up had paid off.  I retraced my steps down to the hotel taking photos every few metres all the way down to the river.

The steps down from the Fisherman’s Bastion

The Golden light shines on the Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest

One last look back before I start my walk down!

No one in that residential area is up and about that early in the morning

The stairs through a residential neighbourhood down to the river

I returned to the hotel to find the better half ready and waiting for me to go down and have our usual heavy breakfast. Since we would be returning to the same hotel we left most of our luggage behind in the luggage storage of the hotel and just packed a day’s clothes in my camera bag to take to Eger. I have always enjoyed the smaller towns better than the bigger cities so as pretty as Budapest was, I was excited for Eger.

With a heavy breakfast in our tummy we said goodbye to Budapest for now. We took the metro to the Budapest Keleti train station and took the next train to Eger having bought tickets online in advance. Eger can also be reached by bus but we prefer the train where it’s available as its almost always more comfortable.

The train was as comfortable as any other train in Western Europe and a 2 hour comfortable journey later we were in Eger.

On the train to Eger from Budapest

The city centre in Eger was a 15 minute walk from the train station. Since we had minimal luggage we walked to our hotel Senator Haz right off the main square of Eger.

On our walk from the station to Eger Old town

From what we had seen on our walk to the hotel I was hopeful that I would enjoy Eger, whether it would live upto my expectations is topic for another post. Some other time , some other day.

Till then,

Bye.