Buda by night & a Night cruise down the Danube – Budapest & Eger, Part 6

This post is the continuation of a post documenting our travels to the Hungarian capital of Budapest and the Northern Hungarian town of Eger in the Autumn of 2022. We had just spent a spectacular day is the quiet but beautiful town of Eger ( A Day in the elegant town of Eger – Budapest & Eger, Part 5 ) and were now headed back to Budapest for a couple of nights there.

We took the train back from Eger and reached the Keleti train station in Budapest. We decided to change it up and take another Metro line which would drop us off in Buda ( Since we were again staying in the Park Plaza hotel where we had left most of our luggage). As an added bonus we would get to see another of Budapest’s bridges – The Liberty bridge.

The Liberty bridge or the Green bridge is another one of Budapest’s monuments built during the millennium celebrations in the early 20th century. Like all of Budapest’s bridges it was blown up by the retreating German army in WW II and reconstructed later. Since we couldn’t see the iconic Chain bridge during our visit as it was being restored we had to do with seeing the 2nd most iconic bridge of the city. We took some photos with the brightly green coloured bridge on that overcast evening and took the tram back to our hotel.

The Liberty bridge in Budapest

The better half poses on the pedestrian part of the Liberty bridge

Stopping by the Liberty bridge on the way back from Eger

The Liberty bridge over the Danube on an overcast autumn evening

We reached our hotel and checked into our river facing room which had great views over the Danube and the Parliament building on the Pest side. Since it was late autumn it got dark pretty early and I got to take panoramic photos over the Danube without leaving the comfort of my hotel room.

The Parliament building across the Danube from our River facing room at the Park Plaza

The chain bridge under restoration from our hotel room

The amazing view from our hotel room at the Park Plaza

After resting our legs for some time we stepped out again and decided to take the short hike up to the Fisherman’s Bastion. The better half had not come with me on my sunrise hike up the hill ( Enjoying a sunrise at the Fisherman’s Bastion – Budapest & Eger, Part 4 )so it would be her first time at the iconic location. I knew the way now so we quickly walked up the castle hill and reached the staircase of the Fisherman’s Bastion which was now beautifully floodlit.

The stairs up to the Fisherman’s Bastion all lit up at night

The location had a lot more people than the handful I had encountered while enjoying the sunrise here but the lights made it a totally different experience. The Matthias Church was also lit up and looked totally different from its daytime look. I have always been an advocate of walking around an old town after it has been lit up at night which makes the whole place even more atmospheric. The Castle hill in Buda was no exception. We enjoyed walking around the lit up monuments and taking photos of that iconic Budapest view till it was time to go for dinner at The Jamie Oliver’s Italian Budapest restaurant that we had made reservations at.

The Matthias Church lit up at night

The iconic Budapest view from the Fisherman’s Bastion

The windows at the Fisherman’s Bastion provide an ideal frame for your photo

The Matthias church facade at night

We then came upto the Holy trinity statue in the square outside built to commemorate the people of Buda who died in the plague outbreak in the late 1600s and early 1700s. For the uninitiated ” The Black Plague” that swept across Europe in the 1300s caused the death of 30-60% of the population of the towns affected and brought about sweeping changes in the lifestyle of the people. So the people built a tower to ward off a bacteria!

The Holy Trinity statue outside the Matthias Church

The Holy Trinity statue with the Matthias Church in the background

The Statue of St Istvan on his Horse at the Fisherman’s Bastion

Sadly most other parts of the Castle were being restored when we were visiting and off limits during these hours. We would visit the Castle ( Whatever parts were open!) and the Matthias Church before we left Budapest but for now a great dinner awaited!

We reached the restaurant which was quite full and I was glad that we had made reservations. We were shown to our table where we sat and enjoyed a delicious dinner. I ordered the spicy burger with fries while the better half ordered her favourite Spaghetti with tomato sauce. We also ordered a local beer for myself and a lemonade for the better half.

At Jamie’s Italian Budapest for our anniversary dinner

The casual vibe of the restaurant was perfect for us

My Spicy Beef burger with fries and a tall glass of local beer

The delicious looking plate of Spaghetti with tomato sauce that the better half enjoyed

Enjoying our dinner at Jamie’s Italian Budapest

With our tummies satiated we walked back to the Fisherman’s Bastion to enjoy the view for a few more minutes before it was time to go back down to the river and get to the other side in time for our river cruise on the Danube.

Enjoying the view from the Fisherman’s Bastion

We then used the tram and the metro that we had become adept at using by now (thanks to our week long transport ticket) and got to the point where the “Legenda Cruises” boat left for our night cruise up and down the Danube. Since there was only 1 cruise in that time of the year we had bought our tickets online well in time ( their website is very clear and helpful – legends.hu)

The long escalators at the metro station in Budapest

We reached the Cruise dock well in time for our Danube Legend cruise which was a one hour cruise along the river with audioguides provided and screens that showed the interiors of the buildings that we were passing by on the river.

We boarded the boat and took some seats near the back of the boat which had clear windows on the sides giving a different perspective on the monuments we had seen earlier from the land. The hour flew by listening to the audioguide and clicking photos of the lit up buildings on both sides. It was a great way to take a speed tour of Budapest even though we had seen most of these buildings from up close by now.

At our seats on the Danube legends cruise in Budapest

More photos of this building are always welcome – The Hungarian Parliament

We pass by our hotel on the left with the Matthias Church spire in the background and the Calvinist Church by the river

Buda Castle all lit up at night

The Buda side with the castle and the Matthias Church up on the hill

The Margaret Bridge which is the last bridge at this end of Budapest across the Danube

The Pesti Vigadó – the Second largest concert hall in Budapest

The Liberty bridge which we had crossed earlier in the day from another perspective

Soon the cruise turned back towards the dock and we disembarked and walked back to the metro station and got back to our hotel.

I enjoyed taking photos of these seemingly never ending escalators in Budapest Metro stations

We walked back to our hotel from the metro station having enjoyed a great anniversary that had started in Eger and ended in Budapest. The weather prediction for the next morning was dense fog. Originally I had planned to go up to the Fisherman’s Bastion on each of the remaining 2 mornings in Budapest but a dense fog would make my intended repeat climb upto the Bastion pointless. So we made a contingency plan to enjoy the Gellert Thermal Baths which were close to our hotel on the Buda side.

The Calvinist Church next to our hotel all lit up at night

Whether the weather prediction would be accurate the next morning and how it would affect our plans is topic for another post some other time, some other day.

Till then,

Bye.

A memorable 12th anniversary spent in Eger and Budapest