The best way to see any city is to hike around it. I think seeing a city in depth requires you to move your feet, and walk wherever you can. This is especially true of Budapest because it is flat, easily likable and the Buda side has a huge hill where you can see the entire city from. This is Gellért Hill offering the best view of the city, and a bunch of things to see on the way. I took the Have Fun Travel app’s Gellért Hill Tour on a spin to learn more about this curious slope.
The tour started out in the Philosopher’s Garden. This is a cool, weird statue park with a really strange history and message. It has figures representing all of the world’s religions created by a Hungarian émigré in Japan. The tour continues towards the summit, passing the enormous, 7-meter Gellért Statue. I had taken the pub crawl the night before, so sitting down by the leg of the statue clearing my head felt really nice. The tour then continued towards the top.
Gellért Hill Cave Church facing the famous Gellért Bath is a real must-see. I couldn’t resist going inside and I had no regrets. The interior was simply unbelievable being carved out in a stunning manner from the living mountain. The story behind it however is at least as intriguing as the scene. The tour went by the Citadel and all the way up to the magnificent Liberty Statue, then down to the Gellért Bath into a hidden little garden that used to be part of the historic bathing complex.
The hike itself was light but quite steep. Steps and crags lead to the top so it’s not a mountain climb or anything, but it did get me moving a little bit, which was just what I needed, and the reward is the most spectacular view of Budapest in the city center. Looking down at the Danube, with the entire Pest side sprawled underneath is a truly singular experience.
My favorite site? Hard to say, but I think I liked the Gellért Bath best. It’s an imposing building with the most awesome bathing complex inside. That’s right, I couldn’t resist jumping into the steaming pools of Budapest’s most famous thermal bath at the end of the tour.
