Budapest Off The Beaten Path

Szentháromság tér 2, Varbusz, Open daily 9am-5pm,

At the very heart of Buda's Castle District is the Mátyás Templom. Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, it has been popularly named after King Matthias Corvinus (Good King Mátyás) who ordered the construction of its original southern tower. In many respects, the 700 year history of the church serves as a symbol (or perhaps a reminder for Hungarians) of the city's rich, yet often tragic history. Not only was the church the scene of several coronations, including that of Charles IV in 1916 (the last Habsburg king), it was also the site for King Mátyás' two weddings (the first to Catherine of Podiebrad and, after her death, to Beatrice of Aragon).

Old hilly capital of Hungary and castle remains on high mountain is about 40 km from Budapest.

From the castle you can see beautiful panorama of mountains and Danube and in the castle you can find museum of torture.

Visegrad is about 42 kilometers from Budapest.

For further information watch my Visegrad VirtualTourist page.

Szentendre is small lovely town near Budapest. It was built by influence of Serbs and has many narrow streets, colorful churches, some museums and great variety of souvenir shops.

Szentendre is about 21 kilometers from Budapest.

For further information watch my Szentendre VirtualTourist page.

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I had my magic 72 hour travel pass and one late afternoon I had quick whizz out on the Metro to Deli Palyaudvar in Buda just to see what that was all about. Unfortunately it was dusk by the time I arrived - in wintertime Hungary the sun drops sharply at its abided hour and so despite the ride from Deak Ferenc only taking about 20 minutes it was damn near pitch black by the time I arrived.

I was impressed though. Some attractive restaurants beckoned (but at 5 pm too early to eat) and a quick wander gave me the impression that there's more to Buda and Pest than just the centres of either.

On my next visit I'm definitely going to do some exploration of these out of the way places - HA! Especially now that I've upgraded my language skills and can now say "Korso Kerem" with total confidence.

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A fellow Vter recommended this to me and then I saw a writeup of the trip in Fodor's and it turned out to one of the most enjoyable things we did.

The children's railway is totally run by children except for actually driving the train. Children sell the tickets, take the tickets, give information, etc. It was known as the Pioneers Railway until 1990 when Communism was kaput.

Part of the fun is actually getting there, we took tram 56 from Moszkva Ter, a 15 minute ride through lovely tree lined streets and residential area. At the end of the line, head back the way the tram came up and look for a staircase going up, at the top you should see the sign for the railroad. Buy your ticket and hop on board for the 45 minute one way ride through the hills and forest of Buda.

There are 6 stops in between, if you have a morning to spare, you can get off, the station had a brochure that detailed what you could do at each stop that was in English. One of the stops was the highest point in Budapest (Janos-hegy), a nice idea if you have a clear day (we didn't). If you get off here, I understand you can take the chairlift back down or you can get back on the train.

At the end of the line, follow the crowds and take the cog wheel railway to the end where you can pick up tram 56 to take you back to Moszkva Ter.

The cost is 300 ft (around $1.50 US), a real bargain!

You can do the entire trip backwards from what we did, not sure if there is an advantage to doing it one way over the other.

See the attached website for the schedule and more information

We found this restaurant recommended on Trip Advisor and although it is a bit far out, we decided to go all the way there. It is located on the Buda side, on the upper end, on the same level as the top of Margit island. We were not disappointed. This was one of our best Hungarian meal experiences in Budapest.

The Kehli is an old inn - founded 1899. Ask for a seat in the courtyard. They have live musik every night. We saw (or rather heard) many Hungarians at the restaurant which means that it is a place frequented by locals - a good sign.

Service was up to standard, food was good, wine was good, musik was nice. Go with an appetite.

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Located at one of the busiest roads in Budapest and not in a particularly charming neighbourhood the St. Rochus chapel and neighbouring hospital are probably often overlooked. However, the chapel is a fine little Baroque church from 1711 which was built after the end of the Black Death epidemia. Unfortunately the chapel was closed when I visited.

Even more interesting is the neighbouring Ignaz-Semmelweis-Hospital, espically for medicine history buffs. It was built 1796 as the first hospital in the city. From wikipedia:

"On May 20, 1851 Semmelweis took the relatively insignificant, unpaid, honorary head-physician position of the obstetric ward of Pest's small St. Rochus Hospital. He held that position for six years, until June 1857. Childbed fever was rampant at the clinic ... After taking over in 1851, Semmelweis virtually eliminated the disease. During 1851–1855 only 8 patients died from childbed fever out of 933 births (0.85%)."

Semmelweis discovered that childbed fever could be cut drastically if doctors washed their hands in a chlorine solution before gynaecological examinations. Louis Pasteur later confirmed Semmelweis' observations by his germ theory.

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This nice little church is the parish church of the VI. district. It was built 1811, the spire was added later by Miklos Ybl. The interior is nothing to write home about or go out of your way, but once you're in the area take a minute to go in - it's quite charming in classicistic style. Outstanding piece is the high altar by Mihaly Pollack. The church is open during daytime with a break in early afternoon.

Location: corner Nagymezö utca/Kiraly utca