Budapest

[Rushingfool]

We have a 3 night child-free window during April and thinking of going to Budapest. I've been reading through previous threads about it to get some ideas of where to stay, but someone mentioned a bridge being closed and to be careful not to stay on the wrong side....

What bridge is that and what is the wrong side? We'd like to see the shoes on the Danube, go to the Gellert baths, see St Stephen's basilica and perhaps do a cruise up the Danube and find a market maybe?

I've found the Continental Hotel but not sure if that's going to be any good?

Thank you!

Buda is much quieter, Pest is much livelier. We stayed in Pest because that is where all the stuff we wanted to do was. If I went again and the chain brige was closed, I would definitely stay in Pest.

The chain bridge is closed, it closed June 2021 for 18 months so not sure if it will be open again by April. There are three other bridges which cross the danube, but te Chain Bridge is the main one.

We travel there a lot as we have family living In Budapest. Would def stay on Pest side for restaurants, things to do etc. if you’re there : nights, then you might go over to Buda to see the castle, use the funicular railway but suspect you might not venture too much further on that side of the river.

this is the latest update on the bridge closure, but to be honest public transport is super easy and you’ll be able to use metros and teams without too much bother ( download the Budapest GO app if you plan to use public transport). Enjoy. I love the city!!

After 55 years, one of Budapest's busiest transport hubs, Blaha Lujza tér, with its significant historical and intellectual heritage, has been given a new, sophisticated character. The square, which has been reborn as a meeting place with a grove of trees, was opened to the public on Saturday, 10 December. Check out the photo album of the renewed square.

We've just reopened the renovated Blaha Lujza tér, but we have one more piece of great news for the end of the year: on 16 December, we also opened the renovated roadway of the Chain Bridge to public transport, motorcyclists, assisted motorcyclists, cyclists and taxis.

The supporting structure of the roadway has been replaced from reinforced concrete to steel. The stone surfaces of the pylons and the anti-corrosion coatings of the chains have been renewed, energy-saving street lighting has been installed and the stone columns have been improved. The work continues: in the coming period, work will be carried out on pavements, below road level, railings and underpasses, among other things. The completely renovated Chain Bridge will be available to the city again in autumn 2023.

According to the temporary traffic alignment in force from the afternoon of 16 December:

buses 16 and 105 as well as night buses 916 and 990 run via the Chain Bridge again
a new Buda Castle Bus service has been introduced with number 216 operating between the city centre and Dísz tér
bus 178 now runs across the Chain Bridge and runs to Gyöngyösi út terminus in Pest
the bridge is expected to be opened to pedestrians from next autumn

We stayed in Buda at the Hilton. However there’s more to do in Pest overall. More restaurants. Personally I don’t think it’s the greatest city I’ve been to. Vienna is better snd so are many Italian ones.