Sometimes called the “Paris of the east”, we heartily recommend seeking out flights to Budapest. The city is split into two halves: west of the River Danube is Buda, while on the east is Pest. Traditionally Buda was the home of the rich and Pest the poor, but in modern gentrified Budapest this does not hold true any more.
Buda is home to many important historic buildings such as Buda Castle and the Citadella, an old Hapsburg fortress on a hill overlooking the city, while Pest is known more for its lively restaurants and bars. That being said, in modern Budapest the Citadella actually houses one of the city’s best nightclubs, with unparalleled views over the Danube and the Hungarian Parliament Building.
Café culture has always been popular, particularly in Pest where influential artists like Gulácsy would have sipped Turkish coffee. In the north east of Pest, you’ll find a remnant of Hungary’s soviet occupation called Sculpture Park, a place where soviet sculptures from all over Hungary were dragged and displayed to serve as a reminder of a dark period of history and its idiosyncratic aesthetics.
Many book cheap flights to Budapest just for the bath culture. The city was founded on thermal springs and over the centuries various baths were built all over. The Rudas Baths were built nearly 500 years ago during the Ottoman Empire and have a traditional Turkish style, while others have a more modern twist; the Gellért Baths feature medicinal baths indoors surrounded by beautiful ceramics, with fun waterpark-like features outdoors open during the summer.