Hungary – Country #43 In My Mission to Visit All Countries in the World

In this latest series, I will be going through all the countries I’ve travelled to on my mission to visit every single country in the world. In this article, we will be covering country #43: Hungary. If you haven’t gotten a chance already, read this story first to find out why I’m trying to visit all 193 UN-recognized countries.

To be honest, I don’t really care to visit Hungary. If I wasn’t travelling around the world collecting countries, I would probably never go here. During my trip to Poland, one of my good friends was going to Hungary next so I decided, hey why not, I’m going to join him there.

VIDEO – Country #43: Hungary

Blog post on Hungary

• My Complete Portugal, Slovakia, and Hungary Spending Breakdown
• Budapest – Hungary to Explore this Old City

Krakow to Budapest

My friend Tom and I left Krakow together by bus going to Budapest. The bus ride to Hungary would take us through Slovakia. I remember looking outside the window and admiring the Slovakian countryside. The castles on top of the hills were awesome looking and I was kind of hoping I was going there to see it.

Upon arriving in Budapest, my first impression is that it looks beat-up compared to Poland. I’m not super thrilled to be here. I glanced over my friend and he looks a lot more excited than I did.

We then hopped on the metro and made our way towards the city centre where his accommodation was located.

Sadly for me, when he went to his Airbnb, he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to have me crash over. Learning that I have no place to stay, I went to the nearest Starbucks to use their free wifi. Immediately, I booked a one night stay in a nearby hostel. This turned out to be a great decision.

City tour of Budapest

During breakfast the next day, I befriended a guy named Abdullah from Oman. We decided to team up together to explore Budapest. He was telling me that he used to be a serious photographer but nowadays, he is happy taking pictures with just his mobile phone.

I’ve got to say, the architecture in Budapest is quite nice. I was admiring the effort it must have taken to construct them.

During the afternoon, there was an aerial show happening in the river of the city diving the “Buda” and “Pest” part of the city. It was cool to see the aircraft weave through the cones at high speed demonstrating their skill of piloting the small plane.

After the show, Abdullah and I made our way towards the famous bathhouse in Budapest.

Unfortunately for us, the price tag of the bathhouse was quite expensive. As I was nearing the end of my one year trip around the world, my funds were starting to run low. At this point, I had to ration my money carefully. I decided that I would only go to places that feel like an 8 out of 10 in my must-visit list. The bathhouse felt more like a 6 out of 10 and I don’t think I’ll regret not checking it out. And yes, I was right, I’m not losing any sleep when I made that decision.

In the evening, I ended the day by eating some local Turkish food as I called it a night. My friend Abdullah continued exploring the city throughout the evening.

Final days in Budapest

The next day, my friend Tom finally confirmed that I can crash over at his Air Bnb.

After getting settled in, we decided to explore the city some more. This time, our goal is to try some local food.

We went to this place that looks like a small supermarket. Inside, there was a Hungarian chef who apparently worked at several cruises around the world. We tried some of the food he was cooking and they were delicious. Now I know that Hungary has tons of delicious food.

On the third day, I wrapped up my trip to Hungary. My next destination is Slovakia where I would be doing a 24-hour exploration of Bratislava as I make my way towards Switzerland.

Conclusion

It’s weird saying this but I found Hungary to be just an “okay” travel destination to visit. Quite frankly, Budapest was neat but nothing spectacular. I don’t have anything bad to say about the country per se. In my opinion, 2-3 days in the city is more than enough to get a feel for it and you’re better off spending the remainder of your time in Europe elsewhere.

I highly doubt I’ll ever go back to Hungary ever again. My trip to Budapest is probably once in a lifetime.

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