Cameron’s Travels

Updating my Budapest guidebook is hard work. But the day is nearing an end. And the sun hanging heavy in the sky, the soreness in my feet, and the trickle of sweat down my back all conspire to inform me it’s Széchenyi time.

The Széchenyi Baths are Budapest’s ultimate thermal spa experience. Architecturally, the bath complex is grand: A century-old, yellow-and-stone masterpiece, with imperial colonnades and bronze horsemen and copper domes. But it’s also the most purely enjoyable of the city’s two dozen spas.

Inside the swanky lobby, a comically complicated menu of services rattles off three feet of options: Cheaper before noon or after 7, more on weekends, cabin vs. locker, a dizzying array of massages and pedicures and other treatments, and on and on. Many tourists — their spirits broken by too many choices — slump their shoulders, turn tail, and head home. But stand tough. Marching right up to the cashier, I tell them I want a swimming pool ticket with a cabin. And before I know it, I’m in my swim trunks and up to my earlobes in hundred-degree water — milky with minerals and steamy with geothermal heat.

Even just a few years ago, Széchenyi felt largely undiscovered by tourists. I must admit, these days it has become decidedly touristy. But the people-watching remains unsurpassed. I glance around the pool, squinting through the haze. Nearby, a trio of swarthy Frenchmen — reeking of cheap liquor — dare each other to hit on bathing beauties. A visiting American choir group bobs in a circle and sings pitchy harmonies. And over in the corner, a vigorously affectionate middle-aged couple appear to have completed foreplay.

Discreetly paddling to the far end of the pool, I find a pocket of locals ignoring the United Nations of outsiders who swirl around them. Speedo-clad little old men boast bulbous potbellies that hang precipitously over spindly legs, as if determined to defy the laws of physics. In a timeless scene, four graying elder statesmen huddle around a waterproof chessboard, offering suggestions, cheering, and jeering as they launch their attacks. Descending the stairs behind them is a young local couple — weary from a busy day’s work — who slip into the water’s luxurious embrace.

To delicate American sensibilities, this all may sound a little seedy…earthy…lurid, even. And maybe it is. But it’s also so very human. People have bodies. Some are pretty, and some are ugly. But one thing is universal: Hot water feels good. The Széchenyi Baths are a place where people of all shapes and sizes come to disrobe, check their inhibitions at the door, immerse themselves in thermal water, and simply have fun. The baths let you be a kid at the neighborhood swimming pool all over again…but with a dash of soothing hot-tub hedonism and a pinch of Old World class.

Beginning to sweat in the hot water, I ease myself out of the pool, and — instantly chilled by the twilight air — I scurry, soggy and barefoot, to the opposite end of the courtyard. I shiver as I pass the long lap pool, where swimmers ply Széchenyi’s coolest waters. Along the pool’s edge, stoic statues mark the swimmers’ progress, while overhead looms an empty grandstand.

The pool at the far end of the complex is like Goldilocks’ third little bear: not too hot, not too cold, juuust right. This is also the liveliest pool, with more jets, cascades, and a zone where miniature bubbles sputter up from big grates underfoot — like a seltzer foot massage that tickles its way up your legs.

In the center of this pool, a tiled whirlpool spins and spins. Once sucked into its steady flow, it’s hard to escape. Some people try to paddle against the current, but I enjoy just going limp and bumping my way around, like a ping pong ball in a turgid eddy. Drifting close to the outside wall comes with a boost of extra propulsion from the jets that keep the whole thing spinning. And then, suddenly, the whirlpool goes still. Across the rippling water, I hear jets and cascades elsewhere in the pool spurt to life. (In a very diplomatic spa tradition, the various whirlpools, waterfalls, and other features take turns.)

I’m finished with the whirlpool anyway. Braving the cool air once more, my waterlogged legs wobble me back to the warmest pool. I find a small — but thundering — waterfall, and park myself directly beneath it. Feeling the steaming cascade pound and pound and pound against my shoulders, I slip into a meditative trance, losing all track of time and place. It’s the opposite of water torture…it’s water bliss. It’s been a very long day, and a very long trip. And an evening spent in this water is just what the doctor ordered to recharge my batteries for my journey’s next leg.

Finally I glance up at the clock. The baths are closing in a half-hour. The sky has turned from hazy pink to deep purple to inky black. And I’m determined to stop by my favorite Budapest restaurant for a late dinner on the way home. Changed back into my street clothes, pulling grubby socks onto moist feet, I prepare myself for a jarring re-entry to the real world. But it’s comforting to know that the Széchenyi Baths will always be here. And anytime I’m in Budapest…you know where to find me.

In my last post, I suggested some activities for enjoying summer in Budapest. But after hours, things get even better. Here are some more tips.

As the sun hangs low in the sky, locals retreat to a series of rooftop bars with sweeping views over the skyline. 360 Bar is my favorite, with a handy location right along Andrássy út and a fun menu of refreshing, summery craft cocktails. An elevator zips you up to the eighth floor and a world of chill Hungarian hipsters enjoying a unique view on their capital. Order at the bar and find the table, bench, or beanbag chair of your choice.

Budapest is one of my favorite food cities in Europe, and its outdoor restaurant scene is a delight. I’ll be covering more on the local food scene in an upcoming blog. But rest assured that finding a breezy and relaxing outdoor spot for dinner is no problem.

Another Budapest forté is nightlife. Again, I’ll be covering the city’s fascinating and fun “ruin pub” scene in an upcoming blog. In addition to ramshackle bars like the one pictured above, food trucks are tucked between nightspots and apartment blocks.

My favorite Budapest “nightlife”? At the end of a long, hot, busy day of sightseeing, I head for the Széchenyi Baths in City Park. The indoor section closes at 7 p.m., but the even more appealing outdoor pools stay open until 10. What better way to recover from a busy travel day than a pre- or post-dinner dip?

Budapest is a city for all seasons…but summer is my favorite. With a warm climate, deliciously long days, and ample outdoor fun, Budapest springs to vibrant life when the weather warms up.

On a sunny day, great views are easy to come by. Up at Buda Castle, most tourists pay $5 to climb onto the fanciful Fishermen’s Bastion view terrace. But if you walk just a few steps to the far end of the terrace, you’ll find a café that lets tourists stroll up for free and snap a photo from essentially the same viewpoint.

Moments after arriving in Budapest on this trip, I stepped out of my hotel and found myself in the middle of the city’s outdoor summer design fair. Sponsored by the local arts organization WAMP, the craft market fills a city-center square one day each month, all summer long, with stylish shoes and handbags, quirky designer dresses, stylized maps of Budapest, all manner of design-y knickknacks, and other eye-pleasing souvenirs. Nearby, a row of creative food trucks — with gourmet hot dogs, burgers, and ice cream — keeps craft lovers well-fed and watered.

The riverfront March 15 Square — once a seedy and borderline-dangerous area — has been totally refurbished. A hip local café, Kiosk, has taken up residence in the grassy park. Order a drink at the bar, find the neon-beanbag-chair perch you like best, and watch the riverboats float by.

In fact, appealing little eateries are popping up all over Budapest — often tucked in picturesque and shady little corners like this one.

For something more classic, grab an outdoor table and nurse an iced coffee or cocktail at one of Budapest’s many grand cafés (a city forté). Callas has long been one of  my favorites for its stunning Secessionist interior. But in good weather, it’s hard to pass up the genteel sidewalk ambience and great views of the Opera House and Budapest’s thriving main boulevard, Andrássy út.

Budapest has a summer calendar full of special events (including one of Europe’s premier music festivals, Sziget Festival, in August). But even if you don’t plan your trip around special events, you’ll likely stumble upon something going on — such as the Budapest Marathon, filling the Danube embankment.

Years ago, after maybe a dozen visits to Budapest, I challenged a local friend to show me something I hadn’t seen before. He spent the day taking me all over the city, poking into little hidden treasures like Károlyi-kert — a public park surrounded by looming buildings dead-center in Pest. While tourists throng the main shopping drag, Váci utca, just a couple of blocks away, almost none of them makes it into this tranquil oasis of green. Instead, you’ll find mostly locals: the après-work crowd nursing a drink at a funky outdoor wine bar (Csendes Tars) and browsing nearby design galleries and vintage shops; kids horsing around after school; urbanites simply looking for a leafy escape from the city; and a few smart travelers using the Rick Steves Budapest guidebook.

To really escape from the city, ride the train 45 minutes north to Szentendre, a sleepy little river town with an almost Mediterranean street plan and more than its share of beautiful churches. While the town is packed with galleries and shops (and, let’s be honest, tourists), the main reason to come here is simply to stroll the sunny cobbles and enjoy the colorful old houses. Just a two-minute walk into the steep lane takes you completely away from the crowded main drag.

These are just a few of the ways you can make the most of summer in Budapest. In my next post, I’ll suggest some evening and after-hours options.

New Yorkers — I mean the dyed-in-the-wool, old-school, real New Yawkers — are fiercely loyal to their city, in good times and bad. Sure, today it’s all family-friendly Times Square and trendy Tribeca eateries and artsy-hipster Brooklyn. But I remember a time when Times Square was one big seedy sex shop, muggers outnumbered tourists on the subway, and the city was hard to love. And yet, New Yorkers cling to a strange nostalgia for that old, unlovable metropolis.

I have a similar nostalgia for Budapest. It’s easy to be head-over heels for Budapest these days:

But on my first visit, in 1999, the story was very different. Budapest was grimy and intimidating. Hulking, soot-covered buildings loomed over exhaust-choked highways. Everything was dirty. And the people — with their bushy mustaches and impenetrable language — seemed gruff and shell-shocked.

Only after returning home did I realize that, of all the places I visited on that trip, Budapest had really gotten under my skin. It wasn’t just that Budapest had “potential.” It was a great city all along. It was just going through a rough patch — and you had to work a little harder to appreciate its greatness.

That trip began my love affair with Budapest, which continued as I began to guide Rick Steves tours there, and researched and wrote the Rick Steves Eastern Europe and Rick Steves Budapest guidebooks. I found Budapest unique in how, no matter how often or how long I visited, I always left wanting more. With each visit, my Budapest “to do” list got longer, not shorter. It still does.

After a few visits, I began to relish the little slices of Budapest life. I got giddy walking through the grimy underpasses that sprawl beneath major intersections. Each one was a thriving delta of infrastructure where the subway system flowed up broken escalators into snarls of trams, buses, and cars. Standing still in a mosh pit of commuters, I was surrounded by ramshackle food stalls, panhandlers, and confusing signage…a happy ant in a busy anthill. Inhaling a pungent mix of sweet pastries, diesel-tinged subway exhaust, and stale urine, I felt alive in a way that only travel makes you feel.

I’ve long used Budapest as my barometer of someone’s travel chops. If a person is turned off by Budapest…well, I’m not saying they’re a “bad traveler.” I’m just saying I probably won’t plan a trip with them. But if someone comes back from Budapest raving, I know we’re in sync. I remember once, co-leading a tour with a Czech guide who was born and raised in Prague, I finally confessed: “You know, I like Prague, but I have to admit…I like Budapest even more.” “Of course!” he said, without hesitation. “Of course you do. I do, too.”

But the Budapest litmus test is less useful than it once was. Budapest has fully transformed itself. Once a diamond in the rough, today the city is a sparkling gem. Grandiose, late-19th-century architecture has been scrubbed of grime and returned to greatness. Check out these images — taken just a few years apart — of the glorious Széchenyi Baths complex in City Park:

Back on my early visits, even the city’s “showcase” walking and shopping street, Váci utca, was pretty glum:

But today — while it’s so thronged with tourists that I can barely stand to go there — at least it’s gorgeous:

At the same time, the transit system has been overhauled, revamping the old metro stations and building several new, futuristic ones.

Those seedy underpasses? They’ve been fully renovated. International chains have elbowed out the mom-and-pop vendors, and the signage is now crystal clear. (But deep down, I miss the old chaos.)

Meanwhile, the city has undertaken an ambitious master plan (funded largely by the EU…are you paying attention, Brexiters?) to re-surface and pedestrianize many formerly car-clogged streets and squares in the city center. It has been a smashing success.

And Budapest’s stately Parliament building — once surrounded by a ramshackle square of broken concrete, overgrown parks, and ragtag monuments — has been polished and completely relandscaped, leaving it gleaming. Before:

After:

It’s clear: Budapest — so hard to love for so long — is finally coming into its own. And, while I may miss some of its old rough edges, there’s no doubt that today’s Budapest is a city that anyone can (and should) enjoy. My next few posts will introduce you to various facets — beyond the obvious tourist traps — of my favorite European capital. It has some of Europe’s best nightlife, bars, cafés, and creative ways to simply hang out. It’s the undisputed best foodie city in Eastern Europe (and, for me, is one of the best in all of Europe). Its thermal bath culture is a prefect mix of relaxing and culturally enlightening. And its current political reality is fascinating and instructive.

Stay tuned…and prepare to be surprised by one of travel’s best-kept secrets.