Things to Do in Budapest

Budapest's thermal baths use naturally heated water from over 1,000 hot springs, making it one of Europe's spa capitals.

The Danube River divides the city into Buda (the hilly west bank) and Pest (the flat east bank), officially unified as Budapest in 1873.

The Hungarian Parliament Building, completed in 1902, is one of the largest parliament buildings in the world and sits directly on the Danube.

Budapest was once two separate cities—Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, Pest on the east—which merged to create Europe's then-largest city.

The city's iconic ruin bars—converted derelict buildings turned into trendy nightlife venues—emerged in the early 2000s and are now a defining feature of Budapest's nightlife.

Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language completely unrelated to surrounding European languages, making Budapest's street signs and menus refreshingly unique for most Western visitors.