Over View
Often called the “Paris of the East,” Budapest is a stunning city bisected by the Danube River. It is actually formed by the union of two distinct cities: Buda, built on the steep hills on the west bank, and Pest, the flat commercial center on the east bank. The city is famous for its thermal bath culture, a legacy of the Ottoman era and the region’s geology; the Széchenyi and Gellért baths are architectural marvels. The Hungarian Parliament Building is one of the largest and most ornate in the world. Budapest is also known for its unique “ruin bars”—eclectic pubs set up in dilapidated pre-war buildings in the Jewish Quarter—and a dramatic history that spans the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the 1956 Revolution.
