The tram rattles me up the hill, and the city drops away behind me like a stage curtain. I am on my way to the Buda Hills, and for the first time since I landed, the air does not feel like a wet blanket. It is still hot, sure. This is August in Budapest, after all. But up here, there is a breeze, and it smells like pine needles and dry grass instead of exhaust fumes and river water.
I get off at the terminus and join the trail that winds up towards Normafa. The path is busy even on a Wednesday morning. Families with strollers, runners with dogs, a man with a radio playing something that might be opera. This is where half the city comes to breathe, and I finally understand why. The view opens up across the rooftops of Buda, the Danube a silver ribbon in the distance, and for a moment I just stand there and let the sweat dry on my skin.
The trail is not hard, but it is a proper climb. My legs remind me that I have spent the last four days mostly sitting in cafés and thermal baths. Worth it though. Every switchback gives you a new angle on the city below, and the green just keeps going. I am told the whole network of trails here stretches for hundreds of kilometres, all the way into the hills of the Danube Bend. I make a mental note to come back when I have more time. Today, I have a different goal.
After an hour or so, I reach the entrance to the Pál-völgyi cave system. This is one of the largest accessible cave networks in Europe, they say, and on a day like this it is the perfect place to escape the heat. I pay the entry fee, about three thousand forints, and step inside. The temperature drops instantly. It is like walking into a cellar that has been cooling for a million years.
The guide leads us down narrow passages and through chambers that feel cathedral-sized. Stalactites hang like frozen chandeliers, and the rock glistens with moisture. It is a different world down here, quiet and ancient. I am told the caves were discovered in the early twentieth century, and parts of them are still being explored. There is something humbling about walking through a place that has existed for so much longer than the city above it.
Back in the sunlight, the heat hits me like a wall. My shirt is already sticking to my back. I check the time. I have one more stop before I can justify a cold drink. I head back down the hill, past the villas and the embassies of District II, and make my way to the Lukács fürdő. It is one of the smaller, older baths in the city, and it has a reputation as a local favourite. The entrance fee is around five thousand forints, which feels like a fair trade for a few hours of bliss.
I find a spot by the outdoor pool, the one with the whirlpool jets, and I just float. The water is warm, but the air is hotter, so it feels cool. Above me, the sky is that pale, hazy blue of a summer heatwave. For a while, I do not think about paperwork or bank accounts or SIM cards. I just listen to the water and the murmur of Hungarian around me. Jó napot, someone says as they pass, and I nod back.
This is the thing about Budapest that I am slowly learning. It is a city that knows how to take care of its people. When the summer gets unbearable, there is always a cave, a bath, a shady park. The Romans had baths, the Turks had baths, and the Hungarians turned bathing into an art. I am a convert. Give me a thermal pool and a cold drink, and I can survive any August.
Eventually, I drag myself out of the water and get dressed. The walk back to the tram is short, and I am feeling almost human again. My plan for the evening is simple: find something to eat, and then take a slow walk along the river as the light fades. I have been so focused on logistics and sightseeing that I have not just sat with the city. Tonight, I will try.
I hop on the tram and then the metro, making my way back to the Pest side. I am in District VI, not far from the Oktogon, and I remember the name of a café I wanted to try. Mantra Specialty Coffee Minibar is a small place, the kind where the barista takes the coffee very seriously. I order a flat white, which costs me about a thousand forints, maybe two. It is smooth and strong, and I sit by the window watching the streetcars go by.
The evening is still warm, but the intensity has gone out of the sun. I wander down Andrássy út, past the opera house and the grand facades, until I reach the river. The Chain Bridge is ahead of me, lit up against the dusk. I cross over to the Buda side and find a bench along the embankment, just below the Castle District. The Danube moves slow and dark below me. A river ferry slides past, its lights reflecting in the water.
Behind me, the Fisherman's Bastion rises with its fairy-tale towers. In front of me, the Parliament building glows across the water on the Pest side. This is the postcard view, I know, but it is also the real thing. I sit there for a long time, letting the sounds of the river and the distant traffic wash over me. It is not loud here. It is almost quiet. A couple walks past, holding hands. A cyclist rings his bell.
This is the art of doing nothing, and it is a skill I am trying to relearn. Back home, I would have had my phone out, scrolling, planning, optimising. Here, I am just watching the water. Two trams rumble over the bridge behind me, and the city settles into its evening rhythm. I think about the week ahead, the papers I still need to file, the rest of Hungary I want to see. But for now, this is enough.
I walk back across the bridge as the sky turns from orange to deep blue. The lights of the city flicker on one by one. I pass the shoes on the Danube bank, the iron memorial for those who were shot into the river in 1945. It is a stark reminder that this beautiful city has a difficult history. I walk a little slower, my thoughts quieter.
For dinner, I find a place in the Jewish Quarter called Mazel Tov. It is a ruin bar with a courtyard, strings of lights, and a menu that does Middle Eastern food as well as Hungarian. I order a mezze plate and a beer, and the whole thing comes to maybe four thousand forints. The courtyard is packed, but not unbearable. The music is live, a trio playing something between jazz and folk.
I sit there for a while, people-watching. The crowd is young, international, loud. This is the city's heartbeat after dark. I think about the contrast between the quiet river and this pulsing courtyard, and I realise that Budapest holds both. It is a city of thermal baths and ruin bars, of quiet afternoons and loud nights. I am beginning to find my place in it.
As the evening winds down, I take a last walk through District VII. The streets are alive with people, and the smell of street food mixes with the scent of cheap perfume and old stone. I stop by Fat Mama, the pizza place that gets mentioned in every guide, and I buy a slice for the road. It is good, greasy, satisfying. The night is warm, and I am in no hurry to get home.
Back in my flat in District XIII, I open the balcony doors and let the night air in. The city hums below me, a low, steady drone. I have been here five days, and it already feels like home. Tomorrow, I will start planning the next leg of the journey. But tonight, I am just happy to be here, listening to the Danube flow past, wondering what the morning will bring.
And that, my friends, is the thing I am learning about this city. It gives you what you need if you let it. Sometimes it is a thermal bath or a cave or a view from a hill. Sometimes it is just a quiet bench by the river. Jó éjszakát, Budapest. See you in the morning.
And if you are planning your own trip, a few practical notes before I go. The monthly transit pass is about nine thousand forints, a single metro ride about five hundred. A coffee will set you back around a thousand, and a meal at a ruin bar like Mazel Tov maybe four thousand. The ride I took today from the city centre to the hills was under three thousand in a taxi, but I used public transport and it cost a fraction of that. Use the BudapestGO app for tickets, and always validate before you board. The fines are steep.
The thermal baths are worth every forint. The Lukács fürdő, the Széchenyi, the Gellért, they are not just tourist traps, they are part of the city's soul. And if you are here in August, do yourself a favour and find a cave. The Pál-völgyi is a forty-minute escape from the heat, and it costs less than a cocktail.
And one more thing. The State Foundation Day is in a couple of weeks, on the twentieth of August. That is when the city celebrates its birthday, and I am told the fireworks over the Danube are spectacular. I plan to be here for it. So maybe I will see you there.