Budapest

The architecture is some of the greatest I have seen anywhere in Eastern Europe. I don't say that lightly. I've stood in front of grand buildings in a lot of cities, but Budapest does something different. The grand doorways, the arched openings, the ornate facades that line every major boulevard, it feels like a city that was built to impress and has never stopped doing so. Every corner you turn produces something that makes you reach for your camera instinctively.

The thing that gets me every time is the sheer variety of it. You have the neo-Gothic Parliament, the most dramatic government building I have ever seen anywhere, its spires rising over the Danube like something from a fairy tale. You have the Art Nouveau Gresham Palace at the foot of the Chain Bridge. You have the baroque palaces of the Castle District on the Buda side, looking down over everything. And threading through all of it are the wide boulevards, the grand doorways, the arched courtyards that you glimpse through iron gates and that take your breath away every single time.

The Parliament at night is something I will never forget. Standing on the Buda side of the Danube as it lights up, a gorgeous golden orange that dominates the entire river, is one of the most extraordinary things I have witnessed anywhere in Europe. The reflection in the water, the scale of it, the way it seems to belong to a different and grander century entirely. If you do nothing else in Budapest, stand on the Chain Bridge after dark and look at it.

Something surprised me more than any building in Budapest, and I wasn't expecting it. The people. Truly some of the nicest, most genuinely warm and generous people I have ever come across anywhere in the world. There is a particular Hungarian hospitality that doesn't announce itself, it just quietly makes sure you are comfortable, well fed, looked after and pointed in the right direction. In coffee shops, in restaurants, in hotels, on the street asking for directions. Consistently, warmly, memorably kind.

The coffee shop culture in Budapest deserves its own conversation. The streets are wide and the coffee shops are unique, genuinely distinctive places with their own character and some highly desirable coffee blends that you won't find replicated anywhere else. There is a place called Zerge that I'd send any visitor to immediately. The coffee is exceptional, yes, but it's the bagels that will actually stop you in your tracks. I'm still thinking about them.

And if you haven't tried Apenta, the Hungarian sparkling water, you are missing something that deserves a 1000 out of 10 rating without a moment's hesitation. It sounds like a small thing. It is not a small thing. It is the kind of discovery that makes you understand why people fall completely in love with a city.

The other thing nobody tells you about Budapest is the affordability. For a city that looks this regal, that carries itself with this much architectural grandeur, the prices are genuinely surprising. Excellent restaurants, beautiful cafes, world-class thermal baths, extraordinary museums, all at a fraction of what you'd pay in Paris or London for a fraction of the experience. Budapest is, quite simply, one of the best value destinations in Europe. Possibly the best.

If I had one thing to tell a friend planning their first trip to Budapest it would be this, book the Danube evening cruise. Do it before anything else. The city from the water at night, with the Parliament and the bridges and the Castle all lit up simultaneously, gives you an understanding of Budapest's scale and beauty that you simply cannot get from the riverbanks. It is the single best introduction to the city that exists, and it costs almost nothing.

Pack a heavy coat if you're visiting in winter. The Danube wind is something to be reckoned with and the cruise is an outdoor experience. But winter Budapest, specifically around the Christmas market season, is something extraordinary. The markets are genuinely among the best I have visited anywhere in Europe, they appear around St Stephen's Basilica and Vörösmarty Square and transform those already beautiful spaces into something that feels genuinely magical. Hot wine, langos, chimney cake, and the Parliament lit gold behind everything. Come in December if you possibly can.

St Stephen's Basilica is the building that anchors the Pest side of the city the way the Parliament anchors the river. The neo-classical facade, the copper dome that you can see from almost anywhere in central Pest, the interior that opens up into something far more vast and ornate than the exterior prepares you for, it is an extraordinary building that rewards slow attention. Climb to the top of the dome if you can. The panoramic view of Budapest from up there, Buda Castle on one side, the Parliament on the other, the river threading between them, is as good as any view the city offers.

The thermal baths are the other non-negotiable. Széchenyi, the great yellow baroque bathhouse in City Park, is the one most people go to, and for good reason. The outdoor pools in winter, with steam rising from the water and the baroque architecture all around, produce content that performs extraordinarily well. Go early in the morning before the crowds arrive and you'll have it almost to yourself. It is one of the most cinematic experiences available in any European city.