I’ve wanted to go to Budapest for some time & Colin has wanted to see Vienna, so this was a perfect opportunity to combine both.
We set off in early January from Alicante, heading for Budapest with temperatures forecast between -4° & -12°.
We decided to pack really light (Colin 15l & me 25l). We had numerous doubts before we left whether we’d be warm enough (in the end we had plenty of clothing). We were still cold, but I don’t think anything would have prevented this, unless we had bought special technical clothing as Austria is currently experiencing the coldest winter in 20 years.
Budapest
Based in Spain, we flew from Alicante (€26 on Whizz Air) direct to Budapest & stayed in the Karma Boutique Apartments (€35 p night). We had booked a studio, but we had a pleasant surprise on arrival, ending up with a 2 bedroom apartment with kitchenette. The apartments are a little ‘tired’, but provided us with a central location and everything we needed.
Budapest if you don’t know, is made up of two old cities either side of the River Danube: Buda & Pest see Wikipedia. Everything is easily accessible by foot, so I went prepared with some walking tours which I downloaded (free walking tour groups can be found online, if you prefer joining other people & a guide).
I fell in love with Budapest (although it was extremely cold). We hope to revisit in Spring/Autumn. Here are some of our memories:
Vienna
Getting to Vienna from Budapest by train is easy. We pre-booked tickets before we left using info from one of our favourite websites Seat61 (which has helped us with train travel worldwide). We collected the tickets the day before from the station machines, to be on the safe side.
Vienna is currently experiencing the coldest winter in 20 years with temperatures reaching lows of -12° during our visit. With the wind on the Thursday & Friday it made being outside very unpleasant and we had to visit many coffee shops to regain the use of our hands & feet.
Vienna is a large city & although you can walk to most of the attractions, they are spaced out; it’s easier to use the trams & metro.
Here are some of the memories from our visit:
