Dawn came a long way to Budapest, a Canadian, the lover of the outdoors who enjoys getting lost while exploring new places and eating empanadas along the way. She is running an amazing travel blog/site focusing on budget travel: www.wanderingsincedawn.com Her Instagram posts about Budapest have sparked our interest and we were glad to find her blog post of her adventures while she was spending some days in Budapest. Coming by train from Bratislava, she arrived to Kelenföld Station, where despite of lacking language skills, she managed to learn how the ticket machines for local transport tickets work and actually a great example how you need to prepare for technical issues. Staying at Wombats hostel was not only a great value, but being one of the cleanest hostels in Europe, we recommend you to stay if you are on a budget, but doesn’t mind sharing a room or being close to the buzzing nightlife area.She had two main goals in Budapest, to check out some ruins bars and thermal baths also you’ll see her go with the flow attitude, she was mingling like a local in the nightlife. Being a vegan is not a problem any more despite of the hearty culinary issues in our traditional cuisine, it’s a pity she didn’t know about our article introducing some really tasty places for vegans – you can read it HERE. Ruin bars are great way to meet locals and go barhopping, Dawn definitely found the essential places, would you need more, just follow THIS and THIS link. Below are some tips from Dawn’s ultimate self guided itinerary of Budapest. – Walk up Andrassy Street to the Park Városliget (City Park). – Stop in at the Terror háza (House of Terror) for some good history and learning. – Hősök tere (Heroes’ Square) – main square in the park surrounded by beautiful buildings. – Vajdahunyad vára – Museum of Agriculture at the Vajdahunyad Castle. “I’m not into agriculture museums but the outside of this castle like building in a park provides fantastic photo opportunities.” – Széchenyi thermal baths. They also offer a beer spa with unlimited beer. – Head to Margaret Hid bridge. We took a different route than Andrassy street which led us over an old train station with some abandoned buildings and graffiti. – Walk along the Danube towards the Chain Bridge. – Shortly after the Batthyany Ter (where you’ll see gorgeous churches!) you will see the stairs to climb up to the Fisherman’s Bastion. Fisherman’s bastion is a highlight/must see spot and offers the best views from a castle. You can pay 1500 HUF to climb further up for better views. Behind the castle are a bunch of little shops and overpriced restaurants. – Walk along the Danube back towards the Parliament buildings and Néprajzi (Etnography) Museum, stopping to check out the shoes on the Danube. – Grab some dinner near one of the inner city sights before setting out again to explore Budapest at night. – There is no shortage of evening cruises along the Danube. “We opted for the public boat one, which had the final journey leaving dock 8 at Petofi ter at 19:32. You’re going to thank me for giving you the dock number as it is a busy place without any obvious signage as to where to go. You will not see the purple ticket booth for transit but can buy your ticket on board for 750 HUF (cash only).” This short cruise is a night time photographers dream, going under the chain bridge, past all the main sights on the Buda & Pest sides. 20 minutes later (it was a short “cruise” as it is actually part of their transit system and not a tourist attraction) you can get off at the Parliament buildings. – Walk back along the Danube to the chain bridge to get some night time photos – Head to the Budapest Eye area where you’ll see everyone hanging out in the park outside of Akvarium klub. In the area surrounding the Budapest Eye you’ll see all the higher end hotels and shops. – From here, you can hit up more of the Budapest nightlife of your choice – there is so much to see and do. Despite doing 36 km of walking (according to my Fitbit) you’ll want to save some energy to check out more of the nightlife which even on a Sunday night was going strong. We wish Dawn a safe journey and keep on writing and sharing her go with the flow attitude! Photo: 123rf.com