Heroes’ Square at the top of Andrassy ut is where City Park starts and is a great place to wander if the weather is kind. The park contains museums, monuments, baths, a zoo, an amusement park and more.
Heroes’ Square.
The 36m high Millenary Monument dominates the square, it is flanked on both sides by seven Maygar chieftans and fourteen columns. The monument is dedicated to ‘those who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence’.
The Museum of Fine Arts is to the left, the Palace of Arts to the right and the park is behind.
City Park and Ice Skating Rink
This outdoor ice skating rink is open from November to February and is Europe’s largest outdoor rink. It’s huge!
The Hungarian Agricultural Museum is housed in the nearby Vajdahunyad Castle which we stumbled across at night. It looked a bit like Hogwarts and was quite eerie, especially with the forboding statue of Anonymus, the first Medieval Hungarian Chronicler which is opposite.
The large Timewheel in the park allows the ‘sand’ to flow from the top to the bottom over a whole year. It commemorates Hungary’s entry into the EU and is the largest hourglass in the world.
Szechnenyi Baths
There are about eight thermal baths in Budapest, the Kiraly Turkish Baths near the Castle are around 500 years old! The Art Nouveau Gellert Baths in the south are meant to be beautiful.
We chose the Szechnenyi Baths which is the biggest and probably the most tourist friendly. There are 18 pools of varying size, shape, temperature and mineral content. There are three pools outside. Some of the pools were a bit pongy! The venue was stunning, it was like swimming in a palace.
It was freezing cold with still some snow on the ground when we visited but the outside pools were warm and lush. A wonderful experience.
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