The Best of Budapest, the Pest Side of Budapest

The Best of Budapest, the Pest side, has old gorgeous sightseeing sites. Budapest is always fun; the must-see sightseeing tips include historic sights, places of WWII remembrance, most of all local treats.  The Pest Side has excellent sightseeing, and I will share some other great tips for traveling in Budapest.

Best of the Pest Side of Budapest

Take a ride on the Ferris Wheel to get a new view of Budapest. It costs about $25.00 per person which is the same cost as the London Eye or the Seattle Ferris Wheel. This will give you a high view of the city, and an overview so this is a fun place to start your self-guided tour of The Pest side of Budapest.

Head to the Ferris Wheel

Budapest Ferris Wheel

Parks and Statues Sightseeing Tips

From the Ferris Wheel walk through the parks designed to remember Hungarian heroes. There are lots of statues to the heroes of World War II, The Jewish people, and the leaders of Hungary.

Modern Day Heros

But, one of the weirdest monuments I saw was a tree monument dedicated to Michael Jackson. They love Michael Jackson in Budapest because he came here once and stood in his hotel room window and waved to the public. As a result, this memorial was made and stands, still today.

Budapest, Micheal Jackson Tree Memorial

The Old Market Building Sightseeing Tip

Budapest Old Market Hall is an excellent place to go when it is lunchtime. It’s nice to come here when the market is busy when people are buying lunch or food for their dinner. It is one of the oldest markets in the world and the oldest market in Budapest.

Old Market Building – is a great place where the locals’ shop.

Jewish Quarter Sightseeing Tips

The Budapest Jewish Quarter and the WWII Jewish ghetto walking tour departs at 10:00 am. I started the second day in Budapest with a Jewish Quarter tour. Every day, the tours begin at 10:00. Take the Alternative Tour and the Communist Tour to understand the history of Budapest and what the citizens have endured.

Budapest Jewish Quarter

Budapest Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter Tour ends at an old Jewish home where many Jewish families lived in WWII.  The Jewish population of Budapest was reduced from 200,000 to 70,000 in the ghetto, and about 20,000 housed in diplomatic approved, specially marked homes marked as Jewish homes.  The Jews lived in the Ghetto by a wall. The last section of the wall destroyed in 2006. As many as six families lived in one apartment. Since Jews couldn’t own land, they only lived in small apartments.  The Ghetto was a four-block area. Its possible to walk it by yourself, but, this is worth joining a walking tour to understand it better.

A Jewish Ghetto Apartment

Here is what one of the apartments looks like today. These apartments are now alternative bars, restaurants, and cafes. Take some time, and hang out in one of them. This is an alternative bar and restaurant in the Jewish Quarter. Operation Margarethe, the Nazi-occupation of Budapest happened on March 19, 1944. The ghetto, established on November 17, 1944, was a death sentence. No food, no heat, and no country band because of the Ghetto wall. The occupation lasted until the liberation of Budapest on January 17, 1945.  In only two-month because of the lack of food, and horrific conditions only 70,000 out of 200,000 people survived.

I am giving the exact dates because it’s astounding to me, how many people died who were Jewish or consider undesirable, in just two months.

Budapest Past and Present

Budapest has 20 working synagogues. Hungary allied with the Nazis and became communist after the war. They say Jews have every right today and have intermarried with non-Jews.

Hungary was one of the countries that didn’t want the Syrian refugees (and for that matter all refugees), as they flooded the Budapest train stations in 2015. The European immigration in 2015 was so bad, that when I was traveling then, I changed my plans and went to Bucharest, Romania to see Romania but, instead and learned a lot about the world crisis. Today, there are remnants of immigration fears.

Want to know why I took this trip – here is the reason why and what happened later that year.

My Trip to Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland Changed Me