Budapest surprised me with its beautiful architecture, great public transportation, welcoming people and great service. Budapest is split into ‘Buda’ and ‘Pest’ by the Danube river. It has around 80 geothermal springs, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building. We followed Rick Steves’ walking tours to explore the city on both sides of the river.

There is no shortage of statues in the city.

We managed to take a dip in the pools of Szechenyi thermal baths. There are 15 pools with various temperatures, saunas and steam rooms. Three pools are outdoors, which is an interesting experience in late fall when it’s low 30’s outside and you have to run from one pool to another in your wet swimsuit. It gets pretty crowded in the evening so one tip to save some time, bring your own towel. We waited for a good 30 min to rent a towel.