Ruin Bar Bud-a-Pest

Official Coat of Arms

Per bend sinister, a Parliament building of improbable Gothic excess, over-ordered and oversized, rampant above a rippling Danube. In chief, a steaming thermal bath containing a chess board and a pensive elderly gentleman. Supporters: two ruin-bar flamingos, mismatched armchairs dexter and sinister. Motto in Latin: Quis Hic Fuit Heri Nocte (Who was here last night).

TripAdvisor Review

★★★★☆ 4/5

"Lovely city, but nobody warned me that Buda and Pest are basically two different towns separated by a very photogenic river. I crossed the Chain Bridge four times looking for my hotel and each time I ended up in a different bar. The thermal baths are glorious until you realise you are sharing a lukewarm soup with 400 strangers and a man playing chess in the water. Went to a ruin bar for one drink and left at 4am holding a plastic flamingo I cannot explain."

Property Listing

Stunning period apartment in a historic building with original features, including a courtyard, a spiral staircase and a dramatic ceiling that has simply seen things. Moments from a ruin bar, a thermal bath and a 24-hour kebab shop, with the Danube practically on your doorstep. Some bullet-hole character in the facade is included at no extra cost.

Twinned With

Vienna — They spent centuries sharing an empire and still bicker like siblings over who has the better cake, the grander parliament and the prettier river.

Supporting Evidence

Budapest was only formed in 1873 when the separate cities of Buda, Pest and Obuda merged, and the city has one of the largest thermal water cave systems in the world beneath it, with over a hundred natural springs.