Flying to Budapest via Istanbul 2026. First impressions. New York Café and the Ervin Szabo Library.
This is the first film about our trip to Budapest. We hadn't been to Hungary yet. We planned and flew to winter Europe right after the 2026 New Year's holidays, via Istanbul.
This time, we took connecting flights with an hour's gap. We took a bit of a risk. We were a bit nervous, as the flight from Moscow was delayed by half an hour. In Istanbul, we ran around the airport, but we made it everywhere.
In Budapest, we were planning to leave the airport by taxi from Booking – a bonus for booking a hotel. But there was a huge crowd of people arriving at passport control. And the border guards there aren't exactly fast. The taxi driver couldn't wait more than an hour, so we took the Aeroexpress. The stop and ticket machine are very conveniently located. Right outside the building. You can't miss them. A ticket costs 2,500 Hungarian forints. The bus runs every 4-6 minutes and gets you to the city center in just half an hour.
We booked a room at the Queens Court Hotel for the entire stay. It was a two-bedroom apartment with decent service: water, coffee/tea, and dishwasher tablets were replenished daily. A welcome bottle of wine was on the table upon arrival. And on the ground floor, there's a sauna and pools with water of varying temperatures. It was nice to warm up in the evening after a day in the cold.
The first morning, we went to the famous Café New York. It's considered one of the most beautiful cafes in the world. And rightfully so. The interior is exquisite, with live music. It's pompous and expensive. We were lucky to barely have to wait in line. The tables are so densely packed that it's difficult to walk between them. And you want to walk, as most people come there
not to eat, but to take photos.
Next stop was the Erwin Szabo City Library with its fourth, historic floor. It's hard to describe. You have to see it. Students sit, read, and write in the rooms of the former count's palace. Tourists rustle past them like silent shadows, their mouths open.
A tourist ticket to the library costs 2,000 forints. And this is something worth spending money on. You'll likely never find a library like this anywhere else.
The next episodes will feature churches, the opera house, the Parliament, and other incomparable beauties of the city on the Danube. Don't miss it!
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Music from the VK Music music bank.
Hotel in Budapest: Queens Court Hotel