Tasty chimney cake!

Climbing the stairs to the dome at St. Stephen’s Basilica

Some of our favorite moments in Budapest, though, were simply spent walking. We made our own loose sightseeing route and headed toward Liberty Bridge, stopping whenever something caught our attention. The bridges are an experience in themselves, with pedestrian walkways and views in every direction. On the Buda side, the landscape quickly becomes hillier, and we made our way to the entrance of the Gellért Hill Cave Church. I would have loved to explore inside - the church is literally built into the rock of the hill - but we had a fussy toddler and knew when to call it. We settled for a photo outside and kept moving.

In front of Gellért Hill Cave Church

That slower pace also led us to places we hadn't necessarily planned to visit. We wandered into Central Market Hall, where we browsed stalls filled with fresh food, local goods, and souvenirs. Hungary is famous for paprika, so we stocked up on it for ourselves and as gifts. It's probably one of my favorite kinds of souvenirs: local, easy to pack, and something you'll actually use when you get home.

Not every part of our trip was a family activity. The Nutcracker is one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and when I realized it was being performed in Budapest, I was determined to go. Adam happily sat that one out - ballet is very much not his thing - so I went solo. Seeing a familiar Christmas tradition performed in another country, inside such a beautiful opera house, was incredibly special. If this is on your list, book early. Tickets were disappearing quickly as our trip got closer.

We also made sure to give our little guy some time to do something designed entirely for him. One morning, a server at our hotel recommended MiniPolisz, a miniature city where kids can shop in a supermarket, pretend to be a veterinarian, put out fires as a firefighter, and explore different jobs through play. It was incredibly well done, and we spent about two hours letting him take the lead. After days of Christmas markets, churches, and sightseeing, it was a nice reset for all of us.

The next day, we continued our unofficial walking tour, finding more Christmas markets and making our way toward the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. We didn't cross this time, but staying along the Pest side brought us to the Shoes on the Danube memorial. Rows of iron shoes line the riverbank in memory of Jewish victims who were killed there during World War II. We stopped and spent a few moments in silence. It is a simple memorial, but an incredibly powerful one.

From there, the Hungarian Parliament Building was an easy walk, giving us a chance to see up close the same building we'd admired glowing from the river. And once again, simply walking led us to pieces of Budapest's history we hadn't planned around. We came across a statue of Ronald Reagan, honoring his role in the effort to end the Cold War, and the Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation. These weren't places we'd built an itinerary around. They were things we found because we gave ourselves time to wander.

"We came to Budapest for the Christmas markets, but there was so much more to the city than I expected."

MiniPolisz

That's probably what surprised me most about Budapest. I knew very little about Hungary's history or culture before we arrived, and the city gave us so much more than the Christmas markets that initially drew us there. We could spend one moment drinking mulled wine under Christmas lights and the next standing quietly at a memorial or looking out across the Danube.

Budapest was festive, walkable, and full of things we hadn't expected to find. Paired with an easy train ride to Vienna, it made for exactly the kind of trip I love - one where the things that brought you there are only part of what you remember when you leave.