Hungary - Martijn.be

Along the Limes

Published on 21 October 2025

Starting the day with a visit to the ruins of Aquincum, the Roman border settlement and origin of Budapest, and ending it on the Ister train, which is the Latin name for the Danube, part of the northern border of the Roman empire. It was a very Roman border themed day!

Check-out day usually means breakfast in the hotel, to save precious packing time.

Once that was done, I discovered the suburban rail network to get to Aquincumi Múzeum & Archaeological Park. Apparently there a two hour trail that takes you to even more remains, but I stuck to the main park and the nearby amphitheater this time. The park could use some TLC, but it was a nice discovery nevertheless.

Back in the centre of Budapest, I resumed my mission: eat Hungarian specialties! there is one that I found out about when I first planned my trip in 2020, and it sounded so tasty, I actually looked up a recipe and I’ve made it myself quite often: rakott krumpli. So yeah, I actually never tasted the original, until today! And GRUMPY didn’t just serve that dish, but also sweet Túrógombóc for desert.

After that late lunch I had just enough time to visit Tamp & Pull, one of the oldest specialty coffee bars in Budapest, and Constellation, a taproom and restaurant for both Gravity—whose brewery I visited on the second day—and Brew Your Mind.

By then it was really time to get ready for my train. Since every train trip is better with a nice beer, I stopped by at Beerselection to get one, but it had slipped my mind that this beer shop had some beers on draught as well. It would have been rude to not try some, wouldn’t it?

After picking up my bag at the hotel, I headed to the Budapest Keleti business lounge, to charge my phone a bit—you never know if the power on the train is working—and eat a bit, although I hadn’t quite digested my large, late lunch yet.

Time to find out if I have better luck with this Romanian sleeper than I had with my Hungarian one! Turns out I had: the one and only sleeper car was present and functional—running water and electricity present—and I think this is the roomiest room I ever had on a train.

On my way to Bucureşti Nord!

The IC/IRN 473 Ister from Budapest Keleti to Bucureşti Nord

Budapest by Day

Budapest by Day

Published on 20 October 2025

After catching up on some sleep, it was time to properly discover Budapest: visit a museum, do some sightseeing, and finally eat something local!

First things first: breakfast and coffee at the London Coffee Society. The Hangover 2. 0—think breakfast burrito meets shakshuka—certainly was enough to get me started!

And that start involved some climbing, all the way up to the castle, to visit the Budapest History Museum.

Coffee at the heavily goat themed Zërgë, and then some proper sightseeing, in daylight, this time.

Then it was finally time to eat something typically Hungarian: lángos. I headed to the Hunyadi Square market hall, because there is supposed to be a food stand there serving pretty authentic lángos, according to some Hungarian vloggers, but when I got there, it was closed due to renovation works! Luckily—while having a coffee at Cube Coffee Bar—my new Budapest friend suggested an alternative, so thanks to her I was able to tick off one of my Hungarian food boxes at Gozsdu Lángos Bizstro.

With this greasy snack in my stomach, I was ready for some beer. Of course I drank (at) Onlygoodbeer, or Csak a Jó Sör as it’s called in Hungarian.

Beer Point turned out to be a weird mix of craft and macro beer, so I didn’t stay for long. HOPAHOLIC on the other hand had a great selection, and as it turned out, I had stumbled upon a tap takeover by Metalhead, a Bulgarian brewery.

Then I was ready to tick of another box on my Hungarian food bingo, but the restaurant I picked turned out to be a daytime affair, and already closed at five! So instead, I had a quesadilla dinner—and beer of course—at Beer Brothers.

The last stops of the evening were the Gravity Brewing brewery and taproom—an awesome space, with a great view on the shiny brewing installation—and MONYO Tap House.

FIRST time in Budapest!

FIRST time in Budapest!

Published on 19 October 2025

Five years after I originally planned my trip, I was finally there: Budapest! Run with the local hashers, drink the local beers, enjoy the local delicacies: lots of fun ahead!

Everything had to wait a little bit, though, because my rather dusty sleeper train arrived over twenty minutes late. On top of that, due to my accommodation downgrade, I hadn’t had the opportunity to change into my running kilt, so I had to sort that out first. Once that was taken care of, and I dropped off my bag at my hotel, it was time for coffee and breakfast, at Dorado.

Arrival of the Kálmán Imre sleeper train in Budapest Keleti

From there I headed to Nyugati railway station, since the hash run would start in Piliscsaba , a 38 minutes ride from the centre.

Over there, I joined the Budapest H3 for their Trail 1853 – The Jenga Farewell Run! The Jenga part referred to a recently torn down wooden viewpoint tower, on top of a hill. To get there, the hare picked the steepest way up, so even though we were only two kilometres from the start, the beer stop there was very welcome!

My train to the run ready to leave Budapest Nyugati train station

After the run I could finally check into my ibis Budapest City hotel for a much needed shower and a change.

As the restaurant I picked for dinner turned out to be closed, I had something to eat with my beers at FIRST Craft Beer. While tasty, it was not particularly Hungarian, something I’ll have to make up for tomorrow.

Then it was finally time for a visit to Mad Scientist’s Madhouse. Finally, because it was one of the first breweries on my to-visit list, although this actually isn’t the same taproom they had back then.

Last call was at the Hops Beer Bar: small—just seven beers on tap—but cosy.

Good beers, good food, good company, and good times: after a rocky start, a perfect end of my first day in Budapest!

?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶ & Berlin Trip

Published on 23 August 2020

It’s—finally and hopefully—almost time to take another trip!

The recent reinstatement of the direct sleeper train from Brussels to Wien was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and a very convenient—and safe—way to get to Budapest, the main destination of this trip. Of course I will also spend some time in Wien itself, and I’ll be taking the long route back, spending a two more nights in Berlin, and a couple of hours in Hamburg.

Not surprisingly, this trip I’ll be collecting a couple of new stamps in my BrewDog Beer Visa again—at BrewDog Budapest and BrewDog St. Pauli—but this time the first stamp in my Mikkeller Passport as well. Of course, wherever I go, I’ll try to visit some local breweries and beer bars, and enjoy the the local specialities as much as I can!

Tag: Hungary

Along the Limes

Budapest by Day

FIRST time in Budapest!

?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶ & Berlin Trip