In the spring of 2024, I found out I would be spending my freshman semester at an American university abroad in Limerick, Ireland. One of the first conversations I had with my family and friends about my prospective escapades was how accessible traveling in Europe would be from Ireland. What? I replied. How could it be so cheap and easy to travel in Europe? Being from the United States, Europe was somewhat of an enigma from a travel standpoint; for my family and I, it was always so expensive and difficult to get to. So, for me, having mainland Europe at my fingertips was an incredible idea!
Once I committed to my home university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the first things I did, outside of filling out a bunch of paperwork to attend school, was start a massive Google Doc on my computer titled Conquering Europe via Escapades. On it, I listed (what seems like) every notable country in Europe. It is safe to say that I had (and still have) the travel bug.
It is a valid question to ask who might one expect to take all these trips with? Well, reader, I met three of the most amazing girls when I got to Ireland and we have been conquering Europe together since we got here, girls bossing abroad, with only our backpacks and epic Spotify playlists in tow. I would like to use this blog as a platform to outline our very first trip to Budapest, Hungary, hopefully to shed light on what it is like to be gallivanting around Europe as a young woman.
Budapest Bound: Anti Tip Coating Our First Adventure
The prospect of spending the first semester of my freshman year in another country was already incredibly exciting for my friends and me. Having the opportunity to travel more outside of that is such an incredible gift. With this, it is not difficult to believe that when we arrived in our first non-Ireland country during the first weekend of October, we were absolutely ecstatic. What is my life? I kept asking myself (I still continue to ask myself about each country I visit). We began our journey to Budapest after my tutorial ended at 16:00 on Friday evening; from there, we took a Free Now taxi from where our dorms are, Dromroe Village, to the Shannon airport. We made our way to Shannon airport in about 30 minutes for our flight that left at 18:30. Shannon airport was easier than ever to make our way through; security took next to no time, and it was not busy at all. We got a snack once we made our way through security because we would be making our way to Budapest late at night and wouldn’t have time to stop for dinner. I highly recommend the sour cream and onion pretzels and coconut Kind Bars from the store that is first on your right after you get out of the duty-free store after security.
Travel tip #1: If you can avoid it, and you aren’t crunched for time, do not take the taxi from UL to Shannon airport. It cost my friends and I €77, a price we were certainly not expecting to pay, especially since when I booked the taxi, the projected cost had not accounted for traffic that day, so it was loads more expensive than what I thought it would be. It is much easier to just take the bus to the airport. This was our first trip, so we quickly learned from our mistakes!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Impressions: Arriving in the Heart of Hungary (at night!)
We arrived in Hungary, about 30 minutes outside of Budapest, around 21:45, at which point we made our way to the taxi pickup.
Travel Tip #2: Book an AirBNB instead of a hotel or hostel if you are with a group.
One thing that I highly recommend doing when traveling in Europe, especially when you are with a group, is booking an AirBNB. Not only are they, most of the time, cheap, but hosts are an extra way to connect to the city that you are in and have a local to call and ask questions to and have recommendations for things to do in cities. Our host, Rita, went as far as to book us a taxi to the Airbnb and back to the airport when we left a few days later. With this being our first trip outside of Ireland, the extra support from Rita took a lot of stress off myself and my friends during our trip. Having taken more trips after Hungary and stayed in Airbnb’s I can safely say that they have been an excellent way to stay in interesting parts of European cities, and I have always left feeling like I have a very unique scope for a given place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We took a taxi from the airport to the heart of Budapest, where Rita’s Airbnb was. We arrived around 23:30. I will admit, now having been through it, it felt slightly sketchy being dropped off on the side of the road late at night having to let ourselves into a high-rise apartment complex in the center of Budapest. But we made it, and it was an experience for sure; as with all the trips I take, I feel that I have grown so much as an individual because of taking them. I think traveling, having out of the ordinary experiences, and seeing different cultures is incredibly important, especially in the early stages of adulthood. Traveling has given me a new kind of confidence, and for that I am very grateful.
Bathes, Cafés, and Markets: Soaking up the Local Culture
Saturday morning, we woke up at 8:00 and made our way into the Budapest city center. We had breakfast at a cafe and throughout the day saw St. Stephen’s Basilica (and climbed to the very top to see Budapest from above!), the Hungarian Opera House, countless city squares, the Hungarian Parliament Building, ate Chimney Cakes, walked inside the Central Market Hall, rode on a boat down the Danube River, swam in the Széchenyi Thermal Bath, had traditional Hungarian food, and saw the Hungarian Parliament building at night from the Fisherman’s Bastion! We packed a lot into a single day (13.31 miles of stuff to be exact); our trip was essentially one full day since we arrived on Friday night and left on Sunday morning.
Out of all of the things we made a point to do in Budapest during our time there, I can confidently say that if you go to Budapest you must make the trek to the Fisherman’s Bastion at night, sit inside of the window at the tower and watch Budapest and the parliament building at night. It is one of the most incredible things I have had the opportunity to do in my life.
Above is a photo of the incredible view in question, from the Fisherman’s Bastion.
As for the other sights we saw in Budapest, below I have given my impressions and recommendations for each sight in the order I listed above.
- St. Stephen’s Basilica: You must purchase tickets to go inside. My friends and I spent a long time walking around the building trying to figure out where to purchase tickets—turns out, you purchase the tickets across the street. The tickets allow you to walk inside the church and you can purchase a different kind of ticket if you want to go up into the tower which allows you to have a bird’s eye view of Budapest. We did that and I highly recommend it; it gives such an amazing scope for the city that you simply cannot get from simply walking around.
- Hungarian Opera House: You don’t have to pay to walk inside the front area; personally, I was satisfied with just seeing this, and didn’t feel that I had missed anything by not walking fully into the opera house; however, I think if you have the time, going to see a show would be a super cool experience.
- Vörösmarty Square: There are loads of squares and parks in Budapest; however, this square was one of my favorites. The architecture inside of the square is incredible.
- Hungarian Parliament Building: This building is the grandest and most ornate I have seen in my life; it is so beautiful and absolutely enormous. In photos, you cannot tell how big it is but when I saw it, it was incredible! One thing we didn’t get to do was go inside due to a lack of tickets available; but, if I had the chance to do it over again, I would probably book these tickets in advance if I were in Budapest for multiple days and had time to do so. If you don’t have time to do this, you will be very satisfied just seeing it from the outside.
- Chimney Cakes: The only way I can describe this is that it is shaped like an ice-cream cone except it is made of a cinnamon roll kind of dough; I had an apple pie one and it was amazing. My friends got some with ice cream in them, and they also received excellent reviews!
- Central Market Hall: The Central Market Hall is a giant building that houses tons and tons of small vendors that sell everything from sausages to coffee mugs. If you are looking for a souvenir, this is the place to be.
- Boat down Danube River: I highly recommend taking this river cruise down the Danube River. Not only does it give you a break from walking tons during the day, but it allows you to see sights such as the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Parliament Building from the water, which is neat. The company we booked through was Silverline Cruises and we were able to book tickets to the thermal bath and the river cruise all in a bundle, which made it cheaper.
- Széchenyi Thermal Bath: Do this at night! It was so cool to have this to look forward to after a long day of walking and sightseeing. Not only was it cool to see the architecture of the thermal bath, but the spa aspect of it was very relaxing and fun.
- Traditional Hungarian Food: Go to Hungarikum Bisztró. There is nothing else to say about this incredible restaurant; just go, you will see!
Girlbossing in Budapest: Empowering Moments as Young Female Travelers
Reflecting on my travels, it is clear for me to see that traveling to Budapest in October as a young woman with close girlfriends, was a unique experience that brings “girl bossing” to life, where the concept of independence and my sense of adventure were heightened. Budapest’s atmosphere provided the perfect landscape for us to redefine our perspectives on what it meant to travel on our own. For me, this led to my finding joy in my own autonomy and empowered me as not only a traveler, but also simply as a human being.
Through travel, oddly, I have found a distinct power in challenging societal norms. Primarily, I have had the opportunity to challenge the view that young women should not travel alone in foreign countries; by taking on Budapest as three independent women, we confronted these stereotypes and redefined, in my mind, what it meant to be a female traveler in a foreign country. Not only did I feel empowered in the moment, but I have found that once I got back to Ireland, in my day-to-day life, I have gained new skills that have helped me immensely.
If I recommend one thing above all else when it comes to traveling, that is to travel with friends! The trips I have taken this semester with friends have been some of the greatest times of my life. I have bonded in a way that one cannot do just any way, a way that can only be found while doing this kind of traveling. Learning to turn mistakes into funny memories creates an incredible camaraderie that we will take with us back to Ireland, and beyond.
Study Ireland - Stories & Guides from International Students 
Leave a comment