Buda and Pest may be within spitting distance of each other across the Danube, but they developed quite independently. Hilly Buda offers the best panoramas of the city: Pest is flat as a prairie.
John Malathronas
Café society —
Pest's vitality shows in its elegant, talk-filled old cafés. In Buda you're more likely to find exclusive spas.
John Malathronas
Spa scene —
The Rudas Baths, in Buda, sometimes shows movies at night.
FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images
Pest traditions —
Pest has the open-air Széchenyi Baths, where you can still find old men playing chess, half-immersed in water.
Hungarian Tourism Ltd
Peerless parliament —
Pest also has the dazzling neo-Gothic Parliament building -- even people who hate politics love it.
ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images
Kids' express —
In the Buda hills you'll find the Children's Railway, staffed entirely by kids. (The adults still do the driving.)
ZSOLT DEMECS/AFP/Getty Images
Hip strip —
Pest shows its bustle best in its top shopping strip, Váci utca.
Hungarian Tourism Ltd
Arias and architecture —
Pest also boasts the Opera House -- where the architecture is as astounding as the arias.
