Budapest

Budapest is shaped by the Danube, which divides the hills of Buda from the boulevards of Pest. Thermal baths, coffee houses, Art Nouveau facades, the Parliament and the bridges lit at night give the city a grandeur that is both imperial and unmistakably Central European.

Budapest was formed in 1873 from three towns: Buda and Óbuda on the hilly west bank, Pest on the flat east bank. Buda keeps the Castle District, with the Royal Palace, Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion; Pest holds the Parliament, St Stephen’s Basilica, the State Opera on Andrássy Avenue and the Jewish Quarter around the great Dohány Street Synagogue.

The city sits on more than a hundred thermal springs, and bathing is a civic habit. The Széchenyi baths in City Park, the Ottoman domes of the Rudas and Király and the many hotel spas are used by residents as much as visitors. The coffee houses of the turn of the century, the Great Market Hall and evening cruises past the floodlit riverfront complete the picture.

Spring and early autumn are the most rewarding seasons, with mild weather for walking the embankments and the Castle District. The Budapest Spring Festival fills the concert halls in April; in summer the Sziget festival takes over an island in the Danube, the Hungarian Grand Prix runs at the Hungaroring, and 20 August, St Stephen’s Day, ends with fireworks over the river.

Summer days can be hot, which makes the open-air baths all the more appealing. In winter the city turns inward: the Christmas fairs on Vörösmarty tér and in front of the Basilica, the opera and concert season, and steaming outdoor pools at Széchenyi under cold, clear skies. September brings the grape harvest in the nearby wine regions.

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest, an Art Nouveau palace of 1906, faces the Chain Bridge; The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest and Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest stand on Erzsébet tér; Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, built for an archduchess, overlooks the Elisabeth Bridge; and Anantara New York Palace Budapest houses the celebrated New York Café on the Grand Boulevard.

LVXVRY books all five through Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Marriott STARS & Luminous, Kempinski Club 1897 and Anantara Journeys — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges each programme attaches to the stay. River-view rooms facing the Castle District and the Chain Bridge are the ones to request, particularly for the August fireworks.