Jourduhns Journey

This historic City is a must-visit destination for any traveller. The City is full of culture and historic architecture, leaving an experience that will be hard to forget. I was fortunate to experience Athens for three days on a trip to the home of Zeus, where the experience will always be with me.

Everyone tends to go to Greece but mainly to the Greek islands. I’m not saying you shouldn’t visit them, but you’re missing out on so much more on the mainland.

Places to stay….

When it comes to prices, Athens was surprisingly very cheap. For the two nights, I spent in the capital, my accommodation (Athensred) came to £56. I was astonished by this price as I was only a 15-minute walk from a pantheon. I felt like I hit the jackpot with a double room with a king-size bed for £28 a night in that location. It was like a fancy hostel. The rooms were very private but also gave off a Pod room type of vibe. There was a communal area with sofas, games and vending machines where you could socialise with other guests.

Psyri is a lovely area, too, full of coffee shops and restaurants on every corner. Everyone tends to speak English which was a blessing for me as I found the basics of Greek very hard to grasp. Eating out was very cheap too. An average 2-course meal with a drink or two came to around €14, which compared to London prices is a bargain. The local cuisine is very lamb and fish-based. I don’t eat lamb, so I settled more for the fish. I found a lot of Italian restaurants in the area, so if you are pretty fussy, finding an excellent place to eat won’t be difficult. There was also a wide vegetarian range, with different salad styles.

Travel

If you book at the right time, you can easily find flights under £40. My flights came up to £18, which was on Ryanair. Summertime will always be costly, but just after summer, around September, beginning spring, and around the end of March. I found it to be a very cheap time to book. The main Airport is quite a way out of the City, but the public transport is effortless. I got a train from the Airport to one of the stations in the City centre, a 5-minute walk from my hotel, in around 30 minutes. All the signs are also in English, which is very helpful.

Attractions

Regarding Tourist activities to do in Athens, there’s one place you have to visit, The Acropolis of Athens. This ancient Citadel is home to many significant archaeological remains. Number one is the Parthenon. This Historic building is known worldwide and is featured in so many movies too. The temple, built nearly 2500 years ago, was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. The Propylaea is another site that remains on the site. It was a gate into the City. Finally, another place, The Erechtheio, remains there too. The Theatre of Dionysus was said to have been able to hold up to 25,000 people, so you can imagine how big this site is.

To see all these sites will cost you around €36, and it is a must. After you have visited the site, there are some rocks where people sit where you can watch the sunset, and I must say it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I was up there for around four hours just listening to music and enjoying the view.

Plenty more ancient temples are dotted all over the City and many more museums too. There were too many for me to fit in the three days I had there, but the Plaka district is a must if you are not really into historical sightings. Its regarded as one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Athens. It’s also full of souvenir shops where you can find the perfect gift. It is a central tourist area, so be prepared to see it packed with people, but the atmosphere will make it all worth it.

To top off your evening with a cocktail/mocktail or two, Pysri is the place to be. The area is full of quirky little bars to wind down in. It’s a trendy area for young people, who I mainly see around the bars at night. The neighbourhood is full of street art that is unique too.

Summary…

Athens is a beautiful city where you can take it all in in a matter of a few days. It can be expensive, but if you book at the right time, you can find cheap flights. The City itself is a relatively inexpensive one, though. Eating out did not break the bank, and the tourist attractions were very reasonable too. Accommodation is easy to find cheap deals, and the City is smaller, so you can walk to most destinations.

As I said, everyone I encountered spoke English, which was very helpful, I did attempt to teach myself just some basic phrases, but my pronunciation was all over the place. It’s a city I plan to visit again, so if you can, I would suggest it.

More of my pictures from Athens are on my website http://www.jourduhnvisuals.co.uk
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment in the section below, and I will be sure to get back to you.

Budapest is a vibing city located in Central Europe. In the last few years, it has become one of the budget-friendly cities to visit in mainland Europe. A lot of people will tell you it’s the place to go for cheap alcohol however, there are many more activities and sights to see than just bars and clubs.

I want to paint the perfect picture of how I and one of my travel companions conquered the city of Budapest in under two days (30 hours to be exact). My aim is that hopefully by the time you finish reading this post you will be planning your trip to the heart of Hungary.

Places to stay…

Finding accommodation in Budapest wasn’t that difficult. There were plenty of hotels, hostels and Airbnb places to stay. Location is very important for short city breaks, you don’t want to be far out because then you will be spend more time travelling into the city from the outskirts. As a side note, for solo trips, I tend to look at bed & breakfast rooms or hostels. If you’re travelling with a friend, a hotel and even a hostel might be the better option depending on your budget, hostels can be great for meeting new people and being close to city attractions. Most new hostels offer private rooms options if you want the privacy a hotel offers you & many provide you with complimentry breakfast. For groups of 4 or more, I would highly recommend looking at Airbnb.

Pricing

I found the prices in the Istvanmezo area were very reasonable for a few days. These will vary depending on the season you travel in but it worked out at £16 per night including city tax.

The room I booked came without a private bathroom, but this wasn’t an issue as I was only there for one night also we planned to leave early in the morning. We decided to stay at the Dominik Panzio hotel.

Jourduhns Tip The further out from the city you are the cheaper the price will be if you are travelling on a budget. Our hotel was located about a 10-minute walk from the central station. The further in advance, you book the better too.

Travel

Attractions

There are many places to visit in Budapest. Depending on your time in the city, you may not be able to see them all. But here are my highlight ones. 

• Parliament Building – The largest congress building in the European continent, its gothic architecture is one for the eyes to see. 

• Castle Hill – This was painfully worth it. The sun was beaming down on us and with all our luggage we hiked up the hill, but the view from the top is spectacular. (small tip there is a side road you can walk up instead of the stairs and steep pathway. 

• Buda Castle – At 800 years old it is easily one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen. It gets ten times better at night when it’s lit up.

•  Szechenyi Chain Bridge – This bridge was the first bridge to connect Buda & Pest over the Danube River. 

•  Heroes Square. This Monument was built in the 19th century to celebrate Hungary’s 1000th anniversary since being founded. 

Other places worth seeing if you have the time are: 

• Stephen’s Basilica
• Matthias Church
• Central Market Hill
• Szechenyi Thermal Baths 

Summary

Overall Budapest Is a beautiful city and I can now see why it is one of the most visited in mainland Europe. Two days were enough to see the basics of the city as we only sat down to eat and were on our feet walking until midnight then were up at 6 am the next morning.

It wasn’t an expensive trip either. The flights cost me £13 (with WizzAir) The hotel was £16 for the night. All together food and drinks for the two days came at around £40 and travel while in the city including transfers came up to a total of £7.

That brings a total of £76 for 36 hours in Budapest. That’s cheaper than a train ticket from London to Manchester.

The trip would have even been cheaper had we stayed in a hostel and maybe found somewhere cheaper for it, but overall I would highly recommend Budapest for anyone to visit. It’s got history, easy to get around also the majority of people spoke English and its very cost-effective.

There are more pictures of my trip to Budapest on my Website http://www.jourduhnvisuals.co.uk and my friend who joined me on this trip his instagram handle is @orangetiephotography. You will be able to see his wonderful work there.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment in the section below and I will be sure to get back to you.