Insight Guides Pocket Budapest by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Hungary
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2017-12-13T05:00:00+00:00

Margaret Island

Walk onto Margaret Island • [map] (Margitsziget) from the tram stop on Margaret Bridge, and you’ll be greeted by the centenary monument and fountain by István Kiss, unveiled in 1972 for the centenary of the union of Buda and Pest. Visitors enjoy the thermal facilities and treatments offered at two hotels on the island; Budapestis also come to walk, bike, play tennis and eat picnics, and, on sunny afternoons, enjoy the enormous outdoor Palatinus Baths complex, with thermal pools and a wave pool (Palatinus Strandfürdő; www.palatinusstrand.hu; daily 8am–8pm), expanded in 2017. A beautiful rose garden blooms in front of the baths and nearby is an open-air stage.

Margaret Island is 2km (1.25 miles) long and only a few hundred metres/yards at the widest point. Many of its 10,000 trees are now more than a century old, and large areas of the island have been landscaped. To preserve the island’s peace and quiet, cars are prohibited, which comes as a pleasant relief if you are looking for a tranquil break from the city.

Alongside a landmark octagonal water tower (Víztorony; http://viztorony.com; June–Sept daily 9am–midnight, Oct–May Tue–Thu and Sun 10am–5pm, Fri until 9pm, Sat until 10pm), which offers a splendid view of the island, is an open-air theatre, where concerts, opera and ballet performances are presented in the summer. Nearby are the ruins of a 13th-century Dominican Convent founded by King Béla IV. The king enrolled his 11-year-old daughter, Margit, at the convent in fulfilment of a vow he made if he survived the Mongol invasion. Princess (later St) Margit remained on the island for the rest of her life, and a marble plaque marks her burial place.

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