49th Tick - Take a ride through Budapest on Tram Number 2

Another one of those cheekily added ticks once I knew I was heading to Budapest.

Budapest’s Tram 2 is said to be one of the most scenic tram rides in the world, running along the Danube with views of Parliament, Buda Castle, and all those iconic bridges. With Cindy tucked up on the couch (lightweight - we may have had a big night), Charley and I set off to take a few pics of the Parliament building at night and catch the famous tram. Bit like the number 28 in Lisbon.

Photos done, we headed to the tram stop and waited for the number 2. In all reality, we could have caught any of the trams that run along the same tracks, but number 2 is the famous one and number 2 if the one we wanted. Along it came and on we hopped. Having seen it packed with tourists during the day, we were pleasantly surprised to find it relatively empty. 

So, what were the highlights and some of our observations:

• Tourists treat it like a budget river cruise, while locals treat it like… well, a tram that happens to be filled with tourists taking 400 photos of Parliament while they are trying to get to work.

• If you miss your stop because you were staring at the Danube (we did on the way back), you’ve had the authentic Tram 2 experience.

• The tram is so scenic that even the ticket inspectors pause for a moment like, “Wow, that is a nice view.” 

• Every time the tram passes Parliament, at least one tourist whispers, “Is that the Parliament?” even though it’s the size of a small continent. Confession time, we did say this the first time we went past Parliament on a river cruise.

• Once you get to the end, the question of now what is invariably uttered. The reply to this seems to be, get back on the next tram and go back to where you came from. Luckily for us the next tram was another number 2. At this point we missed our stop and found ourselves 5 minutes later back on another number 2 tram.

Done. 3 tram trips on the famous number 2 tram. Was it worth it? Yes. The tram itself is nothing special, but the views are amazing and travelling alongside the Danube would never get old. Unless you're the tram driver, they looked straight ahead with a "not another stupid tourist" look.