Budapest

Spanning the majestic Danube River, the Széchenyi Chain Bridge stands as an iconic symbol of the city's grandeur and architectural prowess. Completed in 1849, it was the first permanent bridge to connect the Buda and Pest sides of the city. Designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and later modified by Scottish engineer Adam Clark, the bridge's chain-link structure and ornate stone lions guarding its entrances evoke a sense of timeless elegance and pride. The lions guarding the bridge are also connected to the first suicide that happened here, committed by their architect upon the realisation that he had forgotten about the tongues of the animals.

Situated at the end of Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square is one of Budapest's most iconic landmarks. Dominated by the Millennium Monument, it pays homage to Hungary's history and leaders. It is flanked by the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art, and if you continue your way past the wall of sculptures, you'll reach City Park with Vajdahunyad Castle.

The distinct symbol of the Jewish quarter in Budapest, the Great Synagogue is also noted as the largest synagogue in Europe, seating up to 3,000 people. The visit entails a guided tour with a walk in the building and its surrounding garden, where you will also find sculptures of famous Hungarian writers and artists of Jewish origin. There is also a Jewish museum beside the synagogue, not to be confused with the Holocaust Memorial Centre further away on Páva Street.

Conceived by film director Can Togay, Shoes on the Danube Bank is an ironwork memorial erected in 2005 consisting of sixty pairs of shoes, which pays tribute to the thousands of Jewish victims who were shot into the Danube during the Arrow Cross movement in 1944-45. With over 800,000 people expelled or killed, the Hungarian Jewish community is regarded as one of the biggest victims in the dark era of the Holocaust.

The Hungarian State Opera is a neo-Renaissance masterpiece, boasting the third-best acoustics in Europe after the Scala in Milan and the Opera Garnier in Paris. It was designed in 1884 by Miklós Ybl, who also planned St Stephen’s Basilica. Lavish inside and out with a gorgeous fresco by Károly Lotz gleaming in a vast bronze chandelier in the Main Hall, the Opera is home to the Hungarian National Ballet founded the same year.

A fortress built under the Austrian empire and used also by fascist and communist forces, Citadella sits atop the 235-metre high Gellért Hill, together with the Liberty Statue, a bronze lady holding a palm leaf and guarding the city since 1947 (hence was originally intended to celebrate the Soviet liberation from the Nazi forces after WWII).

Housed in a beautiful neoclassical building along what is called the small boulevard of Budapest, this museum houses various permanent and temporary exhibitions on the history of Hungary, starting from the Roman period, when the province of Pannonia stretched far beyond the present borders of the country.

Located in what once was the headquarters of ÁVH, the secret police authority of the communist era, the House of Terror gives a strikingly honest insight into the history of fascism and communism, the two terror regimes Hungary suffered from in the not-so-distant history. It is also a memorial to the victims of these regimes, including those detained, interrogated, tortured, or killed in the building.