For the best view of Castle Hill and the city, walk up St Thomas Hill to the east. The most obvious quick escape from Budapest is Szentendre, a settlement of 20,000 people just 20 kilometres north of the city. Szentendre, long an artists' colony, has also become a major tourist destination - and it shows. Any place with a Marzipan Museum is obviously expecting tourists. Crafts and overpriced folklore are sold in hundreds of shops and outdoor stalls along the cobblestone streets.
Galleries stock everything from unique artworks to 'artistically designed' dresses and plates.
But don't let the tourist tack put you off. Serbian refugees reached Szentendre centuries before Hungarian artists did, leaving a handful of Orthodox churches, some still in operation. Follow the occasional wafts of incense on a Sunday morning and you'll get a better impression of the town and its history than most galleries will give you. The first wave of Serbian refugees moved here after the Turks won the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, building small wooden churches. The Turks then invaded Hungary.