( CNN ) -- `` Budapest '' rolls off the tongue pretty easily , and the Hungarian capital itself feels as if it 's been around for a long time . But Budapest is a relatively recent construct -- the result of an 1873 merger between two distinct cities : Buda on the western bank of the Danube and Pest on the bank opposite . The result , Budapest , sounds so much more natural than other twin cities -- Minneapolis/St . Paul or Dallas/Fort Worth -- it 's difficult to imagine that the alternative `` Pestbuda '' was floated seriously at the time . Although they 've been populated for centuries , Pest and Buda have developed so separately that the first bridge spanning the Danube , the imposing Chain Bridge , was n't built until 1849 . Their distinctiveness continues to this day . View from the hills . Built on a series of hills , Buda is the site of a grand Hapsburg palace and has a detached , imperial air of settled wealth . In contrast , populous Pest -- as flat as a prairie -- is busy , buzzing and bourgeois , with an assortment of bars , cafés and gourmet restaurants . Buda offers sweeping panoramas . Most visitors are content with the view across to Pest from the Fisherman 's Bastion on Castle Hill and ignore the less accessible Gellért Hill just to the south . More : 11 things to know before visiting Hungary . Yet here the ramparts of the old Citadella fortress ( Citadella sétány 1 ; +36 1 279-1963 ; free entry ) provide equally stunning vistas over the Danube . It 's in the hiking network of the Buda Hills , where city residents come to picnic and ramble through the woods . During weekdays , you can walk for hours without seeing another human being . Kids ' railway . Hills hide the Children 's Railway ( Szechenyi-hegyi Gyermekvasut ; +36 1 397 5394 ; $ 5.40 adult , $ 2.70 child ; closed Monday ) a narrow-gauge line operated entirely by 10-to-14 year olds as ticket sellers , announcers and conductors -- only the drivers are adults . The line runs for 45 minutes through 11 kilometers of forest landscape with seven stops in-between . When night falls , Buda goes to sleep and Pest wakes up . Whether you prefer the opulence of the Opera House , one of Europe 's finest , or the conviviality of the city 's legendary ruin pubs , you want to be on the Pest side of the river after dark . Pest has been a hotbed of Hungarian national pride to counter the Austrian Hapsburg court reigning from Castle Hill . Buda may have the palace , but Pest houses the Hungarian parliament ( 1-3 Kossuth tér ; +36 1 441 4000 ; daily tours in English April-October , $ 7.80 EU citizens , $ 3.90 others ) , a dazzling neo-Gothic building whose superlative interior is more than a match for its exterior . Spa wars . Pest is as practical and business-oriented as Buda is aloof and superior . Buda has thermal spas , such as the Gellért or Rudas Baths , built by the old ruling elites . Pest has an open-air people 's pool : the neo-baroque Széchenyi Baths complex where you can still find old men playing chess , half immersed in the water . ( See Spasbudapest.com for complete spa information . ) Pest 's bustle is best reflected in its most well-known shopping artery : Váci utca . It suffered during the Communist era but the street has regained its ritzy reputation . More : 8 must-see Budapest buildings . Fittingly , Buda has the Wolf 's Meadow cemetery , where famous Hungarians such as classical composer Béla Bartók and conductor Georg Solti are buried in extravagant tombs . Pest , on the other hand , has the vitality and life force associated with the fiery Magyar temperament -- nowhere more evident than in the former city 's culinary culture . Café cultured . In Vörösmarty square you can find one of Europe 's monuments to confectionary brilliance : the café founded by Emil Gerbeaud ( Café Gerbeaud , 7-8 Vörösmarty tér , +36 1 429 9000 ) in 1885 , complete with over-elaborate ceilings and chandeliers . Not far away , the renovated art nouveau decor of the Gerlóczy Café ( Gerlóczy u . 1 ; +36 1 501 4000 ) gives traditional Hungarian dishes a modern makeover . Further out , at the edges of the seventh district , the fin-de-siècle elegance of New York Café ( part of the Hotel Boscolo Budapest ; 9-11 Erzsébet körút , +36 1 886 6167 ) has to be seen to be believed . Some tourists do just that -- constantly snapping diners from the gallery above . `` Visit Buda but stay in Pest '' is the advice every Budapest visitor is given . But in fact the once-separate cities have such distinct characters you should spend as much time exploring each . It 's the only way to do them justice . CNN Travel 's series often carry sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile . However , CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports . Read the policy .
Separated by the Danube , Pest and Vörösmarty became 1 279 city in 1849 . Széchenyi Baths was almost called Meadow has great views ; Pest is flat but buzzing . Even the thermal spas on each side have a different vibe .