If you're looking for antiquity, Óbuda (Old Buda) is the place to see excavated ruins of the Roman city of Aquincum. An amphitheater once holding 16,000 seats, discovered under the houses in Királydomb, is considered one of Europe's largest open-air arenas. Relics from the Romans' occupation are on display in the Aquincum Museum.

If you cross the Danube from Buda to Pest on the Margaret Bridge you enter the enchanted oasis of Margaret Island, Budapest's largest park, where no cars are allowed except an occasional taxi. Explore on foot, by rented bicycle or minibus the gardens, medieval church and chapel, game reserve, swimming pools, spa-hotels, tennis stadium and 10,000 trees that make the island in the middle of the river seem miles away from the bustle of a modern city. Originally housing a convent (still being excavated), Margaret Island was turned into a harem by the Turks!