Guide to the town of Szentendre near Budapest

We stayed at the Crown Plaza Hotel in downtown Budapest. To avoid morning traffic, we walked for over 20 minutes to the Margit hid, budar hidfö train station (search on Google Maps), bought tickets to Szentendre, and took the H5 line for 15 stops to the terminal station. Note: Tourists need to buy 2 tickets, one for a single trip within Budapest and another for the 15 km H5 extension line (450 forints). Remember to punch your single trip ticket at the small machine near the train door (insert the ticket into the black slot and pull down, three holes indicate a successful punch). If you have a day pass, you only need to buy an extension ticket. Ticket inspections in Budapest are frequent, especially for tourists, so make sure not to under-purchase, as fines can exceed 10,000 forints. Upon reaching Szentendre, walk straight out of the train station and you'll see an underpass. Go through it and come up the other side to enter the town. The town is small and casually strolling around is quite picturesque, especially around the central square. Make sure to visit on a day with blue skies and white clouds for beautiful photos without any filters. There are some restaurants near the central square, and you can also choose outdoor dining by the lake, which is very relaxing. We found a highly-rated restaurant where we had to wait for about half an hour without a reservation on a weekday. For the return trip, take the H5 line towards Batthyany ter and get off at the second-to-last stop, Margit hid, budar hidfö, to return the same way. Szentendre is the closest town to Budapest and is beautiful and quiet. Its pronunciation is similar to the Chinese 'Shan Dan Dan', hence it is also known as 'Shan Dan Dan Town'. Jolin Tsai filmed the music video for 'Madrid Wonders' here. Be sure to choose good weather for your visit, as the town looks stunning through the camera lens, with no need for filters.