They say that the three Imperial capitals of Budapest, Prague and Vienna are like three sisters joined in birth, but separated by history. Veronika and I live in Prague, we’ve been to Vienna, and we wanted to see Budapest to test the theory. We took a five-day trip to the Hungarian capital to find out just what it’s like.

From Prague it was easy to jump on the Pannonia express train, which runs overnight to Budapest. The trip was comfortable, the sleep easy, and the ride much more pleasant than a trip to the airport and fussing around with planes. We arrived in the early morning on a beautiful spring day and walked through the city. Breakfast was a fresh-baked croissant from a curb-side bakery.

Budapest was historically two cities: Buda in the west and Pest in the east, and they came together in 1873. We settled into our accommodation, the Boulevard City Pension, on the eighth floor of a newer apartment block, just south of the heart of east-side Pest. From our room we could see the fortress Citadella atop Gellért Hill and catch a glimpse of the Duna, the Danube, rolling by.

Budapest’s Parliament building is situated alongside the Danube.

In brilliant sunshine, we walked through the commercial center of Pest, around Deak Ter (the unremarkable main square) and across the Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain Bridge), with its stone lions and wrought-iron lamps.

At the summit of Castle Hill, which dominates the Buda side of the Duna, we sat in the Halászbástya (Fisherman’s Bastion) and drank in the view over the twin cities.

The air was biting, but the sun was bright and, across the river, the white spires of the Parliament building gleamed. Strolling off the back of the hill brought us to the transport hub at Moskva Ter (Moscow Square), where we grabbed a tram bound for Margaret Island.

The island is a pleasant park, with statues and ruins cloaked by shady trees. We strolled through the 13th century ruins of a Franciscan church and a Dominican convent, and along the river where a coxswain in a scull bawled instructions at his rowers.

From the northern end of the island we caught the No. 1 tram, looping east through the suburbs to the south of Pest, the river and our pension. That night we dined at Pascal Restaurant & Cafe, which served excellent, but mouth-puckeringly salty food.

I had a traditional Hungarian dish of pork in a mustard sauce with bacon, and Veronika had chicken with Parmesan mashed potatoes, but both dishes were so salty that we still wince at the memory. Eastern Europe has yet to embrace the low-sodium diet of the West, and you may often find the food more salty than you are used to.

We started the next day with a visit to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths. Budapest has long been known for its baths, and people still come to “take the waters” here. The Széchenyi is a good choice because it is in the open air and, if you can brave the chilly spring air, you can settle back in the 100° F (38° C) water and enjoy the sensation of steam rising from your head.