Budapest splits along the Danube into two very different cities — Buda’s castle hill and Pest’s grand boulevards and thermal bathhouses — but Hungary’s story runs deeper than its capital. Beneath the Habsburg facades is a country of paprika markets, thermal spa culture going back to Roman times, and a resilience that shaped Central Europe through empire, war, and reinvention. Frankenbridge brings travelers into Hungary through local historians and neighbourhood hosts, not a coach window.