A pedestrian route called ‘Buda Walking Path (BWP) has been piloted in July and August 2019 as part of the Cities-4-People project in Budapest. It is inspired to a forest hiking trail, where one can follow the blue marks on trees to move from one station to another. In Budapest’s case, specific signs direct citizens along the route. If you want to have fun with your friends or family, children included, the best way is to go out and enjoy an offline outdoor walking experience. If you are not so daring or like to be well prepared, you can also study the walking path map available online.
The walking path along the Danube river stretches between Elvis Presley tér and the Elek Apó kútja in Buda. It guides you to and through green spaces that you may not otherwise encounter, but are worth visiting. It is 5 km long, counts 10 stations and can be easily finished in about 2 hours. Each station introduces ‘hidden secrets’ to visitors, some of which are even unknown to most locals. Additionally, each stations hides quiz games, which function as an incentive for people to walk the path and engage with it. The QR codes are operated by the QuizNight team.
One of the aims of the path is to promote active city walking in an enjoyable manner. For some, walking is considered a time-consuming activity with little attractiveness. Its multiple benefits are often disregarded. With this pilot, the Cities-4-People Budapest team hopes to encourage people to pursue an active lifestyle, which can help them relieve daily stress, be healthier, use public spaces, and (re)discover Budapest on foot.
We all tend to forget, in our daily routine, that we live in beautiful cities and we do not pay attention to the beauties of our surroundings when outdoors. Furthermore, the community feedback on mobility challenges in Budapest has suggested that the liveability of the city should be improved. At the same time, the Szabihíd, which is slowly becoming a tradition during summer time in Budapest, shows that public spaces along the Danube river are quickly re-appropriated by citizens. Therefore, the aim of the BWP is also to create a zero-emission public space in the middle of the city near the Danube river and offer locals and tourists a new recreational space.
For more information (available in Hungarian), please visit: C4P Budai sétaösvény
A video about the Buda walking path is available at: https://youtu.be/SzHHJEPflVM
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