Megyeri Bridge
Stephen Colbert told his TV audience to vote for him in Hungary's bridge-naming poll — overnight, his vote count multiplied 230 times. Hungary still said no.
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A 1,862-metre cable-stayed crossing on Budapest's M0 ringroad, built for 63 billion forints (~$300M) and opened in 2008. Its five-part structure spans both branches of the Danube and crosses Szentendre Island — and carries the footnote of nearly being named after an American talk-show host.
What to look for
- The main cable-stayed span: 300 metres across the primary Danube channel
- The five distinct sections, including the crossing over Szentendre Island between the two Danube branches
- The name 'Megyeri Híd' — chosen after Hungary overruled an online poll that Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart had won
Carries M0 ringroad traffic; opened September 30, 2008, though the National Transport Authority issued only temporary permits due to disputes with surrounding suburban municipalities.
Megyeri Bridge is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Budapest, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Budapest pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Budapest
- Hungarian Parliament BuildingA political manifesto in stone: Hungary's parliament was built to look like Westminster, on purpose, with 40 kg of gold inside.
- Buda CastleA palace first raised in 1265, severely damaged in the Siege of Budapest during World War II, and rebuilt by a communist government — the scars and the seams are the story.
- Széchenyi Chain BridgeThe bridge that stitched Buda and Pest into one city — designed in Britain, shipped in sections, and opened in 1849 as one of the world's longest spans.
- Heroes' SquareAt the far end of Andrássy Avenue, a monument built in 1896 fixes the Magyar conquest of 896 AD in stone — seven founding chieftains, national leaders, and the plaza where Hungary reburied Imre Nagy in 1989.
- AquincumMarcus Aurelius is believed to have written parts of the Meditations here — on the Roman empire's frontier, not in Rome.
- St. Stephen's BasilicaThe first King of Hungary's mummified right hand sits in a reliquary here — and the dome above you had to be torn down and rebuilt from nothing after it collapsed in 1858.