The east-facing monument worth waking up for

Fisherman's Bastion is on the Buda side, on Castle Hill, facing east over the Danube toward Parliament. This is one of the few major European monuments oriented directly toward the sunrise. From May through September, the low sun comes straight across the river at dawn and hits Parliament's white neo-Gothic facade while you stand in the bastion's turrets. Citadella on Gellért Hill gives the full Budapest panorama from the south — both banks, the Chain Bridge, and Castle Hill in one frame. The Chain Bridge viewed from the riverbanks is best in early evening when western light comes through the spans from the upstream side. At 47°N, golden hour runs around 45 minutes in summer, and the light in June can be extraordinary on the river, which runs roughly north–south here.