Traveleriences
The Hungarian Parliament Building on the bank of the Danube in Budapest

Budapest, Hungary

Ideal: 3–4 daysBest: Apr–Jun, Sep–OctPrice: Moderate
OverviewSeeEatHidden gemsDrinkAreasStayPracticalHistoryNearby

In 60 seconds

Budapest in 60 seconds

Budapest is two cities and a river: hilly, historic Buda and flat, busy Pest, joined by bridges that are reason enough to visit. Bathe in the thermal baths, walk the Castle District early, and spend the evenings in Pest, where the old Jewish Quarter's derelict courtyards became the ruin bars. Trams along the Pest embankment and the Metro make it easy to get about; walk a bridge at dusk, when the Parliament lights up. Book the larger baths online on summer weekends, and leave time for a long lunch in a traditional étterem or at the Great Market Hall. It is grander and better value than most capitals. Three days is a good first visit; four adds the Danube Bend.

Best for

  • Architecture
  • History
  • Nightlife
  • Budget

Known for

  • Thermal baths
  • Ruin bars
  • The Danube embankment

Skip if

You want a quiet weekend. The party district is loud, and stag groups are a feature on Friday and Saturday nights.

Your match

Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Budapest fits them. Choose interests

See

Must experience

The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.

Hungarian Parliament

Moderate

Neo-Gothic parliament · Holy Crown

Guided tours only, and they sell out. The building is best of all from across the river at dusk.

LipótvárosBook aheadTour

Széchenyi Thermal Bath

Moderate

Neo-Baroque bath · Outdoor pools

Steaming outdoor pools in a yellow palace. Go on a winter evening for the full effect.

City ParkEveningYear-round

Buda Castle & the Castle District

Palace, Matthias Church, Fishermen's Bastion

Walk up rather than queue for the funicular, and see the Bastion before ten.

VárnegyedEarlyView

Eat

Where to eat

A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?

Local

Where to eat the food this city is actually known for.

Menza

Moderate

Hungarian classics · Retro canteen

Goulash, stuffed cabbage and schnitzel done well, in a knowing take on a 1970s canteen.

TerézvárosGoulash

Rosenstein

Moderate

Hungarian-Jewish · Family-run

Goose, cholent and Hungarian classics from a family restaurant near Keleti station, opened in 1996.

JózsefvárosBook aheadTraditional

Kispiac

Moderate

Market bistro

A tiny bistro beside the Hold utca market hall, cooking meat-heavy Hungarian dishes from what the market has.

LipótvárosBook aheadTiny

Casual

No booking, no ceremony, reliably good.

Great Market Hall

Inexpensive

Market hall · Lángos upstairs

Paprika and salami downstairs, fried lángos with sour cream upstairs. Go on a weekday morning.

BelvárosCheapMorning

Bors GasztroBár

Inexpensive

Soups & sandwiches

A Kazinczy utca hatch with inventive soups and toasted sandwiches, chalked up daily.

ErzsébetvárosQueueQuick

Karaván

Inexpensive

Street food court

The city's first street-food court, beside Szimpla Kert, with food trucks from lángos to goulash.

ErzsébetvárosFood trucksLate

Special occasion

Worth planning the evening around.

Borkonyha Winekitchen

Expensive

Modern Hungarian · Wine by the glass

Starred, informal and generous with Hungarian wine by the glass. The Tokaji is the point.

LipótvárosBook aheadWine

Stand

Very expensive

Modern Hungarian · Two stars

Tamás Széll and Szabina Szulló's two-star take on Hungarian cooking, behind a glass-fronted kitchen.

TerézvárosBook aheadTasting menu

Babel

Very expensive

Transylvanian-inspired tasting menu

István Veres's Michelin-starred menus, drawn from his Transylvanian childhood, in a twelve-table room near the river.

BelvárosBook aheadTasting menu

Coffee & fika

Mornings, and the slow hour between things.

Café Gerbeaud

Moderate

Confectionery · Since 1858

The grand old confectioner on Vörösmarty tér. Come for the cake and the room, not the coffee.

BelvárosCakeClassic

Espresso Embassy

Inexpensive

Specialty coffee

A vaulted coffee bar near the Basilica, one of the city's specialty pioneers since 2013.

LipótvárosFilterVaulted

Beyond the obvious

Hidden gems

Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.

Memento Park

Moderate

Communist-era statue park

Lenin, Marx and the heroic workers, moved out of the city in 1991. Strange, sobering and worth the trip.

District XXIIHalf dayHistory

Margaret Island

Park island in the Danube

A car-free island of gardens, ruins and a running track between Buda and Pest.

MargitszigetFreeRunning

Hospital in the Rock

Moderate

Wartime hospital & bunker in the caves

A Second World War hospital and Cold War nuclear bunker in the caves beneath Buda Castle. Entry is by guided tour.

Castle DistrictHistoryUnderground

After dark

Bars & nightlife

Szimpla Kert

Inexpensive

The original ruin bar

The derelict apartment block that started the ruin-bar scene. Go early in the evening, before it fills.

ErzsébetvárosBusyLate

Doblo

Moderate

Hungarian wine bar · Live jazz

Brick vaults, a long bar and two dozen Hungarian wines by the glass in the old Jewish Quarter.

ErzsébetvárosMusicWine

Kadarka

Moderate

Hungarian wine bar

Over a hundred Hungarian wines by the glass, with tasting pours, in the middle of the party quarter.

ErzsébetvárosTastingsWine

Orientation

Neighbourhoods

How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.

Jewish Quarter (District VII)

Synagogues, courtyards, ruin bars

The Dohány Street Synagogue by day and the courtyard bars by night.

Újlipótváros

Bauhaus blocks, cafés, residents

Interwar Bauhaus apartment blocks and neighbourhood cafés near Margaret Island.

Óbuda

Roman ruins, old Buda

North Buda's old town, with Roman Aquincum's ruins and small squares away from the centre.

Stay

Where to stay

Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.

Belváros-Lipótváros (District V)

Expensive

Between the Parliament and the bridges

The riverfront, the basilica and the bridges on foot. Quiet at night.

CentralWalkable

Erzsébetváros (District VII)

Moderate

The nightlife district

Right in the action, which is the point and the problem. Ask for a courtyard room.

NightlifeNoise

Castle District

Expensive

On Buda's hill

Cobbled streets around Buda Castle, quiet once the day visitors leave.

QuietView

Practical

Know before you go

Getting in
An airport bus links Ferenc Liszt International Airport to the city; Keleti and Nyugati are the main stations.
Getting around
Metro, trams and buses cover the city. Tram 2 along the Pest embankment is a sightseeing route in itself.
Money
Hungarian forint, not the euro. Pay in forint if a card machine offers a choice of currency.
Baths
Bring flip-flops and a towel, or rent them. Weekday mornings are the quietest.

Context

History in 5 minutes

Enough to make what you are looking at legible.

  1. 1873

    Buda, Óbuda and Pest are united into one city, Budapest.

  2. 1896

    The millennium of the Hungarian state is celebrated with the metro, Heroes' Square and much of the grand city.

  3. 1956

    The Hungarian Revolution against Soviet rule is crushed after twelve days.

Further out

Nearby escapes

Worth a day if you have one to spare.

Szentendre

Riverside artists' town

Baroque lanes, Serbian Orthodox churches and galleries on the Danube, an easy half day out.

By HÉV suburban railwayArtEasy

Visegrád & the Danube Bend

Royal palace · Citadel view

The river turns south below a hilltop citadel. The view down the Bend is the reason to go.

By train, bus or summer boatFull dayView

Lake Balaton

Central Europe's largest lake

Swimming, wine and the Tihany peninsula on the lake Hungarians call their sea.

By trainLakeSummer

Go further

Routes through Budapest

Multi-city trips that stop here, with the transport between them.