Budapest was built over hot water. The rest is a river and a hill.
Which bath to pick when it is four degrees out. What an hour on the Danube really costs. Reviews of every tour you can book in Budapest.
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Six kinds of Budapest day, and the best of each.
Thermal water, an hour on the Danube, the castle quarter on foot, a bar in a condemned courtyard, a cellar of Hungarian wine, strings under a basilica dome. Pick the shape of the day and the rest sorts itself.
The cheapest good hour in Budapest happens on the water.
Sightseeing runs that take an hour, dinner boats with a band, and the late sailings that go out once the bridges are lit. Three kinds of evening on the river, and what it costs to board each one.
Everyone does the river, the baths and the hill. Usually in that order.
The full Budapest list →The days out more travellers take than anything else in the city, and what each one gets you for the money.
1
City Highlights Cruise with Welcome Drink
See Budapest from the Danube on a one-hour cruise with a welcome drink, open-air views, glowing landmarks, and excellent value.
From · $14
Read our review →
2
Unlimited Prosecco, Beer and Aperol Spritz Cruise
from $28
3
Széchenyi Spa Day Ticket with Optional Upgrades
from $51
4
Nighttime or Daytime Sightseeing Cruise
from $14
5
1-Hour Evening Sightseeing Cruise with Drink
from $28
6
Budapest Danube Cruise and Dinner Options, Live Music and Dance
from $54
7
Historic Cruise with Welcome Drink
from $12
8
St. Stephen’s Basilica Entry with Terrace Option
from $9
Budapest weather is an argument for getting into the water.
From November the city goes cold and flat and the light gives up by four. This is the season the baths were built for. Steam coming off an outdoor pool at 38 degrees, snow sitting on the stone edge, and an afternoon that asks nothing of the sky.
The hill is the old city. Pest is where you sleep.
Cross the Chain Bridge and climb. The castle quarter, Matthias Church under its patterned Zsolnay roof, and the Bastion terraces that everyone photographs Pest from. Most of it is free to walk. The parts that are not run on timed tickets.
- 1Buda Castle Cave Tourfrom $19
- 2Buda Castle District Vampires and Myths Night Tourfrom $23
- 3Buda Castle Walk with Saint Stephen’s Hallfrom $29
What a day out in Budapest actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Budapest is cheap for what it is: a good many of the best days here come in under the price of lunch at home.
Bath tickets, the hour on the river, castle-hill walks and the ruin-bar crawls.
Full days out: the Danube Bend, Szentendre, the wine country, dinner boats with a band.
Private guides, the long countryside days and the once-a-trip splurges.
Hungarian food is heavier, better and cheaper than you were told.
Goulash that turns out to be a soup. Sweet paprika by the spoonful. Tokaji poured at the end rather than the start. Book the market hall early, the cellar tasting for late afternoon.
Three things that only happen in Budapest.
Thermal pools exist in plenty of places. A bar built inside a condemned tenement, a chess game played in 38-degree water, and a parliament you queue to see from the inside do not.
The Ruin Bars
In the early 2000s somebody took a lease on a derelict courtyard building in the old Jewish quarter, filled it with junk-shop furniture and opened a bar. Szimpla Kert is still there and a dozen others followed it into the same kind of condemned tenement. The formula has not changed: mismatched chairs, a courtyard open to the sky, and rooms that keep going further back than you expect.
- 1Unlimited Prosecco, Beer and Aperol Spritz Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 25,310 reviews
- 2Unlimited Prosecco, Beer & Aperol Spritz Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,371 reviews
- 3Bar Crawl with a Local Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 1,112 reviews
Chess in the Széchenyi
The bath sits in the city park behind a neo-baroque facade the colour of egg yolk, and the famous part of it is outdoors. Three big pools, one of them at 38 degrees, open in every weather. The chessboards float on trays and the players stay in until the game is settled, which in February means steam thick enough to lose the far end of the pool in.
- 1Széchenyi Spa Day Ticket with Optional Upgrades★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 23,911 reviews
- 2Full-Day Gellért Spa Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 3,340 reviews
- 3Mandala Day Spa & Luxury Pool Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,604 reviews
Inside the Parliament
From the river it is the photograph everybody takes. The inside is the part that needs planning: entry is by timed ticket with a guide, in a set language, and the slots go early in summer. What you get is the grand staircase, the dome hall with the crown under glass, and a corridor of numbered holders where members parked their cigars during a vote.
- 1Parliament Building Entry Ticket and Audio Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,844 reviews
- 2Guided Tour of the Parliament Building in Spanish★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,240 reviews
- 3Parliament Tour in Budapest with Audio Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 814 reviews
Four Budapest bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be arranged the night before over a beer. These four cannot. They run on timed entry, a set language slot, or a party that sells out.
- 01Parliament Building Entry Ticket and Audio GuideEntry is by timed ticket with a guide, and the English slots are limited. In summer they go days ahead.
- 02Sparty – The Ultimate Late-Night Spa Party TicketThe late-night bath party runs on set dates and sells out. There is no turning up at the door.
- 03Széchenyi Spa Day Ticket with Optional UpgradesDay tickets are capped and the weekend slots go first. Take a morning, before the coach groups reach the gate.
- 04Candlelit Dinner River Cruise with Live MusicOne boat, one sitting, a fixed departure time. The window tables go weeks out.
By the shape of the day
By the hour, the ticket or the table
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