We recently headed to the City of Budapest in Hungary for a long weekend, arriving on the Friday lunchtime and departing on the Monday morning.
It’s a beautiful City full of history, diverse scenery and is a great City to just stroll around and take it all in, 72 hours isn’t a lot of time in such a huge City as there’s there much to see and do, but even without much research we managed to have a fantastic time, here’s a rundown of some of the things we got upto…
Getting to and from Budapest airport
Lots of different options once you arrive, a taxi costs between 25 and 35 euros depending on where you go in the City but we decided to take the airport express bus from terminal 2 at budapest airport. It was very simple, once you get out of the airport, you head straight outside and to your left there are ticket machines to buy a range of tickets from single pass for 2200 – under a fiver, to a city pass which includes various things.
Or you can just download the app which has QR codes outside the bus terminal to get it or pay with your bank card inside the bus by tapping it infront of a steward.
Getting back to the airport from the city centre, get on at the first stop to ensure you get a seat before the second stop. The first stop is called deak ferenc ter https://maps.app.goo.gl/1knTMRqLc4nwbAs4A?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
Accommodation
Just look at our view overlooking the river Danube and some of the landmarks of the City!
We booked three nights at an apartment which didn’t have any reviews at the time on booking.com so a bit of a risk but it certainly paid off. The Budapest Grand Danube suite was fantastic and included a large bedroom with comfy double bed, sockets on either side, large flat screen tv and a balcony with that amazing view, a large lounge with huge corner sofar and large windows, as well as kitchenette and nice bathroom and walk in shower. Nice and warm in the apartment, modern furnishings, clean and high ceilings. Ticked all the boxes. The door handle had a few issues but were fixed quickly.
Having looked on socials since, it seems very common in the City for lovely apartments to have not so lovely building lobbys or entrances so think that is very much part of the adventure too. Definitely reccomend this place.
Book your stay at Grand Budapest Danube suite here!
Food and drink
Hungarian Hell’s Kitchen
This traditional Hungarian restaurant was near our apartment by the riverside and served up some large portions from Goulash to trout and all accompanied by live traditional music, friendly service and waiters and enjoyable atmosphere.
Cafe brunch Budapest
This nice little chain of 7 spots around the city centre started up in 2017 and has a great selection of dishes as well as nice coffee. Our brunch set us back 14,385 – around £25 for two large dishes and two coffees.
Grandmas diner
What a hidden gem, we found this spot just near the bridge to margaret island. We walked in and it very much suits the name as the seating area looked like a grandmas front lounge area, three friendly ladies hosted diners as they invited us to pick a dish from the trays behind the counter with all sorts of traditional looking homecooked food. We went for the beef paprikas with pasta and the chicken number too. 8500 ft for the meal so good price too.
Maródi Cukrászda
Cukrászda are popular bakery type places, Hungarians love their cakes and pastries
We went to Maródi Cukrászda after a Margaret ride bike island and by the bridge. Nice atmosphere, large selection of cakes and had two cakes and a hot chocolate with cream for 2830 – around six pounds
Vin vin city
A Vietnamese spot near the Gellert thermal spa but they also have many more locations around the City being a popular chain.
Around £4-7 for most dishes, we had the beef pro and beef glass noodles dish as well a nice and sweet iced coffee
6470 ft Hungarian total
Kellet cafe
Buzzy atmosphere in this cafe spot, as you sit in the wooden interiors surrounded by book cases and its clearly very popular with locals as was full when we visited and just managed to get a seat.
Cappuccino – 1265 ft
Krumplis langos
Langos was our fave local dish, a soft and chewy deep fried dough which is then topped with the likes of cream cheese and cheese, and all sorts of toppings too. We went to a spot on one of the main shopping streets which was a great find, quick service for a snack, 3200ft cream cheese sausage red onion
Palacsinta Palota & Burger
Like crepes without the butter so very light and airy, 3500 we had the traditional with lemon curd, apricot jam, biscuit and cream in this spot popular with young locals.
Not sure where to eat in Budapest? Check out one of these guided food and drinks tours!
Things to do
Thermal spas
There are lots of the city’s famous thermal spas to choose from such as the most famous Széchenyi which you will have likely seen the outdoor images of, Rudas as well as Gellert which went headed for.
What you need to bring for the Budapest spas
We didn’t have the full compulsory ‘what you need to bring’ set up which at minimum is your own towel and sandals. So we headed to a cheap clothes shop pep & co which are all over the city and brought some 5 euro crocs.
Do you need to pre-book for gellert spa in Budapest?
Nope, we visited on a Sunday morning at 11am and there was no queue, walk straight to one of the multiple ticket booths and purchased two adult tickets for 27,000. You are given a plastic wristband to tap into the turnstile entrance.
Inside after long winding corridors and stairwells we came to a large mixed changing room hall which have pods for getting changed and large banks of lockers which you open and close with your wristband.
A labyrinth of a place which is actually part of the fun working out where to go, the confusing signs and discovering a new thermal pool round each corner. Nice atmosphere with different people from around the world enjoying chatting away in one big hot tub together! The outdoor spa was our fave out in the open air. The Hottest pool was inside and 40 degrees whilst most others were 34-36 degrees and they also have saunas and steam rooms with showers and a plunge pool outside which was a chilly 14-16 degrees.
They have shops on site selling various items and everything you need if you forget a towel, sandals or a swimming cap. You need a swimming cap if you want to swim in the large indoor central pool which I would say is worth bringing to make the most of your ticket and time in Gellert.
Book your spa day at Széchenyi with optional tasting!
Walking the city
Budapest is a very walkable city and it’s so huge we spent more of our time simply walking around taking in the history at every corner and enjoying some coffees.
Shoes on the river Danube
Shoes on the river Danube is a large memorial of around 60 pairs of iron shoes scattered across the edge of the riverbank to represent the Jews who were brutally killed along the river bank in World War 2.
A very moving memorial and well worth visiting when in Budapest.
The best view in the city
Walk up the many steps and pathways to the citadel which looms over the city on the mountainside for panaramic views over all sides of the city and river Danube. There’s lot of different route options on the way up too with steep steps and winding pathways and many viewpoints with benches to enjoy.
Rent a bike and cycle around Margaret island
They have a large island in the middle of the city’s river called Margaret island which is connected either side by a bridge so you can walk onto it. At the south side they have a number of rental companies for various vehicles like a four or two person buggy, electric vehicles, two person bikes and normal bikes.
We rented single bikes from Go Mobility Margaret Island Bike Rental and you pay afterwards depending on how long you take them out for. It took us 30 minutes on the quiet road to the north side of the island and back and it cost 3000 ft for one bike for 30 minutes.
👉 Looking to stay in Budapest? Here are some highly-rated accommodation options.
Enjoying a drink at a ruin bar
Budapest is well known for its big nightlife and we can see why, there are tons of bars and never ending streets full of them. Their ruin bars are definitely the highlight and are old buildings which have been converted into bar spaces whilst retaining their ‘lost city’ look. One of the best around is szimpla kert and definitely recommend a visit here, it’s got multiple bars inside on different floors, winding stairwells and platforms, hidden rooms and corners full of nostalgia, graffiti , vines and plants hanging down. You’d be mistaken for thinking you’ve walked into one of Glastonbury’s famous hidden forest.
Fishermen’s bastion
Like a scene from a Disney movie, this fairy like building was built in the late 19th century and now offers some of the best views of the city from its high walkways and towers as well as great photos of course. We visited on a national holiday when it was free entry so very busy but well worth a visit.
Other things to do
So many things to do in the huge City of Budapest and so many things we didn’t get so see and do which we have saved for another future visit, also some places we visited at the wrong time with the queues too big, so will go at an earlier time next time.
St Stephen Basilica
National Museum
Boat cruise – either day or night to get great views of the river from the waters of the Danube, also the unlimited prosecco cruises are popular with those like a tipple
Hospital in the rock
Underground labrynth
Museum of light
Cafe New York or cafe Paris
Flippermuseum
Fenicular up to buda castle
Ruszwurm – confectionary shop
For Sale pub
If your wanting to cover more of the city why not check out one of the hop on hop off bus tours to see more of what Budapest has to offer!
Don’t get caught out by the trams
- We got fined 25 euros by the tram conductor for a simple mistake so be warned they do not give mercy to tourists even though it’s an obvious simple mistake like ours. In our case, with only one phone with data roaming, we tried buying physical tickets from the sole machine on the platform, but it wasn’t working so after signing up to the app on our one phone and buying two single tickets we hopped on board a tram with me having thought I scanned both tickets one after the other to verify both on the qr code before entering, but it only did one and then the ticket operator fined us. My advice after that situation would be to get a city pass which you don’t need to keep verifying before getting on every tram or bus.
Costs
Airport parking – Gatwick long stay south parking 6am Friday to Monday 1pm cost – £53
Flights – Wizz air flights backpack carry on from Gatwick south terminal – £173.86 for 2 adults return, leaving on a Friday morning from Gatwick, arriving in Budapest at lunchtime and leaving on Monday morning arriving back on Monday lunchtime
Accomodation – Apartment 3 nights grand Budapest Danube suite – 170.99 Euros
👉 For highly-rated accommodation around Budapest, check these ones!
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