Why this list?
I was born in Budapest / lived there for 36 years, and am (still! lol) a certified tour guide of the city, that shit never expires apparently. So whenever anybody i know goes there they came to me for recommendations. To make my life easier I created this small curated list on what to see if you have a couple of days in the city, and I update it every once in a while. Let’s get into it!
Buda side
Thermal baths
Thermal baths are an absolute must in Budapest. Guides usually direct you to the Gellert Spa, but this is not the best and I think now it’s closed for renovation. There are 400-500 year old authentic Turkish baths from Hungary’s Turkish occupation:
These are very well worth the visit. (Gellert I think has been around for ~120-140 years, so it’s considerably “new”…)
Not on the Buda side, but related to thermal baths, you can check out Cinetrip parties: dance parties in Spas, or in other words, watertechno. Typically every Saturday night in Szechenyi Bath (close to Heroes’ Square, see below). Not kid friendly! (And I also read recently it can be a bit of a “sausage fest” at times.)
Castle District
To walk:
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Fisherman’s Bastion
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Matthias Church (very interesting history there and you can have a beautiful view from its tower)
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Walk around the walls and rotundas if you have the time – best time to see it is Autumn. I recommend taking the Funicular from the side of the chain bridge up to the castle, and then maybe walking through Varkert Bazar on the way back – it was renovated recently and I think they did a pretty nice job with it. (But it’s actually funny, it was basically still a WWII ruin when I lived there.)
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The best view of Pest from the Buda castle (well, maybe apart from the tower of Matthias church) is from this spot just outside the front facade of Buda Castle – worth the walk!
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Oh and: depending on your taste, Sziklakórház / Buda Castle Labyrinth (a nuclear fallout shelter + hospital under the Castle Hill) is worth checking out.
Not Castle District, but…
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…pretty much the best vista of Budapest is from Citadella (here or here). This is quite a detour unless you rent a car or a bike (and not afraid of some uphill cycling), but if you have some wheels under you, take some food and drinks, and just sit and watch in the evening! (And be prepared: this is a park with a beautiful view; there might be couples umm… enjoying themselves.)
If you like them outdoor activities
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Gyermekvasút, a beautiful kid- (but also adult-) friendly mini train ride through the Buda hills, operated by kids. The best place to hop on is probably at the Széchenyi hegy terminal station – you can take the cogwheel tram (line 60, a nice journey on its own right) to its end and then just take a 5 min walk.
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“Normafa”, Elizabeth Lookout and the “Libegő”: bear with me, this is a bit of a hike, but a nice one. You take Bus line 21 up to it’s end – Normafa, and start walking. During the walk, you can eat a lángos or a rétes (both recommended) here, and then walk on towards Elizabeth Lookout. After that, take the Libegő (which is essentially a 2 seater ski lift set in an urban environment) down to Zugliget, where you can hop on bus line 158 to get back to the city centre. Caution: if the weather is chilly, the Libegő will be cold, so either dress for the occasion or just skip it… Attention: Make sure you check the schedules for these rides, as they are not very frequent!
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Hiking or running around Buda is a beautiful pastime, and there are multiple less frequented lookout towers apart from the famous one (Elizabeth Lookout, above). Look for the area around Kaán Károly kilátó or Károly Guckler kilátó (“kilátó” means lookout) on e.g. AllTrails or Komoot — you’ll find multiple trails, and it’s genuinely a beautiful area.
Pest side
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St. Stephen’s Basilica is as old as the Parliament (built around 1896 for Hungary’s Millennial celebrations), and fun fact, also as high (96 meters from the ground, to commemorate 1896, the Millennium of Hungary.) You can go up to the tower and look around, which is also nice.
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Quite close to the Basilica you can hop on the Budapest Ferris Wheel, Budapest Eye, if you will 🙂
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Also pretty close the the Basilica is the Synagogue of Dohány utca, also worth a visit, and borders the next recommendation:
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I mentioned the (ex) Jewish quarter, basically District 7. Worth a random walk too (although a bit run down and dodgy, but it has it’s unique atmosphere and is one of the few remaining historic jewish quarters in Europe), but particularly check out Szimpla Kert for a beer or two in the evening, and Getto Gulyas for dinner – Chicken Paprikas and Gulyas of course are top picks 😉 You have to reserve a table if you want to go there, last time I tried eating there opportunistically they were completely full. On the other hand, this area is FULL of good no-nonsense places, incl. a streed food court just next to Szimpla kert, and basically anything you see above 4.4-4.5 stars on Google Maps.
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Heroes’ Square is worth a visit, and if you go there I suggest you take Metro Line 1 for a couple of stops – this was the first Metro line in continental Europe, second in the world after London. (Yes, Hungary was a progressive country once!) I’m saying couple of stops because the area on the surface is also beautiful there, it’s basically old Imperial Budapest.
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Last but not least: Budapest has a good “artisan” new wave coffee scene now. Worth checking out: Espresso Embassy (owner is my high school buddy but also former World Barista Champ), which can be combined with your walk around the Parliament area (it’s like 200m from there).
If you have the time
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Budapest Zoo is a very unique zoo: first off it’s quite large (for a city zoo), quite old (~160 years), and in the last what, 10 years maybe?… it also incorporates the buildings, merry-go-rounds, etc. of the old Budapest Fair grounds, so some quite unique settings there too.
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Magyar Zene Háza: I am told this new music museum (literally “music house”) is very good with kids, but I have yet to check it out. (But there are multiple people from my old choir background working there, so I recommend it with confidence.)
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I really enjoyed just chilling for a couple of hours on the Kopaszi gát (“Kopaszi dijk”), a riverfront recreational area in the south of Buda, combined with a nice lunch in the sunshine in VakVarjú Beach Bistro.
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…or just enjoy the view on the riverbank! You can walk, or take tram lines 2 (Pest side) or 19 (Buda side). These are the “world heritage demo” trams of the city 😉 You can even “saw the city”, ie. walk along the Danube crossing all the bridges from Margit híd through Széchenyi Chain Bridge, then Erzsébet híd, and finally Szabadság híd; these are the historic bridges of the city, interesting for one reason or another.
If you are a history nerd
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Budapest used to be on the Roman Limes: Buda being part of the Empire (as Aquincum), Pest outside it. You can check out some Roman ruins: Ancient Aquincum itself (open air museum a bit outside the city centre), and the ruins of Contract Aquincum on Március 15 square, which is not a big deal but if you walk on the riverbank you literally can’t miss it.
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Castle Hill (the hill Buda Castle sits on) has many natural caves underneath it. These are mostly closed for the public, but one section was fashioned into a nuclear shelter / hospital during the fun 50s and can be visited: Sziklakórház (Fun fact: if you use the M2 metro line of the city, you are travelling around in a nuclear shelter: you will notice an ~60cm thick section at the bottom of every escalator that can be removed, and nuclear proof wall set there.)
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Terror háza, a museum about communist times in the old building of ÁVH, the state police of communist dictatorship
What to eat
When in Hungary, you will want to try the following dishes:
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Gulyás, a heavy beef soup, not to be confused with the crappy Western European afterthought called “Goulasch” — if you are brave, you eat it with macskapöcse paprika (cat’s dick paprika, somewhat strong Hungarian chili); if you are not brave, you eat it with Erős Pista (Hungarian Sambal, essentially)
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Paprikás csirke, chicken in a thick paprika/cream sauce, typically with dumplings, yummy
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Hortobágyi húsos palacsinta, pancake rolled with meat (and paprika)
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Lángos, potato (and oil) based flatbread thing, you can get it in/at markets, beaches, etc.
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Töki pompos, basically an overbaked focaccia (but maybe I’m not selling it right, I promise it tastes great), sold in open air markets, events, art(sy) festivals
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Pastries! Hungary has a pretty strong pastry scene, dating back to Austro Hungarian imperial days. Try: kókuszgolyó (or “coconut balls”), almás pite (apple pie, but done properly), and basically anything that looks good.
Where to eat
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Stand25 on Attila út – if you want the perfect Gulyás