How to Spend 5 Days in Budapest on a Mid-Range Budget

Five days is the point where Budapest stops being a checklist. Three days covers the Parliament, the castle and a thermal bath; the other two let you ride the oldest underground line on the European continent, hunt for bronze statues the size of your hand, and sit in a palace reading room without watching the clock.

This plan is built for a mid-range budget and walks most of the way. Each day stays in one part of town, so you are not crossing the Danube three times before lunch. Swap the days around freely, but check the closing days near the end before you do.

Where to base yourself on a mid-range budget

Budapest is two cities joined by bridges. Buda, on the west bank, is hills, the castle and quiet streets. Pest, on the east, is flat and busy, and it is where almost everything in this plan happens. For five days, stay in Pest. The three districts below are all within walking distance of the river, and prices drop the further you get from it. For all seven central districts, with a stand-out stay in each, see where to stay in Budapest.

District V: the center, at a price

Belváros-Lipótváros wraps around the Parliament, the Basilica and the main shopping street, Váci utca. From here you can walk to Days 1, 2 and 4 without buying a single ticket. You pay for that in the room rate, and the streets directly on Váci utca are built for shoppers rather than for sleeping. Look a few blocks north, toward the Parliament, where it gets quieter. See places to stay in District V.

District VI: the sweet spot

Terézváros runs along Andrássy Avenue, the boulevard that links the center to City Park, with the Opera House halfway along it. The M1 metro runs directly underneath, so Day 3 starts at your door, and the inner end of the avenue is a short walk from the Basilica. For most mid-range trips this is the district to search first. Compare stays in District VI.

District VII: the best value, if you sleep through Saturday

Erzsébetváros is the old Jewish Quarter, and it has the most rooms and the lowest prices of the three. It is also where the ruin bars are, and on Friday and Saturday nights the streets around Kazinczy utca stay loud until late. Ask for a room facing the inner courtyard rather than the street and it becomes the best-value base in the city. See places to stay in District VII.

Traveling as a family or a group of four? A whole apartment in one of the old courtyard buildings can work out cheaper per person than two hotel rooms, and you get a kitchen for breakfast. Look at whole apartments in Budapest.

Day 1: Castle Hill and the free night view

Start on the Pest side and walk across the Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge across the Danube here and the one every photograph of the city seems to include. On the far side, the funicular climbs Castle Hill in a couple of minutes. The footpath beside it takes longer and costs nothing. Either way you arrive at the Royal Palace.

Buda Castle

The palace courtyards and terraces are free to wander, and the view over the river from the southern end is worth the climb on its own. Inside are the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. You do not need either to enjoy the hill. If you pick one, make it the gallery, and check its closing day before you set out.

Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion

Walk north along the top of the hill to Matthias Church, with its roof of colored Zsolnay tiles, and the white towers of Fisherman's Bastion wrapped around it. Go inside the church. The walls are painted floor to ceiling in patterns that look closer to an illuminated manuscript than a cathedral. On Sundays it opens to visitors only in the afternoon, after mass.

The bastion itself is a viewing terrace built at the end of the 19th century, not a fortification, and it is the best balcony over Pest you will find. The lower terraces are free at any hour. The upper towers charge an entry fee during the day.

For dinner, skip the restaurants on top of the hill, which charge for the view. Walk down to Víziváros, the riverside neighborhood below the castle, where prices come back down to earth.

Day 2: Parliament, the river and the Basilica dome

The Parliament

The Hungarian Parliament is the building on every postcard, and the inside lives up to the outside: a gilded grand staircase, a domed central hall and the Holy Crown of Hungary under guard. You can only go in on a guided or audio-guided visit, and slots sell out, especially in summer and at weekends. Book at least a day or two ahead and allow time for the security check at the visitor center.

The official visitor center is the cheapest way in. When its slots are gone, resellers often still have places: check dates for a Parliament entry ticket with audio guide.

Shoes on the Danube Bank

Walk south from the Parliament along the river for a few minutes and you reach sixty pairs of iron shoes standing at the water's edge. They remember the Jews shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in the winter of 1944 and 1945, who were made to take their shoes off first. It is the most affecting place in the city, and it takes five minutes to see. Give it longer than that.

On the way to the Basilica, cut through Szabadság tér. Some of Mihály Kolodko's mini statues are tucked around this square and the streets near it, and there is more on those under Day 4.

St Stephen's Basilica and the dome

St Stephen's Basilica is the largest church in Budapest, and it stands exactly as tall as the Parliament at 96 meters, a height nothing in the center is meant to exceed. Go up to the dome, by stairs or most of the way by lift, for a balcony that runs right around it. Late afternoon suits it best, with the light falling on the river and the castle to the west.

Evening: the river after dark

Budapest at night is the reason a lot of people come back. The Parliament, the castle and the bridges are lit from dusk, and the only place you see all of them at once is from the water. A one-hour sightseeing cruise is enough; the dinner cruises cost far more and the food is not the point. Check dates for a one-hour evening cruise with a drink.

On a tighter budget, tram 2 does a version of the same thing for the price of a ticket. It runs along the Pest embankment with the lit-up castle across the river, and a travelcard covers it.

Day 3: The old metro, City Park and a thermal bath

Ride the M1

The M1 opened in 1896, the first underground railway on the European continent, and it still runs under Andrássy Avenue in small yellow carriages through stations lined with their original tiles. The line and the avenue above it are part of Budapest's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Board at Vörösmarty tér or Deák Ferenc tér and ride to Hősök tere, Heroes' Square, at the edge of City Park. It costs one ordinary ticket and it is the most enjoyable short ride in the city.

House of Music Hungary

Across the park from Heroes' Square, the House of Music is the newest building on this list and the most unexpected. The Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto gave it a thin, rippling roof like a leaf canopy, cut with openings so the park's trees grow straight up through it, over walls that are almost entirely glass. It is minimal, quiet and looks as if it arrived a few decades early. Walking around and under it costs nothing; the exhibitions inside are ticketed. It is closed on Mondays.

Vajdahunyad Castle

A few minutes' walk away, beside the City Park lake, is a castle that is not what it seems. It was built for the 1896 millennium celebrations as a collage of famous Hungarian buildings, with Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque wings side by side, first in wood and cardboard and then, because people loved it, in stone. The courtyard is free. Look for the hooded statue of Anonymous, the medieval chronicler, whose pen is polished bright by people touching it for luck with their writing.

Széchenyi Baths

Spend the rest of the afternoon in the Széchenyi Baths, the yellow neo-baroque complex at the edge of the park, where the outdoor pools stay hot all year. In winter, go at dusk, when the steam rises off the water into the cold air. Bring flip-flops and a towel, and expect it to be busy. Book a Széchenyi day ticket in advance. To compare it with Rudas, Lukács and the quieter baths, see the best thermal baths in Budapest.

Ride the M1 back toward the center in the evening, or walk the avenue past the Opera House if your legs still allow it.

Day 4: A palace library, a famous café and the Jewish Quarter

Szabó Ervin Library

This is the stop most visitors never hear about. The central branch of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library occupies the Wenckheim Palace, a 19th-century aristocratic mansion near Kálvin tér. The lower floors are a busy modern public library. Upstairs, the palace's original salons, all dark wood paneling, chandeliers and leather armchairs, are still used as reading rooms. Buy a visitor ticket at the desk downstairs, keep your voice down and leave the flash off: people are working. Visiting hours are shorter at weekends, so this day works best on a weekday.

Great Market Hall, for lunch

A short walk away at Fővám tér, the Great Market Hall is a 19th-century iron-and-glass hall with paprika, salami and pickles on the ground floor and food stalls on the gallery upstairs. Go up for lángos, a deep-fried flatbread with sour cream and grated cheese: cheap, filling and the right lunch for a day on your feet. It is closed on Sundays. For breakfast spots, a Michelin-listed bistro and the best chimney cake in town, see where to eat in Budapest.

New York Café

The New York Café opened in 1894 on the ground floor of the New York Palace on the Grand Boulevard, and the room is the whole reason to go: gilded columns, painted ceilings and chandeliers, decorated to a level that makes most palaces look restrained. It is often called the most beautiful café in the world, and the queue at the door suggests plenty of people agree.

The mini statues

For several years the sculptor Mihály Kolodko has been placing small bronze figures around Budapest unofficially, most of them small enough to walk straight past: perched on railings, tucked against walls, sitting on the embankment. There are dozens now, many on the Pest side between the Parliament and the river, and free online maps track where they are. Pick five or six on your route rather than trying to collect them all. They turn an ordinary walk into a treasure hunt.

Evening: the Jewish Quarter

Finish in District VII. The Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe, is worth seeing in daylight, so reach it before it closes for the day, and note that it is closed on Saturdays. After dark, the quarter becomes the center of the city's nightlife, built around the ruin bars: the courtyards of derelict buildings, filled with mismatched furniture, plants and fairy lights. Szimpla Kert is the best known and still the one to see, even if you only stay for one drink.

Day 5: A day on the Danube Bend

North of Budapest the Danube swings through a gap in the hills, and three towns sit on the bend. Szentendre is an artists' town of cobbled lanes and small galleries. Visegrád has a hilltop castle and the best view of the river. Esztergom has the largest church in Hungary, facing Slovakia across the water. Seeing all three in one day needs a tour or a car. Check dates for a Danube Bend day trip from Budapest.

If you only want one town, make it Szentendre. The HÉV suburban train runs there from Batthyány tér on the Buda side, and half a day is enough. Your city travelcard does not cover the stretch beyond the city limits, so buy the extension ticket before you board. Boats also run up the river in season, but low water has suspended them before, so check the sailing schedule rather than counting on one.

Or go further. Vienna is 2 hours 40 minutes away by direct train from Keleti, and the 06:40 railjet gets you there with more than nine hours to spend. The Vienna day trip from Budapest has the tickets to buy and a timed walking route from the Belvedere to St Stephen's.

Getting around: walk most of it, ride the rest

Budapest is a walkable city. Days 1, 2 and 4 of this plan are almost entirely on foot, and walking the riverfront, the inner districts and Castle Hill shows you more than any tram window would. But the city is bigger than it looks on a map. City Park is a long walk from the river, Castle Hill is steep, and after a full day you will not want to cross town on foot to reach dinner. Trying to walk all of it is how a good trip turns into sore feet by day three. That is when a ticket earns its keep.

• Buy a travelcard for the days you will ride. A 24-hour or 72-hour card covers the metro, trams, buses and the HÉV within the city limits, and saves you validating a single ticket every time.
• You can buy tickets at the airport. There are BKK customer service points and ticket machines in arrivals, and the machines take bank cards. The BudapestGO app sells tickets too.
• The airport express bus is the exception. The 100E to the center needs its own ticket; travelcards and ordinary single tickets are not valid on it. The cheaper route is bus 200E to Kőbánya-Kispest, then the M3 metro.
• Check current prices before you buy. BKK fares change, and the prices quoted in older guides are often out of date.
• Validate paper tickets in the machines on board or at the metro entrance. Inspectors are common.

Hungary uses the forint, not the euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, and when a card machine offers to charge you in your home currency, choose forints instead: the conversion rate is better.

Plan around these closing days

• Monday: the House of Music is closed, and so are most museums, including the National Gallery. Do not put Day 3 on a Monday.
• Saturday: the Dohány Street Synagogue is closed.
• Sunday: the Great Market Hall is closed, and Matthias Church opens to visitors only in the afternoon.
• Weekends: the Szabó Ervin Library keeps shorter visiting hours, so check them before a weekend visit.
• Parliament: tours can be cancelled at short notice for official events. Book with free cancellation where you can.