6 Things to do in Budapest, Hungary
Looking for things to do in Budapest, Hungary?
In our Budapest guide, you will get all the information to help you plan your trip to one of Hungary’s most popular destinations.
Check out our Budapest travel guide for all of Budapest’s best sights. We cover location, main attractions, where to eat, and other tips to have the best time in Budapest. Plus, we include our Budapest food guide, so you know where to eat in Budapest.
From relaxing in the thermal baths to exploring Buda Castle, Budapest has plenty of things to do.
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Check out our Budapest Vlog, where we visit the places mentioned in this post: 6 Things to do in Budapest, Hungary.
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Where is Budapest?
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. Hungary is in central Europe and has seven bordering countries; Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Austria. Being Hungary’s largest city, it is also its most populous city. Budapest is famous for its thermal baths, parliament building, and ruin bars.
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What should you do in Budapest, Hungary?
These are some of Budapest’s best sights and restaurants. We recommend following our Budapest itinerary to take the stress out of visiting Hungary’s popular destination.
Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Gellért Hill
Buda Castle
Matthias Church
Fisherman’s Bastion
Drum Cafe
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1. Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Budapest is known for its thermal baths, so one of the must-do things in Budapest is to spend some time relaxing at one of the Budapest baths.
We visited Budapest’s most famous bath, Széchenyi. It is a massive thermal bath with 15 indoor and three outdoor pools.
In addition to the thermal pools, there are also saunas and steam rooms. You can make an appointment for a massage while there too.
The water for the baths comes from two thermal springs, and the baths have temperatures ranging from 18 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius.
One of our favorite things at Széchenyi was to go from the sauna to the 18-degree cold pool.
We dedicated half a day to the thermal baths because we wanted to spend time being able to relax and enjoy the bath experience.
Included with a day pass is also access to a locker. A one-day pass for Széchenyi Thermal Bath is €5 ($5.26).
2. Gellért Hill
Gellért Hill is on the Buda side of Budapest. It is a hill that overlooks the city of Budapest, so from here you can get great views of the Danube River.
At the bottom of the hill, you can find Gellért Baths, another famous thermal bath in Budapest. We did not have time to visit Gellért Baths but heard great things about it.
It is free to walk around Gellért Hill.
3. Buda Castle
After Gellért Hill, we made our way to Buda Castle. Perched on Castle Hill, the castle complex is enormous.
Because the area covers a lot of ground, it can take quite some time to visit.
During our visit, we explored the Buda Castle Gardens, the area around Buda Palace, and Sándor Palace (the Hungarian President's home).
We were happy to discover that after exploring the Buda Castle Gardens, there was an escalator to take us to the top of Castle Hill. From the top of Castle Hill, we explored the area around Buda Palace and Sándor Palace.
When we were at Sándor Palace, we got to witness a changing of the guard ceremony.
The Buda Castle funicular is near Sándor Palace. It will bring passengers from river level to Buda Castle and vice versa.
It is free to walk around the Buda Castle grounds, but it does require a ticket to enter the museums and ride the funicular.
A single ticket for the funicular is 1,400 HUF ($3.74), and a return ticket is 2,000 HUF ($5.34).
4. Matthias Church
Matthias Church is also called the Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle and the Coronation Church of Buda. It is in the heart of the Buda Castle district in Holy Trinity Square. It has a beautiful tiled roof and has hosted royal weddings and coronations.
If you would like to go inside the church for a tour, it is 1,800 HUF ($4.81).
5. Fisherman’s Bastion
The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion is one of the top tourist attractions in Budapest. It is also in the Buda Castle district in front of Matthias Church.
It resembles a fairytale castle and is one of the best locations to get panoramic views of Budapest. From the terraces of Fisherman's Bastion, you can see the Danube River and the Hungarian Parliament building.
It is free to walk around the lower levels of Fisherman’s Bastion. If you want to visit the upper level, it is 1,000 HUF ($2.67).
5. Drum Cafe
No visit to Budapest is complete without trying some traditional Hungarian food. We went to Drum Cafe because it serves reasonably priced Hungarian cuisine.
Goulash is one of Hungary’s national dishes. It is a soup that contains meat and vegetables. In Hungary, most food has paprika, so goulash is no exception.
We also tried another traditional Hungarian dish, chicken paprika. This one was boneless and served with a side of Hungarian noodles.
The goulash is 1,350 HUF ($3.60), and the chicken paprika is 2,690 HUF ($7.18).
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Are you looking for must-try foods in Budapest??
In our Budapest food guide, you will get all the information to help you plan what to eat while visiting the Hungarian capital.
Check out our Budapest food guide for all of Budapest’s must-eat foods. We cover our nine must-try foods and restaurants for sampling the best dishes in the capital city.
In Budapest, excellent food is plentiful, so get ready to indulge in mouth-watering Hungarian cuisine.
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Have you been to Budapest? What was your favorite thing to do in Budapest? We’d love to hear about your experience. Let us know in the comments.