One of Europe’s best city breaks, Budapest will no doubt surprise you with its stunning views and architectural gems, its high quality food scene, its grungy ruin bars and its friendly atmosphere. This is my guide on how to spend a perfect weekend in Budapest.
Welcome to Budapest.
I have such great memories of heading off seemingly into the unknown back in 2013 when Emma and I ventured on our first city break together to Budapest. Although we spent just two nights here, with decent flight times we managed to explore across three full days which I can now reaffirm is the perfect amount of time to spend in the city.
On the cusp of autumn, with temperatures still high, the first hues of orange in the trees and soft golden light flooding the streets, I took to the streets of Budapest for three nights with Jet2holidays and honestly had the best time ever.
This guide therefore will show you exactly to spend a perfect weekend in Budapest including tips on visiting the city’s most famous landmarks, wonderful places to eat and drink and, of course, loads of photography which will almost certainly convince you to book your trip.
WHERE TO STAY IN BUDAPEST
There are many great hotels in Budapest and we were lucky enough to stay at Hotel Vision Budapest; a boutique hotel on the banks of the Danube in Pest. It’s conveniently located alongside the tram line on which the iconic yellow trams hurtle up and down the riverside so you can easily jump on a tram to head further afield or opt to stretch the legs – you can reach the Central Market Hall in around 8 minutes, St Stephen’s Basilica in 20 minutes and Fisherman’s Bastion on the Buda side in 30 minutes.
We received a very friendly welcome upon arrival at the hotel and the rooms were bigger than I expected and thoroughly modern, clean with a Nespresso machine. If you’ve forgotten anything or need something in particular, fear not, just ask and the team will deliver – for example, plug adapters or perhaps a double duvet instead of the two separate singles offered. I would recommend Hotel Vision as a great place to stay in Budapest primarily for its convenient location, fantastic breakfasts (who doesn’t want a machine that makes fresh pancakes with the wave of a hand), smooth cappuccinos and a comfortable and quiet night sleep.
There are however many great Budapest hotels across the city so spend some time with Jet2holidays and you’ll definitely find one that is perfect for you.
DISCLAIMER – I VISITED BUDAPEST WITH JET2HOLIDAYS & THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH JET2HOLIDAYS WHO OFFER HIGH QUALITY BUT BUDGET FRIENDLY CITY BREAKS. ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE, AS ALWAYS, MY OWN.
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO A WEEKEND IN BUDAPEST
ARRIVAL
Our flight out to Budapest was perfect for those clocking off work early; Friday evening 4:30pm straight out of Manchester. It was quite obviously a Friday as, having to walk past the gate for another Friday evening flight, almost an entire flight’s worth of people were practically raving with a boombox whilst waiting to board. Three guesses for where that flight was to!
Jet2 offer flights to Budapest from a good number of the airports they’re based at but I found flights from Manchester Airport to work really well for our group trip.
We had no such issues with a pleasant evening flight watching the bright orange sun set before descending over the twinkling city lights of Budapest quite distinctly split into two sides by a dark mass; the majestic Danube.
Despite a slight delay to the departure, we arrived on time at around 9pm before heading straight to our hotel in a private transfer. Having a private transfer arranged in advance especially when arriving relatively late in the evening just takes the stress out of everything; half an hour to chill before arriving in style at the door of your hotel. Don’t worry though, public transport is easy enough and will take you straight into the city. Back in 2013 even us, as fresh faced and relatively naive when it came to travelling, were able to navigate the public bus network. The 100E bus operates around every 10 minutes during the day and takes you straight into the centre for 2,200HUF (less than £5 / $6.60).
Once we were all checked in it was about 11pm so the only logical thing to do was head straight to sleep to get some rest. Sensible right!
DAY ONE
SUNRISE WALK
Our first day in Budapest starts nice and early hoping to catch a beautiful sunrise. I love a early morning walk whilst on holiday even when back home you’re very unlikely to see me out and about at 6am! The plan was to head across to Fisherman’s Bastion for sunrise (which, having seen photos of some insane displays of colours, I absolutely wanted to create time for) but the clouds came to spoil the show so, half way across Chain Bridge, I decided to carry on up to the Parliament Building and through the boulevards of Pest.
It’s always nice to be wandering the streets when it’s practically empty save for those I imagine are locals out on an early morning jog. I would therefore highly recommend getting up early, before the remainder of the tourists get up, and explore the city in a different light; hopefully some beautiful golden light.
As I meandered back to the hotel, I couldn’t help but notice that relatively few coffee shops were open pre-9am on a Saturday morning and I was desperate for a caffeine fix. You can imagine my surprise therefore when peering through the doors of the 5 star Párisi Udvar Hotel, I was invited into the elegant arcade to take as many photos as I wished – at 7:45am. I was politely shown to a table too where I ordered a flat white and simply admired the stunning architecture. My neck started to ache from staring at the beautifully intricate ceilings. It might have been one of the most expensive coffees I’ve ever had, around £7.50 / $10, but it was a treat and certainly worth it in my view.
EXPLORE BUDA
As alluded to above, Budapest is naturally split by the Danube that runs right through the centre of the city. Historically, there were two cities either side of the Danube; Buda to the west and Pest to the east. As years went by each essentially expanded in to one another and so, in 1873, three cities were unified officially (let’s not forget to mention the city of Óbuda too) as Budapest.
After breakfast, we headed straight up to the top of the large hill that dominates Buda and immediately were blown away by the views from Fisherman’s Bastion. Of course, by 10am, this place is absolutely packed. We only had a quick wander around but feel free to take your time, take in the views and capture some stunning portraits before exploring again. We made our way to the castle complex in which I was amazed to find so many of the buildings under complete renovation. I can’t quite remember what this area looked like specifically back in 2013 but I can’t imagine there being derelict buildings – we were told by our amazing guide Andrea Forrai that all of the building here were practically destroyed after WWII and, as we were about to witness in St Stephen’s Hall, some had only been renovated and restored for the first time since the pandemic.
Make sure to catch more stunning views at the top of the funicular looking across Charles Bridge, as if you weren’t spoiled enough over at Fisherman’s Bastion.
King St Stephen, the King of Hungary between approximately 1000/1001 – 1038, is one of the most important figures in the entirety of Hungarian history (essentially founding the state of Hungary) and, as such, you will find references to him almost everywhere in Budapest; on the currency, in the names of important buildings, in statues and even in music whereby Beethoven composed King Stephen’s Overture for the opening of the Hungarian theatre.
In the Buda Palace, St Stephen’s Hall was a very special and ornate reception room which, at the time in 1902, was considered a masterpiece especially its lavish 4.5m high fireplace. Unfortunately, the room was completely destroyed during WWII and spent decades as a storage facility until, in 2021, after six painstaking years, St Stephen’s Hall opened to the public – fully restored based on original plans and photographs. It is now described as an exact replica of the original room and it’s great to see that there is such incredible craftmanship available in these modern times.
LUNCH AT IDA & FLAT WHITES AT KONTAKT COFFEE
After a lovely walk down through the castle gardens, we stopped at IDA Bistro for lunch. IDA is housed in a very upmarket and elegant building and delivers high quality Hungarian classic dishes. I went with the Chicken paprikash and homemade potato dumplings with a side of pickled cucumbers and sour cream. This is one of Hungary’s national dishes and obviously their love for paprika shines through here; it was a delicious dish made even better when having a little of everything, even the pickles, in one mouthful!
For drinks, the classic lemonade with orange blossom went down a treat especially with the surprisingly high temperatures for late September! I combined dessert with coffee in a way only the Italians seem to know how to do with an Affrogato.
After lunch, we had a few hours of free time to head back to Pest and scout out some of the best coffee shops in Budapest – flat whites were consumed at both Kontakt and My Little Melbourne Coffee. I’m not however sure my body needed that much caffeine so late in the day but it’s all in the name of research!
GOLDEN HOUR CRUISE ALONG THE DANUBE
Without doubt, a golden hour cruise along the Danube is one of the best things to do in Budapest and, if you were to book just one activity or tour, it would be this. Our cruise began at Dock 10 with Duna Cruises who offer an Elegant Cruise (on board a modern boat) or a Historical Cruise (on board a vintage ship from the 19th century). We walked onto our vintage ship for the hour long cruise, the Kisfaludy Paddle Steamer, and immediately received a lovely glass of sparkling wine ready for our departure. The 5:30pm cruise was perfect for golden hour in September though, during the summer months, the 7pm sailing might work better as the sunset is a little later.
We initially set off sail southbound on the Danube under the Elizabeth Bridge and under the Liberty Bridge which might actually be my favourite of all the bridges in Budapest. That might be a little controversial given the majestic Chain Bridge but there’s something about the iron structure that makes it so picture perfect especially with the iconic trams chuntering across.
Budapest’s famous Gellert Baths were one of the first highlights of the cruise though, as of 2025, it’s undergoing some serious renovation work. The most famous of Budapest’s landmarks came as we ventured north and the light was just perfect; the orange glow of the Parliament building isn’t something I’ll be forgetting any time soon.
There’s a bar on board too if you fancy a little more than a glass of sparkling wine; I went for a little bottle of beer as we sailed back to the dock and toasted a very memorable (re)introduction to Budapest.
TIME OUT MARKET & ROOFTOP COCKTAILS AT THE DUCHESS
Normally when I visit cities and there’s a brand new opening that I absolutely would love to visit, it normally opens just as I leave. Sometimes, I seem to have that sort of luck but I guess you can’t plan everything around just one little thing. However, as luck would have it, the brand new Time Out Market opened the very weekend we were visiting. This is the hottest place in Budapest right now for food and drink. This is way above a collection of street food establishments. Time Out Market is housed within the stunning Corvin Palace and I guess it would have been remiss not to find the best of the best in eateries across Budapest many with chefs at the top of their game to come and serve up their delicious foods. We were given a card filled with Hungarian Forint courtesy of Visit Hungary to taste test as many of the food and drink options as possible and we of course obliged. The card could actually have been topped up with the same amount twice more yet we couldn’t even get through the first offering!
The only way to start, for me at least, was with a half-litre of fresh unpasteurized Dreher beer straight from the tank before we moved on and ordered at least one dish from as many stalls as possible. I absolutely loved the Lamb Kebab from Pingrumba, polenta fries from LIRA by Essencia (but not the gorgonzola ice cream…), the Hungarian antipasti from M’EAT by Racz Jeno and the pumpkin pizza from Anyukam Mondta. Honestly, even if a group of you visit, there is absolutely something for everyone and you won’t be disappointed!
Day one ends at The Duchess which is quite possibly the most upmarket of all rooftop bars in the city. The bar is perched on top of one of the beautiful twin palaces that seemingly guard the entrance to the Elizabeth Bridge. The two palaces are quite stunning with the northern palace, Klotid, once housing the Buddha Bar Boutique Hotel where me and Emma stayed way back in 2013. The southern palace, Matild, is where you’ll find the Duchess with stunning views across the city and across the Danube towards Gellert Hill. I went with the Geisha cocktail which features pandan, tonka bean, white rum, pineapple, lime and coconut; this was such an elevated take on the pina colada and ended up tasting way better than the inspiration.
DAY TWO
EXPLORE PEST
Whilst our first day was spent exploring the Buda side, today we will focus on the Pest side which, in my view, has a lot more things to do so you might find you actually need more time to see everything here.
After a relatively leisurely morning, with breakfast at our hotel, we met our guide Andrea for the day and were taken to the Parliament Building. The Hungarian Parliament Building is perhaps one of the most awe inspiring pieces of architecture in Europe; it is stunning from every angle and actually the third-largest parliamentary building in the world. Whilst we didn’t have time during this weekend visit, back in 2013, Emma and I opted for a guided tour through the interior including the Assembly Hall and the Hall of the Dome in which you can see the original Crown Jewels. Guided tours must be booked in advance and take 45 minutes in total including passing through a security check. Official tickets can be purchased here but GetYourGuide appear to offer audio-only tours where you can explore at your own pace.
From the Parliament Building, head down to the banks of the Danube for such a moving memorial to the thousands of Hungarian Jews who were massacred during 1944 and 1945 with many, sadly, forced to remove their shoes before being shot on the edge of the river.
Take a moment to compose yourself and then wander to St Stephen’s Basilica. It’s hard to miss this church given that it’s one of the tallest buildings in Budapest at 96 metres tall (interestingly the same height as the Hungarian Parliament Building. What better way therefore to see all of the city than from the top; two lifts (plus a few stairs) take you to a circular viewing platform that surrounds the iconic dome.
GERBEAUD FOR COFFEE & CAKE
Whilst the New York Café might be regarded as one of the most beautiful cafes in the world and therefore will always remain one of the most popular cafes in Budapest, Gerbeaud café on Vörösmarty Square is older still (dating back to 1858), elegant and well worthy of a visit for its decadent handcrafted chocolates, cakes and pastries. We had a selection of three beautiful cakes; Gerbeaud Slice, Blackberry Yoghurt Slice and the Royal Chocolate Cake alongside a cappuccino which was the perfect mid-morning pick me up.
Directly outside Gerbeaud is the oldest subway station on mainland Europe, the second oldest in the world after the London Underground. If you need to travel around inner Budapest, it’s a great way to get around but, even if not, head down for a quick peek at history right here!
FLEA MARKET & SZIMPLA KERT
With cake in our bellies and caffeine in our veins, we headed towards the Jewish Quarter, District VII, stopping initially by the second largest Synagogue in the world before admiring old soviet pins, film cameras and more at the flea market along Gozsdu Udvar.
Finally we arrived at the legendary Szimpla Kert; the ruin bar in Budapest that you cannot miss. I first visited here back in 2013 and had a few beers whilst squished into essentially an abandoned staircase. The popularity of this ruin bar, the original abandoned building turned drinking venue, is still as high as ever and I loved re-visiting during the day to pay real attention to the very quirky features. During the day you’ll also find farmer’s markets alongside those that head here just for the drinks!
LUNCH AT TATI – FARM TO TABLE
TATI is another high quality restaurant in Budapest that I was so pleased to have visited. The philosophy here is all about bringing the majority ingredients straight from their local farm, to their kitchen and straight to your plate. This, in turn, helps create fresh and seasonal dishes all of which you can be assured will taste delicious. In terms of those dishes, you can however expected Hungarian classics with TATI’s little unique twists.
I really enjoyed my meal from the antipasti board with Hungarian meats and cheeses to the slow cooked pork. Oh and a lovely beer too; the wine comes highly recommended too after in-depth knowledge was shared about suitable pairings from our helpful and friendly waiter. It’s been recommended in the Michelin Guide three years in a row for good reason!
TOUR THE HUNGARIAN STATE OPERA HOUSE
Wow! This was actually my first ever time in an opera house and I didn’t think I’d be this impressed with the interior of Budapest’s opera house. We joined an English-speaking hour long tour and were shown around beautiful rooms, staircases and ultimately the incredible auditorium. The tour includes a little sneak peak of what you can expect coming to the opera. Initially I thought it would be within the auditorium itself but despite that it was still a mesmerising performance with perfect acoustics.
With a little spare time, and obviously needing a little more sugar in our systems, we visited Strudel House to view a quick display of how the famous strudels are made before diving into two of our own; apple and sweetened cottage cheese. Strudels are something that you absolutely have to try here in Budapest!
EXQUISITE DINING AT BIBO
BIBO Budapest was our choice of restaurant for day two’s evening meal and I cannot stop talking about the food we tasted here. The Head Chef is from Spain, Dani Garcia, and his influence when mixed with Hungarian cuisine. We received practically royal treatment within our private dining room in which we were treated to a tasting menu featuring all of BIBO’s most popular dishes alongside wine pairings. This is not something that is normally offered however but each of the dishes are available to order separately. We went on a proper culinary journey across the following; guacamole with burrata and soya beans, goulash inside a croquette, foie gras in the form of a cherry, roasted octopus, beef tenderloin with mashed potato and green peppercorn sauce and the BIBO strudel with apple, yellow beetroot and orange! The roasted octopus went down far better than I thought but the beef was the standout dish. I could eat that right this second!
Now, away from the food, this restaurant possibly has one of the best views of Budapest. At night, it was incredible to see all of the bridges and castle buildings lit up. I can only imagine just how good it would be up here on a summer’s day!
If you’re a night owl and fancy a few more drinks, take a leaf out of our book as we went straight back to Szimpla Kert for beers and cocktails!
DAY THREE
Despite this being our last day in Budapest with a 9pm flight home to Manchester, we still managed to squeeze in so much. Obviously, the amount you’ll manage to do on day three will depend on your own departure times but here’s a look at what we were able to see!
GREAT MARKET HALL
Whenever I visit a new city, I try to check out the food market and observe the daily life of locals collecting their fruit and vegetables or fresh fish ready for the week ahead. I’d really looked forward to seeing the Great Market Hall back in 2013 however, back then at least, it was unfortunately closed on a Monday so it was nice to finally venture inside. These days the market is open every day so you easily be able to fit it into your itinerary. I was amazed at just how expansive the market is, around 10,000 square metres, with an absolutely huge roof and windows that floor the stalls with light. Expect to find lots many stalls that now focus on tourism and stock paprika, wine and salami. Paprika is everywhere for good reason! In the basement, you’ll find the fishmongers and butcher shops and on the mezzanine level there’s eateries and souvenir shops.
CITY PARK – HEROES SQUARE / VAJDAHUNYAD CASTLE
Andrassy Avenue is a 2.5km arrow straight boulevard in Budapest that connects Erzsebet Park near St Stephen’s Basilica with the City Park. As you leave the inner city, the boulevard intentionally widens with each of the three main sections and is crowned with the Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square. We could only take in the sights of Heroes’ Square from afar as a Turkish political contingent were involved in some kind of ceremony so, instead, we set off for a long wander around City Park.
The City Park or Városliget is 100 hectares in size and features a large artificial lake used for boating in the summer months and ice skating in winter. We initially set our sights on two brand new buildings; the Museum of Ethnography and the House of Music.
The Museum of Ethnography was built in 2022 and features a very unique and modern curved design over 1km. Each of the two wings of the building have a roof garden that is free to explore. Below ground there’s around 7,000 square meters of exhibition space which, if you fancy a look around photographic and film materials, manuscript and ethnographic objects representing folk cultures, then this is the museum for you.
The House of Music is another very distinctive building which seemingly blends into the surrounding vegetation and, inside, brings music to all through exhibitions and concerts. There’s even a play area next door for the little ones that has loads of difference play spaces for creating music and sounds.
The main highlights of the City Park are the Vajdahunyard Castle and the world famous Széchenyi Baths. The castle is an odd one; the building is made up of various different sections each built to represent differing architectural styles from differing time periods. it was actually built in 1896 as part of the Millennial Exhibition and, even more oddly, houses the largest agricultural museum in Europe!
LUNCH AT BUDAPEST’S MOST FAMOUS RESTAURANT – GUNDEL
I don’t think anyone could argue that Gundel is Budapest’s most famous restaurant; a Hungarian institution which has opened their doors to the wider public allowing us all to experience the elegance and refinement of 20th century Hungary. Up until Covid-19, you had to be part of the upper elite to dine here and that meant a dress code with jackets compulsory. Queen Elizabeth II, Roger Moore, Madonna and Diana Ross are just some of the very famous people who have dined here.
Now however, the restaurant is for us all and it was lovely to experience a high quality dinner here featuring iconic Hungarian dishes and the famous Gundel pancakes all whilst relaxing msuic from the grand piano drifted around the room. My mangalica pork schnitzel was delicious with the pickled new potato salad before finally tasting the world-famous Gundel pancake; filled with walnuts, flambéed and topped with melted chocolate.
Whilst our time at Gundel was a little rushed as we had a booking for a chilled spa afternoon, it still gave us plenty of time to appreciate just how iconic this restaurant is and it should, quite rightly, feature in every Budapest itinerary.
SPA AFTERNOON – MANDALA / GELLERT BATHS / SZECHENYI
With all that walking and exploration, it would be wrong not to have a little me time and so, probably for the first time in my life, I headed to a spa whilst on a city break! We visited the Mandala Day Spa; a unique oriental designed baths with plunge pools, jacuzzis, steam rooms and more. I hopped from pool to pool testing whether my body could cope with the cold temperatures but I found the higher temperatures much more relaxing. I do find it very hard to relax these days and sometimes my brain would lean towards wanting to do lengths of the small square pools or perhaps see how long I could hold my breath under water. I know, I know, I’m 36.
With our package came a choice of a face or foot massage which, again, is not something I would normally partake in but I didn’t mind the face massage in the end. Others of our group really enjoyed their massages so I wouldn’t rely on my experiences too much! Would I have another face massage in the future, probably not but it was good to have at least tried!
There are two other, extremely famous, baths in Budapest that should probably be classed as must-visits though I can’t say I’ve been to either – Gellert Baths (you’ll know the Accidentally Wes Anderson photos) and Szechenyi Baths (outdoor pools with the bright yellow buildings). Gellert Baths I believe are currently closed, as of 2025, under renovation but both could feature in your Budapest city break.
EXPLORE THE STREETS / TIME FOR MORE COFFEE
As our flight time approached, it was very nearly time to say goodbye to Budapest though there was still time for one final wander. I love spending a few hours wandering aimlessly with my camera in hand taking photos of anything that captures my interest; I believe the term for that is flâneur. I am always drawn to cool typography, pockets of light, architecture and cars so that was mostly what I managed to photograph during this time. I wandered quite far and took a detour to another of Budapest’s best coffee shops, MTRM, in which I enjoyed a hand pulled flat white, met an artist from Jordan displaying her work on the exposed brickwork inside the shop and stocked up on coffee beans for back home. I still had a bit of time so I pushed through and headed to Liberty Bridge to see if I could capture a scene that I had had in my mind for quite some time; I feel that the little historic yellow tram coming across Liberty Bridge is now an iconic shot of Budapest and I am so glad to have managed to capture my own unique takes on this angle.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed my guide on how to spend a perfect weekend in Budapest. I honestly believe that Budapest is one of the best city breaks in Europe and I’m so glad I was able to experience the city again albeit 12 years is far too long to wait. Whether you follow this itinerary to the letter or whether it provides inspiration for your own itinerary, I hope this guide helps you!
If you have any questions at all, need any more information or just want to let me know your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below or drop me an email!
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