By air
Budapest Ferenc Liszt (BUD), ~20 km
Europe · Hungary
Budapest, Hungary
Thermal baths and a river of bridges
Getting there
Best time to visit
April to June and September to October; December for the markets
Don't miss
The Parliament
Buda Castle
The Chain Bridge
Fisherman's Bastion
Things to do
The Széchenyi baths
A Danube cruise at night
The ruin bars
The Castle District
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Thomas Depenbusch (Depi) from Cologne, Germany · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Swimwear for the baths
A quieter corner
The children's railway in the Buda hills
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Budapest?
April to June and September to October, or December for the markets.
What should I pack for Budapest's thermal baths?
Swimwear — and head for the Széchenyi baths.
What are the must-sees in Budapest?
The Parliament, Buda Castle and the Castle District, the Chain Bridge and Fisherman's Bastion. Take a Danube cruise at night, and try the ruin bars.
What should I eat in Budapest?
Goulash and lángos, and browse the Great Market Hall. For a quieter outing, ride the children's railway in the Buda hills.
About Budapest
- Riverside
Where it is
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, straddles the Danube in the north-central part of the country, with hilly Buda on the west bank and flat Pest on the edge of the Great Plain to the east.
History
The Romans built the town of Aquincum here, and after the Mongol invasion of the 13th century King Béla IV set his royal palace on the hills of Buda. The Ottomans occupied Buda in 1541 and held it until 1686, and in 1873 Buda, Óbuda and Pest were united as Budapest, which became a co-capital of Austria-Hungary.
People
Budapest's people speak Hungarian, a Uralic language unrelated to most of its neighbours' languages. Bathing in the city's thermal springs is a long tradition, and dishes such as goulash, lángos and chimney cake are sold in the Great Market Hall and at street stalls.
Known for
- The Hungarian Parliament Building
- Thermal baths such as Széchenyi and Gellért
- Buda Castle and Fisherman's Bastion
- The Chain Bridge
- Ruin bars in the old Jewish Quarter
Did you know?
Budapest opened the first underground railway on the European continent in 1896, and the line still runs today as the M1 Millennium Underground.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.