Two cities on one river — thermal baths, a neo-Gothic parliament, ruin bars and the best value in Central Europe
✈ International🛂 Visa — Schengen Required💱 Ft
Ft527,549
Est. total budget · 2 adults
3
Days
9
Attractions
7
Meals planned
💡 Recommended trip length for Budapest: 3 days — Parliament, Castle Hill and Fisherman's Bastion, a long morning at Széchenyi, the Jewish Quarter, and a night cruise on the Danube.
🗓 Prices & visa rules verified: August 2026
1
Arrival Day
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🔒
2
Day 2 — a free sample of your itinerary
Your unlocked preview day
☕
08:00
☕Breakfast
Coffee and a pastry, or a full spread at a Pest café.
Ft1,488 /person (est.)
👑
09:05
👑Buda Castle & Castle Hill· Buda
🕒 06:00–22:00 · Last entry 19:00 · Grounds and streets are free and open at all hours; only the museums are ticketed. The funicular is ~4,500 HUF one way — bus 16 costs a transit fare and takes the same time.
Grounds free⏱ 2.5 hoursculture
Buda Castle → Hungarian Parliament Building
🚇~10 min by Metro · Clark Ádám tér funicular → Kossuth Lajos tér (M2)
🏛
11:45
🏛Hungarian Parliament Building· Pest
🕒 08:00–16:00 · Last entry 15:00 · English tours sell out days ahead — book online. Non-EU citizens pay roughly double the EU rate. Airport-style security; arrive 30 minutes early.
Ft13000.00⏱ 1.5 hoursculture
🍲
13:15
🍲Lunch
Goulash, lángos at the market, or a cheap étkezde set lunch.
Ft3,306 /person (est.)
Hungarian Parliament Building → Dohány Street Synagogue
🚇~15 min by Metro · Kossuth Lajos tér (M2) → Astoria (M2)
🕍
14:30
🕍Dohány Street Synagogue· Pest
Part of your Day 2 — unlock to see the full description, how long to allow, opening hours and the ticket price.
🔒 Locked
Dohány Street Synagogue → Széchenyi Thermal Baths
🚇~20 min by Metro · Astoria (M2) → Széchenyi fürdő (M1)
♨
16:20
♨Széchenyi Thermal Baths· City Park
🕒 07:00–20:00 · Last entry 17:00 · Bring flip-flops, a towel and a swimming cap for the lap pool. Book online for a fast-track entry. Weekday mornings are calmest.
Ft13200.00⏱ 3 hours
🍷
19:30
🍷Dinner
Chicken paprikash or duck, with a glass of Egri Bikavér.
Ft5,950 /person (est.)
3
Departure Day
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🔒
🔒 You're viewing 1 of 3 days. Unlock to open the other 2 fully-planned days.
✈️FlightsFt264,463
Per person · return from IndiaFt132,231
Total · 2 adultsFt264,463
🏨AccommodationFt36,364
3-Star hotel · per night (per room)Ft18,182
2 nights × 1 roomFt36,364
🎭Attractions & ActivitiesFt86,800
Hungarian Parliament BuildingFt26,000
Széchenyi Thermal BathsFt26,400
Fisherman's Bastion & Matthias ChurchFt3,400
Dohány Street SynagogueFt18,000
Danube Night CruiseFt13,000
Total (all pax)Ft86,800
🍽️Food & DiningFt49,587
🌅 Breakfast × 2d × 2 paxFt5,950
☀ Lunch × 3d × 2 paxFt19,835
🌙 Dinner × 2d × 2 paxFt23,802
Total food & diningFt49,587
🚇Airport TransferFt10,000
100E Airport Express · per person, one way (cheaper than a cab at Ft19,100 for this group)Ft2,500
Airport ⇄ hotel · 2 legs × 2 paxFt10,000
🚇Local TransportFt15,000
Per person · per day (public transit)Ft2,500
3 days × 2 paxFt15,000
🛂Visa — Schengen RequiredFt65,336
Entry typeSchengen short-stay visa (Hungary)
Fee€90 per applicant
ProcessApply via VFS/Hungary + biometrics
ProcessingAbout 15 working days — apply early
ValidityUp to 90 days in any 180-day period (Schengen-wide)
TipCarry travel insurance, hotel bookings and return tickets for the application.
Estimated Grand Total
Budapest · 3 days · 2 adults
Ft527,549
Your dates, group & final plan set inside the full itinerary.
In your Itinerary
9 attractions
✓ All 9 attractions with descriptions, opening hours & ticket prices. Your personalised day-by-day plan unlocks with the full itinerary.
✓ Day 2
01 / 9
🏛 Hungarian Parliament Building
Pest
culture
1.5 hours
🕒 08:00–16:00
The third-largest parliament on earth, neo-Gothic and enormous on the Danube bank — the 45-minute tour takes in the gilded dome hall and the Holy Crown of Hungary.
✓ Day 2
02 / 9
♨ Széchenyi Thermal Baths
City Park
leisure
3 hours
🕒 07:00–20:00
Eighteen pools in a canary-yellow neo-baroque palace — the outdoor thermal pools steam year-round, and old men play chess on floating boards in the water.
✓ Day 2
03 / 9
👑 Buda Castle & Castle Hill
Buda
culture
2.5 hours
🕒 06:00–22:00
The old royal palace crowning Castle Hill, now the National Gallery and city museum, with cobbled lanes, courtyards and Danube views along the whole ridge.
✓ Day 2
04 / 9
🕍 Dohány Street Synagogue
Pest
culture
1.5 hours
🕒 10:00–18:00
The largest synagogue in Europe, Moorish-revival and twin-towered, with a memorial garden, the Jewish Museum and Imre Varga's weeping-willow Holocaust memorial.
05 / 9
🏰 Fisherman's Bastion & Matthias Church
Buda
views
2 hours
🕒 09:00–19:00
White neo-Romanesque turrets along the Buda hilltop giving the postcard view straight across to Parliament, with the tiled roof of Matthias Church behind.
06 / 9
⛪ St Stephen's Basilica
Pest
culture
1.5 hours
🕒 09:00–17:45
Budapest's largest church, holding the mummified right hand of Hungary's first king, with a dome walkway giving a 360-degree view over the Pest rooftops.
07 / 9
🚢 Danube Night Cruise
Danube
leisure
1.25 hours
🕒 19:00–23:00
An hour on the water with Parliament, the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle all floodlit — the single best thing Budapest does, and it is cheap.
08 / 9
🍺 Ruin Bars — Szimpla Kert
Jewish Quarter
nightlife
2 hours
🕒 12:00–04:00
A derelict pre-war apartment block filled with mismatched junk, fairy lights, a Trabant you can sit in and several bars — the original and still the best ruin pub.
09 / 9
🌶 Great Market Hall
Pest
shopping
1.5 hours
🕒 06:00–18:00
Three floors of paprika, salami, Tokaji and lace under a Zsolnay-tiled roof — ground floor for produce, upstairs for lángos and souvenirs.
✓ All 4 stops on your Day 2 route. Unlock to see all 9 attractions mapped across your full itinerary.
✓ All 10 tips — visa, airport transfer & ways to spend less.
🛬
Airport → your hotel
Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport (BUD) is about 24 km from the city centre. The 100E Airport Express bus runs direct to Deák Ferenc tér in the centre (2,500 HUF, ~35–45 min); the 200E bus + Metro M3 is cheaper on a standard ticket. A Főtaxi (the only official airport taxi) to downtown is about HUF 10,000–13,000 (~€27). Add your hotel on the Day-by-Day tab for an exact distance and fare. Verified Jul 2026.
🆘
Emergencies
112 — single EU emergency line, English-speaking, free and 24/7.
📱
SIM & data
Telekom, Yettel and One sell prepaid SIMs cheaply; eSIMs work fine. EU roaming plans cover Hungary.
🌤
Best time to visit
April to June and September to October are ideal. July and August are hot but the baths help. Winter is cold and grey, but the Christmas markets and steaming outdoor thermal pools are a genuine highlight.
🚇
Getting around
Four metro lines, plus trams 2 and 4/6 which are useful sights in themselves. A 24h travelcard is ~2,500 HUF, 72h ~5,500 HUF. Validate paper tickets — inspectors at metro exits are relentless and fines are steep.
💱
Money — refuse dynamic conversion
Hungary uses the forint, not the euro, despite EU membership. Always pay in HUF when a card machine offers to charge you in your own currency — the 'convenience' rate is 5-10% worse. Avoid Euronet ATMs; use a bank's own.
🛂
Visa for Indians
Indian passport holders need a Schengen short-stay visa (apply through Hungary/VFS) with biometrics. Fee ~€90; processing about 15 working days. Apply several weeks ahead with insurance and confirmed bookings.
🍲
Food to try
Goulash (a soup, not a stew), chicken paprikash, lángos, chimney cake and Tokaji dessert wine. Do not clink beer glasses — a 19th-century superstition means locals still consider it rude.
🚕
Taxi scams
Never flag a taxi on the street. Use Bolt or call Főtaxi. Unmarked 'taxis' outside nightlife areas overcharge dramatically. The same applies to bars that lure you in with a tout — agree prices first.
♨
Which bath to choose
Széchenyi is the big, sociable, photogenic one. Gellért is art nouveau and more elegant. Rudas is a 16th-century Ottoman bath with a rooftop pool over the Danube and single-sex days — check before you go.