3 Days In Budapest Itinerary (incl budget and top tips!)

Budapest is awesome. A grand, powerful city with tall elegant buildings and important history. At the same time a bustling, young city filled with ruin bars, relaxing spas and delicious food. I visited Budapest this July for 3 nights with my two best friends. It was the first time I had been but by the end of the trip I felt like I had a good feel for the city and had seen the highlights.

In this post I will show you what I did for 3 nights in Budapest, including budget tips/advice!

Here's a quick overview of our time:

Day 1:

-          Danube River

The iconic Budapest terraces, hidden behind the shops 

-          Central Pest

-          Szimpla Kert

Day 2: (Full day in Pest)

-          Parliament Building and surrounding area

-          1965 Museum

-          The Shoes on the Danube Bank

-          St Stephens Basilica

-          Riverboat Tour

-          Karaván for street food dinner

Day 3: (Full day in Buda)

-          Matyas Church

-          The Royal Palace and changing of the Guard

-          Gellert Spa

-          Jewish Quarter/Bar Quarter/ Area VI

Day 4

-          Central Market Hall

-          Coffee at Gerbeaud Café

-          Home time

General Info/Advice

-          When you first arrive at Budapest airport, outside is a marked taxi rank with a booth. There’s a very efficient method, all you need to do is give the person inside the booth your address and they’ll give a ticket with the number of your taxi. There is a bus but if you’re in a group of 3 or more, by splitting the cost of a taxi, it’s not much difference in cost and saves a lot of hassle trying to figure out where to get off. There’s a fix price to get into Budapest, and you will need cash to pay the taxi man. We ended up paying about £15 for 3 of us.

-          Currency: The currency in Hungary is the Hungarian Huff, not the euro! The exchange rate is quite hard to get your head round so before you go out, buy some cash and figure out how much the different notes are worth.

-          The city is split into two main areas: Buda and Pest. They’re split by the Danube river that runs through the centre. When booking your accommodation, look for somewhere within walking distance of the river so that you can easily get to the key attractions.

Here is a more detailed look at what we did, how much things cost and what we thought was really worth doing! Enjoy…

DAY 1 (EVENING)

-          RIVER FOR DINNER

We started by the river Danube, a central point in the city where you can get your bearings. Along the waterfront, there were plenty of restaurants offering traditional Hungarian dishes. We were aware we were paying a little bit more to be sitting by the river, as you usually do, but we were happy to! I had a beautiful roast duck dish, and it cost about £11.00. From the river, you can pretty much get to all the big sites in Budapest by foot, both sides. (Although there is a lovely tram line that’s definitely worth using to get to the other side!)

-          EXPLORE INNER CITY

From dinner we walked up through Central Pest, taking in the views of the tall, impressive buildings and the open squares as the sun set. We walked for about 15 minutes from the river to the Jewish Quarter (home to the best night life in Budapest.)

-          RUIN BARS

We were way too tired for clubbing (a common occurrence), so instead decided to head to the most popular of Budapest’s ruin bars. I was enchanted. Not knowing what to expect, we walked in to Szimpla Kert and we were hit by a chaotic mix of lights, people, strange décor, plants and of course, alcohol. It’s a hard place to describe but 100% worth checking out. A little bit overwhelming but also amazing. A pint of beer or cider there cost about 1000 Huff (cheapest) which currently converts to around £2.75. This was pretty average pricing, we went to some cheaper places but in Szimpla Kert you’re paying for the venue and atmosphere as well, which is worth the extra 50p. While entry is free, don’t forget your ID as there are bouncers on the door in the evenings.

DAY 2 (FULL)

For our first full day in Budapest, we put on our most comfy shoes and explored the city on foot. More specifically we explored Pest and the area around the Hungarian Parliament.  We ended up walking over 40,000 steps that day so pack your least blistery shoes and maybe some blister plasters!

-          PARLIAMENT BUILDING AND 1965 MUSEUM

The first place we headed was the Parliament building and the surrounding area. I had been told that the building was amazing but oh my WORD, was that an understatement. The parliament building itself was beautiful, but the surrounding area was also worth a wander. Fun fact, due to 3 amazing designs, the parliament square actually contains 3 “parliament buildings”, each immaculately designed and built with extravagant exteriors. While only 1 ended up being used as the parliament building, the other 2 are now used as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Museum of Ethnography.

We also took a tour of the inside of the parliament building which was equally as awe-inspiring. My friends and I are all students, so we paid a slightly lower rate. (Top tip: Take your student card with you ANYWHERE in Europe, there’s all kinds of discounts.) Although you can pre-book online here, we managed to book an English-speaking tour on the day, so don’t despair if they are all full up online. The tour was really nicely done, with a guide taking you through small details and the history of the building, as well as how it is used today.

Outside (and beneath) parliament square is the 1965 museum, a small museum remembering and explaining the tragic events of 1965 that occurred in the square and throughout Hungary. It is only a very small museum but worth visiting nonetheless.

-          THE SHOES ON THE DANUBE BANK

From the parliament building, we found ourselves back by the river. Walking back towards our Airbnb, we passed the Shoes on the Danube Bank. It is a sobering memorial dedicated to the Hungarian Jews prosecuted and murdered by Nazis throughout their occupation. It is a sad site but important to reflect and think.

-          ST STEPHEN’S BASILICA

From there, we strolled back through the city, towards our apartment. On our way, we passed St Stephen’s Basilica which is the largest church in Budapest, with architecture on par with a cathedral. Although we didn’t go inside, it was an impressive building from the outside which we appreciated while having an ice coffee to cool us down.

-          RIVER BOAT TOUR

After a much-needed sit down and refresh at our apartment, we headed back towards the city to jump on one of the many river boat tours. I have to say, I was sceptical after some bad experiences on boats, but I was pleasantly surprised! We paid about £5 (again, student prices!) and had an hour-long trip up and down the river. From the top deck of the boat, it had perfect views of some of the main sites of Budapest, as well as some further out sites which we would have never made it to on foot. It was a great way of seeing a lot of the city, without walking miles. The guide itself was also brilliant, telling us all about the history of different buildings and the many beautiful bridges.

-          STREETFOOD

For dinner, we headed to Karavan for some street food. We had seen it the night before and decided we wanted to go there for dinner. It reminded me of food markets in London, but significantly cheaper. There was a really relaxed, friendly atmosphere as everyone tucked into their Langos on large group tables with some Hungarian beer. I was also impressed at the delicious vegetarian and vegan options available for reasonable prices.

DAY 3 (FULL)

-          MATYAS CHURCH

On our second full day, we headed to the Buda side of the city, over the river. We crossed … bridge by foot and headed straight up to Matyas church. It was a bit of an uphill walk, and busy once we got there, but the church itself was exquisite. The tiling of the room was beautiful and the views from the towers over the city, made it worth the walk. I would recommend this doing this early before it gets too hot in the summer as the crowds and heat made it a little intense.

-          THE ROYAL PALACE

From Matyas Church, we took the path towards the Royal Palace which meant we didn’t have to go back down and up again, it’s all clearly sign posted. As we arrived at the royal palace, we managed to see the change of the guards which was a very extravagant, exciting event! A lot better than our change of the guards in London... There were drums and gun choreography, it was all very cool.

However, we didn’t go into the Royal Palace (which is now an art exhibition), but it’s worth seeing the outside, especially if you’re up the hill anyway. 

-        GELLERT SPA

From the Royal Palace, we made our way back down to street level and jumped on a tram. We had bought our single ticket at the start of the day and thought this was the best opportunity to use it as we made our way to Gellert Spa. We had lunch at a local bakery, buying an assortment of pastries which worked out at about 50p-£2 each! Then we headed to Gellert Spa.

As you may already know, Budapest is famous for their thermal baths and spas. The two main ones are: Szechenyi Bath and Gellert Bath. My friend had already been to Szechenyi Bath (which is the biggest), so we decided to go to Gellert Spa, the oldest spa in Budapest. It cost us about £15 each to get in, and we decided to only get one changing room/locker between us which worked out fine. The ticket allows you stay for the whole day, trying out the different pools and relaxing on sun beds in the sun outside. Luckily for us, it was warm when we went so, we got lots of use out of the outside pool (which had a wave machine!?!!?). The inside was beautiful, covered in ornate tiles, making Gellert Spa perfect for a winter trip as well. There were hot plunge pools, steam rooms and ice-cold baths. We came out feeling thoroughly relaxed, although a little bruised from the very aggressive wave machine!

-          JEWISH QUARTER

I know what you’re thinking, we did end up in the Jewish quarter most nights but there’s a reason for that: it was so cool! We did a bit of a bar crawl this time, visiting a couple of the smaller ruin bars and having dinner at a highly rated restaurant right in the centre of the ‘bar quarter’.

DAY 4 (MORNING)

-          CENTRAL MARKET HALL

On our final morning, we headed (in the boiling heat) over to Budapest’s Central Market Hall. It was whopping building, with two floors, jam packed with market stalls and tourists. On the top floor there were more magnets, tea towels and mugs than you c… and downstairs there was a slightly more spacious food market. (Although 80% of the stalls sold the same variety of paprika products.) It’s perfect for magnet shopping, but don’t go expecting unique, hand crafted products. It was extremely busy when we went, probably because everyone was trying to escape the heat, so prepare for some serious barging and tutting.

-          COFFEE AND CAKE IN GERBAUD CAFÉ

Our final stop, before heading to the airport, was Gerbaud Café. My friend is a massive café geek, we couldn’t resist visiting one of the most famous and oldest cafes in Europe, operating since the middle of the 19^th century. Their selection of homemade cakes (although expensive), were delightful and a pleasure just to see. The decoration is elaborate and very fancy, our little bit of luxury on a fairly budget few days in Budapest.

Finally, we jumped in a taxi and headed back to the airport. The journey was about 40 minutes but we allowed plenty of time as the route is prone to traffic jams.

We absolutely loved Budapest, the city was the perfect mix of cool, fun and historic. For us, 3 nights (with 2 full days and 2 half days) was the right amount of time. By the end, all the walking had worn us out. It’s also a great city on a budget, with meals costing anywhere between £5-£12, it’s very doable on a smaller budget. For the whole 3 nights (not including flights and Airbnb), we all spent approximately £200.

Have you already been to Budapest? Have I missed something? Let me know in the comments below!

As always, thanks for reading,

Laura 😊