This is the day I’d plan for a friend on their first trip to Budapest, with the times, the places to eat, and the one thing you need to book.
It starts in Buda while Castle Hill is still quiet, crosses the river once on foot, and ends in the hot water at Széchenyi and then by the Danube after dark, which is when the city looks its best. The one thing to book is the Parliament.
It’s a full day, about ten hours with proper breaks. If you’d rather take it slower, or you’re more into food, history or nightlife, the swaps further down show you what to change.
Your day in Budapest at a glance
- 08:00
Breakfast on Castle Hill
Pest-Buda Bistro on Fortuna utca, four minutes from the Bastion.
- 08:45
Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church
The views while they’re free and quiet, then the church when it opens at nine.
- 10:15
Down the hill and over the Chain Bridge
On foot, downhill all the way.
- 10:45
Shoes on the Danube and the Parliament
Along the quay to your tour slot.
- 12:30
St Stephen's Basilica
The church, and the terrace between its towers.
- 13:45
Lunch by the Opera House
On Andrássy Avenue, ten minutes’ walk from the Basilica.
- 15:00
The M1 to Heroes' Square
Continental Europe’s oldest underground line, then the square and City Park.
- 16:00
Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Two hours or so in the outdoor pools as the light goes.
- 19:00
Dinner by the river, then the Danube at night
A cruise, or a walk over the bridge to see the Parliament lit up.
What to book before you go
The Parliament tour. You can only see inside on a guided tour at a fixed time, and the slots go days ahead, so book this first and fit the morning round it. A slot between about 11:00 and 11:30 suits this plan best. Arrive a quarter of an hour early for the security check.
There are separate tickets for EU and non-EU passport holders, and they check at the door, so book the one that matches yours.
Everything else on this page you can book on the day or not at all. The bath and the evening cruise are worth buying online the day before if you like to know it’s sorted.
Which day? A weekday is easiest. On a Saturday, Matthias Church closes to visitors at 12:15, which this plan beats anyway. On a Sunday the church doesn’t open until 13:15 and the Basilica’s nave not until 13:00, so on a Sunday see the Bastion without the church, and at the Basilica go up to the terrace first and into the church afterwards. A Monday is fine, because nothing on this route is a museum, and those are what close on Mondays.
Morning: breakfast and Fisherman’s Bastion before the crowds
About 08:00 to 10:15. Take bus 16 from Deák Ferenc tér in Pest. It climbs Castle Hill and drops you at Szentháromság tér, a few steps from Matthias Church. It’s easier than the funicular, which needs its own separate ticket and leaves you at the other end of the hill.
Breakfast first. Pest-Buda Bistro at Fortuna utca 3 is the one place on the hill that’s open every day from half past seven, and it’s four minutes’ walk from the Bastion. It’s a hotel bistro, so it’s not the cheapest breakfast in town, but nothing else up here opens that early.
Then Fisherman’s Bastion. The arcades and terraces are free at any hour, and the upper lookout only charges during its ticket hours, which start at nine. Before then you can go all the way up for nothing. The Parliament sits straight across the river from here, and it’s the photograph everyone wants.
At nine, Matthias Church opens next door. Give it half an hour. The inside is painted from floor to vault in patterns and colour, and it’s nothing like the outside prepares you for. Cover your shoulders and knees.
The first time I went up the hill was on a Saturday morning, and it was the busiest place I saw all trip. I went back early on a weekday and had the church almost to myself. If you have the choice, this is the day to do it on a weekday.
Late morning: across the Chain Bridge to the Parliament
About 10:15 to 12:15. Walk down from the Bastion to Clark Ádám tér at the foot of the hill. It’s downhill all the way and takes about ten minutes. Then cross the Chain Bridge on foot, seven minutes if you don’t stop, longer because you will.
On the Pest side, turn left and follow the river north on the lower quay. After about ten minutes you reach the Shoes on the Danube Bank: sixty pairs of iron shoes on the stone edge above the water, a memorial to the Jews shot into the river here in 1944 and 1945. It’s a short stop and it stays with you. This isn’t the place for a selfie.
Five minutes further on, the Parliament rises in front of you. The tour is 45 minutes. The room everyone remembers is the Dome Hall, where the Holy Crown is kept under guard, and that’s the one place you can’t take photos.
There’s nothing to eat on Kossuth Lajos tér itself. If you need a coffee and something sweet before or after your slot, Mamie on Nádor utca 26 is nine minutes away and open every day from eight until eight, with cakes and butter brioche from the Artizán bakery family.
Midday: St Stephen’s Basilica and its dome
About 12:30 to 13:30. From the Parliament it’s about a quarter of an hour on foot to St Stephen’s Basilica, through the quiet office streets of Lipótváros, past Mamie if you skipped it earlier.
Go inside the church, then up to the Panorama Terrace, which runs right round the dome. You can pick out everything you’ve done so far from up there: the hill, the bridge, the Parliament’s dome.
On your way out, Gelarto Rosa at Szent István tér 3 is two minutes from the door. They shape the gelato into a rose, it’s open from eleven until ten every day, and it’s the easiest treat on this whole route.
Lunch on Andrássy Avenue, by the Opera House
About 13:45 to 15:00. Walk ten minutes up to Andrássy Avenue and the State Opera House.
Callas Café at Andrássy út 20 sits right next to the Opera, with tables on the pavement looking at it. The food is Hungarian and good, and a Budapest resident who eats there gives it a solid eight out of ten. It isn’t cheap, and it’s closed on Mondays.
On a Monday, or for something simpler, Két Szerecsen on Nagymező utca is five minutes from the Opera and open all day, every day. Have the daily lunch menu. It’s reliable rather than remarkable, and that’s exactly what you want in the middle of a long day.
Afternoon: the old metro to Heroes’ Square
About 15:00 to 16:00. Walking the whole of Andrássy Avenue takes over half an hour, so ride under it instead. The M1 stops right outside the Opera, and it’s the oldest underground line on the European mainland, with little yellow trains and tiled stations just below the pavement. It’s five stops to Hősök tere.
Heroes’ Square is free and open, and twenty minutes is plenty: the column with the archangel Gabriel on top, the seven Magyar chieftains on horseback below it, and Hungary’s kings along the two colonnades. There’s no shade on it at all, which matters in July.
Then walk behind the square into City Park, past the lake and the fairytale towers of Vajdahunyad Castle. The bath’s yellow domes are about ten minutes away.
Late afternoon: Széchenyi Thermal Bath
About 16:00 to 18:30. This is the bit of the day people talk about afterwards. Széchenyi is the huge yellow bath in the middle of the park, and its outdoor pools are warm enough to sit in all year.
Late afternoon is a good time to go. The morning crowd has gone, and in winter it’s dark by five, so you get the pools under the lights with steam rising off the water. On a December visit I got into the outdoor pool just as the lamps came on, and it was the best hour of the trip.
Two hours is about right. Bring your own towel and flip-flops, because nothing is for hire, and take a cabin if you’d rather not use the shared changing rooms. Last entry is an hour before closing, which is 20:00 on most days. You have to be 14 or over to get in.
Evening: dinner by the river and the Parliament lit up
From about 19:00. Take the M1 from Széchenyi fürdő station, right by the bath, all the way to the end of the line at Vörösmarty tér. From there the river is a few minutes’ walk.
Dunacorso on Vigadó tér looks straight across the water at Castle Hill, where your day began. It’s open from midday to eleven every day, with the kitchen closing at ten. You’re paying partly for the view, but it’s the best-placed dinner in the area, and it’s five minutes from the cruise pier.
After dinner, finish with the river. You have two ways to do it.
Take an evening cruise. An hour on the water past the lit Parliament, the bridges and the castle is the one view you can’t get on foot. Boats leave from the Legenda pier at 7 Jane Haining rakpart, down on the lower quay, five minutes’ walk from Dunacorso.
Or walk it for free. Go back over the Chain Bridge, lit up at night, and turn right along the Buda bank. The Parliament glows on the other side of the water, and from over there it looks even bigger than it did this morning. Our guide to the Parliament at night has the best places to stand.
Map of your day in Budapest
The ten pins are numbered in the order you reach them. Buda is the morning, the river is crossed once, on foot, and everything after that is in Pest.
Change the day to suit you
The plan above is the classic first day. If you just want a good day without thinking about it, follow it as it is. If you’re into something in particular, here’s what to swap.
Love food
Keep the morning, and have a lighter lunch on Andrássy so you’re hungry later. After the bath, take the M1 to Deák Ferenc tér and the M2 one stop to Astoria, and have dinner at Gettó Gulyás on Wesselényi utca 18, six minutes from the Great Synagogue. It does Hungarian stews properly, it’s open every day from noon to eleven, and three separate people who know the city’s restaurants well put it first.
Love history
Swap Matthias Church for the Hospital in the Rock, the wartime hospital and Cold War bunker inside Castle Hill, which you can only see on a guided tour. In the afternoon, swap the bath for the House of Terror at Andrássy út 60, on your way up the avenue. Allow two to three hours. It’s closed on Mondays and you buy tickets at the door.
Want to relax
Skip the Parliament tour and see the building from the quay instead, which is free. Take a long lunch, and get to Széchenyi by half past two for three unhurried hours in the water. The cruise is the perfect way to end a slow day.
Here for the nightlife
Follow the day as it is, then after dinner head to the old Jewish Quarter for the ruin bars. Szimpla Kert is the original, and it fills up after nine, so go early or go late. Karavan, the street-food yard next door, does lángos with sour cream and cheese if you need fuel. Our ruin bars guide has the rest.
With children
Széchenyi only lets in over-14s, so swap the bath for the Budapest Zoo, a few minutes’ walk from Heroes’ Square. If you still want a bath, our thermal baths guide says which ones take children.
Short on time, or got longer?
If you’re running late, drop things in this order: Matthias Church, then the Basilica’s terrace, then Heroes’ Square. The Bastion, the bridge, the bath and the river at night are the ones to protect.
If you’ve got an extra hour or two, walk south from the Bastion to the free courtyards and terraces of Buda Castle, or swap a long lunch for the Opera House tour, which runs in English every day.
If you’re flying in or out the same day, airport bus 100E ends at Deák Ferenc tér, which is where bus 16 up Castle Hill starts. Arriving mid-morning, skip the hill and start at the Basilica. Leaving in the evening, run the day as written and skip the cruise.
If it rains, or it’s winter
Rain doesn’t spoil this day as much as you’d think. Sitting in hot water while it pours is one of the best things you can do in Budapest, so keep the bath. The Parliament, the Basilica, Matthias Church and the Opera are all indoors. Drop the Basilica’s terrace, which is open to the sky, and take the cruise rather than the walk over the bridge.
In winter the Parliament closes at 16:00, two hours earlier than in summer, which this plan already allows for. It gets dark by about five, so Heroes’ Square is lit and the bath is in the dark, which is when it’s at its best.
For more time in the city, see our weekend in Budapest and three days in Budapest plans, or pick from the best things to do in Budapest.
