This is the weekend I’d plan for a friend flying in on Friday night: Castle Hill and the river on Saturday, then the synagogue, the Opera and Széchenyi on Sunday.
It works until a late flight home on Sunday. Both days are full, with proper breaks, and the order matters, because the Dohány Street Synagogue is shut every Saturday. Two things need booking before you go.
What to book before you go
The Parliament tour, for Saturday afternoon. You can only go inside on a guided tour at a fixed time, and weekend slots go days ahead. This plan wants a slot at about half past two. From November to March the building closes at 16:00, so in winter take the earliest afternoon slot you can get.
Book the EU or non-EU ticket to match your passport, because they check at the door, and arrive a quarter of an hour early for security.
The synagogue, for Sunday morning. The Dohány Street Synagogue is closed every Saturday and on Jewish holidays. Its ticket can’t be refunded or moved to another day, so check the date twice before you pay. The first time I tried to see inside, I turned up on a Saturday and found the gates shut. On a weekend trip it’s the easiest mistake to make.
The Opera House tour on Sunday is worth booking too, because groups are capped. The bath and the evening cruise can wait until the day before.
Why the days go this way round. Saturday has to start on Castle Hill, because Matthias Church closes to visitors at 12:15 on a Saturday and doesn’t open until 13:15 on a Sunday. The Basilica goes on Saturday as well, since on a Sunday its church stays shut until 13:00. Sunday gets the synagogue, and the bath comes last, because two days of walking is exactly what it’s for.
I’ve left the Great Market Hall out. It’s at its best on a weekday morning, and at the weekend it closes at four on Saturday and doesn’t open until ten on Sunday, when several stalls don’t trade at all. If food is why you came, the Love food tab further down puts it into Saturday.
Day 1, Saturday: Castle Hill, the Basilica, the Parliament and a night cruise
- 08:00
Bus 16 up Castle Hill, then breakfast
Pest-Buda Bistro on Fortuna utca, four minutes from the Bastion.
- 08:40
Fisherman's Bastion
Free all the way to the top until nine.
- 09:00
Matthias Church
In as the doors open, because on a Saturday it closes at 12:15.
- 10:15
Buda Castle
The courtyards, the terrace over the river and the eleven o’clock guard change.
- 11:15
Down the hill and over the Chain Bridge
Downhill on foot, then seven minutes across the river.
- 11:45
St Stephen's Basilica
The church, then the terrace round its dome.
- 12:45
Lunch at Borkonyha
Four minutes from the Basilica. Saturday is one of only two days it does lunch.
- 14:30
The Parliament and the Shoes on the Danube
Your tour, then five minutes along the river.
- 16:15
Coffee at Gerbeaud, then a rest
The grand café on Vörösmarty tér, then an hour off your feet.
- 19:00
Dinner on the promenade, then a cruise
Dunacorso on Vigadó tér, and the boat from the pier along the quay.
Morning: breakfast on Castle Hill, the Bastion and Matthias Church
About 08:00 to 10:00. Bus 16 from Deák Ferenc tér climbs the hill in about eight minutes and stops at Halászbástya, at the foot of the staircase up to the Bastion. Riding up beats the funicular, which needs a ticket of its own and leaves you at the other end of the hill.
Have breakfast first. Pest-Buda Bistro at Fortuna utca 3 is open from half past seven every day, earlier than anywhere else up here, and it’s four minutes from the Bastion. It’s a hotel bistro, so you pay a bit more for the address.
Then go up Fisherman’s Bastion while it’s free. The upper lookout only charges during its ticket hours, which start at nine, and the arcades and courtyard below are free at any hour. After nine I wouldn’t pay for the top, because the view from the arcades is very nearly the same.
Matthias Church opens next door at nine, and on this plan it’s your only chance to see inside. Be at the door when it opens. Saturday morning is the busiest the hill gets, and the tour groups arrive soon after. Give it 45 minutes to an hour, and cover your shoulders and knees.
The pillars and walls inside are painted all over in pattern and colour, and it’s the church people remember afterwards.
If you want the tower too, it’s 197 steps on a timed slot sold only by the church. Slots run every half hour from 09:30, with none between noon and two, so take a morning one and give Buda Castle half an hour less. Services and events come first, and on a Saturday they can cut the visiting hours short, so check the church’s own website for the day.
Late morning: Buda Castle and down to the Chain Bridge
About 10:00 to 11:30. Walk south along the top of the hill on the cobbles, past Dísz tér. It’s about thirteen minutes on the level to Buda Castle, and its courtyards and terraces are free at any hour.
Stand on the terrace in front of the National Gallery for the view down over the Chain Bridge to the Parliament, which is where you’re heading this afternoon. Parts of the palace are being rebuilt, so expect fences and cranes, and a path or two closed.
Then be outside Sándor Palace on Szent György tér for eleven. The guard there changes on the hour, with the full ceremony at noon, so you see the eleven o’clock change on your way down.
If you’d like one room inside the palace, make it St Stephen’s Hall. It’s visited in timed slots that need booking, and it adds the best part of an hour, so have the quick lunch at Disznótoros to make up the time.
From the palace it’s about six minutes on foot down to Clark Ádám tér at the bottom of the hill. If stairs are a problem, the lifts at the Castle Garden Bazaar take you down to the river step-free. Then walk across the Chain Bridge. It takes seven minutes, plus however long you stand halfway looking back up at the palace.
Midday: St Stephen’s Basilica and lunch on Sas utca
About 11:30 to 14:00. On the Pest side, pedestrianised Zrínyi utca runs straight from the bridge square to the steps of St Stephen’s Basilica, about seven minutes away.
If you’ve bought online, go first to the ticket office at Szent István tér 2 and use the Prepaid Online Tickets lane to swap your voucher for a ticket. The church itself is at number 1. See the nave, then go up to the Panorama Terrace that runs round the dome, and look back across the river at the hill you’ve just come down. Allow an hour.
Lunch is four minutes away at Borkonyha, Sas utca 3. It’s a wine restaurant first, so let them pick a glass for each course. It only serves lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, from noon, which makes this the day for it. It’s a proper splurge, so book a table and go knowing that.
For something quicker and much cheaper, Belvárosi Disznótoros at Király utca 1/d is eight minutes from the Basilica and opens at noon on a Saturday. It’s a butcher’s counter where you point at what you want, they grill it while you wait, and you eat standing or at a shared table. It’s at the Deák Ferenc tér end of the street, and from there the M2 takes two minutes to Kossuth Lajos tér for the Parliament.
Afternoon: the Parliament and the Shoes on the Danube
About 14:00 to 16:15. From Borkonyha it’s about seventeen minutes on foot north through the quiet streets of Lipótváros to Kossuth Lajos tér. There’s nothing to eat or drink on the square itself, so have your coffee at lunch.
The Parliament tour is 45 minutes, and with security it’s an hour. It takes in the grand staircase and the Dome Hall, where the Holy Crown is kept under guard and photos aren’t allowed. Visits can pause at short notice for sittings and state events. If yours is called off, the quay walk below still makes a good afternoon.
When you come out, cross the quay road at the lights by Kossuth tér and walk five minutes south along the river side to the Shoes on the Danube Bank. Sixty pairs of iron shoes stand on the old stone kerb, a memorial to the Jews shot into the river along this bank by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944 and 1945.
People leave flowers and small stones in them. Take a photo if you like, but don’t step on the shoes or pose with them.
Carry on south along the river for about ten minutes to the Pest end of the Chain Bridge. In winter you’ll do this walk around dusk, as the lights come on along the far bank.
From the bridge, Gerbeaud on Vörösmarty tér is ten minutes inland, and it’s the place for coffee and the Gerbeaud slice in a grand café. It’s open until nine on a Saturday and takes no reservations, so you sit wherever there’s a free table. Then go back to your room for an hour. You’ve been on your feet since eight.
Evening: dinner on the promenade and a Danube cruise
From about 19:00. Dunacorso on Vigadó tér is four minutes from Gerbeaud, right on the river, looking across at the palace you walked round this morning. It’s open every day from noon to eleven, with the kitchen taking orders until ten. You’re paying partly for the view, and the cruise pier is five minutes away.
Then get on the water. The evening cruise leaves from the Legenda pier at 7 Jane Haining rakpart, on the lower quay, and spends an hour going past the Parliament, the bridges and Buda Castle, all lit up. A drink is included and food isn’t, so eat first, and book a sailing for after dinner.
On a May visit the floodlights on the Parliament and the castle didn’t come on until about half past eight. In summer, book a boat that leaves after sunset, or you’ll see it all in daylight.
If you’ve still got the legs for it, the ruin bars of the old Jewish Quarter are about twenty minutes’ walk inland. The nightlife tab below has the plan.
Map of your Saturday in Budapest
Pins 1 to 8, in the order you reach them. The bus does the climb, and from there the day is downhill and then flat, with one crossing of the river on foot.
Day 2, Sunday: the synagogue, the Opera House, Heroes’ Square and Széchenyi
- 08:30
Brunch at Stika
On Dob utca, from eight at the weekend, eleven minutes from the synagogue.
- 10:00
Dohány Street Synagogue
Doors open at ten on a Sunday. Give it two hours.
- 12:00
Lunch at Gettó Gulyás
Six minutes from the synagogue, open from noon every day.
- 13:30
The Opera House tour
Eleven minutes on foot. English tours at 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30.
- 14:30
Andrássy Avenue and the M1
On foot to Oktogon, then four minutes under the avenue.
- 15:00
Heroes' Square and City Park
The kings, the chieftains and Vajdahunyad Castle.
- 15:45
Széchenyi Thermal Bath
Three hours in the pools. Last entry on a Sunday is 19:00.
- 19:00
Dinner at Gundel
Six minutes from the bath, or back down the M1 for something simpler.
Morning: brunch on Dob utca and the Dohány Street Synagogue
About 08:30 to 12:00. The synagogue doesn’t open until ten on a Sunday, so the day starts slowly, which after a Saturday night is no bad thing. Stika Gastropub at Dob utca 46/a does breakfast and brunch from eight at the weekend. It gets busy, and it takes reservations between eight and ten, so book a table. From there it’s eleven minutes on foot to the synagogue.
The Dohány Street Synagogue opens at ten. One ticket covers the whole complex: the synagogue itself, the Hungarian Jewish Museum, the Heroes’ Temple, the memorial park with the Tree of Life, and the cemetery in the courtyard. That’s why it takes an hour and a half to two hours, not forty minutes. Join the guided tour, which comes with the ticket and lasts 45 minutes to an hour.
The fast-track ticket skips the queue at the ticket window but not the security check, which everyone goes through. Cover your shoulders and knees, and men cover their heads.
Lunch in the old Jewish Quarter
About 12:00 to 13:15. Gettó Gulyás at Wesselényi utca 18 is six minutes from the synagogue gates and opens at noon every day. It does Hungarian stews properly, which is harder to find in this city than you’d expect. The venison stew with juniper and porcini is the one to order, and the curd dumplings, túrógombóc, are the pudding. It’s the meal in this quarter I’d go back for.
If it’s full, Mazel Tov at Akácfa utca 47 is seven minutes further on, a big covered courtyard serving shakshuka, falafel and hummus rather than Hungarian food, and open from noon on a Sunday.
Early afternoon: the Opera House tour and Andrássy Avenue
About 13:15 to 14:45. From Gettó Gulyás it’s about eleven minutes on foot to the State Opera House on Andrássy út, so leave by ten past one. The English tour runs every day at 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30, and it lasts an hour. If lunch runs long, take the three o’clock tour instead, and you’ll still be in the bath by five.
The tour goes into the auditorium unless there’s a rehearsal on stage, when it goes to other rooms instead. You can take photos as long as you don’t use a flash.
Afterwards, walk up Andrássy Avenue to the big crossroads at Oktogon, about eight minutes. The rest of the avenue is a long way on foot, so at Oktogon go down to the M1, the little yellow line that runs just under the road, and ride it four minutes to Hősök tere. Every M1 station is stairs only.
Afternoon: Heroes’ Square and City Park
About 15:00 to 15:45. The stairs bring you up into the middle of Heroes’ Square. Fourteen of Hungary’s rulers stand along the two curved colonnades, and the seven Magyar chieftains ride at the foot of the column. It’s free, open stone with no shade at all, and twenty minutes is plenty.
Walk on behind it into City Park. Vajdahunyad Castle, the fairytale cluster of towers by the lake, is about seven minutes in, and from there the bath’s yellow domes are nine minutes further.
Late afternoon: Széchenyi Thermal Bath
About 15:45 to 19:00. Széchenyi is where the weekend has been heading. After two days on your feet, three hours in the outdoor pools is the best thing you can do for your legs, and the water is warm enough to sit in whatever the weather.
On a Sunday the bath closes at 20:00, the last entry is an hour before, and you have to be out of the pools twenty minutes before closing. Get in by about four and you won’t be watching the clock. You have to be 14 or over. Bring your own towel and flip-flops, because nothing is for hire, and take a cabin rather than a locker if you’d rather not use the shared changing rooms.
Evening: dinner by the park, or back on Andrássy
From about 19:00. Gundel at Gundel Károly út 4 is six minutes from the bath, the grand old dining room by the park, and it serves dinner every evening including Sunday. The kitchen stops at nine, so don’t linger in the water. It’s the most expensive meal on this page. Finish with the Somló sponge, the house dessert.
For something simpler, take the M1 from Széchenyi fürdő back to Oktogon, five minutes, and walk six minutes to Két Szerecsen on Nagymező utca, open until half past eleven every day. It’s reliable rather than remarkable, which is what you want at the end of a weekend.
If you’re flying home tonight, the M1 also runs back to Deák Ferenc tér, where the 100E airport bus stops. It takes its own ticket, not an ordinary one.
Map of your Sunday in Budapest
Pins 9 to 14. Sunday never leaves Pest. It starts in the old Jewish Quarter and works outwards, with the M1 doing the long stretch of Andrássy Avenue.
If you land on Friday evening
Use it. Friday is the one night of the week Széchenyi stays open until 22:00, with last entry at nine, so you can drop your bags and go straight into the hot water. That frees Sunday afternoon for a longer lunch, the House of Terror or an earlier flight.
Or take the cruise on Friday night instead and keep Saturday night for the ruin bars. Mazel Tov stays open until midnight from Friday to Sunday, so it suits either night.
What a Friday evening can’t give you is the synagogue. On a Friday it closes at 16:00, and at 14:00 from November to February, with last entry an hour before. The 100E from the airport stops at Deák Ferenc tér, which is also where bus 16 up Castle Hill starts on Saturday morning.
Change the weekend to suit you
The plan above is the classic first weekend. If you’re into something in particular, here’s what to swap.
Love food
Swap the Basilica on Saturday for the Great Market Hall. From the Pest end of the Chain Bridge, tram 2 runs along the river to Fővám tér in six minutes and stops outside the main door. The produce is on the ground floor and in the cellar, and every cooked-food counter is upstairs on the gallery. Get there by early afternoon on a Saturday, because the hall shuts at four and several stalls close an hour earlier. Butter Brothers, a sourdough bakery and bistro on Lónyay utca, is five minutes away and open until three at the weekend.
Then take tram 2 back north to Kossuth Lajos tér for the Parliament, and see the Basilica on Sunday instead. Its church opens at one, so it fits between lunch at Gettó Gulyás, thirteen minutes away, and a three o’clock Opera tour, six minutes from its door.
Love history
Keep Saturday as it is. On Sunday, swap the Opera tour for the House of Terror at Andrássy út 60, where the political police held prisoners in the cellar cells. It’s open on Sundays, but it needs two to three hours and the cash desk shuts at 17:30, so go straight from lunch. Ordinary tickets are only sold at the door. Take the M1 from Opera two stops to Vörösmarty utca, not Vörösmarty tér. Afterwards, ride three stops on to Hősök tere and have a shorter soak.
Want to relax
Do the bath on Friday night, when it’s open until ten, and again on Sunday if you love it. On Saturday, see the Parliament from the quay rather than going in, and take the long lunch at Borkonyha. On Sunday, skip the Opera tour, walk Andrássy Avenue at your own pace and be in the water by half past two.
Here for the nightlife
Saturday is your night. After the cruise, walk inland to the old Jewish Quarter. Szimpla Kert, the original ruin bar, fills up after nine, so go early or late, and expect stag parties on a Saturday. Mazel Tov keeps its kitchen open until half past ten on a Saturday if you skipped dinner. Our ruin bars guide has the rest.
For something stranger, Rudas opens for night bathing on Friday and Saturday from ten at night until three, on a ticket of its own. Sunday morning is forgiving. The synagogue doesn’t open until ten, and Stika serves brunch until four.
With children
Széchenyi only lets in over-14s, so on Sunday swap the bath for the Budapest Zoo, about seven minutes’ walk through Heroes’ Square from the M1. Its closing time changes with the month and the last entry is an hour before, so check before you go. Our thermal baths guide says which baths do take children. The synagogue’s two hours can be long for small children, so the guided tour is the part to skip.
Short on time, or got longer?
If Saturday runs late, drop Buda Castle first, then the Basilica’s terrace, then Gerbeaud. Don’t drop Matthias Church, because Saturday morning is the only time on this plan you can get inside. If Sunday runs late, drop the Opera tour, then City Park. Protect the synagogue, because the ticket can’t be moved, and protect the bath.
If you’ve got Monday morning too, go to the Great Market Hall before eleven, when it’s at its best, with breakfast at Butter Brothers, which opens at seven on weekdays. Bear in mind that on a Monday the House of Terror, the Hungarian National Museum and the National Gallery in Buda Castle are all shut.
If you’ve got a third day, our three days in Budapest plan has room for the museums and the market.
If your two days are weekdays
Most of this plan works on any two days, and a weekday pair is easier.
- Castle Hill no longer has to be the morning. Matthias Church is open until 17:00 on weekdays, so it can go after lunch. I’d still go early, because the hill is quieter before ten.
- Keep the synagogue off a Friday afternoon. It’s open full days from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, but on a Friday it closes at four, or two in winter.
- Lunch near the Basilica changes. Borkonyha only does lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, so from Monday to Thursday have the grill at Belvárosi Disznótoros instead.
- The bath opens an hour earlier, at seven, and on a Friday it stays open until ten.
- You can add the market hall. On a weekday it’s open from six in the morning to six at night, and it’s best before eleven. Put it before the synagogue on day two. Trams 47 and 49 run from Fővám tér to Astoria in three minutes, and from there it’s five minutes on foot.
If it rains, or it’s winter in Budapest
Rain hurts Saturday more than Sunday, and you can’t swap the days round, because the synagogue is shut on Saturdays. On a wet Saturday, keep Matthias Church and the Parliament, spend the castle hour inside St Stephen’s Hall or the Castle Museum instead of on the terraces, and skip the Basilica’s open-air terrace. Tram 2 runs along the river from Kossuth Lajos tér to Széchenyi István tér in two minutes, which saves you the quay walk. Sunday barely changes, and an outdoor hot pool in the rain is one of the best things you can do in this city.
In winter, from November to March, the Parliament closes at 16:00, so take an early afternoon slot. The synagogue closes at 16:00 on a Sunday, with last entry at 15:00, which this plan beats by hours. It gets dark in the late afternoon, so you walk the river on Saturday as the lights come on, and you sit in the bath on Sunday under the lamps with steam coming off the water. Around Christmas, the synagogue closes on 24 and 25 December, the Matthias Church tower closes from 21 December to 1 January, and the upper lookout of Fisherman’s Bastion is free all day from 24 to 31 December. Our guide to the Christmas markets has the rest.
In summer, Castle Hill is at its worst in the middle of the day, which this plan already avoids, and Heroes’ Square has no shade at all. The sun sets late, so choose a cruise after sunset if you want the lights.
For less time, see our one day in Budapest plan. For more, there’s three days in Budapest and a week in Budapest, or pick from the best things to do in Budapest.
