City Sightseeing is the red open-top bus on Budapest’s red route, the loop of 21 stops that runs from St Stephen’s Basilica out to Heroes’ Square and back through Buda. It is the ticket we would pick for most first visits, because it can be cancelled free and it includes the free walking tour of Pest.
Here is what the ticket includes, how to board, and how to get the most from the walking tour and the boat discount.
City Sightseeing Budapest tickets
City Sightseeing Budapest: Hop-On Hop-Off Bus + Walking Tour
Best for: Most visitors: the full red route plus a guided walk through Pest
- 24, 48 or 72 hours. The loop takes 90 minutes
- Live guide on the 1-hour walking tour
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Hop-on hop-off bus for 24, 48 or 72 hours
- 1 or 2 routes, depending on the option
- A 1-hour guided walking tour
- Stops near all the major sights
- Walking tour
- Daily at 11:00 from Szent István tér 1, by the Basilica
- Buses
- From stop 1 from 9:00, every 10 to 20 minutes
- Not included
- Entry to attractions and museums, and food
- Changes
- You can move the date up to 24 hours before
- The ticket does not include entry to any attraction or a boat trip. You get 30% off a sightseeing boat instead, and a discount booklet
- Phone or printed vouchers are both accepted
- The route, the stops and the walks from each: route and stops
What’s included
24, 48 or 72 hours
Unlimited rides on the red route for as many consecutive days as you buy, joining and leaving at any of the stops.
A walking tour of Pest
An hour on foot with a guide, in English, from the Basilica at 11:00 every day, through the streets the bus cannot drive down.
Commentary in 14 languages
Recorded, through headphones at your seat: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Finnish, Arabic, Greek, Turkish and Hungarian.
Riding City Sightseeing’s red route
Board at Stop 1 and ride the whole loop
Stop 1 is behind St Stephen’s Basilica, on the Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út side, and it is where the first bus leaves at 10:00. City Sightseeing gives the loop as about an hour and fifty minutes and the buses as every 30 minutes, until the last departure from Stop 1 at 17:00.
Stay on for a full loop before you start getting off. It takes you out along Andrássy út to Heroes’ Square, back past the New York Café, across the river and up Gellért Hill, then along the Buda riverbank and across Margaret Bridge to finish near the Parliament. After that, you know which stops are worth your time.
Two stops on City Sightseeing’s own list, both at Astoria, are marked as temporarily closed, so do not plan around them.
Do the walking tour on your first morning
The walk leaves at 11:00 from Szent István tér 1, in front of the Basilica, and lasts about an hour. It covers the parts of Pest the bus drives past or not at all: the Basilica, the Parliament, the Shoes on the Danube Bank, Váci utca and the Danube Promenade.
It runs once a day and only in English, and it is the part of the ticket that visitors praise most. Plan your first day round it: the walk, then lunch, then the loop.
Use the boat discount at the pier
The ticket does not include a cruise. It gives you 30% off a sightseeing boat on departures between 11:00 and 20:00, paid at the pier on showing your valid bus ticket.
An early evening sailing is the one to take. The buses have stopped by then, and the river is at its best as the lights come on.
Plan for crowds and the weather
In summer the buses fill up from late morning, and at the busier stops a full bus may leave without you. Standing is the worst of it, because the commentary plugs in at the seats. Board early in the day, and at a crowded stop let a full bus go so you are first on the next.
In winter expect the top deck to be covered and unheated, with plastic sides that spoil the photos, so sit downstairs and get off more often. The route runs every day of the year.
How to book and board City Sightseeing
Book with free cancellation
The Tiqets ticket can be cancelled, or moved to another date, free up to 24 hours ahead, so booking early costs you nothing if your plans change.
Pick your start day
Multi-day tickets run on consecutive days from the day you start. Buy one day if you only want the overview. Two or three days pay off only if you will ride on each of them.
Show the voucher when you first board
Show the voucher, on your phone or printed, to the staff at the stop or on the bus, and you are given a boarding ticket and the discount booklet.
Buy online, not from a seller at the stop
Sellers work the busier stops. Booking ahead means the ticket already says which length you paid for, and you can cancel it if your plans change.