13 of the best things to do in Budapest

2023 marked 150 years of unification of the cities of Buda and Pest, and despite Budapest’s dark past (it still bears the traces of its former fascist and communist regimes), Hungary’s capital is vibrant, fascinating and endlessly beautiful. Although easily navigated on foot, it’s worth picking up a Budapest Card, which gives you unlimited access to public transport and discounts to many attractions. It's undeniably become one of the best city breaks in Europe, so we thought it was about time we gathered up a definitive list of the best things to do in Budapest.

1. Wallow in the city’s thermal baths

Budapest features an unusual topography, blessing the city with mineral-rich thermal springs, many of which have been used to create more than a dozen bathing complexes scattered throughout the city. Idyllic at any time of year, there is something undeniably special about sitting outside, with the cold stinging your nose, as your body luxuriates in warm water. One of the oldest and most beautiful is the Rudas Bath. Featuring ornate Ottoman Empire design flourishes, it has six thermal baths and a swimming pool, as well as a rooftop hot tub with views of the Danube. It’s also the only bath house in Budapest to have segregated male and female sessions available, where those who'd rather eschew swimwear. The biggest and most popular bathing complex is Szechenyi, which lies on the outer reaches of City Park, northeast of the city. Its Neo-Baroque architecture in primrose yellow is slightly scruffy around the edges, but all the more realistic for it – you genuinely get the sense that this is where the locals come, and the sight of clusters of older women soaking and gossiping can’t fail to make you smile. Szechenyi has 18 pools of varying temperatures, both indoor and outdoor, as well as saunas and spas. Some of Budapest’s baths (including Rudas and Szechenyi) are also open by night, making for a blissfully serene, romantic experience.

2. Explore the Castle District

Located high up on the Buda side of the city, the views over the river and surrounding architecture aren’t to be missed, so if you don’t object to a touch of the touristy, take the funicular up from the near the Chain Bridge – it’s been in operation since 1870 and allows you to soak up the views on the way.

It’s worth hiring a guide or joining a tour when you explore Budapest’s vast castle district because, as aesthetically fascinating as the complex is, these walls hold a wealth of insight that may go unnoticed without expert commentary. This area has been destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history, but the signs aren’t always immediately apparent – for instance, the lions guarding the entrance to the Lion’s Court have been crudely patched up. Other areas of the complex are currently being reconstructed, thanks to the National Hauszmann Program, which aims to return the castle district to its original form – a far cry from the plans of the Soviet era that considered knocking the whole complex down and building a blank, modernist structure for officials. A few minutes walk away is the gloriously Gothic Mathias Church, complete with a statue of Hungary’s first king, St Stephen, and the turreted Fisherman’s Bastion next door. Underground, a system of caves and tunnels can be visited on a guided tour.

3. Enjoy the city’s musical offerings

Music is tightly woven into Budapest’s – indeed, Hungary’s – history. From 11th-century Gregorian chants to folk music and the enduring genius of Liszt and Kodály, this is a city that sings. Both the Matthias Church in the castle district and St Stephen’s Basilica on the Pest side of the Danube host recitals throughout the year, while Budapest Opera House, a gilded confection restored in the 1980s, is now open for tours and nights spent enveloped in soaring acoustics, luscious oak panelling and ornate frescoes. Over in the City Park, the House of Music opened in 2022 and takes visitors on a musical journey through various forms of Hungarian music, classical composers and explains how the rise of television and technology has an impact on the music industry. Complete your musical journey with a drink at the Hard Rock Hotel. Opened in 2021, it’s home to a stylishly curated array of rock memorabilia, including Prince’s purple (what else?) faux fur jacket, Madonna’s high school yearbook, Michael Jackson’s black fedora and Elton John’s bright yellow shoes. Stay at the hotel and live out your rockstar dreams with an in-room Fender guitar and amp.

4. Cross the Danube on the Chain Bridge

The glorious Danube (perhaps not as blue as Strauss would have had us think) is crossed by eight bridges in the Hungarian capital, but none so iconic as the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Overseen by Scottish civil engineer Adam Clark, it was the first permanent bridge between the previously divided cities of Pest and Buda and has become a symbol of unification. Closed for an 18-month renovation period, the bridge has now been re-opened to pedestrians, taxis and cyclists. Stroll over its floodlit magnificence by night for the best atmosphere, and by day for the best views.

5. Walk the streets – and look up

Perhaps it sounds trite, advising visitors to a city to go for a ramble or take time while exploring, but in Budapest almost every edifice tells a story. Not only is the city an almost unfathomable mish-mash of architectural styles, ranging from Baroque and Neoclassical to Art Nouveau and Gothic, but the sheer range of modes offers insights into Budapest’s varied and complex past. In District VIII, walls are dimpled with bullet holes that, in a city where millions have been poured into restoration, is poignant: these structures wear their troubled past with a "lest we forget" defiance. Large holes can be linked to the Red Army siege of 1945, while smaller ones indicate activity during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which lasted for just 12 days but had a lasting impact on Eastern Europe’s place in the Cold War. Elsewhere, stop to examine the ornate facades of Kodály körönd (pause by number 14, where Miksa Róth’s mosaics frame the windows) as well as the richly coloured tiles of Emil Vidor’s Honvéd utca 16, and the peacock-ish design of the Löffler brothers’ (who also designed the Orthodox Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter) at Síp utca 17.

6. Explore the Jewish Quarter

Perhaps this hipster area has become something of a victim of its own success. Ever since the rise of the Ruin Bars (drinking establishments set up in the dilapidated remains of the post-WWII Jewish Quarter – bohemian pioneer Szimpla led the way) in the early 2000s, the area has become a magnet for those looking for the good times that Budapest has to offer. The result? The area is now attracting developers and undergoing a process of gentrification, which may eventually lead to the demise of the decrepit spaces that made Ruin Bars so popular to begin with. By all means, get in while you still can, but this historical neighbourhood has far more to offer than places to wet your whistle. Indeed, a plaque outside Szimpla states simply, “People used to live here” – and it’s this, coupled with the knowledge of the atrocities of WWII, that imbues the Jewish Quarter with fascination, albeit an uncomfortable one. Explore the area’s street art: Neopaint’s The Seamstress, at Akácfa Street 41, is particularly noteworthy since it highlights one of the professions most popular with the Jewish population in the 19th century. Delve deeper to find the Chevra Shas-Lubavitch synagogue, folded into a secret courtyard, as well as a wealth of kosher restaurants. On the pavements in front of houses from which Jewish people were seized during the Holocaust, you will find golden cobblestones beneath your feet.

7. Pay your respects at The Shoes on the Danube Promenade

Although only a 2km walk from the Jewish Quarter, this memorial’s heartbreakingly poignant beauty deserves its own entry. Between 1944 and 1945, Budapest was under the control of the Arrow Cross Party, a fascist group with Nazi sympathies that took thousands of Jews from their homes and executed them at the side of the Danube, so that their bodies would fall into its waters and be swept away. Most of the executions took place over the winter months, so the waters would have frozen anyone who might had a hope of survival. Since shoes were a valuable commodity which soldiers could sell for profit, the victims were ordered to remove their shoes before being shot. Film director erected this memorial Can Dogay on the river’s east bank in 2005. Featuring sixty pairs of cast-iron shoes – men’s, women’s and children’s, all painstakingly recreated to reflect the era in which the victims were massacred – the numbers of this tragic sculpture only represent a fraction of those who so brutally lost their lives.

8. Do leisure like a local

Located to the northeast of the city centre, Budapest’s City Park spans 300 acres. Yes, there are many attractions – museums, galleries, a castle, a zoo, the Szechenyi Baths and even a faux hot air balloon from which to take in the city’s views – but wander through this green space on a sunny day, and you’ll be tempted to make like a local and just laze about. When it’s warm, it’s full of people lying in the grass, reading, picnicking and dozing; in winter, you can ice skate on the lake. It is also where many of the city’s festivals are held. Time your visit for mid-October and you may happen upon the foodie Kürtőskalács Festival. Available widely throughout the city centre, the name of this classic Hungarian dessert translates to “chimney cake"’ – it is a hollow cylinder, traditionally cooked over a coal furnace to achieve a crisp exterior and fluffy inside, and then rolled in toppings such as cinnamon or vanilla.

9. Museum hop

With over sixty museums in the city, culture buffs are spoiled for choice in Budapest. Check out the Hungarian National Gallery in the castle district, which features works by Cézanne, Renoir, Pissarro and Hungary’s Csörgő. At times, it may be possible to ascend the building’s verdigris dome, which offers 360-degree views of the city. The Museum of Fine Arts, in Heroes Square near City Park, houses old Hungarian art and permanent exhibitions from Ancient Egypt and 19th-century Europe, including a vast collection of Spanish art. While here, pause to admire Heroes Square itself, where the seven tribes responsible for establishing the Principality of Hungary in 1896 are memorialised. At 60 Andrassy Avenue you’ll find the House of Terror, which was once the headquarters of the secret police and opened as a museum in 2002 to educate about the atrocities of the fascist and communist regimes. Equally as harrowing is the Holocaust Memorial Centre. Housed in a former synagogue in the IX District, this place doesn’t spare the visitor details of what occurred in the concentration camps. For something less emotionally taxing, head to the House of Houdini to celebrate the magic and mastery of the Hungarian-born escapologist, or try the quirky Pinball Museum for retro kicks on over 100 consoles – some of which date back to the 1800s.

10. Visit the Parliament Building

Impressive enough from the outside (be sure to view the complex from the Buda side of the city by night, when it dazzles like a precious bracelet and reflects in the water), the interior of the seat of the Hungarian Parliament can also be explored. Gon on a 45-minute tour to take in the gold-plated City Staircase XVII, deeply hued stained glass windows and detailed frescoes, as well as soaring granite columns, the former Chamber of Peers and The Dome Hall, where the Crown Guard of the Hungarian Armed Forces keep watch over the Hungarian Holy Crown and the Coronation Insignia 24 hours a day. Despite its rich history, the tour is not averse to some modern technology – at the end of your visit, you can screen-view snapshots of off-limits spaces and learn more about the building’s construction.

11. Wine and dine

Despite the wide range of cuisines on offer, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to feast on traditional Hungarian food during your visit: authentic beef goulash, nokedli (dumplings), vegetable stew and chicken paprikash can all be enjoyed at Café Kör or the cosy Gettó Gulyás. Feeling fancy? The city is also home to no fewer than 28 Michelin-starred restaurants, twenty of which retained their stars from 2022. Stand Restaurant is a popular choice – so much so that you’ll need to book it weeks in advance. The Jewish Quarter is peppered with great places to eat, ranging from dive-bar burger joints to the impeccable TATI, but a consistent favourite is Mazel Tov – a verdant, light-filled courtyard with a glass roof serving up irresistible Israeli-Mediterranean fusion dishes. For some true Belle Epoque Glamour head to the New York Café, a gleaming confection embodying the tradition of the European coffee house housed within the Anantara Hotel.

12. Hop on the Number 2 Tram

Frequently regarded as one of Europe’s most scenic tram journeys, this dinky toy-town mode of transport, painted in a chirpy shade of yellow, takes in many of Budapest’s best sights. Setting off from Jaszari Mari Square, it follows the Danube on its Pest side, with views of Buda and its castle across the water, and the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Chain Bridge on the side of travel. Gellért Hill is an additional feature, with its vivid greenery standing out against the city’s graceful and varied architecture. The journey also takes in the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and the Shoes on the Danube. Ending at the National Theatre, the trip also allows you to admire some of Budapest’s other landmarks, such as the Elizabeth Bridge and Gresham Palace.

13. Visit an outdoor museum to Socialism

Many of the sculptures and statues of Socialist leaders – Lenin, Marx and others – were torn down and trashed when the regime collapsed. Memento Park, located about an hour’s train journey southwest of Budapest’s centre, is home to around 40 Socialist plaques and figures, dating from 1945 to 1989. The sheer scale of these confirms the grandiose notions that accompanied the Socialist mindset. A highlight is Stalin’s bronze boots – all that remained of the dictator after a crowd of around 20,000 Hungarians toppled his effigy in Budapest’s City Park in 1956. Audacious as it may appear, this is not a place where socialism is idealised, but one where it is recognised as having shaped Budapest’s history. After making your way through the statues, head to the old barracks building where displays document the events of 1956 and film footage of secret agents gathering intelligence about ‘subversives’ can be viewed.