Things to Do in Budapest: 13 We Actually Did in a Month There
We had thirty three nights in Budapest, which is an absurd amount of time for a city most people give three days. It meant we ran out of tourist things to do in about a week and spent the other three and a half weeks living there instead, which is how you find out what a place is actually like.
So this is not a list of everything in Budapest. It is the thirteen things we genuinely did and would do again, in the order I would do them, with the ones I would skip at the bottom.
The Best Things to Do in Budapest, My Quick Answer
Watch the sunrise from Fisherman's Bastion, spend an afternoon at a thermal bath, and get inside the Metropolitan Ervin Szabo Library. Those three are the ones I would defend to anybody, and two of them cost almost nothing.
Then eat. Budapest is the best food city I have been to in eleven months of travel, and that is not a throwaway line.
The Three I Would Not Let You Skip
If you only have a day, these are it, and two of the three are nearly free.
1. Sunrise at Fisherman's Bastion
If you do one thing from this entire article, do this one.
Set an alarm for 4:30am and be up there by about half five. The upper terraces charge a fee in the daytime and at that hour the whole thing is open and empty. We got there at 5:30 and there were maybe a handful of other people on the whole structure.
At quarter past six the light came up behind Parliament across the river and I genuinely said out loud that I could not believe what I was looking at. It is the single best free thing we did anywhere in Budapest.
Then go again after dark, because it is lit up and it feels like a different place entirely.
2. New York Cafe, But Only at 7am
The trick is the time, and the time is the whole thing.
The doors open at 7:00. We got there just gone seven and there was barely anybody in, no queue, no waiting for a table. By half eight it is packed with a line outside.
It is expensive and it is the most beautiful building I have eaten breakfast in. Daniel had the eggs benedict and it was outstanding. I had the porridge, which was fine but a little bland, and I would order the eggs next time.
The full verdict, and the alternative if you will not get up that early, is in is New York Cafe worth it.
3. The Metropolitan Ervin Szabo Library
This is the one nobody tells you about and it is my favourite thing in the city after the sunrise.
It is a working public library inside a former palace. Chandeliers, gilded ceilings, spiral staircases, and students quietly getting on with their essays underneath all of it. A tourist ticket is about A$8.70, which for what you get is the best value thing in Budapest by a distance.
Keep your voice down. People are actually working.
4. A Full Day at a Thermal Bath
The thing Budapest is famous for, and worth building a whole day around rather than squeezing in.
We went to Palatinus, out on the island, and it was A$23 for an adult all day. It is the outdoor one and it was our favourite by a long way: masses of grass so you are not fighting anybody for a sunbed, slides I regret not going on, saunas, and a whirlpool that had everybody walking round in a circle like a school swimming lesson. There is even a golf buggy that comes through.
One important thing most guides have not updated. We also did Gellert, at about A$55, and it is the beautiful one, all art nouveau tiling. Gellert closed on 1 October 2025 and is not due to reopen until 2028. We got in a few weeks before it shut. So Palatinus is my recommendation anyway, and Szechenyi is the famous alternative, though we never made it there so I will not pretend to have a view.
The Food, Which Is Half the Reason to Come
Budapest is the best food city I have found in eleven months of travel. These are the ones I would build a day around.
5. Eat a Langos, Properly
The one genuinely Hungarian thing on this list and you should not leave without doing it.
Retro Langos is where we went. Traditional is sour cream and cheese; we got chicken, cheese, tomato, red onion and sour cream on top. It is fried dough, it is far bigger than I expected, and it gives you pizza vibes without tasting anything like pizza.
6. Rolly, and the Best Cinnamon Roll I Have Ever Had
I am not exaggerating and I did rate it on camera at the time.
We went to Rolly, a newly opened cinnamon roll place, and got a spread of them: Biscoff, salted caramel, blueberry, the classic, a vegan one and a savoury pizza one. The salted caramel got a hundred out of ten. The cheesecake one was still a ten. The pizza one did not survive long enough to be scored properly.
That is the best cinnamon roll I have ever put in my mouth, and I have eaten a lot of them in eleven months.
7. Pink Pistachio for Brunch
Everything here is pistachio and it should not work as well as it does.
We ordered an avocado pistachio burger, pistachio pancakes, a caramel matcha and a pink pistachio matcha, which they also do as canned drinks. The flavours were genuinely unlike anything we had eaten anywhere else.
Ten out of ten. We took the leftovers home, which tells you how much we over-ordered.
8. Cookie Beacon
Short entry, strong opinion: the best cookie I have ever had.
The Evenings
The city is better at night than it is in the day, and the best version of it costs almost nothing.
9. A Danube Cruise, With One Warning
We waited two weeks before doing this and then went on an evening river cruise with unlimited drinks. About A$40 each for around ninety minutes, with Aperol, beer and wine included and anything else paid for.
The city from the water at night is genuinely something. This is the cruise, and it has well over forty seven thousand reviews.
Here is the warning, and it is from our own mistake. Parliament is the shot everybody books this for, and we went past it before the lights came on. We only worked out what we had missed as the boat was docking. Book a departure late enough that you are on the water after dark, and check the sailing time rather than just the route.
10. Or Do the Free Version, Which We Preferred
Honestly? We did this more often than we went out for dinner.
Get a takeaway pizza from Crudo, walk down to the river, and sit on the bank while Parliament lights up. It costs about six dollars and it is one of my favourite memories of the entire month.
The Ones We Did Not Plan
None of these were on a list. All three ended up in the highlights.
11. Go Inside the Opera House
We walked past it about forty times before I gave in and went in, and I am glad I did.
The building is stunning from the street and the staircases inside are the reason to go. There is one that runs all the way up and it stopped me dead.
12. The Ruin Bars
Szimpla Kert is the famous one and every room in it is different, which is the whole appeal.
We went out ourselves and had a brilliant night. If you are travelling solo, joining a ruin bar crawl is a good way in. We did not do the crawl, but we met people on one while we were out and they were clearly having a better night than the couples standing around on their phones.
13. A Day Trip to Another Country
We booked this in bed at about ten on a Thursday night after seeing a TikTok, and left at half seven the next morning.
Bratislava is about two and a half hours by train, the old town is small enough to walk end to end, and it was the best day of our whole month. The train even carries on to Berlin, which I found unreasonably exciting.
Everything about how we did it, including the ticket mistake that nearly cost us A$80 each, is in Budapest to Bratislava.
Staying central is what makes this list work. Almost everything above is inside a walk of these two, which matters most for the 4:30am start.
Hotel Oktogon Haggenmacher
Central Pest. One of the two we tried to book for a night while we had the apartment, and could not get in. The architecture is the reason.
Prestige Hotel Budapest
Also central, also gorgeous, and also full when we tried. If you are only in Budapest a few nights, this is the sort of building to stay in.
What I Would Skip
The Central Market Hall. It is a hundred and twenty eight years old and it looks great from the upper level, and it is on every list going. We found it a little underwhelming: mostly souvenirs, food stalls and dupe clothing. Pop in if you are passing, do not plan a morning around it.
Paying to go up the Bastion in daylight. No need. Go at sunrise when it is free and empty.
A packed schedule generally. The best days we had in Budapest were the ones with nothing in them.
Watch Our Budapest Vlog
Most of this list is in here, filmed as we did it.
Watch our Budapest vlog on YouTube
Still planning? Here is how we would plan the whole trip and everywhere we ate in a month.
FAQs About Things to Do in Budapest
What is the number one thing to do in Budapest?
Sunrise at Fisherman's Bastion. Alarm at 4:30, up there by half five, almost nobody around, and it costs nothing.
How many days do you need to do everything in Budapest?
Four nights covers this list comfortably. We had thirty three and ran out of tourist things to do inside a week. There is more on that in how many days you need in Budapest.
What is the best thermal bath in Budapest?
Palatinus, out on the island, at about A$23 for the day. It is outdoors, there is grass everywhere, and it was our favourite of the two we went to. Gellert is closed until 2028.
Are the Budapest thermal baths worth it?
Yes, and give one a full day rather than two hours. It is the thing the city is genuinely famous for and it is cheap by European standards.
What is there to do in Budapest for free?
The Bastion at sunrise, walking the riverbank, and the Parliament light-up from across the water with a takeaway. Our favourite evening in a month cost about six dollars.
Is the Central Market Hall worth visiting?
It is a little underwhelming. Worth ten minutes if you are walking past, not worth building a morning around.
What is the best hidden gem in Budapest?
The Metropolitan Ervin Szabo Library. A working library inside a former palace, about A$8.70 for a tourist ticket, and almost nobody mentions it.
Can you do a day trip from Budapest?
Yes, and you should. Bratislava is about two and a half hours by train and makes an excellent day. We booked ours the night before.
Want your Budapest itinerary planned in a couple of clicks?
Tell it how long you have got, and it lays the days out from everywhere we actually went.
- Two lengths, a short trip or the full week
- Only places we actually went, never a generic list
- Walking times, and when the tram is worth it
- Share it to your notes or send it to whoever you are travelling with
