Budapest 7-day itinerary

Take bus 16 from Deák Ferenc tér or the funicular (2,000 HUF) up Castle Hill. Explore cobblestone streets and pastel baroque houses. Fisherman's Bastion is free before 9am — seven turrets with Parliament views. Visit Matthias Church (2,000 HUF) for its Zsolnay ceramic roof tiles. Walk to the Hungarian National Gallery inside the Royal Palace for the free permanent collection.

Metro M1 to Széchenyi fürdő. The baths (7,200 HUF) feature 18 pools fed by natural hot springs at 38°C inside a neo-baroque palace. The outdoor pools are magical — steam rising from yellow buildings. Chess-playing regulars in the water are a quintessential Budapest scene. Allow 2–3 hours. Grab a lángos from the poolside stand on your way out.

Walk District VII's Jewish Quarter. See the Dohány Street Synagogue — Europe's largest — from outside. Begin the ruin bar crawl at Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy utca — Budapest's original ruin bar in a derelict apartment building. Dinner at Karaván street food court next door for langós, chimney cake, and craft beer. Then to Instant-Fogas for the multi-floor party maze.

Guided tour of the Hungarian Parliament (6,000 HUF non-EU) — 691 rooms, 40kg of gold in the interior, and the Holy Crown of Hungary. Book online. Walk the Danube promenade to the Shoes on the Danube — 60 cast-iron shoes marking where Jews were shot into the river in 1944–45. Continue to the Chain Bridge for photos with Buda Castle rising behind.

Tram 2 to the Central Market Hall — a stunning 1897 iron-and-glass building. Ground floor for fresh produce and paprika; upstairs for langós and goulash (1,500–2,500 HUF). Cross Liberty Bridge and climb Gellért Hill to the Citadella for the best 360° panorama in Budapest — the entire city, both banks, and every bridge laid out below you.

Gellért Baths (9,000 HUF) has the most ornate Art Nouveau interiors of any Budapest bath — thermal pools under sculpted columns and mosaic ceilings. Dinner at Menza on Liszt Ferenc tér for retro Hungarian comfort food (mains 3,500–5,500 HUF). The square is lined with terrace bars — perfect for a warm evening drink.

Start with the Hospital in the Rock (4,800 HUF) — a secret WWII hospital and Cold War nuclear bunker carved into caves beneath Castle Hill. Guided tours use wax figures and original equipment. Then explore Víziváros (Watertown) below the castle — charming cafes like Ruszwurm (Budapest's oldest, since 1827) and quiet cobblestone streets rarely seen by tourists.

Walk across Margaret Bridge to Margaret Island — a 2.5km park in the middle of the Danube with a musical fountain, Japanese garden, medieval ruins, and free outdoor pools in summer. Rent a four-person bike buggy (2,500 HUF/hour) to explore the whole island. Stop at the Palatinus outdoor bath complex on hot days — wave pool, slides, and thermal pools.

Dinner at Bors GasztroBar on Kazinczy utca — legendary soups and baguette sandwiches (1,800–2,500 HUF) with a cult following. Then take the Danube night walk from Chain Bridge to Parliament — both buildings illuminated against the dark water. Cross to the Buda side for drinks at Pontoon — a floating bar under the Chain Bridge with DJ sets and river views.

Visit the House of Terror (3,000 HUF) on Andrássy Avenue — a haunting museum in the former headquarters of the fascist Arrow Cross and the communist secret police (ÁVH). The basement interrogation rooms are chilling. Walk down Andrássy Avenue — Budapest's answer to the Champs-Élysées — a UNESCO World Heritage boulevard lined with neo-Renaissance mansions.

Continue down Andrássy to Heroes' Square — the Millennium Monument flanked by the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hall of Art. Enter City Park to see Vajdahunyad Castle — a fairy-tale pastiche of Hungarian architectural styles (free grounds). Lunch at Gundel, Budapest's most famous restaurant since 1894, or the more budget-friendly Bagolyvár next door (mains 3,500–5,500 HUF) in the park.

Venture to Ráday utca in District IX — a street of restaurants, wine bars, and student hangouts away from the tourist circuit. Try Csiga Café for Hungarian comfort food (2,500–4,000 HUF) and local wines by the glass (800–1,500 HUF). Then walk to Dürer Kert — a large outdoor garden venue with live music, craft beer, and Budapest's alternative crowd.

Take the HÉV suburban railway from Batthyány tér to Szentendre (45 minutes, 620 HUF with Budapest pass). This charming Serbian-influenced village has cobblestone streets lined with galleries, colourful baroque houses, and the Marzipan Museum. Walk up to the hilltop Serbian Orthodox church for views over the Danube. Grab a coffee on the main square — Fő tér — surrounded by pastel facades.

Bus from Szentendre to Visegrád (30 minutes, 500 HUF). Climb to the hilltop Visegrád Citadel (2,200 HUF) — a medieval fortress with panoramic views of the Danube Bend, where the river makes its dramatic turn through forested hills. This is one of Hungary's most spectacular viewpoints. The Royal Palace ruins at the base are free to explore. Lunch at Renaissance Restaurant for medieval-style dishes.

Bus back to Szentendre, then HÉV to Budapest (or direct bus from Visegrád to Budapest's Árpád híd metro station, 90 minutes). Back in Budapest, head to the Buda side for sunset drinks at Fellini Római Kultúrbisztró in Római part — a stretch of outdoor bars along the Danube with fairy lights, food trucks, and a relaxed local vibe far from the tourist centre.

Skip the tourist markets — head to Fény utca Piac near Széll Kálmán tér for where locals actually shop. Fresh produce, Hungarian sausages, and the best lángos in the city (600–900 HUF). Then take the Cogwheel Railway (tram ticket) up to the Buda Hills. Transfer to the Children's Railway — a narrow-gauge train run almost entirely by children since 1948 — through the forested hills.

Visit the Pálvölgyi Cave system (2,500 HUF) — Budapest sits on a honeycomb of thermal caves, and this is the most accessible. The 45-minute guided tour involves squeezing through narrow passages. Then head to Rudas Baths (4,900 HUF weekday) — the most atmospheric bath in Budapest, a 16th-century Ottoman hammam with an octagonal pool under a domed ceiling with light streaming through star-shaped openings.

If it's Saturday, Sparty (spartybooking.com) transforms Széchenyi Baths into a pool party with DJs, laser shows, and unlimited drinks (15,000–20,000 HUF). If not, do a deeper ruin bar crawl — Ellátó Kert on Kazinczy for cocktails, Kőleves Kert for the garden atmosphere, and Fogasház for the underground techno scene. End with a 3am kebab at the 24-hour joints on Király utca.

Breakfast at the New York Café (Boscolo Budapest) — the "most beautiful café in the world," a gilded Italian Renaissance fantasy of frescoes, chandeliers, and marble columns. A cappuccino costs 2,800 HUF — expensive by Budapest standards but the interiors are jaw-dropping. Then browse Massolit Books on Nagy Diófa utca — an English-language bookshop and café beloved by expats.

Pick up souvenirs at the Central Market Hall — premium Hungarian paprika (sweet and hot), Tokaji wine, and hand-embroidered linen. For something different, visit the Pinball Museum (3,000 HUF) on Radnóti Miklós utca — 130+ vintage pinball machines, all playable. Or explore the underground Labyrinth beneath Buda Castle — a network of natural caves used as a prison and air-raid shelter.

Final dinner at Két Szerecsen on Nagymező utca — a beloved bistro with Hungarian-Mediterranean fusion (mains 4,500–7,000 HUF) and excellent wines. Or for a splurge, Onyx (two Michelin stars) on Vörösmarty tér offers a tasting menu from 35,000 HUF. End with a midnight walk along the Danube — the illuminated Parliament, Chain Bridge, and Castle create one of Europe's greatest cityscapes.