Hungary is one of those central European countries that kind of acts as a barrier between more popular travel destinations in the west the lesser visited places in the east. Like us, you’ll probably be visiting the capital city Budapest, but did you know there’s also national parks, lakes, lovely cities and quaint towns scattered all across the country?
We’ve been to Budapest three times and it’s become one of our favorite cities in Europe. We love its architecture, thermal baths, ruin bars, food, history, atmosphere and affordability. But we haven’t managed to travel further afield yet, which is something we plan to rectify in the future.
In this Hungary travel guide we explain everything you need to know about planning a first trip, including top experiences, itinerary, when to go and more.
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Places To Visit
Budapest – Hungary’s undisputed crown jewel is the wonderful city of Budapest. We enjoy walks along the banks of the Danube, visiting the castle district, soaking up the striking architecture, relaxing in thermal spas, eating delicious food and partying the night away in colorful dive bars.
Lake Balaton – The largest lake in Central Europe is a popular holiday resort destination in Hungary. Small towns, beaches, hills, festivals and vineyards line the shores of the freshwater lake, which is busiest in July and August. It also has a major music festival in summer.
Eger – Compact, beautiful, tourist-free and filled with hot water spas, Eger is arguably the most attractive city in Hungary. It’s doable as a day trip from Budapest, but it’s far enough away to mean it’s usually quiet.
Pecs – Located in the south of Hungary, Pecs is one of the most culturally diverse and attractive cities in the country. It has a Mediterranean climate and it’s home to tons of historic buildings.
Esztergom – Within easy day trip distance from Budapest, Esztergom is located on the shores of a bend in the Danube. It has a gigantic basilica that you simply can’t miss, a quaint downtown and too many great photo spots to count.
Sopron – Located in the far west of Hungary near the border with Austria, you’ll find Sopron in the lower foothills of the Alps. It has a beautiful cobbled Old Town, which would make for a great romantic getaway for a few days.
Top Experiences
Instead of looking at travel planning solely by which cities, towns or regions to visit, we like to know what experiences are worth doing when we visit new places.
Here’s what we’d start with in Hungary:
- Take a cruise on the Danube (with unlimited Prosecco)
- Visit the Hungarian Parliament Building
- Bathe in one of Budapest’s thermal baths (like Szechenyi Baths)
- Take a secret food tour in Budapest
- Visit Fisherman’s Bastion
- Take a half day wine tour near Budapest
- Go up St Stephen’s Basilica
- Enjoy Budapest’s ruin bar culture
- Relax on the shores of Lake Balaton
- Visit Visegrad Castle
- Go hiking in a national park
- Stay in a lesser known city
Getting Around
Hungary is actually a really easy place to get around because it has a robust train network. We’ve never had enough time to allow for extra days in Hungary but when we finally do, we’ll hop on trains to reach places like Eger and Pecs direct from Budapest with no changes.
Budapest airport is great but it doesn’t have direct transport into the city. You can take an expensive taxi, a cheap-ish direct bus, or what we do which is take a bus to Ferihegy and a train into the city for less than $3 each. Alternatively, book a great private transfer like this one so you don’t have to worry about anything upon arrival. Here’s more information on transfer options.
Once in Budapest, one of our favorite things about the city is that it’s very walkable. We’ve taken the odd metro journey (here’s a metro map pdf) but we almost exclusively walk because it’s the best way to see everything. The metro is safe, cheap and works great.
Itinerary
If you’re only planning to visit Budapest, we recommend spending 3-4 days in the city. You’ll be surprised at how much there is to see and do in the city. With 5-7 days, we would stay in Budapest but include day trips to Lake Balaton, Esztergom and Eger.
For longer trips of 8-10 days, we would book accommodation in Sopron, Budapest, Eger, Lake Balaton and Pecs. If you have even more time, consider heading east to Debrecen or spend time in the national parks.
Here’s how we’d plan a 2 week trip exclusively in Hungary:
Sopron – Days 1 to 2
- Walk around the old town
- Go up the fire tower
Budapest – Days 3 to 7
- Go to a thermal spa
- See the castle district
- Visit museums and basilica
- Go to the opera
- Day trip to Visegrad and Esztergom
Eger – Days 8 to 9
- Wine tour in Valley of the Beautiful Woman
- See the Castle of Eger
- Walk the city under the city
- Visit nearby Bukki National Park
Lake Balaton – Days 10 to 12
- Visit Festetics Palace
- See Szigliget Fortress
- Visit the underwater cave in Tapolca
- Relax on the beach
Pecs – Days 13 to 14
- Visit Pecs Cathedral
- Walk around Szechenyi Square
- Eat, drink and relax
This relaxing itinerary stops at many of Hungary’s popular tourist highlights and quieter areas in a very efficient way. It’s exactly how we’d do it if we wanted to spend 2 weeks traveling around the country without crossing any borders.
But most people will only visit Budapest as part of a longer trip including the likes of Vienna, Bratislava and maybe Zagreb or Prague. Our interrailing route though this region in 2018 was Zagreb, Budapest, Novi Sad, Vienna, Bratislava, Krakow and Prague in that order.
Accommodation
Another thing we love about visiting Budapest is that accommodation is very affordable. We’ve stayed in some seriously swanky apartments and hotels for less than what we’d pay at an average motel in a non-touristy place in the US!
We always use Booking.com to find lodging options because without it we’d never know what was available in a place like Budapest. Then we have a look at prices going direct to see what’s cheaper. Take a look at all lodging in Budapest.
We’ve stayed slightly to the north of the Parliament Building once and in the Jewish Quarter twice. All three times we stayed in Pest, so next time we’d probably stay in Buda up near the castle somewhere for something a bit different.
And if it’s cheap to stay in Budapest, you know it’s going to be even cheaper to stay everywhere else in Hungary. So this could be a great place to splash a bit of cash (relatively speaking) on affordable luxury.
Food
We absolutely love the food in Hungary. Mark is from England and grew up on hearty, rich and stodgy meals, so the Hungarian national dish of Goulash is right up his alley. Kristen has a soft spot for fried bread and cheese, so we can’t walk past a place selling Langos without buying one!
It took us a few attempts at chicken paprikash before we found one that lived up to the hype. It’s all about getting the chicken tender and the sauce spicy.
But just like with accommodation, food is incredibly affordable in Budapest and in Hungary. We ate at some genuinely awesome places for not a lot of money. Our top recommendations include Mazi Greek Kitchen, Mazel Tov and Retro Langos.
Now, after dinner there’s only one thing to do in Budapest – head into the Jewish Quarter to sample the ruin bars. We love the vibrant, chaotic and eccentric fun of the way these ruin bars like Szimpla Kert are set up, and they’re always jam-packed with tourists.
When To Visit
Hungary’s best weather is between May and September, so if you want warm sunny days you should plan to visit in peak season. The good news with Budapest is that it never gets too expensive, even in July or August (with the exception of Sziget music festival when hotels will book up).
We’ve been to Budapest in June, July and September. And it was hot each time we visited! We think June and September are the best times of year to benefit from a nice balance between costs, crowds and weather. With that said, you’ll find more activities happening in July and August, including music festivals in Budapest and Lake Balaton.
Christmas and New Year are other popular times to visit Budapest for a totally different experience. But it will be cold and it will more than likely snow, so pack accordingly! And just know that the Christmas markets aren’t as good as Germany’s or Austria’s.
Tours
There are some places we won’t bother booking tours because it’s easy to do it ourselves. Then there are others like Hungary that we’re happy to pay for someone else to do the driving or explaining.
The good news is that the theme of affordability continues into tours too. That means there’s a ton of great highly rated tour options available that won’t break the bank.
Here are some of the top rated tours we’d consider taking next time we’re in Hungary:
Keep Exploring
Are you planning a longer trip with stops in more European countries? Once you’re finished reading about Hungary, keep exploring nearby areas by heading over to the following pages:
We hope our Hungary travel guide helps with planning your trip!
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
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