Your ultimate guide to Budapest

Budapest is a city that’s packed with stuff to see and do – at all times of the day and night. Ruin bars, rooftop spots and late-night clubs mean you’re going to want to pack a lot in while you’re here, especially if your days will be filled with the city’s best things to do. To get a good night’s sleep, you’ll need a great hotel – and Budapest has them in spades. From budget hostels to lavish five-star spa resorts, here are our favourite hotels in Budapest right now.  What's the best area to stay in Budapest? The Jewish Quarter is crammed full of great bars and the fun goes on late into the night. For a more chilled-out stay (and proximity to the city’s main sights), try a hotel in the city centre. For panoramic views and romantic sojourns, head over to Buda. If these don’t float your boat, we’ve got plenty more recommendations for Budapest’s best areas in our neighbourhood guide.  📍 Discover our ultimate guide to hotels in Budapest Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. We may not have stayed at every hotel featured, but we use our local expertise to curate this list to the absolute best. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

One of the many significant changes to happen in Budapest over the decades I've lived here has been the rise of Airbnb accommodation. For the perfect city break that delivers on food, culture and nightlife, you can easily find affordable lodgings a short walk or tram hop away. And that includes its famed ruin bars and magnificent bath spas, too! What's the best area to stay in Budapest? For partying, book a place in the Jewish Quarter (District VII, so addresses with postcodes starting with 107) and you're a stagger away from your last port of call – and close to options for breakfast. You're also near the Time Out Market Budapest, which holds true for the funky Palace Quarter in District VIII, postcode 108x. The most central location is District V, with a 105x postcode, while leafier Buda (Districts I, II and XII) offers a quieter stay. Airbnb has locations across the city. So whatever you’re looking for, experience the best of Buda (and Pest) with one of these apartments. Updated 2026: We’ve got two hot new properties on the roster, including a rooftop apartment and forest cabin. You’re welcome! RECOMMENDED:The best things to do in BudapestThe best hotels in Budapest The best attractions in Budapest Who makes the cut? While we might not stay in every Airbnb featured, we've based our list on top reviews, hosts and amenities to find you the best stays. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.

With prominent District VI banning Airbnb accommodation – and other local councils considering similar action – hotel stays are a reliable option for visitors to Budapest. Fortunately, this sea change in the local hospitality industry has coincided with the opening of dozens of new venues, some boutique, many extremely affordable. And not just global chains, either – think independent, or integral to a locally run or smaller group. Our selection represents the best ones right now in the lower-budget category. Booked directly from the hotel’s own sites, out of high season, double rooms should cost around €65-80 per night. City tax of 4% per person may have to be paid upon arrival if not already included. Some rates include breakfast, even a heated pool in one instance. Nearly all have 24hr reception and luggage storage, making check-in and check-out an easier proposition than fiddling with capricious keylocks or absentee owners. 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to hotels in Budapest Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. We may not have stayed at every hotel featured, but we use our local expertise to curate this list to the absolute best. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

Wherever you stay in Budapest, you’ll be near a decent bar, relaxing spa and recommendable restaurant. That said, some may prefer the residential quiet of Buda to the urban buzz of Pest, each side linked by metro, trams and buses, not to mention cycle lanes. Use the BudapestGO app to buy tickets and plan journeys. Districts are referred to by a Roman numeral, some also by their historic connection to a Habsburg royal – for example, District VIII is Józsefváros, ‘Joseph Town’. District numbers are also the middle two digits within each Budapest postcode – book a hotel in 1071 and you're in the grittier end of District VII, reserve a room in 1065 and you're near the sights in District VI, and so on. RECOMMENDED📍 A weekend in Budapest: the ultimate itinerary🏰 The best things to do in Budapest🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Budapest🍽️ The best restaurants in Budapest Words by Peterjon Cresswell, original photos by Gábor Szabó, both based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

A phalanx of terrace cafés, galleries and restaurants attracts a savvy Hungarian clientele over the river from Pest to Újbuda. Once considered the domain of elderly Magyar ladies and their poodles, this elegant district has seen a change in demographic in recent years. Named after Hungary’s most famous composer, tree-lined avenue Bartók Béla út is its main artery, behind the Gellért Hotel now closed for renovation. A statue of 20th-century writer Géza Gárdonyi stands outside the literary café that both typified this stately neighbourhood when active in the pre-war era, and pioneered its revival after reopening in 2010: Hadik. Adjoining it, the Szatyor (‘Bag’) has an arty, ruin-bar feel typical of early 21st-century Budapest, but its name derives from a quote from 1930s Hadik regular, writer Frigyes Karinthy, originator of the concept of six degrees of separation. Best things to do in Újbuda The Godot Gallery showcases some of Budapest's most challenging contemporary artists, most notably the ever-provocative Dr Máriás, whose work often forms part of festivals here, including the Art Expo series running in October 2025. Go off the beaten track Surrounded by plentiful greenery, two terrace restaurants, a concert stage, small pier, tennis club, outdoor gym, children’s playground and a jogging course, Feneketlen-tó (the ‘bottomless lake’) provides ample scope for recreation alongside Bartók Béla Út. Abundant reeds attract fish and birdlife – happily, fishing has been banned, with this urban park now (almost) fully given over to nature. Get cultured The cultural agenda at the turquoise-spotted B32 Galéria és Kultúrtér is fascinatingly random – you could stumble across an exhibition, a vinyl-only DJ night, a design fair or a puppet show. Unless it’s theatre, the impenetrable Hungarian language need not prevent the non-Magyar speaker from getting the most from their visit. Peterjon CresswellKelet Café Where to eat in Újbuda Restaurant, bar and arboretum in one, BÉLA serves a healthy plate of pearl-barley risotto with mushrooms, spinach and pesto, while the adjacent, café-like Kelet specialises in grilled sandwiches, the unusual smoked-catfish-with-cheese variety coming in full and half portions. Over the road, the storied Hadik goes the whole hog where mains are concerned, the rosé duck breast accompanied by roast potatoes with bacon, the grilled chicken breast by truffle oil risotto.  Moving away from meat, Vegan Love was opened by street food specialists Magic Burger to create layer upon layer of veg-based goodies squeezed into a healthy bun – the broccoli millet burger is a deservedly popular choice. For fish, head to the recently opened Hawaiian ONO Poké Bowl Bar and try the namesake signature dish with tuna or salmon. Photograph: Jennifer Walker for Time Out The best bars in Újbuda Drinking destinations along Bartók Béla Út tend to specialise – which is why ale aficionados make a beeline for the 32-tap KEG Sörművház, whose current selection features an Uluru wheat variety from HopTop and a Mango Bay pale ale from Mad Scientist, both breweries local to Budapest. Wine buffs, on the other hand, beat a path to the Palack Borbár diagonally opposite the Hotel Gellért. Its light whites from the Hungarian-Argentine Haraszthy winery in nearby Etyek include a citrusy Sauvignon Blanc also sold by the glass. A shot of rare Polish vodka such as Dwór Sieraków and a plate of marinated herring are the way to go at evening-only bookshop-café Gdansk, while the Szatyor serves a mean mimosa among its many mixed drinks, alcoholic and otherwise. How to get here From Deák Ferenc tér in the city centre, tram 47 or 49 takes just over five minutes to reach Gárdonyi tér. Either side of it and also close by, Gellért tér and Móricz Zsigmond körtér are served by green metro line 4. Nearby Over Liberty Bridge from Gellért tér stand the produce-filled Great Market Hall and the Bálna Budapest leisure complex near downtown Pest. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Budapest😋 The best restaurants in Budapest🍻 The best ruin bars in Budapest🏡 The best Airbnbs in Budapest Words by Peterjon Cresswell, based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Recently included among Time Out’s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods, the Palace District gained its allure when the landed gentry kept their Budapest pied-à-terres in order to attend parliamentary sessions at the National Museum next door. Since then, much has changed, and not only the relandscaped gardens surrounding the stately museum. Cool cafés, funky boutiques and the odd gallery characterise the urban landscape, recently augmented by the arrival of Time Out Market Budapest one tram stop or a five-minute walk away on Blaha Lujza tér. RECOMMENDED:The best things to do in BudapestThe best hotels in Budapest The best areas to stay in Budapest Words by Peterjon Cresswell, based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

Most first-time visitors to Budapest spend much of their time in the Jewish Quarter, which is also the city's nightlife hub and location for its famed ruin bars. Set in once empty residential buildings, these alternative nightspots generated a raft of new businesses, eateries, boutiques and galleries, and revived interest in what was the wartime Jewish Ghetto behind the area's key landmark, the Dohány Street Synagogue. What are the best things to do in Budapest's Jewish Quarter? Beyond the ruin bars, the Jewish Quarter is best known for its murals, which reflect the urban history of Budapest and those who shaped it. Take a walking tour and find out about the 1956 Uprising, Rubik's Cube and Empress Sisi. The ruin bars also begat Budapest's best breakfast spots and Middle-Eastern restaurants, not to mention new galleries, bohemian bars and a bric-à-brac market in the Gozsdu Udvar. And now, of course, you're only a step away from Time Out Market Budapest on nearby Blaha Lujza tér. RECOMMENDED:🚋 How to spend a weekend in Budapest🪩 The best Budapest nightlife spots📍 The best things to do in Budapest Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

The thing about Budapest is there’s just so much going on. You can certainly squeeze most of its brilliant attractions into one weekend, but that’s if you plan accordingly and keep to a tight schedule. You won’t have enough time to see every attraction in town. But make sure you see at least a few - they’re just about as weird, wacky and wonderful as you’d expect. You’ll find a museum dedicated to pinball, another to Zwack Unicum, Hungary's mysterious national drink. Whatever you’re into, there’ll be a museum for you. Here are the must-visits! RECOMMENDED:🏰 The best things to do in Budapest🍻 The best bars in Budapest🍴 The best restaurants in Budapest🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Budapest🏨 The best hotels in Budapest Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Developed in the later 1800s, rediscovered in the early 2000s, Hungarian cuisine has the same peasant roots as its French counterpart. It relies on prime meat and top-quality naturally organic produce. Here in inland Hungary, freshwater fish is another staple. Classic dishes include chicken paprikash (paprikás csirke or csirkepaprikás), topped with another essential, sour cream (tejföl), which also tops töltött káposzta, stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce. There’s goulash, of course, and halászlé, a spicy fish soup. Where can I get good goulash in Budapest? The one Hungarian dish everyone knows is goulash (gulyás), a paprika-flavoured soup filled with chunks of beef and potato, traditionally served in a small cauldron. Brought alongside will be a small dish of an even fierier paprika mix to add to the bowl at your peril. Because the best goulash is slow-cooked – its name refers to the herdsmen (gulyás) who would prepare it over an open fire – the places which do it well are fairly thin on the ground. Many of Budapest's best restaurants are more international in approach – find great goulash at the following select Hungarian-focused eateries. Discover our ultimate guide to eating and drinking in Budapest Words by Peterjon Cresswell, original photos by Gábor Szabó, both based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

When it comes to top attractions in Budapest, museums and galleries are not the only game in town – there are spa baths, hilltop castles and a great big wheel smack-bang in the city centre. It’s only when visitors come to my adopted home of the last 35 years that I pay proper attention to its attractions. Much like Londoners not bothering with the British Museum, Budapest residents on the Danube-hugging No.2 tram barely give the stunning Parliament building a second glance and practically ignore Buda Castle’s UNESCO-protected cityscape. But the city I fell for never fails to deliver. I may not wander into the National Gallery every week but I’m glad it’s there, waiting for whenever visitors give me the excuse to recapture that thrill of discovery – and, naturally, party like it’s 1989. RECOMMENDED:  🇭🇺 Ultimate guide to what to do in Budapest 📍Discover the best free things to do in Budapest 🏨 Ready to book? Here are Budapest’s best hotels and best Airbnbs, selected by our editors Words by Peterjon Cresswell, original photos by Gábor Szabó, both based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

Just as Budapest goes big on nightlife, so breakfast a few hours later is another strong point. In fact, the same Jewish Quarter hub specialises in both, which is why you won’t go far wrong if you scour Klauzál tér and adjoining streets for that first meal of the day. Brunch can have other connotations. For years now, the city’s top downtown hotels have pushed the boat out at weekends, laying on a lavish family-friendly spread for the business community. Brunch can also mean, of course, just a long, late breakfast close to where you would have been partying the night before. 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to bars and nightlife in Budapest 🏨 Ready to book? Here are Budapest’s best hotels and best Airbnbs, selected by our editors Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Considered the cradle of the genre, Budapest offers a wealth of choice where escape rooms are concerned, whether you’re a devotee or after a little communal fun and adventure while you’re here. So where should you start? Many of the more established escape rooms in Budapest are based on prison breaks, bank robberies or pirate sorties, while others are historical, transporting visitors to Ancient Egypt, Victorian London or Chernobyl. Best of all, all the venues listed here offer English games for non-Hungarian speakers. Budapest’s escape rooms are affordable, fun and full of adventure – and what’s more, the more friends you bring, the cheaper it gets. Here for a stag do, hen do or just fancying a serious challenge, here are the best escape rooms in Budapest, tried and tested by us.  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best things to do in Budapest 🏨 Ready to book? Here are Budapest’s best hotels and best Airbnbs, selected by our editors This article was updated by Peterjon Cresswell, a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Budapest is one of our top spots for a city break in Europe right now. This place has got it all – Danube views, spas, nightlife and more – and it’s all as photogenic as it was in the gilded late 1800s.  How many days are enough to visit Budapest? Arriving on Friday lunchtime, there's more than enough to see and do in Budapest over three days before you head back on Sunday night. Some of Budapest’s best parts are hidden in corners, away from the tourist-filled spas and the buzzing bars. In fact, the best thing you can do is hit up a local to craft your itinerary. So hey, we’ve done the hard work for you. From where to eat breakfast to the most scenic walks in the city, here’s our ultimate itinerary for an unforgettable weekend in Budapest. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Budapest🏛️ The best spas and baths in Budapest🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Budapest🏨 The best hotels in Budapest Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

The Golden Age of Budapest circa 1900 is strikingly illustrated by its coffeehouses, gilded literary hangouts whose glamour has since been recalibrated for the 21st century. Queues snake outside the New York, and the legendary Gerbeaud has retained all of its historic charm. Inventive, irresistible and identifiably Hungarian, café culture is one of the best things about this city – and cakes complete the classic coffeehouse experience. Spin forward a century, and the city’s new-wave cafés have introduced small-batch brews and gluten-free treats to a more cosmopolitan clientele. 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to eating and drinking in Budapest Where should I go for coffee in Budapest? The classic coffeehouses of yesteryear are spread out, with the New York near Blaha Lujza tér (and the upcoming Time Out Market), the Művész near the Opera House and the Centrál right in town. If you only have a day in Budapest, and almost certainly want to stroll along the Danube and take in the bridges and cityscape, then the Gerbeaud on Vöösmarty tér or Gerlóczy close to Váci utca make sense. Examples of the new wave of cafés can be found everywhere but are particularly prevalent in District XIII, Újlipótváros or Újlipi to the trendy young professionals who moved in here to work and shop from their laptops. Throw a teaspoon down Pozsonyi út and you’ll likely hit a contemporary purveyor of dark-roast latte. Close to Margaret Bridge on the Pest side, Újlipótváros and its many cafés allow you to combine a decent morning macchiato with a stroll around Budapest's most convivial green getaway one tram stop or barely ten minutes' walk away. 🏨 Ready to book? Here are Budapest’s best hotels and best Airbnbs, selected by our editors Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.