17 Things You HAVE to Do in a Weekend in Budapest
If you’re planning a weekend in Budapest, let me help. I’ve been three times now, spent over two weeks there, and would be well up for going again. After Barcelona, Budapest is my second favourite European city.
Let me show you around a weekend in Budapest.
Actor Anthony Hopkins claimed it was the most beautiful place he’d ever been, Alice Cooper said people needed to visit and Angelina Jolie is even rumoured to have bought a house in the city she loved it so much. If Budapest is good enough for the celebs, it’s definitely good enough for us.
Going to Budapest for the weekend is the perfect opportunity for 48 hours of spas, goulash and amazing architecture.
Budapest has a long and colourful history; it was originally formed by bringing together three separate towns or areas. Pest, Buda and Óbuda were the original districts of the city. But as the city grew so did the number of districts, now totalling a grand old 23.
Here’s a look around just a few of them for your Budapest weekend.
What to do in 48 hours in Budapest
1. Visit the hot springs
Budapest is known for having almost 125 hot springs, and taking a dip is a tradition that dates back to Roman times. So making like Cesar in an art nouveau joint like the Gellert Baths or in Europe’s largest medicinal bath at Szechenyi Baths, is a must.
For those who prefer a good beat while they bathe, make sure to put a ‘sparty’ on the Saturday night agenda.
2. Walk around Budapest’s big sights
If you’re on a budget on your weekend in Budapest, spend your saturday taking in the best of the city’s sights with a walk. Go along the Danube river where views of the Buda Castle, Liberty Statue, Little Princess Statue and Fisherman’s Bastion are free.
Then cross the city into either the Buda side or Pest side of the city via the famous Elizabeth or Chain Bridge.
3. Pop to Margaret Island
Complete your afternoon by hopping over to Margaret Island in the middle of the river where you can see the music fountain, medieval ruins and fancy water tower, also for a sum total of zero. This is where the famous Sziget Festival takes place every August.
You could get yourself a bike from the Zebra Bike Tours – it’s only 1500HUF for two hours. I cycled down to the island and round.
There’s a range of wheels you can hire out, lots of flowers and bushes, some animals to see, a pub, a café and lots of statues dotted around the park too.
Bring your swimmers and you could go to the Palatinus Water Park. I didn’t, but I definitely will do next time.
More things to do in Budapest
4. Visit Buda Castle
Delve a little deeper into Budapest’s culture on the Sunday, and head underground. Hospital in a Rock is a museum under the Buda Castle dedicated to the secret military hospital built back in the 1930s.
Keeping the clandestine theme going, the Szabo Ervin Library is a 19th century throwback located within another library within an aristocrat’s old mansion — talk about hidden.
