Budapest's Parliament seen from across the Danube
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Budapest in 1 day

  • 1 day
  • 6.2 km on foot
  • 16 stops
  • Audio guide

One day in Budapest goes a long way if you plan it by riverbank: Buda in the morning, Pest in the afternoon and Gellért Hill at sunset. It suits anyone passing through or on a long layover who wants the essentials, with comfortable shoes and about six kilometres of walking in the legs.

One day in BudapestThree routes, two banks

Start early on Castle Hill with «The best of Budapest: Castle Hill»: Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and the royal palace, before the tour groups arrive. Come down over the Chain Bridge and have a goulash for lunch in Pest. The afternoon belongs to «Budapest from 1849 to 1989: the Pest Embankment»: Parliament, the shoes on the Danube and St Stephen's Basilica. At dusk, cross Elisabeth Bridge and climb Witches' Hill for the best view. Finish with a lángos for dinner.

  1. Morning

    The best of Budapest: Castle Hill

    Mixed · 1.8 km · 1 h 40 min

    1. Matthias ChurchRoyal weddings, a century and a half as a mosque and a ceramic roof that glitters like fish scales.
    2. Fisherman's BastionIt looks like a medieval fortress, but it's a lookout built in 1902 for gazing at the Danube.
    3. Sándor PalaceThe Hungarian president's residence, where a prime minister took his own life in 1941 rather than break his word.
    4. Buda Royal PalaceDestroyed and rebuilt again and again: the palace of Hungary's kings is the city's great survivor.
    5. Chain BridgeThe first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest, born of Széchenyi's stubbornness and guarded by four lions with a legend.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  2. Lunch

    Try Goulash (gulyás) at Százéves Étterem. Piarista utca 2, Budapest

  3. Afternoon

    Budapest from 1849 to 1989: the Pest Embankment

    History · 2.4 km · 2 h

    1. Hungarian Academy of SciencesA palace born of a single gesture: the day a young count gave a whole year's income so that Hungarian could have a science of its own.
    2. Shoes on the Danube BankSixty pairs of iron shoes at the water's edge: Budapest's simplest and most harrowing memorial.
    3. Parliament and Kossuth SquareHungary's largest building, conceived for the nation's millennium, and a square that ran with blood in 1956.
    4. Batthyány Eternal FlameA flame that never goes out, on the corner where Hungary's first prime minister was shot.
    5. Liberty SquareBudapest's most contradictory square: a Soviet obelisk, a bronze American president and a cardinal who lived fifteen years inside an embassy.
    6. St Stephen's BasilicaHalf a century of building work, a dome that collapsed and a church exactly as tall as Parliament.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  4. Early evening

    Witches' Hill: Legends of Gellért Hill

    Mysteries & legends · 2 km · 1 h 45 min

    1. Contra-Aquincum and Pest's Oldest ChurchUnder a sheet of glass, the walls of a Roman fort; beside it, a church that was once a mosque and, by tradition, once held a martyr's grave.
    2. St Gerard's Statue and the Witches' HillA bishop who, legend says, was hurled down the hillside, and a hill that for centuries was said to draw the witches of Hungary.
    3. Rudas BathsA 16th-century Ottoman dome over hot springs that were rising from the hill long before the city existed.
    4. Cave ChurchA church carved into the hill, which the communist police walled up behind concrete in 1951.
    5. Liberty BridgeA green bridge from 1896 crowned by four turul birds, the bird of the dream that, legend says, foretold the Árpád dynasty.

    Start the audio guide See the route

  5. Dinner

    Try Lángos at Központi Vásárcsarnok. Vámház körút 1–3, Budapest

The map

Budapest in 1 day, on the map

Each route’s stops are numbered in order; the stars are the extra sights.

Mixed History Mysteries & legends

Loading the map…

Before you go

Tips for Budapest in 1 day

  • Wear comfortable shoes: Castle Hill and Gellért Hill are steep, though you can take the funicular or a bus up to the Castle if your legs need a break.
  • Trams 2 and 19 and the metro link the two banks well, but between routes, walking along the Danube is often just as quick.
  • Check opening times for Parliament and the basilica if you want to go inside; the routes are done from the outside, with no tickets needed.

Questions

Budapest in 1 day: your questions

Can you see Budapest in one day?

You can see the essentials: the Castle, Parliament and the Danube embankments. You will not get inside everything or have time for the thermal baths, but three well-linked routes give you a solid feel for the city.

How far do you walk on this itinerary?

The three routes add up to about 6.2 km: 1.8 for the Castle, 2.4 for history and 2 for mysteries. With the walks between them, the day comes to roughly 9 or 10 kilometres.

Where is the best place to start?

On Castle Hill, first thing. It is busiest by mid-morning, and starting there leaves the afternoon for Pest and the climb up Gellért Hill in the evening light.

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