Why and when

The best time to visit Budapest is late spring or summer. Winter and autumn months, it can be cold and you will not enjoy walking outside. Good reasons to visit:

  1. Spa with thermal waters.
  2. Cheap.
  3. Lively nightlife for party-goers.
  4. Excellent locations, beautiful buildings and scenery for photographers.
  5. Walking & cycling friendly. The reason not to visit:
  6. Locals can be rude and weird. If you can live with this, you will be fine though.
  7. You had enough with east Europe.

Getting there and around

There is one airport on Budapest, so getting a flight would be the fastest way. After landing, go to the tickets desk inside the airport and buy a single ticket for the bus 100E which terminates in the city centre. It costs 3€ for a single trip. You can also buy a pass for 24hrs or 72hrs or 5 days. All these will cost you at most 15€ for a few days. If you like walking, you could avoid public transport simply by walking everywhere. Heads up, the metro network is pretty outdated and interesting.

Eating out

In the city, you have three main options. Traditional Hungarian restaurants, burgers, and for some weird reason pad thai or ramen. Opt-in for traditional cuisine if you enjoy meat and potatoes. Their cuisine is tasty and involves a lot of paprika of course.

Accommodation

Rental apartments and hotels tend to be cheap in Budapest so it’s really up to you. Easy win, simply stays in the city centre so that everything is about 30 min walk at most.

Fun facts

Join a classic free walking tour. In about 2,5 hrs you will visit most of the city’s attractions and learn something new. Budapest is famous for their spa and thermal waters and you have to go! You can just walk in any of the famous ones and buy a ticket for ~ 20€. If you need to have massage treatment, this needs pre-booking and the average cost is an extra 35€ for 1hr. It is worth mentioning that the spa building is the highlight and not the spa facilities. They are traditional (e.g old) so don’t expect high-end luxury.