Budapest
Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary.
It is Hungary's primate city with 1.7 million inhabitants and its greater metro area has a population of about 3.3 million, representing one-third of the country's population and producing more than 40% of the country's economic output. Budapest is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, among the ten largest cities in the European Union and the second largest urban area in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest stands on the River Danube and is strategically located at the center of the Pannonian Basin, lying on ancient trade routes linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain.
Getting to Budapest
Budapest has direct flights to most major European cities. Many of these are operated by the budget carrier WizzAir, which is based here and is now in effect Hungary's national airline. Other budget operators include Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2, Norwegian and Vueling. This competition holds down prices on the traditional airlines such as KLM and Lufthansa.
- 01Budapest Franz Liszt International Airport
- 02Nyugati
- 03Keleti
- 04Déli
Worth seeing
The Danube. This is what's unique about Budapest, the urban river landscape. This feature can be admired in several ways: from panoramic points, such as Fisherman's Bastion or Gellért Hill's Citadella in South Buda, promenading along the river banks, or from the river's perspective, from a boat. For romantic views of the city, go at night.
Things to do
The simplest, and perhaps best of all: get a map, circle the things you want to see, divide up your time and stroll around in the city. Spend time in charming cafés or restaurants, preferably not right at the main tourist sites, look at the market stands, walk on a bridge in the evening.
Where to eat
Hungarian food deserves to be (and often is) mentioned among the country's main sites. As in other cultures, the Hungarian approach to food combines pride in their own traditions with a readiness to accept outside influences. The result is a vibrant restaurant scene where an Asian-Hungarian fusion restaurant may well be of genuine interest.
Getting around Budapest the local way
- Get inFour to seven people will cost Ft21000 oneway, Ft41000 return per minibus.
- Get aroundAnnual Passes (Éves bérletek) Quarterly passes (Negyedéves bérletek) Semester passes (Szemeszterre szóló bérletek) Ferry tickets (Révjegyek): valid for a single trip on ferry line D14.
From Wikivoyage: Budapest, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: OD Pictures (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.
