5-day itinerary

Budapest

Five days in Budapest is long enough to do the thermal baths properly — and there's a genuine choice to make. Széchenyi is the grand outdoor experience: 18 geothermal pools in City Park, no booking needed, go on a weekday. Gellért is Art Nouveau and indoor: arched windows, a wave pool, atmospheric in a completely different way. This 5-day Budapest itinerary covers both, plus the Parliament tour (book online — the Crown of Saint Stephen is on display inside), the Dohány Street Synagogue, and a day in Eger: the 1552 siege castle, the northernmost Ottoman minaret in Europe, and the family wine cellars in the Valley of the Beautiful Women. Borkonyha on Sas utca is the Michelin-starred option; it's worth it.

Day 1

Buda Castle and the Castle District

Start on the Buda side — take the funicular from Clark Ádám tér. A morning in the Castle District, then cross the Chain Bridge for the afternoon in Pest.

Morning
BC

Buda Castle and National Gallery

Established

The royal palace on Castle Hill — the National Gallery inside has the best collection of Hungarian painting. The exterior terrace has the finest view of the Danube and Pest.

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MC

Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion

Established

The diamond-tiled Gothic church and the neo-Gothic viewpoint terrace beside it. The view across the Danube to the Parliament is the most photographed in Budapest. Free outer terrace.

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Afternoon
CB

Chain Bridge and Pest riverbank

Established

Walk across the Chain Bridge and along the Pest embankment — the Parliament building from the river level is more impressive than any other vantage point.

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Evening
SK

Szimpla Kert

Established

The original ruin bar in the Jewish Quarter — a decayed building turned inside-out. Go at 8pm. The covered outdoor sections and the indoor rooms all have different characters.

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Days 2–5

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