Budapest 7-Day Itinerary

Settle in and start slow. Walk to the Chain Bridge for your first view of the two cities and the river. Cross to Buda and take the funicular up to Castle Hill. The Castle District in the late afternoon is at its best — the crowds thin out and the light is golden on the Matthias Church tiles.

Fisherman's Bastion for sunset. Dinner in the Castle District or back in Pest. The first evening is for orientation — walk, eat, look at the river at night.

A deeper day in Buda. Buda Castle in the morning — the Hungarian National Gallery has the country's most important collection of Hungarian fine art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The Budapest History Museum in the same complex covers the city's Roman, medieval, and Ottoman layers.

Afternoon: walk south along Castle Hill to the ruins of the medieval royal palace gardens, then descend to the Tabán district, historically the city's working-class bohemian quarter. Gellért Hill (Gellért-hegy) is a 45-minute walk up from the Tabán — the Citadella at the top has a panorama across the entire city that beats Fisherman's Bastion for scale. The Liberty Statue (Szabadság-szobor) is here.

Evening: Gellért Baths in the Art Nouveau hotel of the same name, or dinner in the Buda side's quieter restaurants.

A full day in central Pest. Parliament tour in the morning (book in advance). Afterwards walk east into the Jewish Quarter — the Dohány Street Synagogue, the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Garden, and the Hungarian Jewish Museum. Take your time here.

Lunch: somewhere in the Quarter. The area has excellent Jewish-Hungarian restaurants — Mazel Tov is the best-known, but Fülemüle and Hanna are more traditional.

Afternoon: walk Andrássy Avenue from its base at Deák Ferenc Square to Heroes' Square, stopping at the Hungarian State Opera (guided tours available daily) and the House of Terror museum at No. 60. The House of Terror is in the former headquarters of both the Nazi Arrow Cross and the Communist ÁVH secret police — the permanent exhibition is essential Budapest history.

Evening: ruin bar crawl. Szimpla Kert is the starting point, but explore past it: Csendes, Ellátó Kert, Doboz, and Anker't are all within a few minutes' walk.

A slower, indulgent day. Széchenyi Baths in the morning — book the 09:00 slot and spend three hours between the outdoor thermal pools, steam rooms, and saunas. This is one of Budapest's peak experiences; don't rush it.

Lunch in Városliget (City Park) or at the Vajdahunyad Castle café, which overlooks a lake you can row on in summer.

Afternoon: the Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) next to Heroes' Square has one of Central Europe's finest European art collections, with strong Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Old Masters sections. The adjacent Hall of Art (Műcsarnok) has rotating contemporary exhibitions.

Evening: explore the Újlipótváros neighbourhood, north of Parliament along the river. Less touristy, full of art deco apartment blocks, local wine bars, and excellent restaurants. Try Drop Shop or Pótkulcs for the neighbourhood feel.

The Danube Bend (Dunakanyar) is where the river makes its dramatic turn south, creating one of Central Europe's most scenic landscapes. The classic loop visits three towns:

Szentendre (40 minutes from Budapest Batthyány tér by HÉV commuter rail): a pastel-coloured artists' town of Serbian Orthodox churches, gallery lanes, and excellent cake. The Open-Air Ethnographic Museum on the edge of town is worth the walk.

Visegrád (bus from Szentendre): a 13th-century royal palace and, above it on the hill, a citadel that controlled river traffic for centuries. The walk up to the citadel takes about 25 minutes and the views down the Danube Bend are extraordinary.

Esztergom (bus from Visegrád, or direct train back to Budapest): Hungary's oldest city and the seat of the Hungarian Catholic Church. The basilica is the largest church in Hungary and one of the biggest in Europe. Stand on its dome in clear weather and you can see Slovakia across the river.

Return to Budapest by evening train from Esztergom (1.5 hours).

Eger is two hours from Budapest Keleti by direct InterCity train — book a seat reservation in advance. This baroque city in the Bükk Hills is famous for two things: the 18th-century fortress that repelled an Ottoman siege in 1552 (the story of the 2,000 Hungarians who held off 40,000 Turks is a point of national pride), and Egri Bikavér — Bull's Blood wine, a full-bodied red blend that became Hungary's best-known wine export.

Morning: walk the historic centre — the baroque Cathedral, the Lyceum (with its 18th-century library and rooftop observatory), and Dobó Square with its statue of the fortress commander István Dobó.

After lunch: descend into the Valley of the Beautiful Women (Szépasszony-völgy), a hollow on the edge of town lined with wine cellars cut into the hillside. You can taste your way through Bull's Blood, Egri Leányka (a white), and various blends from the cellar owners. It's one of Hungary's more convivial wine experiences.

Return to Budapest by the early evening train.

Save Rudas Baths for your last morning. It's the city's most atmospheric thermal bath — a 16th-century Ottoman hamam under an original domed roof with star-shaped skylights, still operating on its original footprint. The rooftop pool (added in 2014) has views over the Danube. Weekday mornings are gender-segregated in the historic bath; weekends it's mixed. Friday and Saturday nights are adults-only party events with DJs.

Afternoon: the Rákóczi Piac (Rákóczi market) in District VIII — smaller and less tourist-facing than the Great Market Hall, with good Hungarian street food and a genuine local atmosphere. The district around it, Józsefváros, is one of Budapest's most architecturally varied and least-visited neighbourhoods.

Final evening: do it properly. Book a table at one of Budapest's better restaurants — Borkonyha (Michelin-starred, excellent wine programme), Costes Downtown, or Onyx. Or skip the formality and return to whatever neighbourhood you liked best. Budapest doesn't need ceremony to be excellent.