From the airport
The 100E Airport Express runs 24/7 into Deák Ferenc tér in about 40 minutes. Főtaxi, the official airport partner, waits at ranks outside arrivals on the citywide fixed tariff:
Hungary
Budapest
Thermal baths, ruin bars and the best-lit riverfront in Europe.
- Best forThermal baths · Ruin bars
- Flight time2h 30m direct from London
- Best monthsApril – June · September – October
- VibeGrand, gritty, affordable
Budapest, Hungary
Open in Google Maps
Buda and Pest face each other across the Danube; the airport is about 16km southeast.
Buda's castle hill stares across the Danube at Pest's café boulevards, and between them runs one of the world's great river frontages — Parliament by night is pure opera. Soak in neo-Baroque thermal pools, drink wine spritzers in crumbling courtyard bars, and enjoy grandeur at prices that let you upgrade the hotel room.
When to go
Daytime highs run from about 5°C in January to 29°C in July. Driest January to March; wettest in May, with rain on about 12 days.
The year at a glance — pick a month for detail
August28° · rain 8 daysWarm with rain most weeks.
Monthly figures averaged from daily records for 2020–2024 at this location (ERA5 reanalysis). Live conditions from MET Norway, CC BY 4.0.
Getting around
Metro, trams & travelcards
Four metro lines — including the 1896 M1, continental Europe's oldest underground — and the riverside trams 2, 4 and 6 cover everything. Buy tickets in the BudapestGO app or tap in contactless:
Taxis & ride-hailing
All Budapest taxis charge the same regulated tariff, so the choice is really about the app. Bolt dominates; the radio firms answer around the clock:
Car hire — for the wine country
You won't need a car in town, but Lake Balaton, the Danube Bend and the Tokaj wine region all beg for a day trip. Compare every operator:
Compare car hire pricesFunicular & river boats
The 1870 Budavári Sikló funicular climbs from the Chain Bridge to the castle, and BKK's own D14 ferry is the cheapest Danube cruise in town — it's covered by ordinary travelcards:
Where to stay
Pick a budget to open live availability in Budapest. Prices are per night for two people.
Our picks in this destination
The area · Gozsdu udvar
Budget
Wombat's City Hostel Budapest
Király utca · hostel
The city's biggest hostel occupies an 1840 building on buzzy Király utca, with en-suite dorms, its own bar and the ruin-bar district on the doorstep.
View hotel
The area · The National Museum
Mid-range
ibis Budapest Centrum
Ráday utca · 3★
A dependable, recently refurbished three-star perch on café-lined Ráday utca, moments from Kálvin tér metro and the Great Market Hall.
View hotel
The area · The Opera House, Andrássy Avenue
Boutique
Hotel Moments Budapest
Andrássy Avenue · 4★
Ninety-nine elegant rooms behind a glass-roofed Art Deco courtyard on UNESCO-listed Andrássy Avenue, a stroll from the Opera House and the Basilica.
View hotel
The area · Dohány Street Synagogue
Boutique
Continental Hotel Budapest
Jewish Quarter · 4★
Risen from the site of the famed Hungária Bath, this Art Deco house hides a wellness pool and a green rooftop oasis in the old Jewish Quarter.
View hotel
The area · St Stephen's Basilica
Boutique
Aria Hotel Budapest
By the Basilica · boutique
A music-themed boutique beside the Basilica where suites riff on opera and jazz, and the High Note SkyBar delivers a 360-degree serenade over the rooftops.
View hotel
The area · Károlyi Garden
Boutique
Hotel Rum Budapest
District V · boutique
Forty designer rooms for modern urban explorers, crowned by the SOLID rooftop and the Michelin-starred SALT restaurant at street level.
View hotel
The area · Deák Ferenc tér
Luxury
Kempinski Hotel Corvinus
District V · 5★
Freshly revamped and unapologetically polished, this city-centre grande dame pairs a vast spa with Nobu Budapest, moments from the Chain Bridge.
View hotel
Luxury
Corinthia Budapest
Grand Boulevard · 5★
A symbol of grandeur since 1896, its six-storey atrium and restored Art Deco Royal Spa make this Grand Boulevard palace the city's most theatrical address.
View hotel
Luxury
Párisi Udvar Hotel
District V · 5★
An Art Nouveau shopping arcade reborn as an Unbound Collection by Hyatt hotel, where 85,000 hours of restoration produced one of Europe's most jaw-dropping atriums.
View hotelEvery stay is real and bookable — links open the hotel's official site. Where a property's own photos aren't licensed yet, the image shows its neighbourhood instead (labelled on the photo).
Flights
Los Angeles Budapest, Hungary
Fly from anywhere — search 4,000+ airports worldwide.
Roughly 12h 30m in the air from Los Angeles (LAX), estimated from the distance — check for a direct route. Pick a month to see every available flight with live prices — Budapest Ferenc Liszt (BUD) is about 16km from the centre, with 10–14 nonstop London departures a day on British Airways, Wizz Air, Ryanair and easyJet.
Check dates and prices
Pick your departure date, then your return.
Search flightsNot sure when? Compare fares across a whole month.
Flights leave from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, so fares stay keen. Prices open on Google Flights.
Things to do
The Hungarian Parliament
Tour the neo-Gothic colossus on the Pest embankment, its gilded staircases best admired before catching its reflection shimmer in the Danube at dusk.
Széchenyi Thermal Baths
Wallow in butter-yellow neo-Baroque splendour while regulars play chess on floating boards in the steaming outdoor pools of City Park.
Gellért Baths
Take the waters beneath Art Nouveau mosaics and turquoise Zsolnay tiles in what may be the most beautiful bathing hall in Europe.
Fisherman's Bastion & Castle Hill
Ride the 1870 funicular up to Buda's cobbled castle quarter and drink in the fairy-tale turrets' postcard panorama of Parliament across the river.
Ruin bars of the Jewish Quarter
Lose an evening in Szimpla Kert and its crumbling-courtyard kin, where mismatched furniture, fairy lights and pálinka conspire in District VII's tenements.
The Great Market Hall
Stock up on paprika, lángos and Tokaji under the market's Eiffel-esque ironwork, then glide past the floodlit riverbanks by evening boat.
