Once two cities divided by the Danube river, Budapest is known for being full of incredible architecture, tasty Eastern European food and rich with history.
It’s been a European favourite for weekend city breaks for quite a while and it’s easy to see why! This amazing city was the first stop on my Hungary and Croatia Contiki tour and it did not disappoint.
Looking for a quick European adventure? Here’s how to spend 48 hours in Budapest in the spring.
Day One
After arriving in the late morning, we went straight to our hotel to drop off our bags. We stayed at the Danubius Hotel Budapest, a cylinder-shaped building on the Buda side of the city with amazing views of Buda Hill.
There’s a tram stop located just across the street from the hotel, which is perfect since public transportation is the best way to see the city on a budget!
We had a bit of time to kill before our Contiki started, so a few of us that had flown together went for a walk towards the river in search of something to eat and ended up getting pizzas from a bakery.
After our welcome meeting, we boarded the Contiki coach and went straight into a short city introduction with our guide Szofi- a Budapest local.
We drove past Buda Castle before crossing over the famous Chain Bridge into the Pest side of the city, where we drove down Andrassy Avenue and looped around Heroes’ Square.
We got off of the coach just outside of St Stephen’s Basilica and began our guided walking tour.
The tour ended outside of the Hungarian Parliament Building just in time for sunset, giving us incredible views of the Danube.
A few hundred feet down the river we boarded our sunset dinner cruise boat. Immediately after boarding, we were treated to wine and a spread of delicious traditional Hungarian dishes including goulash and chicken paprikash. It was the perfect introduction to Hungarian food.
The highlight of the day was definitely getting to watch as all of the iconic buildings along the Danube lit up as it got dark.
To end the night, we headed back to the Danubius and a bunch of us sat on the patio and got to know each other over a few bottles of wine.
Day 2
We started off the day with breakfast at the hotel, then went to relax at the Szechenyi Thermal Spa.
Hungary is famous for its baths, and this one is the biggest, oldest, and most popular of them all!
After soaking for a couple of hours, a few of us caught the metro to the Great Market Hall to grab lunch and shop for some local items like paprika.
From there we walked along Váci street and did some shopping before we made our way back over to St Stephen’s to try Gelarto Rosa, a famous gelato shop that shapes their gelato into roses. It was 110% worth the lineup, the gelato was delicious and it was so pretty!
We caught the tram from St Stephen’s and rode to the other side of the river and up to Fisherman’s Bastion.
Overlooking the Danube from Castle Hill with incredible architecture like so many of the buildings in Budapest, Fisherman’s Bastion is truly breathtaking and a must-see.
With some time to spare, we went back to the hotel to freshen up, then met the rest of the group for a Hungarian cooking demonstration and dinner at Anker’t- which has unfortunately closed down since then.
We learned how to make goulash and got to try káposztás rétes(cabbage strudel) and kókuszgolyó(coconut balls) for dessert.
After dinner, we had some drinks and walked over to Budapest’s most famous ruin bar, Szimpla Kert. If you only have time for one ruin bar, Szimpla is the one I would suggest checking out!
Ruin bars are exactly what they sound like – bars built in the ruins of abandoned buildings. Szimpla has countless different themed rooms and is so big that they actually give out maps. It’s full of cool stuff everywhere you look and even had live music in one of the rooms.
Day 3
After an early breakfast at the hotel, it was time to hop on our Contiki coach and say goodbye to this incredible Hungarian city!
