Budapest is full of attractions and can be visited in a thousand ways.
In addition to its century-old cafés where you can enjoy the capital's best pastries in an untouched setting, or even its baths - some 120 thermal springs make Budapest one of the leading seaside destinations in Europe - here are ten suggested activities to discover the city in winter as in summer.
The Balloonfly: take to the skies!
From the city park, Városliget, red and white stripes color the Budapest sky.
IOAN FLORIN CNEJEVICI / Florin - stock.adobe.com
Since May 1, 2022, a funny ride has taken place in the city park, the Városliget.
Red and white stripes color the sky of Budapest: the enormous Balloonfly, which can accommodate up to 30 people, can be seen from all four corners of the city.
The hot air balloon rises and falls every fifteen minutes 150 meters above the city over which it offers a 360-degree panorama.
Despite its appearance as a great novelty, this small hot air balloon piloted and attached to the top of a hill is in fact inspired by the tethered balloon which was already attached there during the Hungarian millennium celebrations in 1896. Nostalgic fans take note!
Price: 8,500 HUF for adults (approx. 22€) and 5,000 HUF (approx. 12€) for children.
The Museum of Fine Arts and
the Műcsarnok
The Műcsarnok, literally the “hall of art”, was inaugurated in 1896. Andrei - stock.adobe.com
The Museum of Fine Arts and the Műcsarnok, literally the “hall of art”, face each other on Heroes’ Square.
The first was inaugurated in 1906 by Emperor Franz Joseph I, the second during the Millennium Festivities of 1896. Behind an architecture combining neo-Renaissance and neoclassicism, the MBA is made up of six departments, from Antiquity to the 20th century. century.
El Greco and Tintoretto rub shoulders with Cézanne and Delacroix.
On the other side of the square, the Műcsarnok brings contemporary art to life.
Managed by artists on the model of the German
Kunsthalle
, without a permanent collection, the space welcomes young artists of international stature.
Permanent exhibition price: 4,800 HUF (approx. €12.50), half price for those under 26 and over 62. Free for children under 6 and over 70.
The oldest ice rink in Europe
Still on Heroes' Square, on the outskirts of Városliget, a little gem, symbol of winter sports, nestles on the edge of a lake.
Inaugurated on January 29, 1870 by Rudolf of Austria, the Városliget ice rink, the
Műjégpálya
, is the oldest ice rink in Europe.
Installed from November to February, under the open sky, in the city park, it is bordered by a superb neo-baroque pavilion built in 1895, at the foot of Vajdahunyad Castle.
With its 15,000m2 of artificial ice, it remains the largest ice rink on the continent.
The skaters enjoy it with a small glass of mulled wine in hand, offered in the wooden chalets along the track.
Price: 4,000 HUF (approx. 10 €), free for children under 6 years old, family ticket for children under 14 years old from 6,500 HUF (approx. 16 €) Ice skate rental: 3,000 HUF ( approx.7.5€)
Shopping on Vaci utca
The pedestrian street of Váci utca, one of the most famous in Budapest.
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In the heart of the city, in the very chic 5th district, the pedestrian street of Váci utca is perhaps, after Andrássy út, the most famous in Budapest.
Linking Fővám tér and its superb Secession building housing the Central Halls to Vörösmarty Square and its famous Gerbeaud patisserie, it has established itself as the unmissable shopping alley.
It was here that the city wall stood in the Middle Ages: Váci Street led to one of its gates.
Today, it is almost exclusively made up of shops, hotels, cafes, restaurants and shopping centers.
Take a look as you pass by the oldest building on the street, built in 1805, at number 13, and its splendid carved wooden facade.
An evening at the opera
The Budapest National Opera was renovated between 2017 and 2022. Comofoto - stock.adobe.com
On the prestigious Andrássy út Avenue, the Champs-Élysées of Budapest, the National Opera does not go unnoticed: designed by Miklós Ybl, the most popular Hungarian architect of the late 19th century, the opulent neo-Renaissance building was inaugurated in 1884. It recently had a facelift: closed since 2017, its doors reopened in March 2022. Its 1,261-seat auditorium, decorated with more than seven kilos of gold, takes third place for best acoustics in Europe, after La Scala and the Opéra Garnier.
The building also houses the Hungarian National Ballet.
Every winter, Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker
returns to the program, the opportunity to rediscover this Christmas show.
60-minute guided tour in English and French, every day at 1:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Price: 7,000 HUF (approx. 17€).
The castle and its labyrinth
You must dress warmly under the castle, the temperature does not exceed 12 degrees.
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On the Buda side, facing the legendary Chain Bridge, it overlooks the city: Buda Castle, Budavár, is one of the best-known images of Budapest.
Neoclassical in style, it houses the Széchenyi Library, the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.
Few know it, but the castle is built on a labyrinth: in turn prison, bunker, military hospital and even wine cellar, it is now open to visitors.
From 6 p.m., the latter is done in the dark, oil lamp in hand.
Price: Adults: 3,000 HUF (€7.30), students, teachers and retirees: 2,000 HUF (€4.80), children under 12: 600 HUF (€1.50). Family ticket (2 adults and 2 children under 12): 5,000 HUF (€12.10).
Take the funicular to Normafa
The impressive view of Budapest from the chairlift.
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Since 1970, the “Zugligeti Libegő” has been transporting hikers to the heights of János Hill.
The 1,040 meter journey takes approximately 12 minutes.
On the 2,600 meter long cable, 102 two-seater seats transport passengers over 262 meters of altitude difference.
The terminus is a rest area with very popular terraces for a mulled wine in winter or a lemonade in summer.
This is the starting point for Normafa, a vast green and wooded space, with breathtaking panoramas of the city, notably that known as “Erzsébet-kilátó”.
Seven tracks were opened at the beginning of the 20th century, today only the smallest is passable, during the coldest winters.
Adults: HUF 2,000 round trip (€4.90), child: HUF 1,000 (€2.45). Family ticket (2 adults and 2 children under 12): 5,000 HUF (€12.10).
Temples and synagogues
Saint Stephen's Basilica preserves the most important Hungarian relic: the mummified hand of the country's first king... Thomas Launois - stock.adobe.com
A land of passage and cultural mixing, Hungary can pride itself on having some of the most important religious buildings on the continent and notably, in Budapest, the largest synagogue in Europe, second largest in the world after that of New York. .
Built in a Moorish style inspired by the Alhambra, it stands in the center of the Jewish quarter, dotted with other synagogues open to visitors.
Just a little further away, St. Stephen's Basilica in Pest is the second largest in the country after that of Esztergom.
It preserves the most important Hungarian relic, the supposed mummified right hand of the first Hungarian king, Stephen I.
Great Synagogue of Budapest, price: Adult 9,000 HUF (approx. €25), children under 16: 3,300 HUF (approx. €9). Saint-Etienne Basilica, price: 2000 HUF (approx. 6€).
A gourmet break at Fővám tér
The Central Market Hall of Budapest, whose architecture is metallic, was built in 1896 to celebrate Hungary's millennium.
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Behind beautiful Viennese Secession architecture, under an imposing glass roof supported by iron architecture installed by the Eiffel workshops in 1896, the central halls of Budapest offer, on the second floor, everything you need for an exotic lunch break.
Goulash, chicken with paprika and stuffed cabbage are on the menu.
Hungarian wines and palinka - a Hungarian brandy, often with plum - accompany them.
Also try
langos
, a savory donut dough, fried in oil and covered with
tejföl
, a sour cream and/or grated cheese.
For dessert, you will still be spoiled for choice between the spit cake called
kürtőskalács
, the
somlói
galuska
, a creation from Maison Gerbeaud, the
rétes
, the Hungarian strudel, or even the pancakes of which the Hungarians are very fond.
The Szent Gellért Citadel
The Statue of Liberty erected in 1947 at the top of the citadel.
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The Szent Gellért Citadel, the first Hungarian bishop who lent his name to the hill on which it was erected in 1849, is much more than a military fortress: it is a green space where to relax, have a drink while enjoying from one of the best views of Budapest, day and night.
Dominated by the Statue of Liberty erected in 1947 in memory of the Liberation of Budapest by Soviet troops, it also houses a troglodyte church inspired by the site of Lourdes.
The invigorating twenty-minute climb is sheltered by century-old trees and punctuated by viewpoints over the Danube and the city's bridges.