Budapest

About

Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is Hungary's primate city with 1.7 million inhabitants and its greater metro area has a population of about 3.3 million, representing one-third of the country's population and producing above 40% of the country's economic output. Budapest is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, among the ten largest cities in the European Union and the second largest urban area in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest stands on the River Danube and is strategically located at the center of the Pannonian Basin, lying on ancient trade routes linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain.

Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Budapest, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.

Why visit

Visit Budapest for museums, galleries, and collections, music, theater, and performance, religious and civic architecture. In Budapest, the strongest material is where museums, streets, religious buildings, markets, performance spaces, food, or nearby landscapes explain the surrounding region. A good itinerary should stay selective. The strongest plan in Budapest usually starts with one main stop and treats the surrounding streets as part of the visit. That gives Budapest room to show itself without turning the day into unrelated stops. When Budapest opens onto beaches, hills, rivers, gardens, or nearby towns, add them only when they sharpen the trip.

When to avoid

Late June through August can bring heat, crowded viewpoints, and higher hotel prices. Thermal baths and major sights are easier to understand with advance booking and a clear plan. In Budapest, build in a margin for closures and delays. In Budapest, Sundays, holidays, traffic, queues, or cross-town transfers can change the day quickly.

The next week in Budapest

7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).

Year-round climate

Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).

Airports near Budapest

2 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD) at 18 km.

Getting around Budapest

Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.

Operators and modes aggregated by from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.