From the Danube Bend to Lake Balaton and the Great Plain, here’s our pick of the best day trips from Budapest
After a couple of days in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, you may well want to branch out with some day trips from Budapest. Hungary’s a small country, and you can reach most of the centre and south of the country and get back in a day.
Budapest is only an hour from the gorgeous scenery of the mountains, castles and forests of the Danube Bend. It’s also within reach of a fascinating World Heritage village, what was Central Europe’s Communist Riviera, and some stunning Art Nouveau cities and towns with colourful architecture and art unique to Hungary.
In this guide to the best Budapest day trips, I’ll show you my pick of the places to visit within manageable distance of the capital. I’ll explain how to get to each of them by public transport, and suggest tours if you prefer that option. I hope you enjoy these places as much as I have.
Where To Stay In Budapest
***** – Four Seasons Gresham Palace Hotel – superb luxury option in one of the best Art Nouveau buildings in Budapest, and a two-minute walk from the Danube and Chain Bridge
***** – Hilton Budapest – fantastic location in Buda, next to the Matyas templom and Fishermen’s Bastion
**** – PEST-BUDA Design Hotel – renovated late 17th-century building in great location on Buda Castle Hill
**** – Carat Boutique Hotel – boutique 4-star in brilliant location close to Deak ter and St Stephen’s Basilica
*** – Czako Bed & Breakfast – popular B&B on Buda side of the river, between Castle Hill and Gellert Hill
Best Day Trips From Budapest
Szentendre
Gorgeous riverside town just over half an hour north of Budapest
Szentendre is one of the most popular day trips from Budapest, an easy train or bus ride 40 minutes north of the city up the Danube.
The town once had a large Serbian population, and their legacy lives on in the town’s architecture, especially its Baroque Orthodox churches. Of these, the Cathedral and Preobrazhensky church are well worth the walk beyond the main square, Fő tér.
Szentendre – its name means ‘St Andrew’ – is the most touristy of the Budapest day trip destinations. There are many art galleries in the town centre, and even more cafes and restaurants. The town is incredibly pretty, a classic Central Europaan mixture of pastel-painted houses and Baroque church towers.
Tours from Budapest: This half-day Szentendre tour also includes a visit to the Marzipan Museum there.
Getting there: The HEV H5 train from Batthyány tér takes 40 minutes.
Esztergom
The ‘Hungarian Canterbury’ – and a popular Danube cruise stop
Esztergom is one of the best border towns in Europe to visit – a great introduction to the country if you’re heading there from Slovakia, just across the Danube. It was the original capital of Hungary until Budapest assumed the role.
The domed Basilica, in an awesome site on a rock high above the Danube – is an impressive sight, and it’s worth the walk across the Maria Valeria Bridge into Slovakia for the outstanding view from there. The Slovak beer (Zlaty Bažant), at the riverside bar there is also worth the walk!
Along with Eger and Lake Balaton, Esztergom is the best candidate for an overnight stay as you branch out from Budapest. The Basilica is Hungary’s national church, a co-cathedral with St Stephen’s Cathedral in Budapest. It’s a huge Neoclassical church, built over the middle period of the 19th century, more impressive from outside than within.
Next door to the Basilica, Esztergom Castle was one of the strongest in the country, its hilltop site making it very difficult to attack. It’s now home to a branch of the Hungarian National Museum, with an emphasis on the city’s history.
I also suggest spending at least an hour exploring Vizivaros (‘water town’, the riverside district below the Basilica and Castle. It’s full of Baroque-era pastel-painted houses and churches, and the excellent Christian Museum (Kereszteny Muzeum) in the Archbishop’s Palace. Its collection of the religious art is one of the finest in Central Europe.
Tours from Budapest: This full day Danube Bend tour includes stops at Visegrad, Esztergom and Szentendre
Getting there: Trains from Budapest Nyugati station take 1 hour 5 minutes. Otherwise regular buses from Flórián tér near Árpád hid take around 1 hour 10 minutes. You may also come across river cruises to Esztergom which take 4 hours one way.
Pannonhalma Abbey
The first Benedictine abbey in Hungary, founded in 996 AD
The Benedictine Abbey at Pannonhalma has been in continuous operation since 996 AD. It’s not just the biggest and oldest monastery in Hungary, it is the site of the first school in Hungary, and where the Hungarian language was first written down. It helped spread culture and literacy through Hungarian lands, as well as the Christian faith.
The whole Abbey complex is a World Heritage Site – this includes the main Abbey church, the outer chapels, the stunning Baroque library (one of the most beautiful in Europe) and the surrounding gardens and forest.
The main church is the oldest part of the Abbey, with parts dating from around , and there have been additions over subsequent centuries. It’s dedicated to St Martin of Tours, who was born in Savaria (now Szombathely) in western Hungary, and it’s one of the finest medieval churches in Hungary, along with the Mátyás templom in Budapest.
Tours from Budapest: This Pannonhalma tour from Budapest also includes a visit to the pretty Baroque town of Győr, and the nearby Romanesque church at Lébény.
Getting there: There’s no direct transport from Budapest to Pannonhalma, but the day trip is doable. Catch the train from Budapest Kelenföld station to Győr, then transfer to bus 7030 which makes the half-hour journey up to Pannonhalma. The one-way journey should take between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes.
Eger
Beautiful wine town in the country’s northeast
Eger is one of the best places to visit in Hungary outside Budapest and one of the most underrated cities in Europe. It’s a small, quiet city with a slow pace of life, and one of the most picturesque collections of buildings in the country.
Down in the centre, head for the beautiful main square, Dobó István tér, with its cafes, ferris wheel and gorgeous Baroque Minorite Church. From there, head up the hill to Eger Castle, one of the most formidable castles in Hungary. On the way up the hill you’ll also notice Eger’s Minaret, the northernmost Ottoman minaret in Europe, a remnant of the city’s Turkish occupation.
While in the centre of town, don’t miss the Cathedral Basilica, the second largest church in Hungary, and some of the Baroque palaces, including the Archbishop’s. Music lovers should also seek out the Beatles Museum, run by two devoted local fans.
When visiting Eger, make sure you leave a couple of hours to visit the nearby Valley of the Beautiful Women, where you’ll find the city’s wineries. Eger’s most renowned wine is Egri bikaver, Bull’s Blood. You can do a cellar crawl like we’ve done a few times – the wine is superb. A tourist train – the Dottika Eger – runs from the main square to the Valley several times a day, taking just 15 minutes. Otherwise it’s over a half-hour walk there from the centre.
Tours from Budapest: This private Eger tour from Budapest includes a few hours exploring the city and visiting wineries nearby.
Getting there: Hourly trains from Budapest Keleti station take 1 hour 52 minutes to Eger. Alternatively, buses from Stadion bus station in Budapest take between 1 hour 35 and 2 hours 30 minutes to reach Eger.
Kecskemét
Quiet provincial town full of Art Nouveau treasures
Kecskemét is one for lovers of Art Nouveau. Hungary is one of the best countries in the world for Art Nouveau architecture, and it’s where you’ll find some of the best buildings by its greatest architect Ödön Lechner.
This is what inspired us to make the day trip south to Kecskemét, on the edge of Hungary’s Great Plain. The most beautiful Lechner building is the Cifrapalota (Ornamental Palace), a former apartment building decorated with majolica tile patterns. It’s like an Art Nouveau doll’s house, one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau buildings in Europe.
Lechner also designed the superb Town Hall, a couple of minutes’ walk away across the tree-filled main square-cum-park Szabadsag tér. There’s more of a historical influence with this building, which resembles an ornate chateau, and it has a wonderful Zsolnay tiled roof.
There are also some fine Baroque churches in the city centre, and two great museums – the Hungarian Photographic Museum and the Museum of Hungarian Naïve Artists. The latter in particular piqued my interest, as collections such as these are rare – the only other one I’ve seen is the Museum of Naïve Art in Zagreb, Croatia. Much of the art is inspired by country scenes, and there is, for want of a better word, an almost childlike quality to some of the paintings. A fascinating place to visit if you get the chance.
Kecskemét isn’t the most vibrant place you’ll ever visit, but it’s a very pleasant day trip from Budapest. It’s perhaps even worth an overnight stop, particularly if you’re exploring the south of the country. While you’re there, don’t miss Vincent Bar & Pastry, next to the Reformed and St Nicholas Churches on the corner of the main square. I had some of the best cakes I’ve ever had in Hungary there – and there have been many indeed!
Getting there: Trains from Nyugati station in Budapest take 1hour 20 minutes.
Prédikáló szék
Superb forest viewing point over the Danube Bend
This stunning viewpoint over the Danube is a bit of a locals’ secret, and having a friend in Budapest helped me to find this hidden gem some years ago. As it doesn’t take long to see, you could easily fit in another destination on your day trip. So I recommend a morning start for this one.
Since I visited a three-story viewing tower has been built, giving you greater elevation than I had for my image at the head of the article.
Some sites suggest climbing the mountain from Dömös, which is down at river level. The route I suggest is far easier, a winding, undulating track through the forest from Dobogókő. Once you reach the viewpoint, you can either double back or head down the mountain to Dömös. It’s a very steep descent, fine in dry weather but one I’d be wary of attempting after rain.
From Dömös, you can either catch the onward bus to Esztergom and see the town in a few hours, or take the bus back via Visegrád or Szentendre to Budapest.
Getting there: Train H5 from Batthyány tér to Pomáz, then bus 860, 862 or 863 to Dobogókő.
Visegrád
Danube village with picturesque medieval castle on a hill high above
Visegrád is an easy day trip from Budapest, which could be done on its own or in combination with Prédikáló szék (only 3-4 miles away) or Esztergom.
It’s a riverside village with a few restaurants and a great castle (Fellegvar) on the hill high above. It took me around 45 minutes on a very hot summer day to reach it. There are other trails which I didn’t explore which, according to the signs, would take around an hour to the Castle.
The Upper Castle was begun in the 1240s following the destruction of the original by Mongol invaders. It was later enlarged and became a royal residence, but it was eventually occupied by the Ottoman Turks in 1544. They held it for most of the ensuing 140 years, after which they rendered it unusable.
Lower down the hill, the Solomon Tower is all that remains of the Lower Castle, and this hosts exhibitions on 15th century King Matthias Corvinus and the history of Visegrád.
Down near river level, Kovacs-Kert Etterem is the best place to eat in Visegrád, with a good range of meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Tours From Budapest: This Danube Bend tour covers Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom in a day.
Getting there: Train from Budapest Nyugati to Nagymaros, then the hourly ferry across the river to Visegrád.
Hollókő
World Heritage village with architecture, folk culture, dances and more
Hollókő (pronounced ‘Hoe-loe-kur’) is one of a tiny number of villages in Europe to be inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It’s around 60 miles northeast of Budapest, and unless you drive there, buses are scarce, but a day trip there from the capital is feasible four days a week.
The village has been home to Palóc people for around 300 years. They live in Northern Hungary, and have their own dialect of Hungarian and unique traditional costumes.
They live in traditional half-timbered, whitewashed stone houses which have proved more durable than previous wooden buildings – much of the village was burned down in a 1909 fire. The most picturesque part of the village is Kossuth ut, which leads to the church. There’s also a small doll’s museum and a postal museum, as well as some restaurants.
It’s a very small place. The most similar that we’ve visited is the Czech World Heritage village of Holašovice, which you can see in its entirety in two hours. It doesn’t take much longer to see everything in Hollókő – perhaps three hours in all, including the short walk up to the Castle and back. So if you opt for the day trip by bus from Budapest, you’ll probably have a bit of time on your hands, which I suggest spending in Masinás Vendéglö, where they serve a memorable Palocgulyas.
Tours from Budapest: This Hollókő day tour from Budapest includes traditional folk dancing with live music.
Getting there: A direct bus leaves Stadion bus station for Hollókő Thursdays to Sundays at 8.40am. There is just one return bus, at 4.05 pm.
See Also: 15 Most Beautiful Villages In Europe
Lake Balaton
Once known as the ‘Communist Riviera’ – where Central Europe goes to the beach
Lake Balaton (pronounced Bollo-tone) is a sunny inland beach mecca for Central Europeans, yet hardly known among English-speaking travellers. |t’s a good two-hour trip to the Lake from Budapest, and worth every forint.
If travelling by train, you have the option of heading for the north or south shore of the Lake. Should you choose to head for the north shore, I recommend making a beeline for the gorgeous village of Tihany, with its hilltop abbey church overlooking the turquoise waters of the Lake, and stunning lavender fields at the height of summer.
On the southern shore, I recommend Siófok, the beach and party capital of Balaton. There are several beaches along the waterfront, and away from the shore, a gorgeous train station and a most intriguing Evangelical Church which is meant to represent an angel. My son thinks it looks like an owl, and I think he’s close – it’s either that or a marquee tent with eyes!
Tours from Budapest: This tour takes you to Balatonfüred and Tihany on the spectacular north shore of the Lake.
Getting there: Trains from Budapest leave Kelenföld ststion every two hours for Balatonfüred, where you change for the short onward bus journey to Tihany. The journey takes around 2 hours 15 minutes one way. Driving is considerably quicker – around 1 hour 30 minutes. Trains from Kelenföld to Siófok are quicker, taking just 1 hour 15 minutes.
Gödöllő
Famous palace, once the home of Queen Sisi and Emperor Franz Josef
The Royal Palace of Gödöllő (Gödöllői Királyi Kastély in Hungarian) is one of the grandest Baroque palaces in Hungary.
Originally built by Count Antal Grassalkovich, it was acquired by the Habsburg monarchy in 1867, and became one of the favoured residences of Emperor Franz Josef I and his wife Elisabeth, better known as Sisi, Queen of Hungary.
There is an exhibition devoted to Sisi, who was assassinated in 1898 in Geneva. The Palace has been restored to what it would have been like in the 1880s, when she and Franz Josef regularly resided there.
Tours from Budapest: This guided tour of Gödöllő Palace also includes coach transport from and back to Budapest.
Getting there: Metro M2 to Örs vezer tére, then HEV train H8 to Gödöllő Szabadság tér
Pécs
Great city with Roman, Ottoman and Art Nouveau treasures
Along with Eger, Pécs (pronounced ‘paych’) is perhaps the best city in Hungary to visit apart from Budapest. The southern city, over two hours from Budapest, has many layers of history to uncover, and with its large university it’s one of the culturally richest in Hungary.
Pécs began as Sopianae, the capital of the Central European province of Pannonia Valeria. One of its main sights, the 4th-century AD early Christian necropolis, dates from this time. The tombs are in an extraordinary state of preservation, and can be seen a few locations around the centre of town.
Pécs Cathedral was founded in the 10th century AD, but most of what you see today is from the 19th century. Also known as the Bazilika, its distinctive four corner spires make it one of the most recognisable landmarks in Hungary.
Pécs was occupied by the Ottoman Turks for almost 160 years, which dramatically changed the city, with its churches turned into mosques. Two mosques remain – one has been converted back into a church, and the other, Yakovali Hasan Pasa, still serves a small congregation and has a small exhibition on Ottoman Hungarian history.
The city’s more modern history is just as fascinating. Pécs was the home of Zsolnay, the ceramic company which produced the tiles that adorn so many of Hungary’s great Art Nouveau buildings. There’s a Zsolnay Museum in the city centre, and the larger Zsolnay Negyed Cultural Quarter based around the factory a mile or so outside the city centre – buses 25, 26 and 27 stop outside.
Tour from Budapest: This Pécs day tour includes several hours in the city and a visit to a nearby winery.
Getting there: Direct trains run from Budapest Keleti, Kelenföld and Déli stations to Pécs, taking between 2 hours 25 minutes and 2 hours 45 minutes. Check the Hungarian Railways website as the departure station varies throughout each day.
Szeged
Secession, spicy soup and a stunning synagogue in Hungary’s southernmost city
Szeged, where the Southern Great Plain meets the Serbian border, is another off-the-beaten-track gem that would be far better known if only we had more time. And like Pécs and Eger, branching out into provincial Hungary brings many rewards if you’re curious enough.
Szeged is full of Art Nouveau treasures, giving the nearby Serbian city of Subotica a run for being one of the best Art Nouveau cities in Europe. The finest building from this period (known as Szecesszió – Secession – in Hungary) is the Reök Palace, built by local architect Ede Magyar, one of the prime movers of Szeged Art Nouveau. He also designed several other buildings in the city during his short life, including the Unger-Mayer Palace and Reformed Palace.
The main landmark in Szeged is the vast Votive Church or Cathedral, which was built between 1913 and 1930. Its twin towers are 91 metres (300 feet) high, and dominate the city’s skyline. The interior has is decorated with some superb frescoes.
Szeged is also home to the outstanding Great Synagogue, a mixture of Art Nouveau and Moorish styles. The interior of the Synagogue is even more impressive than the outside, with some beautiful stained glass by Miksa Roth setting the atmosphere.
The city is also one of the best places to visit in the country for lovers of Hungarian food. It’s the home of paprika, the spice made from peppers (also called capsicums) that is a vital ingredient in many Hungarian dishes. The city also gave the world halászlé, an outstanding spicy fish soup which you’ll also find in Budapest.
Getting there: Trains from Budapest Nyugati station take 2 hours 26 minutes.
Best Day Trips From Budapest – Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on day trips and tours from Budapest. Hungary is a fascinating country to explore, somewhere I’ve loved since my first Inter Rail trip in 1991. Venturing beyond Budapest gives you a very different feel for the country, and these destinations are all very different.
If you’re basing yourself in Budapest, take a look at my series of articles on the Hungarian capital:
Photographing Budapest: the best places to photograph, and the best times to do so
Art Nouveau Budapest – the stunning Secessionist treasures of Hungary’s capital
Churches in Budapest – Baroque beauties and the Holy Right Hand of Hungary’s first King