Why go
- Capital and largest city of Hungary.
- 1 curated must-see attraction on record, including Hungarian Parliament Building.
- 1 recommended spot to eat and drink.
- Served by Hármashatárhegy Glider Field.
History
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 more than 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.
Must-see attractions
Eat & drink
Airports
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 40 airlines, 77 direct destinations
- Wizz Air W6 (A320) · 26 routes: Baku, Barcelona, Bari, Catania, Charleroi, Dortmund, Dubai, Eindhoven, Gothenborg, Hahn, Istanbul, Kiev, Larnaca, London, Madrid, Malaga, Malmoe, Malta, Milano, Moscow, Naples, Rome, Stockholm, Tel-aviv, Thessaloniki, Warsaw
- Ryanair FR (737-800) · 14 routes: Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Billund, Bristol, Charleroi, Dublin, London, Madrid, Manchester, Pisa, Rome, Tampere, Treviso
- easyJet U2 (A319, A320) · 6 routes: Berlin, Geneva, London, London, Mulhouse, Paris
- Norwegian Air Shuttle DY (737-800, 737-300) · 5 routes: Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo, Stockholm
- Jet2.com LS (737-300) · 4 routes: East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester
- Germanwings 4U (CRJ, A319, A320) · 3 routes: Cologne, Hamburg, Stuttgart
- Lufthansa Cargo LH (A319, A320, A321, 737-300, 735, A320…) · 3 routes: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich
- Belavia Belarusian Airlines B2 (735, CRJ) · 2 routes: Belgrade, Minsk 2
- Qatar Airways QR (A320, A321) · 2 routes: Doha, Zagreb
- Scandinavian Airlines System SK (A320, A321) · 2 routes: Copenhagen, Frankfurt*
- Ural Airlines U6 (A320) · 2 routes: Krasnodar, Rostov
- Aegean Airlines A3 (A320) · 1 route: Athens
- Aer Lingus EI (A320) · 1 route: Dublin
- Aeroflot Russian Airlines SU (A320) · 1 route: Moscow
- Air Baltic BT (735, Dash 8-400) · 1 route: Riga
- Air Berlin AB (A319, 737-700) · 1 route: Berlin
- Air France AF (318, A319, A320, A321) · 1 route: Paris
- Air Malta KM (A320) · 1 route: Malta
- Air Serbia JU (ATR 72) · 1 route: Belgrade
- Alitalia AZ (A319, 32S) · 1 route: Rome
- American Airlines AA (A320) · 1 route: London*
- Austrian Airlines OS (Fokker 100, Dash 8-400, F70) · 1 route: Vienna*
- British Airways BA (A320) · 1 route: London
- Brussels Airlines SN (AR1) · 1 route: Brussels
- Czech Airlines OK (ATR 72) · 1 route: Prague
- Egyptair MS (Embraer 170) · 1 route: Cairo
- El Al Israel Airlines LY (737-800) · 1 route: Tel-aviv
- Ethiopian Airlines ET (A321, A320) · 1 route: Frankfurt*
- Etihad Airways EY (A319, A320) · 1 route: Rome*
- Finnair AY (A319, A320) · 1 route: Helsinki
- Iberia Airlines IB (A320) · 1 route: London*
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL (737) · 1 route: Amsterdam
- LOT Polish Airlines LO (Embraer 170, Embraer 175) · 1 route: Warsaw
- Swiss International Air Lines LX (Fokker 100, A319, A320, AR1) · 1 route: Zurich
- TAP Portugal TP (A319, A320, A321) · 1 route: Lisbon
- Tarom RO (ATR 42, ATR 72) · 1 route: Bucharest
- Transavia France TO (737-800) · 1 route: Paris
- Transavia Holland HV (737-700, 737-800) · 1 route: Rotterdam
- Travel Service QS (ATR 72) · 1 route: Prague
- Turkish Airlines TK (A319, A320, A321, 737-800, 737-900) · 1 route: Istanbul
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Getting there by ferry
Where things are
Photographs
credit: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons · See source page
When to go
The warmer, longer-day half of the year is the safest bet for a first visit.
Cooler and quieter, with fewer visitors and better value.
Short days and the coldest weather — check local conditions before travelling.
Getting there & around
Getting there. The nearest airport on record is Hármashatárhegy Glider Field. Check rail and road links from the tourism sources below. By water: 6 ferry terminals within 20 km (nearest: Petőfi tér (Erzsébet híd), 0.3 km); routes include Soroksári rév, D14 => Csepel-Királyerdő, D14 => Soroksár, Molnár-sziget.
Getting around. Use the map above to orient yourself; nearby hotels, attractions and places to eat are listed from the live Ultimate data for Budapest. Local transit details will be added as the guide is expanded.
Local transit
Trains & rail
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.