This post has been updated on January 18th, 2021
If you think that Europe is finishing with the most known Capitals cities, you are wrong. Those are the top 10 things to do in Budapest in Winter. The best activity to do in the Hungarian Capital in the coldest months. Budapest is one of the most romantic places in the World.
Really suggestive is our list of the most instagrammable spots in Budapest. Spend one day in Budapest is not enough at all. To live a full experience you have to spend at least two days in Budapest or even three.
Take an amazingly tasty breakfast in Budapest for a cheap price. Relax in one of the best Spas, Budapest Thermal Baths are the best in Europe.
Fancy dinner at a posh restaurant with a view from the top of Budapest. Pop in Budapest in Christmas and visit one of the best Christmas Market in Europe.
BEST THINGS TO DO IN BUDAPEST IN WINTER
Budapest will become soon one of the prettiest location to visit, worth to visit like Rome or Brussels. it is suitable for any kind of tourism.
If you are a backpacker you will fly to Budapest for cheap. A cosy accommodation will be for less than 20 euro a night, or stay in a hostel for 15 euro for night or less.
If you are looking for a relaxing vacation abroad, Budapest has hundreds of Spa and thermal baths ready for you.
How to enjoy the best of the coldest months with a list of top 10 things to do in Budapest in winter. The Hungarian Capital is without any doubt one of my favourite city of this year.
In 2018 we have been in 13 countries, even while we both had a full-time career in London. Budapest has taken a piece of my heart (Toti said).
In our opinion, it is one of the Most Romantic Places in the World. Truely more magic than Paris or Vienna. It has a shadow surrounding makes everything romantic.
It is a Capital city, and as you know there are so many things to do in Budapest in Winter.
This is just a list of top 10 things to do in Budapest in Winter. In this post, you will find some of the best Budapest winter pictures, suggestions for your next breakfast in the local coffee houses, eat the famous and typical Chimney cake.
WHAT TO DO IN BUDAPEST IN WINTER
We have tried to summarise all the best about Budapest. How to visit the Central Market Hall, or go up to the hill and visit the Buda Castle and enjoy at the best Budapest winter.
- Breakfast with a view
- Budapest Thermal Baths
- Szechenyi baths Winter
- Shopping in the city centre
- Visit the Fisherman’s Bastion
- Pub Crawl visiting the famous Ruin Pubs
- Budapest Hannukah
- Hungarian Wine Tasting
- Skating in the City Park
- Christmas Markets
The best Breakfast Budapest
In the list of the best things to do in Budapest, there is a nice breakfast in a local confectionery. As you know Budapest is plenty of fancy places where eat.
If you will get the best breakfast with a view of Budapest, you need to go to the Icon Restaurant. As you can understand it’s not just for a fancy breakfast, but you can also have dinner or lunch.
The view from the top of the restaurant is amazing. You will see the Hungarian Parliament in front of you. The landscape is awesome on the daylight and at night, where it becomes magic and breathtaking.
The crown of the fanciest breakfast in the city, according to locals is at the New York Palace, in the centre of Budapest. The New York Palace is in the Jewish Quarter, the interiors are old style with great attention to the details.
Budapest Thermal Baths – Romantic Budapest
Budapest is becoming one of the best fancies destinations for relaxing vacation and water therapy. The Budapest Thermal Baths are not just to relax and take off the tension from your muscle, but it also becoming a nice destination for who needs Spa treatments.
According to a recent census, it is estimated there are approximately 1000 natural spring water sources in Hungary.
Most of the SPA in Budapest are century old and are built on a natural spring water source. There are many kinds of baths in all Budapest, with different kinds of treatments.
The most important baths on a natural spring water source are the Turkish bath, Kiraly Bath and Ruda Bath.
Szechenyi baths winter – Things to do in Budapest
The Szechenyi Bath is the most instragrammable Spa in Budapest. Popular are the photos of this incredible complex of outdoor pools and relaxing treatments.
Szechenyi baths winter is the best option if you are heading to Budapest. The facilities are open every day, with special parties at night. Check all the events hosted. (Official website)
The price for the Szechenyi baths starts from 20 euro, you can add a lot of features like the fast track entrance. If you don’t have towels, the swimwear doesn’t worry, you can hire or buy the necessary clothes at the local shop. For more information about the best Spa in Budapest, follow our guide.
Be aware, some pools need the swimming cap, without you will see yourself denied to use that pool, you can buy it at the entrance. Check all the price on the official website.
Winter parties at the Szechenyi Baths of Budapest
If you are heading to Budapest in December, we will suggest you don’t miss the amazing Budapest parties. There is the best New Year’s Eve Budapest Parties ant the Szechenyi Baths on December 30.
There is party indoor and outdoor. If you don’t feel to be involved in a SPA new year party, take a break for a day and at night go for riverboat parties on the Danube.
Shopping in the city centre
The city shopping centre is amazing, full of well-known brands from all over the World. Like any Capital in the World. Budapest collects the best of the fashion, food and technology in the city shopping centre. Walking around the main way, looking at the shop windows will be one of the top things to do in Budapest in Winter.
The main fashion street, with the best trendy brands is on Deak Ferenc U. Here you will also find on this street coffee shops like Starbucks and the great Hard Rock Cafè.
Budapest is an affordable city, ideal for who is looking to travel on a budget.
Even if Hungary is not jet in the Euro monetary system, some shop accepts Euro. Some restaurants and bar, will allow you to pay with the European currency. But when you are paying in Euro, be away about the exchange rate.
Visit the Fisherman’s Bastion
The Fisherman’s Bastion is the monumental building on the top of the hill of Buda. The south part of the city. It is amazing on the daylight and incredible at night. This place needs to be on the top of your list if you are visiting Budapest in winter.
Fisherman’s Bastion is one of the top Budapest attractions, a breathtaking ticket to heaven. It is a fortification around the city of Buda. The castle was built in the 19th century and served as a lookout tower. The fortress is becoming one of the top photo spots in Budapest.
The panoramic view on the Parliament, especially at night give to this fortress the crown of one of the best instagrammable spot in Europe. Check our list of the best photo locations in Budapest.
Pub crawl visiting the famous Ruin Pubs
Ok, for sure you don’t know what is a ruin pub. Well, we didn’t know as well before head to Budapest. The Ruin Pubs are the local icons of Budapest.
They are really proud of this kind of bars, even if the history of how those are been built is not the best.
The ruin pubs are occupied buildings, those have the main character to be a really artistic and recycling place.
Well, explaining better, those pubs have been built with old sofas and chairs, furniture in disuse and renowned.
Some of the Ruin pubs don’t have stylistic sense, it has made with furniture of different places.
So, why visit Ruin Pubs is a great Budapest experience?
First of all, you will be catapulted in a different word, sometimes garden, sometimes a grandmother living room. The Ruin Pubs are also the cheapest solution for your travel. Take a local craft beer, that will cost you even less than a euro.
Some Ruin Pubs has inside a local market, where you can find a farmer selling their own products for a ridiculous price. Visit a Ruin Pub will also contribute to saving the environment, reducing the impact.
Budapest Hannukah – Things to do in Budapest
Budapest Hannukkah is one the best winter event in the Hungarian Capital. It is a celebration of the Jewish community, really large in Budapest.
The Jewish quarter in Budapest is special during this period, which has no set date and could come anytime between November and December.
The Hannukkah is organized in the Districts 6 and 7 of Budapest.
There are a lot of tours around the Jewish Quarter in Budapest, some are free and really worth to do. The Jewish community remember very well the Holocaust period, they lose hundreds of thousands during the black period of Europe.
The memory is still vivid and strong in the mind of the people and on the walls of the Jewish Quarter.
Eight days of celebration during the Hannukkah will be lighting up Budapest with concerts, theatre performances and live show, which is the best way to welcome travellers.
Hungarian Wine Tasting – Top 10 things to do in Budapest
We will bet not many people know Hungary is a really good producer of tasty wine. It is true, the wine tasting tours is an upcoming market for Hungary because not everyone knows they are an excellent producer of wine.
All around Budapest is full of the grape tree. In the river city, are growing the places offering a wine tasting and a tour of the wine cellars. You will also find a lot of day tours outside of Budapest, showing you where are growing the grape tree and can take you to an amazing experience discovering the Hungarian wine.
Stroll around the city centre looking for the dozen of wine bars, taking the best of your time in Budapest in the winter months.
Skating in the City Park of Budapest in winter
One of the best experiences in winter in Budapest is to go skating in the city park. The most known ice-rink in Budapest is at City Park, it is also one of the biggest. Skating in the City Park needs to be on the top of your list of things to do in Budapest at Christmas.
The City Park ice skating rink is popular because in 2012 was the pitch of the European Speed Skating Championship. So be ready to go fast, it is the place chosen from the best of Budapest.
The City Park is not the only in the city, more artificial skating park are in both the part of the Hungarian Capital.
In Buda, you will find an ice rink at the Christmas Market of St. Stephen’s Basilica. On the opposite side of the river, in Pest, there is the Obuda Christmas Market, in the homonym district.
Christmas Markets – December in Budapest
The best period of the year for visit Budapest is without any doubt Christmas.
The Hungarian Capital is plenty of Christmas Market, selling all kind of locals products, from handmade goods to craft beers and wine.
One of the top things to try at a Christmas Market in Budapest is absolutely the mulled wine and the roasted chestnuts. Those are the typical Christmas products.
As we said before there are a lot of Christmas Markets from November to January. It has become one of the biggest concentration of Christmas markets in Europe.
The Verosmarty Square Christmas Market, in the Buda part, is one of the oldest in the city. The market is close to the local Hard Rock Cafè and has won many winter travel top list in Europe.
The newest city Christmas market is also in the Buda part. Down of the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, in the homonyms square.
So as you can read, visit a Christmas Market is one of the best things to do in Budapest in December.
Why not visit all of them, there is a lot of the Budapest Christmas market tour, with also a focus on the local wine for a perfect tour of the city in the Xmas period.
Plan your Budapest 4 days itinerary
We will conclude like this our personal guide about the 10 top things to do in Budapest in Winter. We suggest you wear warm clothes.
Budapest could be really cold in winter, the temperature is going easily below the zero, and relaxes in a Spa all day is not the best way to enjoy all the amazing sightseeing of Budapest.
Budapest in January is really cold, the same for February.
The weather in December in Budapest is cold as well, but if you are lucky you can get some sunshine days, enjoying a walk on the riverside or a wine tasting on a boat on the Danube.
- 766Shares
The thermal baths sound like a great reward after a day of sightseeing. The pub crawl sounds like a lot of fun.
I know. The best thing to do, Bath in the afternoon and then the pub crawl in the evening. So you can enjoy an amazing night but relaxed.
The Szechny baths look wonderful! About how much time would recommend spending at one of the baths?
Well, once you pay the entrance you can stay as much as you want. Me, for example, I would stay all day!!
But I would say about 3 – 4 hours. I think it is the best solution so later you can enjoy the best of Budapest.
That’s a lot of fun activities! I’ve always wanted to visit Budapest ever since we booked tickets for visitors there during my stint with SQ (Singapore Airlines). Lovely place!
Great post guys! Budapest is very close to my hometown so I’m there quite often and I’m glad that you enjoyed your stay! 🙂
I would love to visit Budapest. So many interesting sights to see. Am curious to know how expensive it is compared to the rest of Europe.
Budapest is not really expensive. We have been out for a dinner, two of us, starter, two main courses and drink, everything £25 both of us. It’s not expensive at all.