Budapest Card
The Budapest Card gives you access to numerous benefits, such as free travel on public transport, tours, offers and interesting discounts.
Buda Castle and Margaret Bridge in the background | ©Amir H. Bakhtiari
With the Budapest Card, you can enjoy incredible travel benefits, ranging from discounts at the city's favourite attractions, to free travel on public transport, to discounts on food and drink and discounts at the city's most beautiful spas.
You can buy a card for one, two, three, four or five days, and with the card you will be provided with a guide, which includes all the information you need about the services included in the Budapest Card.
Budapest Card
Get benefits on every purchase of tickets to Budapest attractions.
The Budapest Card is the perfect way to access Budapest's tourist attractions, with the best prices and the possibility to choose the itinerary that best suits your travel plans.
.
During the days you have the card (from one to five), you will have unlimited free use of Budapest' s public transport. This is ideal to avoid the feeling that you should only get around the city centre: you can go wherever you want.
Neither distance nor pocketbooks will tie you to one area, or one type of attraction to see in Budapest.
After travelling, arriving and transferring from the airport to the city of Budapest, you can do everything you've always wanted to do. If you choose to buy the Budapest Card, you will feel that the city opens up especially for you to explore.
Recommended if... you want to organise a set of experiences to go with your favourite activities, saving money on each of them.
How much does the Budapest Card cost?
The price of the Budapest Card depends on the number of days you book. The prices depend on the number of days:
- One day, 22€.
- Two days, 34€.
- Three days, 43€.
- Four days, 53€.
- Five days, 62€.
As you can see, the more days you book, the lower the cost of the card, so the greater the savings, if you take advantage of the excursions available.
The card is free to cancel and will be confirmed immediately after you buy it. With it, you will be able to access the best tours and excursions in Budapest.
How the Budapest Card works
You can buy the Budapest Card online. First, you will have to select your duration, which can be one, two, three, four or five days. Once in the city, you will have to pick up your card at one of the collection points around the city. The card you pick up is what you will show on the transport or at the attractions you want to see. To find out where you want to start, I recommend you read the article with things to see and do in Budapest.
Then, you will have to activate it. The duration of the card starts to count from the first activation, that is to say, it will end at the same time it was activated.
It is activated at the first use and later on, you will do the same: you will only have to show your card when you get on a bus or when you arrive at one of the selected museums. Please note that the card can only be used once per attraction.
Where do I collect my Budapest Card?
The Budapest Card must be picked up at the Hotel Gozsdu Court Budapest. The address to go to is 1075 Budapest Király utca 13. 1st floor.
You can go there every day between 8am and 6pm.
Another option is to pick it up at the Ibis Styles Airport Hotel, which is a five-minute walk from Budapest Airport. This option is valid every day and at all hours.
Finally, there is also the Budapest Nemzetközi Repülőtér Terminal 2, Budapest Hrsz. 072 3, 1185.
What's included in the Budapest Card
The Budapest Card includes a physical card, which you can present on public transport as well as on excursions and guided tours. With this card, you will have unlimited use of public transport on the days you have chosen. This includes trams, buses, the funicular railway to Buda Hill, the metro and local trains.
In addition, the Budapest Card includes two guided walking tours, discounts at more than 80 selected tourist providers, and tickets for the most popular attractions in the Hungarian city.
Places to visit
- Hungarian National Gallery: : This gallery's permanent exhibitions cover a wide range of works, both from antiquity and more contemporary. It has Hungarian as well as international collections.
- Museum of the History of Budapest: In this museum, you can learn about the main events in the history of the city, with unique treasures and a large Gothic art collection.
- Budapest Exhibition Palace: It is a gallery of the arts, mainly dedicated to modern art. Its exhibitions are temporary, so what you will see when you arrive depends on when you are there.
- Memento Park: Ideal for fans of the history of European communism. In the park, you will see several statues and monuments that relate to this movement. Many of the original statues were destroyed with the end of communism in Hungary, so this is a memorial with the surviving statues.
Other attractions
In addition, there are some tourist attractions that do not offer free admission with your Budapest Card, as the above mentioned do. However, they do offer discounts and benefits, so you should make sure you visit them during your trip to Hungary. Examples include the Fisherman's Bastion and the Holocaust Museum. In these cases, you will get a discount of up to 50%.
These are not the only cases: the same applies to the Budapest Opera House and the Gödöllo Palace. Just in case, check the information before you plan your own personalised itinerary.
Other attractions included in the Budapest Card
And counting! There are plenty of options within the Budapest Card so you can explore as much or as little as you like, based on your tastes, time and energy.
In the case of the gastronomic offer, for example, the Budapest Card offers benefits in more than 20 establishments, including restaurants and bars, where you can take advantage of discounts ranging from 10% to 40%. If you want to enjoy the best food, don't hesitate to check out this article with the best gastronomic tours in Budapest.
Also, it's no small thing: the Budapest Card includes entry to and use of the Lukács Spa, one of Budapest's historic spas. Other spas also have discounts with the card, so, just in case, read this article with the best spas in Budapest, to choose the one that is most attractive to you, there's everything!
What's not included in the Budapest Card
The Budapest Card does not include tips and hotel delivery in its price.
In addition, some tourist attractions are not included either as a discount or free of charge. Before you travel, find out about them and, if there are any that you particularly want, add them to your plans as an extra treat.
Is the Budapest Card worth buying?
In my opinion, yes, absolutely. Keep in mind that the prices are not impossible, and that, just by taking a couple of free tours, you will already be taking advantage of the card.
However, if you ask me, I would buy the 3, 4 or 5 day card. I think it will be the best way to feel that you made a great purchase, because in that amount of days and going to all the places you will go, you will make a spectacular difference in money, which will make you feel even proud.
If you think that five days is too long, read this article to know what to see in Budapest in 5 days and get to know the city in detail.
When to buy the Budapest Card
If you have planned your trip, date and all, I recommend that you buy the Budapest Card before planning your itinerary, so that you can take into account the attractions included and calculate the cost of the free transport. This way, you'll be able to take into account the attractions included and calculate the cost of your trip based on this and the free transport. Also, as I've already told you, buying the Budapest Card includes a free cancellation option, so if you need to change anything, you won't have any inconvenience.
There are probably things you want to do that are not included. It happens to me. Specifically, whenever I travel, I'm tempted to take a cruise. I bet you do too. Here are the best Danube cruises for you to choose the one that best suits you... and do the maths.
Tips for getting the most out of your Budapest Card
If you want to get the most out of your Budapest Card, my top recommendation is to have a planned itinerary before your trip. I do recommend that you be flexible in doing so, as if you don't know Budapest yet, you may find that once you are there, you decide there are some attractions you want to visit that you hadn't originally planned for. For example, some of the best tours of Budapest's Jewish Quarter.
The Budapest Card Tourist Pass includes free transport, discounts on food, two guided walking tours and admission to museums, galleries, parks and other attractions.
You can read about the best tours in Budapest, choose them and then see if they are covered by your Budapest Card, or you can read up on what's included in the Budapest Card and take it as your main criterion when putting together your itinerary.
Of course: you probably want to do some extra tours that the card doesn't include, such as travelling from Budapest to Bratislava or visiting the best Ruin Bars in Budapest. In that case, it's better to have an itinerary based on the Budapest Card with extras than not having the Budapest Card and having to pay entrance fees for everything you visit, right?