The Budapest Card is currently priced around 22 Euros for one day, 33 for two days, and 44 for three days. So basically, each incremental day costs an additional 11 Euro, which we will use as a measurement of the card’s worth. Is the Budapest Card worth it? In my opinion, it’s a big NO! Many bloggers advertise the use of this card, but many of them got the card for free in exchange for their articles. To make the card worth it, you would need to visit many museums and ride the metro multiple times per day in a very walkable city.
Advertising for this card is fierce, I was offered the card when I booked my shuttle, and I saw multiple sales points online, at the airport, and around the city.
Note: At the time of my visit, there were 325 Hungarian Forints per Euro.
Let’s breakdown the inclusions of the pass and why the Budapest Card is not worth it…
Free Transportation Pass
Single metro tickets cost only 350 Forints, or just over a Euro each. On two of my three days in Budapest, I didn’t even ride the metro, and the third day, I only rode it three times, so the free transportation pass would be of very little value. Or if you know you will be riding the metro multiple times in a day but not riding on other days, you can buy an unlimited single day pass for the metro.
In my opinion, if you stay in the center of the city, and there are many hostels and hotels in central Pest, you can walk nearly everywhere, thus saving money from not buying the Budapest Card.
Insider tip: if using the single metro tickets, make sure you properly validate your ticket before getting on the metro by stamping the ticket in the metal yellow box validation machine, and don’t lose it! I did get my ticket checked once and there are fines assessed on the spot if you don’t have a valid ticket. I met one traveler who had been charged a huge penalty for not properly validating her ticket.
Free Entries
The card includes free entry into a number of museums. If you are really into museums, the card might be worth it. The most prominent museums included are the Hungarian National Gallery and National Museum. One advantage is with the card you can skip the cues, and on a Sunday afternoon visit, the line at the National Gallery was quite long. I find it much more interesting to walk around town and visit churches (mostly free, or by donation) and viewpoints rather than museums.
Baths
There is only free entry to one of the lesser known baths with the Budapest Card. But most tourists want to visit one of the two most popular baths – either Széchenyi or Gellert Bath. Entry to these thermal baths is certainly not cheap. Entry to Széchenyi Bath was 5600 (17.23 Euro), the Budapest Card pass only gives you a 20% discount, or 3.45 Euro discount. The Bath is a little far out of town so it’s worth taking the metro both ways (super easy by the way… the metro stop is just outside the bath entrance). So, if your plan is to go to this bath for most of the day and take the metro both ways, the Budapest Card will only save you around 6 Euros (not worth the 11 Euro incremental cost of an extra day with this card).
Tours
The Budapest Card includes several free tours, but if you’ve traveled eastern Europe lately, you will know that most cities have excellent free walking tours available (guides work by tips only).
Other Budapest Activities that are worth it
I spent very little on activities in Budapest, my itinerary was:
Day 1 – Walk all around the Pest side of the river, visited the synagogue, churches, ruin bars, and did one of the free walking tours. Then we walked to the Parliament building and saw the Shoes on the Danube sculptures. You can search for the Budapest Ronald Reagan statue nearby. At night we had a Hungarian dinner on the main pedestrian street and visited a couple ruin bars.
Day 2 – Walk all around the Buda side of the river. We started at the cave church and hiked up to the Citadel for nice views. We crossed the park to visit the Buda Palace complex and then the Fisherman’s Bastion. There were great views from all of these spots. At sunset, we returned to the Pest side of the river to see the sunset behind the Buda skyline. Then we did my favorite activity – a nighttime boat ride on the Danube. At pier 10 is the discount trip – only 2500 Forints, about $7 Euro for an hour boat ride to see all the buildings and bridges lighted. The line seemed long, but they used two boats for the
Day 3 – First we visited the Central Market for breakfast. I found the prepared Hungarian food was quite expensive here – for tourists only. But the fruits, meats, etc on the first floor are quite reasonable. Next headed to the Cathedral and paid to visit the tower. Went to the Széchenyi bath for most of the day, and then caught a bus to Bratislava.
Total spent for all of this was a fraction of the cost of a 3-Day Budapest Card.
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Check this other post for more things to do in Budapest. Or, see if you’d like to take a tour in Budapest.
Check Rates and Availability of Central Budapest Accommodation.
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1 comments
Thank you for your honest review. I found the breakdown of prices and seeing what you did instead very helpful. I’m going to Budapest next week and will be referring to this article again for sure!