Budapest Card
With the Budapest Card, you will have access to numerous benefits, such as free travel on public transport, tours, offers and interesting discounts.
In the background, Buda Castle and Margaret Bridge. | ©Amir H. Bakhtiari
With the Budapest Card, you can enjoy incredible benefits on your trip, ranging from discounts on the attractions preferred by travelers, to free travel on public transport and discounts on gastronomy and the most beautiful spas in the city.
You can buy a card for one, two, three, four or five days, and with the card will provide you with a guide, which includes all the information you need about the services included in the Budapest Card.
Budapest Card
Get benefits on every one of your Budapest attraction ticket purchases.
The Budapest Card is perfect for accessing Budapest's tourist attractions, with the best prices and with the possibility of having the itinerary that best matches your travel plan.
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During the days you have the card (can be from one to five), you will have the possibility of unlimited free use of public transport in Budapest. It is ideal to avoid the feeling that you should only move around the downtown area of a city: you can go wherever you prefer.
Neither the distance nor your pockets will tie you to a single area, or to a single type of attractions to see in Budapest.
After traveling, arriving and transferring from the airport to the city of Budapest, you will be able to do everything you have 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 organize a set of experiences that go with your favorite activities, saving money on each of them.
How much does the Budapest Card cost
The price of the Budapest Card will depend on the number of days you hire. The prices according to the number of days are:
- One day, 22€.
- Two days, 34€.
- Three days, 43€.
- Four days, 53€.
- Five days, 62€.
As you will see, the more days you book, the lower the cost of the card, so the greater the savings, if you take advantage of the available excursions.
The reservation of the card has free cancellation, and will be confirmed immediately after you buy it. With it, you will have access to 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 its duration, which can be one, two, three, four or five days. Once in the city, you must go to pick up your card at one of the collection points distributed throughout the city. This card you pick up is what you will show at the transportation or attractions you wish to visit. To know where you want to start, I recommend you to read the article with things to see and do in Budapest.
Then, you will have to activate it. The duration of the card begins to be counted from that first activation, so it will end to be useful in the same schedule in which it has begun to be.
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 pick up the Budapest Card?
The Budapest Card must be picked up at the Hotel Gozsdu Court Budapest. The address you should go to is 1075 Budapest Király utca 13. 1st floor.
You can go there every day between 8 am and 6 pm.
Another valid option is to pick it up at the Ibis Styles Airport Hotel, which is a five-minute walk from the Budapest airport. This option is valid daily and around the clock.
Finally, terminal 2, Budapest Nemzetközi Repülőtér, is also available at Budapest Hrsz. 072 3, 1185.
What is included in the Budapest Card
The Budapest Card includes a physical card, that you will be able to present in transports as well as in excursions and guided visits. With this card, you will have the possibility to make unlimited use of public transport, the days you have chosen to hire. The transports included are the streetcar, buses, the funicular to climb the Buda Hill, the subway and suburban trains.
In addition, the Budapest Card includes two guided walking tours, discounts in more than 80 selected tourist providers, and tickets for the most popular attractions of the Hungarian city.
Places to visit
- Hungarian National Gallery: : The permanent exhibitions of this gallery cover a large number 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, dedicated mainly to modern art. Its exhibitions are temporary, so what you will see when you arrive depends on when you get 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 do those mentioned above. However, they do offer discounts and benefits, so you should not miss them during your trip to Hungary. Some examples of this are the Fisherman's Bastion, or the Holocaust Museum. In these cases, what you will get is a discount of up to 50%.
These are not the only cases: the same happens with the Budapest Opera House and the Gödöllo Palace. Just in case, check the information before making your own personalized itinerary.
Other attractions included in the Budapest Card
And keep counting! There are many options within the Budapest Card so you can visit what you want, 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 meals, also, do not hesitate to consult this article with the best gastronomic tours of Budapest.
In addition, it is not a minor thing: the Budapest Card includes the entrance and the use of the Lukács Spa, one of the historical spas of Budapest. 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 you find most attractive. There is everything!
What is not included in the Budapest Card
The Budapest Card does not include in its price neither the tips, nor the delivery in the hotel.
In addition, some tourist attractions are not included either as a discount or free. Before traveling, find out about it and, if there is one that you especially want, add it to your plans as an extra pleasure.
Is it worth buying the Budapest Card?
In my opinion, yes, absolutely. Keep in mind that the prices are not impossible, and that, just by doing a couple of free tours, you will already be taking advantage of the card.
Of course, if you ask me, I would hire the 3, 4 or 5 days. 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 of 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 know the city in detail.
When to buy the Budapest Card
If you have planned your trip, with date and everything, I recommend you to buy the Budapest Card before planning your itinerary. This way, you can take into account the attractions included and make economic calculations based on this and the free transportation. Also, as I have already told you, the purchase of the Budapest Card includes the option of free cancellation, so if you have to change something, you will not have any inconvenience.
Probably, there are 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, I leave you the best cruises on the Danube so you can choose the one that best suits you... and do the math.
Tips to get the most out of your Budapest Card
If you want to get the most out of your Budapest Card, my main recommendation is that you have a planned itinerary before the trip. I do recommend that you be flexible in doing so, since, if you do not know Budapest yet, it may happen that, once there, you decide that there are some attractions you want to visit that you had not contemplated in the original planning. For example, some of the best tours of the Jewish quarter of Budapest.
The Budapest Card tourist pass includes free transportation, discounts on gastronomy, two guided walking tours and tickets 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 learn more about the elements included in this card and take it as the main criterion to build your itinerary.
Of course: you probably want to do some extra tour, which the card does not include, such as traveling from Budapest to Bratislava or visit the best Ruin Bars in Budapest. In that case, it would be better to have an itinerary based on the Budapest Card and with extras, than not having the Budapest Card and having to pay the entrance fees for everything you visit, right?