Things to do in Budapest

Small group and tailor made holidays are at the opposite end of the overtourism scale to mass tourism. When done well, they benefit the city rather than crush it. A pick ‘n’ mix of activities and day trips give you more chances to explore at your own speed, and you’ll have the guidance of experts who know exactly when and where to go – and when and where to avoid.

You’ll also be put up in small hotels that the big coach trips can’t reach: family-run B&Bs that give you the chance to swap buffet dinners for Art Nouveau markets and riverside picnics. Budapest is so cheap that it’s totally affordable to stay right in the centre, where rooms retain details like high ceilings, fancy fireplaces and courtyard gardens.

The rule of thumb for many big European cities is creeping into Budapest. The first signs of overtourism are there: Airbnbs elbowing out residential housing in the city centre; coach crowds rolling in with military precision; cruise boat congestion on the Danube. But mass tourism is nothing if not a creature of habit, so with a bit of forethought – or insider’s insight from an expert holiday company – you can avoid the crowds.

Coach trips will drive right up Castle Hill; instead, walk up to take in (empty) views over Parliament all the way. You can also choose your timing – say, night-time, when violinists lay out a hopeful hat in empty alcoves and the city twinkles below. Szechenyi Baths is a favourite with Instagrammers, so go to the equally elegant Gellert Baths instead. It’s what the city folk do. The early morning or late evening is a better time to see the psychedelically painted St Matthias’ Church, too – it’s a cacophony of sound from late morning to mid-afternoon.

Emma Nelson, from our small group adventure specialists Tucan Travel, says: “The most popular bath, Szechenyi, was all tourists the last time I went. And then I went to Gellert, and it’s also a hotel, and it was a lot quieter. But it’s completely seasonal. I think in the middle of winter, all the spas would probably be full of locals. It’s a Catch 22, isn’t it, because the most beautiful things are always going to be the most popular.”

The high season (July to August) isn’t always the best time to see Budapest, anyway. Go in April, when the trees billow with pink blossom – a counterpart for the empty grey-stone ramparts of Castle Hill. Or in October, when the Buda Hills put on their coppery autumn coat.

Congestion isn’t just caused by coaches – boats on the Danube line up in their dozens to see the Hungarian Parliament and Fisherman’s Bastion light up at night. Wise timing is everything. Many holiday specialists know this and swap an evening cruise spent dodging other vessels with a Champagne ferry ride to Margaret Island at golden hour. The open-air public ferries are even more fun, nipping between Buda, Hungarian Parliament and the bottom of Castle Hill. Spring, autumn and winter (outside Christmas market season) see clearer waters too. Alternatively, put two fingers up at the crowded Danube and roll along the Danube Cycle Path on a bike.

Budapest makes it easy for you to travel responsibly by handing you a top-notch public transport system on a well-oiled silver platter. The best tour operators approach or escape the city by boat, bike or train. Cycle beneath the green iron girders of Liberty Bridge, jump on a clementine tram to Castle Hill, or take a train to the Danube villages alongside nagymamas balancing bags full of peppers and braided loaves.

It doesn’t hurt that the main train stations are practically palaces. Trains zip into Budapest Keleti from Vienna, Berlin, Prague and Zurich, much as they did when this 19th-century extravaganza of half-moon windows and archways was first built. Budapest Nyugati was built by the same Gustav Eiffel Company that dreamt up the Statue of Liberty and Louvre Pyramids. Many of the train holidays to Hungary will start or finish in these stations. Tailor made trips will arrange travel from your home city, so if you live in Europe you won’t have to get on a plane at all.

Central Market Hall is one of those markets that has changed but not cracked under the gaze of tourists. That’s probably because locals use this grand food hall year-round, with office workers picking up a slice of seven-layer Dobos torte and everyone from family matriarchs to restaurant chefs filling their shopping bags with lavender honey, earth-caked potatoes and paprika-cured salami. The hodgepodge of tourist shops mostly sticks to the gallery floor, and you get to duck through alleyways of lace to get to them.

Hungarian bars are pretty good at supporting their own wine industry. A great tour guide will point you towards places with wine lists that look beyond classic Tokajis and Bull’s Bloods to the fruity Juhfarks (‘sheep’s tail’, after the shape of the vines) and Fekete Jardovany (a rare, smoky red).

There are few things more shameful than Hungary’s hand in the Holocaust. Over 200,000 Jews lived in Budapest before World War II, before Hungary sided with Nazi Germany. Homes and businesses owned by Jews were confiscated and curfews were enforced by the Hungarian police. When the Nazis arranged a coup in 1944, they swapped the government for one more to its liking. Over 70,000 interned Jews were sent on a mid-winter ‘Death March’ to Austrian camps; around 20,000 more were shot and pushed into the Danube River.

It’s a deeply dark part of Budapest’s history that many tourists don’t think about beyond popping by the poignant Shoes on the Danube sculpture. Get yourself on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter that describes the ghetto before and after World War II. Go to the Dohany Street Synagogue – the biggest synagogue outside New York City – which was only spared because the Nazis used it as a radio tower. These are things that absolutely need to be understood with a guide. You’ll also learn about the people behind the numbers and the diplomats who arranged false documentation to help tens of thousands of people escape.