How Much Does Budapest Cost per Day
A full breakdown of Budapest prices: daily budgets by tier, every itemised cost from the guide, and where the money actually goes.
The short answer
Budget travellers in Budapest spend around HUF 15,000 a day. Mid-range travel runs closer to HUF 40,000, and a splurge day lands around HUF 100,000. Per person per day in HUF, roughly EUR 41 / 110 / 274 at roughly EUR 1 = HUF 365. Treat the conversion as a snapshot; the forint moves against the euro over time.
Daily cost breakdown
- Stay
- Food
- Transport
- Activities
| Tier | Stay | Food | Transport | Activities | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | HUF 7,000 | HUF 4,500 | HUF 800 | HUF 2,700 | HUF 15,000 |
| Mid-range | HUF 22,000 | HUF 9,000 | HUF 1,500 | HUF 7,500 | HUF 40,000 |
| Splurge | HUF 65,000 | HUF 22,000 | HUF 5,000 | HUF 8,000 | HUF 100,000 |
A mid-range day: HUF 22,000 for a central hotel room split two ways or solo in budget aparthotel, HUF 1,500 in BKK travelcard use, a Szechenyi bath afternoon (exact ticket price check before you go, budget roughly HUF 8,000-12,000 for a locker-tier ticket based on comparable Budapest bath pricing), lunch at the Great Market Hall for around HUF 3,000, and a sit-down dinner with a couple of drinks for HUF 6,000-8,000. Comes to roughly HUF 38,000-42,000 before souvenirs.
Every priced item in this guide
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Buda Castle and the Castle District | free to walk the district; museums charge separately |
| St. Stephen's Basilica | a small entry donation for the church; a separate paid ticket for the dome viewing terrace |
| Great Market Hall (Nagyvasarcsarnok) | free to enter |
| Szimpla Kert and the Jewish Quarter ruin bars | free entry, pay for drinks |
| Shoes on the Danube Bank | free |
| Goulash (gulyasleves) | HUF 2,200-3,500 |
| Langos | HUF 1,200-2,000 |
| Chimney cake (kurtoskalacs) | HUF 1,500-2,500 |
| Fisherman's soup (halaszle) | HUF 2,800-4,000 |
| Somloi galuska | HUF 1,800-2,800 |
| Porkolt | HUF 2,800-4,200 |
| Great Market Hall stalls | HUF 1,000-3,000 per item |
What I actually paid
- The forint's zero count is disorienting for the first day and then you stop noticing. What does not stop being a problem is dynamic currency conversion at card terminals: always tap through to pay in HUF, never your home currency, or you are paying a worse rate for no reason.
- The baths reward slowing down more than any other part of the city. Budget a real afternoon, not an hour between two other stops, or you spend more time changing than soaking.
How to spend less
- Buy a 24-hour or 72-hour BKK travelcard instead of single tickets if you are moving around more than four or five times a day; it pays for itself fast
- Avoid the bureaux de change on Vaci utca, several are known for posting a headline buy rate that is not the rate you actually get; use a bank ATM or a card with no foreign transaction fee instead
- When a card terminal asks whether to charge you in HUF or your home currency, always choose HUF; the home-currency option (dynamic currency conversion) applies a worse exchange rate on the spot
- Eat at the Great Market Hall's upper-floor food stalls or a neighborhood etterem off the main tourist streets instead of a restaurant directly on Vaci utca or right by the Basilica