Central Europe
Grand boulevards, thermal baths, and ruin bars till dawn.
Hungary is Central Europe with a swagger all its own — a language like no other, a taste for paprika and pálinka, and a capital that ranks among the most beautiful in the world. Budapest is the whole reason most people come, a grand imperial city split by the Danube with hot springs bubbling up beneath it, but the wine country and the great plain reward a longer stay. Affordable, atmospheric, and built for a long weekend of baths, bars and Belle Époque grandeur.
What things cost: Hungary is mid-range and one of the best-value city breaks in Europe — a soak in a grand thermal bath, a bowl of goulash and a glass of Tokaji all cost a fraction of Western prices. Budapest's tourist strip is dearer than the rest; a couple of streets back, it's cheap. When a zone below says 'low', that means low for Hungary.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
A weekend in September, every year
The country's winemakers pour their best up in the grounds of Buda Castle, with the whole city spread out below — Tokaji, Bull's Blood and more, plus food and music over a long September weekend. The prettiest wine tasting there is.
Budapest · Buda Castle
The markets at Vörösmarty Square and St Stephen's Basilica are among the loveliest in Europe — mulled wine, chimney cake, folk crafts and a light show projected onto the basilica. Follow it with a steaming outdoor bath in the cold.
Budapest · Vörösmarty Square & St Stephen's Basilica
Hungary's biggest arts festival — a fortnight of classical music, opera, dance and theatre across the grandest venues in the city, from the Opera House to the Palace of Arts. A cultured, elegant reason to visit in spring.
Budapest · Citywide
One of Europe's biggest music festivals — a week-long 'island of freedom' on Óbuda Island in the Danube, with hundreds of acts across dozens of stages and a global crowd camping on site. Book everything; the whole city fills up.
Budapest · Óbuda Island
