Budapest in 2 Days Plus Day Trips
Two days buys one full day in Budapest itself and one full day out of it, on the Danube Bend. Szentendre is a 40 minute HEV train ride, no rental car, no coach tour required. Got a third day? The 3-day version adds Eger’s wine cellars on top of this same plan.
Book these before you go
- Budapest hotel near Keleti or the M2 red metro line: check rates on Booking.com
- Prefer a guided version of day 2: Danube Bend day tour covers Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom in one coach trip
- BudapestGO app or a BKK ticket machine for the HEV supplement: fares and passes
Day 1: Land, settle into Budapest
Bus 100E runs from the airport straight to Deak Ferenc ter for 2,500 HUF, roughly 30-45 minutes depending on traffic; a Fotaxi booth at arrivals dispatches a fixed fare of 10,000-13,000 HUF if you’d rather not deal with the bus. Skip anyone offering a ride before you’ve reached either option, unlicensed touts working the arrivals hall routinely charge multiples of the real fare. Settle in near Keleti station or anywhere on the M2 red line, since that line also reaches Batthyany ter, tomorrow’s departure point. Hungary uses the forint, not the euro, so decline any card terminal’s offer to charge you in euros instead, the conversion is always worse than letting your own bank do it.
Day 2: The Danube Bend, Szentendre
Take the HEV suburban line H5 from Batthyany ter, departures every 15-20 minutes, for the roughly 40 minute ride to Szentendre. A standard BKK ticket plus a small supplement covers it, all in around 700-800 HUF one way. Szentendre is a Baroque riverside town settled by Serbian merchant families, walkable in a few hours: the old town streets, the Skanzen open-air museum of relocated rural buildings if you have time for it, and a riverside lunch before the train back. You’ll be back in Budapest with the evening still free for the city sights this short trip didn’t have room for.
Is one extra day trip worth it on a 2 day visit?
Yes, specifically because Szentendre costs so little time. Forty minutes each way plus a few hours in town is a half-day commitment, not a full one, and it still leaves you a full day and two evenings inside Budapest itself. Longer trips like Eger or Vienna need more runway than two days gives you.
Do you need to book the HEV train in advance?
No. The H5 runs every 15-20 minutes with no reservation system, buy the ticket and supplement at Batthyany ter or on the BudapestGO app right before you board. The only thing worth booking ahead on this particular 2 day plan is the hotel itself, especially in summer.
The 6 real day trips from Budapest, for reference
| Day trip | One-way time | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Danube Bend (Szentendre) | ~40 min, HEV from Batthyany ter | ~700-800 HUF |
| Eger | ~1h50min, MAV from Keleti | 3,000-4,000 HUF |
| Vienna, Austria | ~2h16-2h37min, Railjet from Keleti | EUR 12-19 advance, EUR 32+ walk-up |
| Bratislava, Slovakia | ~1h54min, train from Keleti | EUR 12 advance, EUR 40+ walk-up |
| Lake Balaton (summer only) | ~1.5-2h, train from Budapest-Deli | 1,900-3,000 HUF |
| Godollo Palace | ~30-45 min, train or HEV from Keleti/Ors vezer tere | standard suburban fare |
Validate the HEV ticket the moment you board. Inspectors work the suburban lines as often as the metro, and a Szentendre day trip is a strange place to pick up a 25,000 HUF fine.