Budapest in 5 Days Plus Day Trips
Five days is the same Danube Bend, Eger and Vienna spine as the 4-day plan, plus Bratislava, a country most visitors skip in favor of Vienna alone. That’s a mistake: it’s faster to reach and cheaper on the day. Shorter trip? See the 4-day version . Got a sixth day? The 6-day plan adds Lake Balaton in summer.
Book these before you go
- Budapest hotel near Keleti or the M2 red metro line: check rates on Booking.com
- Vienna Railjet ticket, book days ahead for the cheap fare tier: check fares on oebb.at
- Prefer a guided Eger wine day: Eger wine day tour
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. Settle in near Keleti station or anywhere on the M2 red line, since Keleti is also where both this week’s international trains depart. Hungary uses the forint, not the euro, so decline any card terminal’s offer to charge you in euros.
Day 2: The Danube Bend, Szentendre
Take the HEV suburban line H5 from Batthyany ter, every 15-20 minutes, for the roughly 40 minute ride to Szentendre. A standard BKK ticket plus a small supplement covers it, around 700-800 HUF one way. Walk the Baroque old town and see the Skanzen open-air museum if time allows.
Day 3: Eger’s wine cellars
A direct MAV train from Keleti covers the roughly 132km to Eger in about 1 hour 50 minutes, close to hourly, for a fare around 3,000-4,000 HUF. Pick two or three cellars in the “Valley of the Beautiful Women” rather than rushing five, and give the hilltop castle an hour if wine isn’t the whole point.
Day 4: Vienna, a whole other country
Railjet and EuroCity services from Keleti run 12-16 times a day, covering the roughly 2 hour 16 minute to 2 hour 37 minute ride. Book a few days ahead and fares start around EUR 12-19; walk up on the day and the same seat runs EUR 32 or more. Vienna’s old center is walkable straight from the Hauptbahnhof.
Day 5: Bratislava, faster and cheaper than Vienna
The fastest OBB and RegioJet services cover Bratislava in about 1 hour 54 minutes, roughly 12 trains a day, with advance fares from around EUR 12 climbing past EUR 40 on the day. Slovakia’s old town clusters tightly around the castle hill, walkable in an afternoon, a genuinely different capital rather than a lesser version of Vienna. Head back to Budapest for a final night before departure.
Is Bratislava worth adding if you’re already doing Vienna?
Yes. Most Budapest visitors treat Vienna as the one international day trip and stop there, but Bratislava is faster to reach, cheaper on the day, and a different country and language, not a footnote to Vienna. Doing both on the same trip, on separate days as this plan does, costs you two travel days, not one confused one.
How many of the 6 day trips should a 5 day visit actually attempt?
Four is the practical ceiling here: Szentendre, Eger, Vienna and Bratislava. Cramming in a fifth means either dropping your last full evening in Budapest itself or starting every single day before 7am. Lake Balaton and Godollo are better saved for a 6 or 7 day version of this same trip.
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 |
Slovakia uses the euro, unlike Hungary, so you’re juggling two currencies across these two international days. Spend down your forint before the Bratislava leg rather than after.