Escorted Tours and City Breaks in Hungary
Hungary is a small country with an outsized capital. Budapest was two towns until 1873 — hilly Buda on the west bank, flat commercial Pest on the east — and the Danube between them still shapes how you see the place. Add thermal baths fed by natural hot springs, a parliament building modelled on Westminster, and cooking that takes paprika seriously, and a few days here goes a long way.
We travel to Hungary by air, with coach touring at the far end, so you fly out and then leave the driving and the map-reading to somebody else.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Hungary Tours
Around two and a half hours from the UK, so it is comfortably a morning or afternoon flight rather than a long day of travel. Our Budapest City Break includes return flights with hold luggage and return transfers at the destination, so a coach meets the flight and takes you to the hotel. Departure airports vary by departure, so please ask us when you enquire.
Hungary is in the European Union but has kept its own currency, the forint, and that is what you will want for coffee, cakes, market stalls and tips. Some larger hotels and shops will take euros, usually at a rate that does not favour you. Cards are widely accepted in Budapest. It is worth carrying a modest amount of cash for smaller places.
More than in a flat city, because Buda's Castle Hill is genuinely a hill and the Parliament involves stairs and a good deal of standing. Coach transport covers the distances between sights, and the pace allows time to look at things properly rather than route-marching. If you have concerns about steps, gradients or standing, tell us before you book and we will talk you through what a specific departure involves.
Budapest across the Danube
The Chain Bridge, opened in 1849, was the first permanent crossing between Buda and Pest, and walking or driving over it remains the clearest way to understand the city. On the Buda side, Castle Hill carries the Royal Palace, the Matthias Church and the Fishermen's Bastion, with the best long view back over the river. Pest is the working city: the Parliament, the grand boulevards, the coffee houses and the covered market.
The Parliament building, finished in 1902 to Imre Steindl's design, is worth the entrance ticket for the gilded main staircase and the domed hall where the Hungarian crown jewels are kept. Our Budapest City Break includes a guided city tour and entry to the Parliament, along with a dinner cruise on the Danube — the hour when the bridges and the palace are lit is the one photographers wait for.
Palaces and horsemen beyond the capital
Half an hour or so out of Budapest the country flattens into the Great Plain, and the character of the place changes completely. Our tour takes in the Royal Palace at Gödöllő, built for the Grassalkovich family in the 1740s and later the favourite Hungarian residence of Empress Elisabeth — Sisi — who preferred it to Vienna and said so.
The plain is also horse country. Hungarian herdsmen, the csikósok, developed a style of riding built on standing on the backs of two horses and driving five at once, and it survives as a display rather than a working necessity. The horse show at Lázár Equestrian Park, with lunch, is included on the Budapest City Break, and it is a genuinely good afternoon out rather than a tourist formality.
