Budapest + Hungary in 5 Days on a Budget
Five days: the Danube Bend, Eger, Balaton, and Gödöllő
Five days extends the 4-day plan with Gödöllő Palace, Empress Elisabeth’s former summer residence and the shortest ride on this entire list. Same spine as the shorter versions, one more day trip on top, and it stacks further into the 6-day and 7-day plans, or drops back to 4 , 3 , or 2 days if five is more than you need.
Book these before you go
- Check Budapest hotel rates on Booking.com for a 5-night stay before rates climb.
- Book a Danube Bend day tour if you want Visegrád and Esztergom folded into the Szentendre day.
- Book a guided Eger wine tour if you’d rather not plan cellar-hopping around a train timetable.
| Day | Focus | Distance/train time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Land, check in, walk the free Pest and Buda sights | - | Hotel from ~15,000 HUF/night plus a 500 HUF transit ticket |
| Day 2 | Szentendre and the Danube Bend | ~40 min, HÉV line H5 | ~800 HUF each way combined fare |
| Day 3 | Eger wine country | ~1h50-2h20, direct MÁV train | ~2,290-2,900 HUF each way |
| Day 4 | Lake Balaton (Siófok, June-August only) | ~1.5h, MÁV from Déli | ~2,000-3,000 HUF each way |
| Day 5 | Gödöllő Palace | ~30-45 min, train or HÉV H8 | a small regional fare, confirm at the station |
Day 1: land, settle in, keep it cheap
Fly into Ferenc Liszt International (BUD) and take the 100E Airport Express bus to Deák Ferenc tér, 2,500 HUF one-way, 1,000 HUF with a valid transit pass. Skip the arrivals-hall taxi touts; a Főtaxi booth fare runs 10,000-13,000 HUF, versus reported “hyena” cab fares five to ten times higher for the same ride. A hotel near Keleti serves this trip well, since it’s the departure point for three of your five days. Walk the free sights this afternoon, the Fisherman’s Bastion’s lower terraces and the walk-up path from Clark Ádám tér to Buda Castle both cost nothing, saving the funicular’s 5,000 HUF fare. The full Budapest guide and the 2-day Budapest itinerary cover the city sights in depth. Decline dynamic currency conversion at any card terminal and pay in HUF.
Day 2: Szentendre and the Danube Bend
HÉV line H5 leaves Batthyány tér roughly every 20 minutes for the 40-minute ride. A BKK single ticket (500 HUF) covers you only as far as Békásmegyer; the onward leg needs a separate fare, commonly cited around 300 HUF (confirm the current breakdown on bkk.hu ), for a combined one-way cost near 800 HUF. Szentendre’s Old Town fills three to four hours; book a Danube Bend day tour (see the booking box above) instead if you want Visegrád and Esztergom in the same day.
Day 3: Eger’s wine cellars
Eger sits about 130km northeast, roughly 2 hours by direct MÁV train from Keleti, second-class fare around 2,290-2,900 HUF each way. The Valley of the Beautiful Women pours Egri Bikavér, Bull’s Blood, by the glass, with a hilltop castle selling its own separate ticket. Consider a guided Eger wine tour (see the booking box above) if you’d rather not plan the tasting around a return train.
Day 4: Lake Balaton, summer only
Siófok sits about 1.5 hours from Budapest-Déli, second-class fare 2,000-3,000 HUF each way plus a 490 HUF seat reservation on InterCity services. The lake is swimmable June through August and quiet the rest of the year, so this day only earns its place on the itinerary inside that window; first trains run around 6-6:30am with the last ones back until roughly 10pm.
Day 5: Gödöllő Palace, the cheapest half-day on the list
Gödöllő was Empress Elisabeth’s favorite residence, still known locally by her nickname Sisi, and it’s a 30-45 minute ride from Keleti by regional train or by HÉV line H8 from Örs vezér tere, the M2 red line’s terminus. The palace park is free to walk daily; the 31-room interior exhibition sells its own ticket, worth confirming at kiralyikastely.hu since the price moves with the exhibition calendar. In by late morning, out by early afternoon, back in Budapest for a late lunch: it’s the day to schedule when you don’t want a long transit haul eating into your last full day.
Why put Gödöllő on day five instead of day two?
Gödöllő’s short ride works as a lighter close to the week, after the longer Eger and Balaton legs, rather than as an opener; saving it for last means your final full day doesn’t need an early alarm or a long train ride either direction.
Do all five day trips need separate train tickets?
Yes. None of these routes share a combined pass, so each day trip is booked and paid for on its own, whether that’s the Szentendre HÉV extension fare, the Eger or Balaton MÁV ticket, or the Gödöllő regional fare. Budget each one separately rather than assuming a single Budapest travel pass covers any of them.
Keep your printed or app-based ticket for each day trip until you’re well clear of the platform; spot checks happen on regional and HÉV lines just as often as inside the city.