3.5 days in Budapest - itinerary

Hotel Moments: Very good location. Several RS types have stayed recently and liked it.
Callas House: A GREAT location. Never spoke to anyone who stayed there. I like the boutique concept. The restaurant below is very, very good. And again the location is wonderful.

Hotel Vision: The location is very problematic for a short stay. Getting from the hotel to most of what there is to see will be a lot harder than from the other two hotels.

“Interests - History, art, architecture, Opera and operetta, classical music, and jazz.”
Then stay at the Callas

“I am planning to buy tickets to both - the state opera and the operetta. Waiting for the season to be announced.”
Should be announced in the next 3 weeks. Also, since you like jazz, check out the Opus Jazz Club.

“We shall arrive in the afternoon and I thought we would have lunch at Dunacorso and take the Danube River Sightseeing night cruise.”
Good choice or take the dinner cruise and kill two birds with one stone.

“September 7 - 4-hour private Buda and Pest tour”
Certainly a way to do it. Nothing wrong with that at all. If anything goes wrong with your tour guide plans, do know you can do this on your own pretty easily with a guide book. The most value of a guide I think is in Buda and the Jewish Quarter. The rest ………..ehhhhhh.

“September 8 - Jewish quarter private tour - 2.5 hours + Separate tour to Dohany Street Synagogue.”
If there is a longer tour, do it. I like the guides and the tours done by the Synagogue if you haven’t booked something yet.

“September 7 or 8 - Parliament Building. The pictures are beautiful but I am still debating...”
I enjoyed it. And if you combine it with a trip to the antique cellars its could be a good afternoon.

September 9 - Monday !!! with a lot of places closed...
“We thought we would tour outside of Budapest, visiting Vysehrad (but the castle will be closed...), Esztergom (Basilica will be open), Szentedre, and Dobogoko.”
Szentendre is my favorite day trip. Trying to do all three bend towns is a 12 hour plus day.

September 10 - am flight home.

Dining or lunch - New York cafe, seems like a very beautiful tourist trap. Is it worth it?
Other places I noted but am open to suggestions - are Rezkakas Bistro, Stand25, and Kiraly.

Okay, now my idea LOL

Friday, September 6
Arrive.
Drinks on the Corso and dinner on the river.

Saturday, September 7
Morning, 3 Hour private tour of Buda (end tour at Stand25 for lunch)
Afternoon: Tram 2 from Market Hall to the Parliament with stops for antique shops in basements.
Dinner at Callas so you are close to the Opera
Opera
With luck the veranda of the W Hotel will be open late. Camp there till bed time.

Sunday, September 8
Morning, 3 Hour private tour of Pest --- except Andrassy ut.
Afternoon, Andrassy ut on your own. This is your down day. Maybe a museum, maybe a side trip for some great architecture. Maybe shopping Vaci utca. Maybe brunch at a 100 year old café …. This is a city that begs to be just walked.
Dinner Rezkakas Bistro
Wine Bar after

Monday, September 9
Jewish Budapest in the Morning
Make it a wandering afternoon. Ideas will come up, promise.
Early Dinner along Andrassy ut someplace so you are close to the Operett (Maybe N28)
Operett
A different Wine Bar after

Tuesday, September 10
Wake early and reschedule flight for Friday.

Ah, great! Thank you!
I just hope that Opera and Operetta will have performances on our dates.
I will need to see if I can find private guides for separate tours of Buda and Pest. Sure enough, we can use a book...
I had a feeling that we needed to drop our outside trip.
You did not say anything about New York cafe...

And one more question- we are coffee maniacs. Any places can you recommend?

When you know where you are staying I can give you some coffee shops nearby.
NY Cafe, sure, its a bit out of the way, but if it interests you then the day you do andrassy ut I can show you how to reach it fairly quickly.

Best Guide Book Eyewitness Top 10 Budapest

Callas House it is. I already canceled other bookings.

BTW - I love your idea to reschedule the flight!!!
Unfortunately operetta and opera won’t have any performances on Mondays.

Budapest Jazz Club is open on Monday
https://www.bjc.hu/programok/osszes-program/

Sunday, September 8
Morning, 3 Hour private tour of Pest --- except Andrassy ut.
Afternoon, Andrassy ut on your own. This is your down day. Maybe a museum, maybe a side trip for some great architecture. Maybe shopping Vaci utca. Maybe brunch at a 100 year old café …. This is a city that begs to be just walked.
Early Dinner along Andrassy ut someplace so you are close to the Operett (Maybe N28)
Operett
Wine Bar after

Monday, September 9
Jewish Budapest in the Morning
Make it a wandering afternoon. Ideas will come up, promise.
Dinner Rezkakas Bistro
Jazz Club After

Sounds like a plan! Thank you!!!

write me when it gets closer to the date and i will let you know if anything interesting is going on in town.,
And for the Opera tickets, write me before you buy. I might have an idea.

Wonderful! I certainly will.
Thank you!

Last spring we spent 3 nights in Budapest and stayed at Hotel Moments. It was a perfect combination of location, ambiance and price! Using our Rick Steves guidebook, we spent 2 full days exploring this captivating city on our own and seeing may of the sites that interest you. Budapest was great and even exceeded our expectations!

Thank you so much!

I would go inside St. Stephen's Basilica, Matthias Church and the Museum of Fine Arts and walk around the Vajdahunyad castle and the Parliament Building. Going inside the Parliament is also worth it. Also take one of the Danube cruises, the one RS recommends was good.

If you like taking pictures, this is the best spot for the Parliament:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9Uch5TvbWUkZj9NPA?g_st=ic

Thank you so much, Marco!