A little shocked at attraction prices in Budapest

Sorry I took the numbers out of memory, here are the exact numbers, was off on the church which is lower and off on the hospital which is higher

Church & Tower is 6200HUF = $19 x 20 = $38
Parliament 13000 HUF = $39 x 2 = $78
Hospital 11650 HUF = $35 x 2 = $70
Touring the opera house for an hour for 2 people $64

Gives me sticker shock, similar attractions in other central european countries are 1/3 this at the most, was not expecting it

The Parliament was selling out so quick that locals couldnt see their own parliament, so the government doubled the cost for non EEA citizens. Still sells out in a week after tickets go on sale. So apparently its worth the cost.

Hospital in the Rock and the Basilica ... dont know. But they do sell out. Sorry but my perspective is that things are worth the maximum that enough people will spend to sell out.

It is expensive and thats too bad, but expecting 1/3 those costs is pretty unrealistic too.

Wait till you see the museum costs in Vienna and compare our opera tickets against those in Vienna.

The good news is our hotels, food and public transportation are among the most reasonable in the EU and a glass of excellent wine at dinner is about $5, house wine $3. Beer, about $3 for 500mL locals. Of you aren't experiencing that, you are in District V.

I removed my post where I picked up the incorrect tickets from the websites. The church itself is about 7 USD, you are paying a premium for the tower. I wouldn't pay for the tower when you can get a spectacular view from Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda Hill. I recall paying about 25USD for Parlament, about 12 years ago. It doesn't feel like a lot to me.

You are correct, Poland is quite a value. The sites are much cheaper than most other sites in Europe. I was just in London where many of the museums are free, but I thought the churches were expensive (but well worth it) The hotels in London were quite expensive, more than anywhere else I've been in Europe, other than Amsterdam, perhaps.

Makes sense in regard to demand, and I agree Hungarians should get access to their Parliament, for me it's interesting architecture and art, for them it's their history. Budapest sure looks amazing. We will have to pick and choose wisely to stay within a budget. Thanks for your insight.

When I was in Budapest, quite a few years ago, we just walked into the Opera House where they were selling tickets. The lobby was gorgeous and that is as far in as went. Often, In other cities (Vienna, Barcelona, etc.) I've found it more cost effective to purchase a ticket for a concert/event than to buy a tour ticket.

I' d be interested in what people think of Hospital in the Rock. We didn't do it.

I found Budapest magnificent.

The prices are disappointing compared to 20+ years ago when the Opera tour and the prison tour 😳 were free: "hey, you Amerikan, you want see, follow me..."

But so much of the charm, beauty, interest is just the streets that plenty on a budget. So, you are coming to the party tomorrow night, right? B.

And do a real market hall tomorrow morning .. free!

What you are experiencing is why I tell people head East. Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro. Go before they end up like Croatia.

Just back from Poland and Budapest. Poland was very good value in every way but Budapest is too. We had great accomodation near everything and it's very walkable. As a senior I was fortunate to have free public transport. Some of the great sights will cost you nothing- riverside walks, wandering around Buda. I admit I am a 'just being there' kind of tourist, so didn't go into St S or parliament but admired from outside. My favourite tourist thing is looking at public memorials and there are plenty of these. I did go to an art gallery which had great Picassos, which I'd never get in NZ! Local cuisine is cheap and fabulous (like Poland) so money wise it'll possibly even up. Vienna is much more expensive for everything, and you have to share everything with lots of tour groups. (Like waiting about 20 min for a tour group to stop monopolising The Kiss-their guide was VERY verbose.)

@Jennie, some tour guides are very rude/entitled. At a certain point, I just cut through the group and have no qualms about blocking a view to the group that has been monopolizing.

When we were in Lisbon, a group from a Viking cruise stood at the front of the church in front of the altar talking for at least 20 minutes. My husband told the Viking rep that happened to be there that the local guide reflected badly on Viking.

I toured the Parliament Bldg in 2018, and while I can't remember the ticket price, I thought it was fairly expensive at the time, but they were nowhere near what you are reporting. The prices mentioned here are fairly termed "shocking", not so sure I would do more than one site at those prices...

I toured the Hospital in the Rock several years ago and it remains one of the most fascinating things I've seen, anywhere--I can't recall the cost, but it did not seem expensive...even if it sems so, it's really quite interesting and worth it. I did Parliament on my first visit to Budapest in 2014 and it was necessary to buy a ticket in advance as it's long been a popular attraction and it was an interesting tour, as was the Opera house...attending an opera there was an even better experience, and the cost is a fraction of what I'd pay in the US for an excellent seat. 6 visits and I have yet to tour St Stephens. What's great about Budapest is just being out and about and it's a wonderful city for walking, and eating...lots to see that is free.

Our last visit to Budapest was 2014. We did visit the Hospital in the Rock and it was very interesting and We were amazed at how deep into the rock it went. I don’t remember how much we paid.

But, I will say that we were just in Istanbul this past week and we were also shocked at how expensive the museums cost. The sites in NYC are even more expensive. The Empire State Bulding costs $55 to go up. We remember when it was free. The HOHO bus cost a whopping $65.

I think cities, states, etc. are getting smart and raising the prices to offset the overcrowding. But, enough people are willing to pay the high prices. Also, it may deter some people from visiting thus cutting down on visitors.

Barbara, of course, supply and demand. Not that I am crazy about it. But the only ones in this destination that get hit hard are the tour book toting box checkers. Beyond that this is a facinating and inexpensive city. All you gotta do is look for the broader experience. But this is true no matter where you go.

Mike, not that it helps you any, but as part of explanation, the Opera tour is substantially less expensive in Hungarian. Again, a way to make money off tourists (I approve) and use that to supplement the locals (I also approve). Actually, this one is pretty clever. The EU will not let any country charge other EU members more than their own citizens. That’s why the Parliament ticket is the same cost for Hungarian and for all EAA members. Most tourists here are EEA so to reduce numbers any you really got to eliminate everyone else. As a result, the cost of an American is twice as much. At the opera, they did the discount for all EEA members that want the tour in Hungarian. LOL. They beat the system.

Some things are cheaper though. An evening at the opera in Paris and Vienna generally runs from $90 to $255 a ticket. The opera in Budapest (in a nicer house LOL) generally runs from about $35 to about $156. Although I will say that the Polish National Opera is less expensive

Yes, some of the attractions have local and foreign pricing, but the majority don't that I see in Budapest and they are still pretty steep. I was just looking at the Jewish Grand Synagogue, it's a very nice building, very grand would be nice to tour and marvel at, but $80 USD for two? Call me cheap, no way in the world. I've been to a handful of major Synagogues in the EU over the last couple of decades mostly free, some a nominal charge if they have a "Jewish life" museum in them which many of them that charge do like this one, but $80 USD? Wow. God bless em if they are filling their coffers with lots of demand, maybe if you've never been to a Synagogue or been through a Jewish life museum, but a skip for me.

Maybe the tide is turning. No longer the fringe post commie country, but on par with anything in the west.

That means time to look for the few remaining deals and undiscovered wonders in Europe before they are all gone. Poland, maybe but no city that can rival Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Paris. For that all I can think of is Lviv and Kyiv ... but both in smaller doses. A tier down, Bucharest and Sofia. Both great but white you can spend a week in Vienna, Budapest, Paris. Bucharest and Sofia command less time and dont havr tge endless great architecture.

Its a new era.

This is an interesting conversation for me. I hadn’t thought in terms of Budapest attractions as being expensive. I understand what you are saying, but my inner accounting system prioritizes differently, I guess.

For example a lot of museums in London are free but hotels are through the roof (for me). I usually travel solo so my entrance fees are half of a couple, but my lodging is twice as expensive since it’s only me - and a room at over $100/night makes me shudder. So I tend to look for the cheapest airfare and (in Budapest) a reasonable apartment, which means I don’t even think about what an entrance costs. For relatively less expensive locations, Poland (as you experienced), Romania, the Baltics, Bosnia, and Montenegro are countries to check out.

I don’t think Vienna is going to be better in price, although Slovakia probably will be. If it were me, I’d look for an apartment over a hotel and you’d probably save most of the $300 for the mentioned entrances (and skip St. Stephen’s tower climb - as (edit) jules m said, Fisherman’s Bastion has better views).

There’s plenty in Budapest to explore without any of the 3 originally mentioned, though.

Yes, I have Slovakia all planned out and prices were more in line with Poland. Hungary seems more in line with Switzerland pricing, at least for the subject of attractions, and as you said it will even out with food and lodging. It's been before covid since I was in the Czech Republic, it seemed at the time more inline with expected central Europe pricing and even cheaper outside of Prague, however as I haven't been there for awhile it could be different now. Everything has gotten more expense everywhere it seems. When planning our Poland trip there were plenty of comments I saw from others saying how expensive Poland had gotten to them, but I had nothing to compare their current prices having never been there before. But I found prices very affordable in Poland, our 6.5 hour guided "study tour" of Auschwitz was only $40 USD each. The synagogue in Budapest charging that just for any entry fee just seems a bit out of the comfort zone.

... with expected central Europe pricing and even cheaper outside of Prague

The Central Europe thing is really a confusing mess. Every definition of Central Europe that I have ever seen includes Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. Beyond that there is no consistency. I took you to mean the old communist bloc states (The Western European defined "Eastern Europe") otherwise I would argue that Hungary is less expensive than half of Central Europe.

You also reminded me of something that I harp on from time to time and have now fallen victim to myself. That being the views of a local can often be skewed. Well, I am not local, but my extended holiday has caused me to have to question my own context from time to time. The cost of living here is substantilally less than much of Central and Western Europe but cost of living isnt necessarily the same as the cost of tourism.

Touring the opera house for an hour for 2 people $64

I skipped the tour and bought a ticket to the opera for around $70. That was much more enjoyable, in my opinion. Of course, that would be double the price for two, but I got a pretty decent seat in the orchestra section, so the cost was higher. I thought it was an excellent value and the production was outstanding.

And I agree with TexasTravelMom about the context. My hotel was only $108 per night, which included a huge breakfast and was quite large. I was very impressed and the location was great. So I think it all works out in the end. 😊

Okay, Mike, so you inspired me. I love my spreadsheets, so I built one for Vienna, Prague and Budapest (Central Europe). A 5-day visit (counting the arrival and departure days like the tour folks do LOL).

Two scenarios each. One a 3-Star Budget visit and the other a 4-Star visit with pretty much the best and ideal in everything. For the hotels in each city, I tried to follow the same logic for location, and I picked the first or second least expensive that met the criteria. For the activities I tried to match the same sort of things like river cruises in both Prague and Budapest and for Vienna we went to Bratislava instead. They all had opera tours for the 3-star and opera performances for the 4-star group. I picked a few of the other top ten things to fill in the days and priced each from their website. What I did not adjust was the cost of food. For Budapest I looked up menus to come up with the cost. I picked cheaper places for the 3-Star and some very nice places for the 4-Star. For Vienna I looked at the UK Post Office 2025 City Cost Barometer which indicated that Vienna was over 80% more expensive. Well, I couldn’t believe that so I used 50% more expensive. The UK Post Office numbers for Prague and Budapest were almost identical so I just kept the Budapest numbers for Prague.

Most, but not all, of the differences are in the cost of the hotels. The comparisons were as much apples to apples as I could do, but you can probably stay in Vienna for the same cost as in Budapest. The difference will be that in Budapest your hotel will be in the center of the historic zone, while in Vienna to get the same hotel price you will have to take the metro back and forth.

5 Days Including Arrival and Departure. One or two paid top ten activities each day. If anyone is interested you are welcome to the spreadsheet.

3-Star
Prague: $1288
Vienna: $1558
Budapest: $968

4-Star
Prague: $2244
Vienna: $2813
Budapest: $2147

At the 4-Star level Budapest and Prague are pretty much the same. At 3-Star, Budapest is a bit less expensive. Vienna, well, Vienna is a beautiful city.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/dam6/jcr:97b50114-ee4d-46e6-ae16-4bcd98304004/city-cost-barometer-2025.pdf

@ MR E
Interesting work. I hope I'm not giving you a part time job in all this. Lol

@ Mardee
Yes, I think the smart money is going to a performance rather than paying for an entry to the Opera.

Mike, Its one of the problems with retirement.

As for the opera performance or the tour, thats a big "depender". They both have merit. The opera preformance doesnt tell you the history and it doesnt get you into a few of the places the tour does and you dont get to stand on the stage and look out into the house ... and see a lot of the mechanical workings. Prices for perfromances range from about $50 for a "good" balcony ticket to $150 for a box (but you have to buy all four seats in the box). The seats on the floor range from $90 to $150. The tour is $32 and you can wear shorts and flip flops. The opera tour in Vienna is about the same cost and its about $25 in Prague.

But most important is 9 - 0 !!!!!

When we visited Budapest in Aug this year we did the Opera tour and then attended an opera a few days later. For us it was worthwhile to do both, as the tour provided us interesting background on the opera building: it's decor and history. (We found our tour of the Hungarian Opera House more enjoyable than the tour we took of the Vienna Opera House the following week.) https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-hungary-aug-2025