Budapest in the winter

You have to plan your travel dates for this: https://www.mohacsibusojaras.hu/

12 through 17 February in 2026.

Our interests are mostly in history museums, anything WWII related. I
know we will visit Castle in the Rock , Buda Castle, and the Terror
Museum

Its Hospital in the Rock. The Castle History Museum is very well done as is the Holocaust Museum ... but on that subject, just walking District VII opens eyes and there are a few hidden spots in the district.

You can get a ride in a soviet WWII plane, actually two. I know an interesting Cold War collectibles shop. Stalin ashtray anyone? I can point out some bullet holes in a building (maybe wwii, maybe '56). There is the hidden metro line. But thats cold war. Shoes on the Danube of course, Glass House, war vintage trains you can climb in, cold war retro Museum.

EDIT: take a look https://budacastlebudapest.com/buda-castle-ww2-tour-with-underground-cave-visit/ AND
https://www.lensofjen.org/the-must-visit-wwii-sites-of-budapest/ AND there are a number of WWII and Commie tours on GetYourGuide and VIator. Google the descriptions and try and track down the vendors websites if you can.

Thanks - Hospitals in the Rock.

We always travel during the winter and love coming across interesting processions and carnival traditions. Our stop prior to Budapest is Lucerne and our stay collides with their carnival (Fasnacht) with starts with fireworks at 5am. Regarding Busójárás, we will be there at that time (we land in Budapest in 15 February and depart the 25th from Vienna) BUT I was thinking Mohács may be too far out of the way for us just to maybe see a guy wearing a sheep. What do you think Mr. Ë?

I love the event. I might get with a few folks and charter a van. Its a 2 to 2.5 hour drive. But it is every part of a full day trip. On one of the days the rail company will do a special luxury train to the event. This year they ran the train in Shrove Sunday, so I presume the same next year. That would be 15 February so that probably wont work for you. It leaves from Kelenföld at 06:00 and returns at midnight. So its a long day. This year's train is described here: https://www.mavrailtours.hu/hu/programs/show/267 This is the Hungarian language page because the English language page isnt very complete. Click on the Fedélzeti szolgáltatások (Onboard Services) tab to see the carriages. Sort of nice. Tickets were about $60 to $90 depending on class....

Lots of choice for good food in Budapest!

Here’s a few to get you started.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/restaurants-in-budapest-revisited

For beer and sausages, definitely try Margaret’s (they have a nice beer sampler) - and maybe Bajor Sör-Ház.

For sausage you might want to check out Belvárosi Disznótoros. There are a couple of locations around town, but I like the one on Károlyi utca. Its sort of an institution and a refugee of a time past. Its a butcher shop with cooked meat that cooks and hands you a plate of grub. Very nice. Another popular sausage house is KOLBIZZ SAUSAGE & BEER HOUSE. Im not crazy about the location but the place has been getting good reviews. Finally, I bet you wont find a tourist here: Hentes falatozója / Butcher diner (and for that reason I will keep it that way and delete this is a week).

I’m thinking we will book at the Three Corners Downtown.

Its been getting a bit of interest lately. The marketing must be good. Stay and do a trip report. Not a bad looking post war building sitting in a neighborhood of pre-war buildings. In other words, nothing architecturally significant about it.

Dont expect the terrace to be open. Temperatures will be near freezing or they might be substantially higher, you never really know here. But .... what ever it is you will have a 5 to 10 minute walk to a tram or metro line. Not real ideal in that sense. In the high season its a bit of tourist mess, but in February you will have access to all those nice tourist restaurants with no crowds so thats good. And you are right around the corner from one of my favorite old world commie hangouts; Terv Bisztró which got its name from the annualy revised commie five year plan. You will like the style of food. Simple Hungarian.

I understand it will be cold, short days and possibly bad weather.

Well, there are definately better times to visit. BUT, short days means you get to enjoy the lights and they are beautiful in Budapest. Plenty of indoor activities too. This is a city that has fairly long, fairly hard winters. So they do their best to celebrate the season. Its not like an otherwise warmer climate where they just hide for the cold month. Music will be a good sure bet. Theaters and concert halls, classic and jazz and modern.

Bratislava and Vienna

Bratislava. If you have got tons of time, sure a day in Bratislava. It won’t be pleasant in February and it’s not among my favorite places in good weather.

The Archabbey at Pannonhalma. Better in my mind would be stopping at the Archabbey at Pannonhalma. Normally I say Gyor and the Archabbey, but it’s February. Gyor is a stop on the train halfway between Budapest and Vienna. You get off and take a taxi or the bus to the Archabbey. Sort of the Hungarian High Holly Site. https://youtu.be/fZagSs2gzf4?si=XfCr131hXXaWNGL9

Vienna, post on the Vienna forum. Lots of good help on the forum. I will suggest that in sheer size the sightseeing in Vienna is substantially smaller than Budapest and keep that in mind when counting nights in each. Also, I am not sure what the WWII sites are but I bet you get help on the Vienna forum.

Mr Ë - thanks for all your posts! You’re better than ChatGPT! I copied the sausage butcher diner name before you delete it!

I’d love the Cold War suggestions as well - if I had a Stalin ashtray I’d be complete.

Is there a more atmospheric, centrally located hotel you’d suggest? We prefer smaller places.

Not many people (other than my mother) suggest Bratislava - what about do you not like?

I’d love the Cold War suggestions as well - if I had a Stalin ashtray
I’d be complete.

Stalin ashtray (seriously): https://maps.app.goo.gl/puzvWDCoZfRuz9uf8 The retro museum: https://maps.app.goo.gl/E7NKAqkcXebvjNUEA Commie themed ruin pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5w6sVVMjWMVimHX78 Memento Park: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9zxMquB8Ctz561Q79 Trabant Tour: https://gotrabigobudapest.com/ (February?) Russian “Jeep” Tour: https://budtours.hu/en/ (February?) And I happen to own a cold war era bomb shelter ..... not much to see, but you are welcome to spend the night in it (no water, no drain, no heat .... just thick brick walls and steel doors).

Is there a more atmospheric, centrally located hotel you’d suggest? We
prefer smaller places.

Do keep in mind that I haven’t stayed in a hotel here for a long time. I can only speak to their reputation and location. Your first choice isn’t terrible. I just like Andrassy ut and the M1 metro line because it does such a good job of tying all the sights of the city together.

Take a look at the Callas House. Wonderful location. https://callashouse.com/

Look at the Alice Hotel. Okay, this one looks far out, but its on the historic M1 metro so its 5 minutes from the center. The M1 is the oldest underground metro on the continent of Europe. https://alicehotel.hu/hu/fooldal/

Larger, but some of the same feel as the 3 Corners is the UP Hotel. I usually love the area because it gets you out of the rush but still very convenient but it being February it looses some of its advantages: https://uphotelbudapest.com/

AND, not to be forgotten is “the other” Three Corners Hotel. The location of this one I like. https://threecorners.com/budapest/avenue-hotel/ and its in a classic building and very near a lot of the city music and theater venues.

Not many people (other than my mother) suggest Bratislava - what about
do you not like?

Bratislava old town exists for the sole purpose of entertaining tourists. It is sort of pretty. There are some interesting things there. But I had more fun with food and drink at the UFO (google).

TY!

Is there any other city between Budapest and Vienna you’d suggest? We would be traveling by train BUT if we had to make a connection by hiring a driver we would be open to that. I think getting to Mahòcs is too far and difficult to travel BUT, if I come across some train or something we will be in Hungary for the last three days of the celebration. The biggest, I think, is the last day, Shrove Tuesday.

Gyor? Eger? Sopron? Is there anywhere in southern Czech Republic? I’ve been looking at the map but nowhere jumps out!

Thanks again for all the info.

Györ is a nice town almost exactly halfway to Vienna by train. There is an interesting converted convent hotel and a cute old town that serves the local population and tourists. A short trip out of town (taxi or bus) is the Archabbey at Pannonhalma, which is a 1000 year old, still functioning monastery / school / winery. Sort of the Hungarian high holy place.

Thanks Mr Ë,

I’ve been thinking about Gyor but am doing a big rethink and thinking about going to Prague. That would mean a night train or a long day train ride. I’m pretty savvy regarding trains but have never taken a night train. Also, we have ten days in the ground - so, that’s a lot. My last trip to Prague trip we were only traveling for seven nights. And that was 4 nights in Prague, 2 in Krakow and one in Warsaw.

Worried I am covering too much ground and should keep it simple(r). BUT I do have 10 full days (I have an early morning flight from Switzerland and will have been there 4 nights).

Like I said, I have been to Prague before but that was 2009, traveling with a 10 year old. I don’t know if we really saw so much of the city. It was the one and only time I’ve been to Europe in the summer and it poured down the rain! We had a driver take us from Prague to Krakow and encountered a washed out bridge. February is tough though. Sometimes places that are considered super crazy touristy in the summer are great in February and some, even if the weather is good are closed for the season. So the long train to Prague maybe is worth it.

So - should we go to Prague?

You should go where your heart takes you. It's all good. If you spend more than 2 full days in Prague do some research, get some help to find the things that will interest you. They are there. You just might have to dig a bit especially given the time of year.

If there is a night train that would be an experience. I rode 2 in January, old Soviet ones, and would do it again for the novelty, but not the sleep. Otherwise, I would look at flights. Might be faster especially given the bad luck I've had with trains lately.

Hi Mr. Ë,

Hi - I am looking at the GERLÓCZY BOUTIQUE HOTEL - it looks central to things, any thoughts?

Following up, after Budapest we are going to take the train to Prague for three days and then on to Vienna for three days. In Prague we are looking at the Bishop House Hotel which is near the castle. I haven’t been there since 2009 and that was summer and traveling with a ten year old and that time we stayed closer to Old Town.

Hi - I am looking at the GERLÓCZY BOUTIQUE HOTEL - it looks central to
things, any thoughts?

You are trying to get me in trouble? First, no more central in terms of how long it takes to reach the top 15 sights than staying in a number of other places, more interesting places. Of course I am also being a little harsh because is not a place I could recommend in good conscience.

You said this earlier: "We will be visiting Budapest for the first time this February and would love any tips, suggestions of cozy bars, tasty food? Off the beaten path places to visit?" The Gerloczy is in District V. That end of the District has very little that is cozy, tasty, or off the beaten path. Its pretty much the most touristed zone in the city, which has always baffeled me as there are no city landmarks in the area. I think its just spill over from the river boat tourists who are there for such a short period of time that they never make it any further into Budapest.

Following up, after Budapest we are going to take the train to Prague
for three days and then on to Vienna for three days.

So you are going to take a 7 hour train ride from Budapest to Prague, then turn around and take a 4.5 hour train back towards Budapest and stop in Vienna? 11.5 to 12 hours total instead of Budapest to Vienna to Prague which would be about 7.5 hours?

In Prague we are looking at the Bishop House Hotel which is near the
castle. I haven’t been there since 2009 and that was summer and
traveling with a ten year old and that time we stayed closer to Old
Town.

I dont know your Prague hotel. I have stayed twice at the Hotel Ventana because its one of the best hotel experiences I've had in Europe. But its been a few years so not sure how it is today, but guarantee a better location and staff than Gerloczy.

Ha - thanks for your Gerlóczy feedback! Such a strong opinion!!

The plane tickets are EWE-Zürich (4 nights) and then Zurich-Budapest (10 nights) and then depart Vienna back to EWR. All direct flights.

The thought process is would we rather be in Bratislava or Gyor OR take an early train (RegioJet business class) to Prague and then on to Vienna. We have traveled a lot in the winter and I am trying to balance being in a larger city and minimizing travel time. I’m a frequent flier mile junky and got these for pretty cheap. Also, I my apartment literally overlooks Newark Airport and my flights are direct (and flatbed business class going) which makes travel a little easier.

We have traveled by train quite a bit BUT I don’t know if ever that long a train ride. Then again, we have spent nights in some weird clunker towns in the winter. One year we were supposed to take a 5+ hour train from Polignano-a-Mare to Rome but that never happened - ate those tickets. We were in Polignano-a-Mare (in February) and the weather had been nice but not much was open and we were having a great time and the weather was great but it was dead and we had seen everything (we had already spent time in Naples and Matera) so we decided we needed out and to get back to Rome and ended up getting a train to Bari and then a taxi to the airport and then a long wait to get us on a RyanAir back to Rome. We were happy we did it BUT maybe we should have planned better.

Current itinerary:
Arrive from Newark on 11 Feb
Lucerne 3 nights
Zürich 1 night

15 Feb - 7:10am flight to Budapest

19 Feb - 8:00am train to Prague (arrives 2:40ish)

22 Feb - Train to Vienna

25 Feb 10:30am flight Vienna to Newark

Maybe at that point in our trip we will need a travel day to recuperate? Also, I think I’ll make sure that the Prague hotel have a cancelation policy which allows us to pivot if we decide we can’t do the long train ride.

Always value your opinion - TY!

You are already doing a short intra-European flight and have a fast paced trip. You might be a good candidate for a second flight: Budapest to Prague. Resting might be a lot easier on your Prague hotel bed than a long train ride - and I really like trains.

I've told people a lot that among the ways to see the 3 is Prague and a flight to Budapest, then a train to Vienna. Saves a few hours. So, I agree on the flight idea. But the flight Budapest to Prague isn't every day and I think the flight hours aren't the same on every day so you have to plan it to work.

Yes, you picked a hotel that I have issues with. Such is life.

I looked. 19 Feb 5:55 pm to 7:10 pm. Starts at about $50. Im guessing $120 with a checked bag. What i would do. Ryan has a better on time record than OBB (but you will probably be on a Czech train). . If you do use the train, price out the tickets on MAV and the Czech site.

Thank you. I saw that. My feeling is that totally wastes my day. I’m not going to enjoy myself knowing I have to get the airport for an afternoon flight and then have to deal with getting from Prague airport to my hotel. In the train scenario I’m there, in Prague, by 3:00.

I haven’t yet picked any hotels in Budapest or Prague. Only my Swiss stops and in Vienna. I’m still working on this part.