I have 6 full days in Budapest, from Sat, May 10 through Th, May 15.
Good time of year. Good duration for the trip.
Do not forget your 15 day Budapest Card. You will benefit from having it (unless you are over 65, then everything is free).
I do want to do 2 different day trips, one to the Danube Bend area and
the other to Eger.
The “Danube Bend Area” meaning all three cities is a 12 hour forced march sort of day trip. Pick two of the three: Szentendre and either Visegrád or Esztergom. Hire a guide unless you feel really good about public transportation (busses).
Eger is not a great day trip. Spend the night, you will get a lot more out of it and enjoy it more.
My first couple of days will be the weekend and I'm just wondering if
it is better to avoid some of the sights on those days since I can go
mid-week. For example, Buda Castle seems like a good place to start
our trip to get some good history, but perhaps not on a Saturday if I
can make it another day.
Who knows. Maybe Friday and Saturday are the busiest days, unless they aren’t this week. So far this year the busiest week of tourism was the last week of February. This past weekend was dead. That makes no sense so how do you plan for it? Specifically for the Buda Castle area go in the morning. Have breakfast up there. It’s a mess with construction, so get in and see what you want and then get out. Fisherman’s bastion and the Our Lady for sure, then maybe a museum and maybe the hospital in the rock.
And yes, I realize some museums are closed Mondays
More than “some”
(or for the Synagogue Saturdays).
And short days on Friday …. But open on Monday. And if you really wanted to visit a synagogue ... then DO go on Saturday.
And at least the Széchenyi Baths are more expensive during the
weekend, so we plan to save that visit for midweek.
Sure and less crowded. Always try and do the baths in the morning.
If anyone has any insight on the "busyness" of sights during the May
weekend, that would be much appreciated. Or maybe Sunday is a good day
to take a day trip to either Eger or Danube Bend?
Other than a few choke points like the Buda Castle District, Vaci utca, the square in front of the Basilica, Great Market Hall and maybe the Dohany utca synagogue the tourism in Budapest is spread out enough where there isn’t the sort of pressure that occurs in a lot of cities. And when you do hit a choke point, do what you went there to do, then go one block right or left and you will find more amazing things to explore and very few tourists. The points inbetween are amazing here. Keep walking and keep looking up. Never gets dull.
The big-ticket items are probably best in the morning. Like the House of Terror and any of the Bath Houses. Then again even better in the morning and not on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. But “better” is just better. Its not like they are miserable at other times. This isn’t Prague or Barcelona.
