While not the most cheapest city I’ve ever visited, Budapest was not even close to the most expensive. For a European capital, I’d call it average. Some sights were very reasonable, bordering on cheap while others made me do a double take when I saw the price. Accommodation and food were reason and that helped to make it, in my opinion, one of the more budget friendly places to visit in Europe. Not only that, Budapest has a ton to offer, so you definitely won’t get bored.
So let’s talk about my Budapest travel budget and how you can apply it your trip.
About My Trip to Budapest
I visited Budapest as part of a larger trip through Europe. Budapest was the grand finale. I started in Ljubljana, Slovenia before heading up to Vienna, Austria. After two days in Bratislava, Slovakia, I traveled to Budapest for two and a half very busy days of sightseeing.
I arrived in Budapest around 12:00 pm and immediately started sightseeing. The next two days were packed with seeing as much of Budapest and the surrounding area as I could. I spent a lot of time in Budapest but I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Szentendre and Gödölló.
About My Travel Style
Before we get started, I want to give a little insight to my travel style. I think this is important as travel styles can vary wildly and your travel style will dramatically affect your budget. My hope is that you can take my travel style as a base and adjust your budget accordingly.
I travel solo and consider myself to be a budget conscious traveler. I’m not a complete budget traveler because I will pay for some luxuries (having a private room), but I’ll make up the difference in food and transportation costs. For activities, I look for a nice balance between free and paid activities. I don’t want to skip the top sights, but I’m only going to pay for them if it’s something that truly interests me.
A Note
This article will use USD as a base. While in Budapest, you’ll pay in Forint (HUF), but I used my credit card for every purchase (though several places in Budapest will also accept Euros). So, when I went back to look at exactly how much I spent, everything was in USD. You can convert this into your local currency.
Note – At the time of my visit, $1 USD = 330 HUF (1 HUF = $0.003 USD)
How Much Did I Spend in Budapest, Hungary?
| Total Spent | Average Per Day (3 Nights) | |
| Hotel | $160.44 | $53.48 |
| Transportation | $26.76 | $8.92 |
| Food | $26.18 | $8.73 |
| Activities | $83.96 | $27.99 |
| Total | $297.34 | $99.12 |
Budapest Travel Budget Breakdown
Sure, numbers are fine, but lets breakdown each of those categories further to give a little more detail. I’ll also give some ideas for ways you can adjust the budget, either to save money or to travel more luxuriously.
Hotels
Let’s start with hotels and accommodation since that’s typically the biggest chunk of your travel budget. In Budapest, I spent about $54 per day for a private room in a hostel in a central location. I had a shared bathroom, but the room itself was decent and the location was nice. If this sounds like your type of travel, I’d recommend setting aside about $60 per day. Yes, that’s a little more than what I spent, but I always think it’s better to budget higher because you just never know what you’ll find.
Adjustments to the Budget
You can absolutely go higher than what I spent for a hotel in Budapest. While the location was great and you couldn’t ask for anything better, you could spend more to get a little more luxury. Yes, I’m considering a private bathroom luxury. For this, I’d set aside at least $75 per day, though the higher you set your Budapest travel budget, the more luxury you can afford. I’m totally fine with a basic room, but I realize that other travelers want more amenities.
On the other hand, budget travelers can go even lower and look into hostel dorm beds. A quick search on Hostelworld shows dorm beds for $15 to $20 per night which can be a great money saver.
Transportation
Transportation is where I feel I made the biggest blunder of my trip to Budapest. Yes, I only spent $9 per day, but I could have made my life easier by paying more and not trying to overthink things. Before we get into that, though, let’s talk about what my $26.76 in transportation costs got me.
First, I purchased a 10 pack of single tickets that I used to get around the city. Next, I had transportation to get to and from Szendentre and Gödölló. Both of these destinations sit outside the city limits so I needed to purchase an additional ticket on top of my single ticket to reach these places. Finally, I also paid for a bus to the airport.
On the surface, that doesn’t sound too bad. But here’s where I went wrong. I tried to game the system and think about how many journeys I needed to take and just bought transportation tickets that covered that. It turned out to be more of a hassle than anything and I should have just purchased a 24 hour ticket each day (or even a 72 hour ticket for my whole trip) and been done. It would have saved confusion, anxiety during every ticket check, and my feet.
Now, purchasing the 24 or 72 hour tickets would have cost more money, but it would have saved time and energy. I personally think that trade off is worth it, especially since I only saved a few dollars by purchasing the single tickets.
Adjustments to the Budget
As I mentioned, I recommend purchasing the 24 hour (or 72 hour) travel tickets when you’re in Budapest. This costs about $9 per day and gives you unlimited transportation across city buses, metros, and trams. You will need to buy a supplemental ticket to visit Szendentre and Gödölló, but you’re covered for everything within Budapest’s city limits with the 24 hour ticket.
Taxis also exist and can be used but the public transportation in Budapest is plentiful and once you figure out how to navigate it, it’s an easy to get around.
For more information check out my Budapest Transportation Guide.
Food
I didn’t spend a lot of money on food in Budapest. Rather than eating out for all of my meals, I utilized a lot of grocery stores. It was easy and convenient and I saved money that could be used for activities within the city, which is where I’d rather spend my money.
So for those budget travelers, I’d recommend setting aside $10 per day. This gets you sandwiches and snacks at the grocery store as well as some street food. What street food? I picked up Langos (which is a fried bread with sour cream and cheese and is delicious), a chimney cake, and some gelato.
I don’t regret this decision as I’m not a foodie traveler, but I realize that not everyone is like me. So take your own preferences into account while determining your Budapest travel budget.
Adjustments to the Budget
I don’t think you could go much lower than what I spent without going hungry. $10 per day feels like a good minimum for food while traveling in Budapest.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum, you can absolutely go higher. I think for the average traveler, I’d set aside $25 to $30 per day. This allows you to eat one meal in an average restaurant, grab a pastry in the morning, and supplement anything else with snacks from the grocery store. You can absolutely go even higher than that, but I think for the average traveler, $25-$30 per day is a great starting point.
Activities
I spent almost $84 on activities on my visit to Budapest. What did that get me?
St. Stephen’s Basilica: $6
Matthais Church: $10
Gödölló Palace: $16
House of Terror: $12 ** I skipped the audioguide
Great Synagogue: $40
Most notably, I skipped two activities. They were the Hungarian Parliament and the Széchenyi Baths. Both of these are on the higher end of the scale, coming in at nearly $40 each (though the Hungarian Parliament is much cheaper for EU residents) and that definitely had an impact. With the Hungarian Parliament, I waited too long to purchase my ticket (book more than two weeks in advance!) and for the Széchenyi Baths, I just decided that even if it’s one of the top things to do in Budapest, I didn’t necessarily feel like going by myself. So I skipped both of these and funneled my money into other activities.
These activities were spread out over three days (though technically two days because of my travel itinerary), so that helped to soften the blow. In general, I found sights to be pretty affordable, though the Great Synagogue, Hungarian Parliament Tour, and Széchenyi Baths were definite outliers.
I have no regrets with my spending on activities in Budapest and I’m happy with all of the attractions I added to my itinerary.
Adjustments to the Budget
My biggest advice is to do you research. Obviously you can go even lower than I did and not spend any money on activities or attractions when you’re in Budapest. It’s possible, but I don’t recommend it. You’re traveling for a reason so get out and see the top sights of the city.
You can go higher with your Budapest travel budget, particularly if you include the Grand Synagogue, Hungarian Parliament, and Széchenyi Baths. My recommendation is to decide if you’re doing any of these three activities and set aside the amount needed. For the rest of your trip, set aside $10 to $15 per day for your travel budget. You’re sure to visit some churches and museums, but so many of the other sights in Budapest are more reasonably priced. You’ll want to account for them in the travel budget, but they don’t have as big of an impact.
A Reminder About Inflation
Naturally, prices tend to go up as time goes on. I traveled in October 2025 though I do my best to update this article and keep it current.
Final Thoughts
Budapest can be a budget destination with proper planning, but it’s very easy to blow your travel budget if you’re not paying attention. Do your research and plan ahead to have a successful trip to Budapest.
Continue Your Adventure
Budapest: Check out my guide for two days in Budapest. If you’re on a time crunch, try my guide for one day in Budapest. Get around the city effortlessly with my Budapest Transportation Guide.
More in Europe: If you’re already visiting Budapest, consider adding Vienna. Beyond that, Paris is one of my favorites, but Amsterdam can also be fun. For an easy first trip, try visiting London.
Itineraries: Loop Vienna together with several other great cities in this Central Europe 2 week itinerary or this 10 day Central Europe itinerary.