How to spend 48-hours in Budapest: Sightseeing, food, coffee

Budapest is an amazing city for a weekend getaway! You can either take the train from many destinations in Europe or a quick flight to the Hungarian capital.

Or if you’re looking for a longer holiday, we can highly recommend doing a train trip through southeastern Europe. We wrote a 10-days itinerary for you that you can find here:

Coffee fuel in Budapest

First things first: COFFEE.

1. My Little Melbourne

We had the café »My Little Melbourne« on our specialty coffee bucket list forever. Hence, when we arrived in Budapest we had to check it out and it didn’t disappoint!

Two coffees on a wooden table. The coffees have beautiful latte art in the form of tulips.

Check out their cool Instagram page to see their awesome interior and exterior design!

2. Dorado Café

The second café on our list was Dorado Café. It has a super cute interior design with lots of plants. And of course, also their coffee is a gem.

Coffee with beautiful latte art on a wooden table.
Many green plants in the front of a window. Outside the window a car drives by.
3. Espresso Embassy

Sadly, we didn’t take a picture at Espresso Embassy but we really liked it there. The interior of the café looks like an old wine cellar with its cobblestone arches. Their coffee is some of the finest coffee you can get in Budapest!

Foodies in Budapest

The Budapest food scene is extremely good! You will be able to find fairly cheap and tasty food around every corner.

Central Market hall

At this place, we tried our first original Hungarian Langos in Hungary. Langos is a typical Hungarian street food flatbread topped with different things depending on your taste. If you walk around the market hall you will find many different stands where you can buy Langos and other traditional food. Probably not the cheapest place though, as it is quite touristy.

Two Hungarian Langos. On the left side a Langos with cheese, on the right side a vegan Langos with veggies.
Central Market Hall in Budapest, Hungary. The picture is taken from the first floor and shows the stalls on the lower floor.
Kozmosz Vegan Restaurant

Kozmosz serves all vegan food and we loved it there! We had their traditional Hungarian stew and for starters a traditional bean goulash. Honestly, their food tastes like a homecooked meal by grandma (which is probably the biggest compliment Fiana gives).

Vegan traditional hungarian bean goulash
Vegan Hungarian red soup
Street Food Karavan

Unfortunately, we visited this place when we weren’t hungry at all, so we can’t tell from experience that it is good. But the food looked amazing and it smelled very good. We added it to our bucket list for our next trip to Budapest – you should add it as well!

Street food place in Budapest. You can see stalls in the back and a large sign in the front.
Street food area with many stalls on the left and right side, in the middle standing tables.
Sights in Budapest

After having coffee and filling your belly, put on your walking shoes and explore the streets of Budapest!

Fisherman’s Bastion

The best time to visit Fisherman’s Bastion is probably on a sunny day for sunrise since the lightning would be extremely beautiful. The days we spend in Budapest it was constantly raining, so we didn’t have the opportunity to see it with this beautiful lighting. Still, even on a rainy day, it looks stunning!

Two girls in the front looking to the horizon. In the middle a river and int he background the city of Budapest.
In the front, a small stretch of the river Danube, behind the river a orange tram passing by old houses.
Castle Hill

Get lost in the streets around the Fisherman’s Bastion and Buda Castle. Around every corner, you will find pretty architecture!

Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest with the sun setting in the background making a beautiful light..
Red post box in front of a old, yellow building.
Hungarian Parliament Building

The neo-gothic style of the parliament building makes it very special. We have never seen a parliament building like this. When you explore the city, make sure to pass by the building but also look at the building from the other side of the Danube.

The Hungarian parliament building at sunset.
Széchenyi Thermal Bath

Probably the most popular attraction in Budapest is the ornate thermal baths. It is located a few minutes outside the city centre. We didn’t make it there our first time in Budapest but it is definitely on our list for the next visit.

Where we stayed in Budapest:


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