In this post I will do a review of Budapest Card which is the official city card. The cards are sold for 24, 48 and 72 hours. I’ve used the 72h card because I stayed in the city for a week.

Usage

The card is valid once you fill in the dates and the signature field. Each card offers all of the benefits (mentioned below), the only difference is the length of validity. If you register your card online which you can do here, you can get your card replaced for free in case it gets stolen, damaged or lost. You can only replace the card in the main tourist office in Süt? street.

Prices

24h card – 4900 HUF / 15 EUR

48h card – 7900 HUF / 25 EUR

72h card – 9900 HUF / 31 EUR

Benefits

  • Free public transportation

  • Free entrance to Lukács Baths

  • Free entrance to one of these 10 museums: Budapest History Museum; Aquincum Museum; Kiscelli Museum; Vasarely Museum; Hungarian National Gallery; Hungarian National Museum and more

  • Free mobile application

  • Free two guided walking tours (one is in Buda and one in Pest)

  • 10-50% discounts for other services. Noticeable discounts include: Hop On Hop Off buses (20-30%); Riverride (10%); Budapest Tuk Tuk tours (20%); many restaurants and bars; Rudas Bath (20%); Memento Park (FREE) and many more.

Is Budapest Card Worth Buying?

Single ticket for transportation costs 350 HUF. Transfer ticket is 530 HUF. 24h ticket is 1,650 HUF (5 EUR) and the 72h ticket is 4,150 HUF (13 EUR). Two mentioned tours cost 10 EUR each. So in case you wanna buy a daily transportation ticket and do a walking tour that’s already 15 EUR which is a price of the 24h Budapest Card. If you wanna visit one of the museums eg. Hungarian National Museum (entrance is 5 EUR) and Lukács Baths (entrance 10 EUR) you already made some savings.

However, these cards don’t  always bring value. This totally depends on you and your traveling style. A lot of attractions in Budapest are at a walking distance so you might not need the transportation ticket at all. This also applies to cyclists. If you are in Budapest for only a day and you would like to attend the walking tour and then mix some sightseeing by yourself with a visit to a museum I think getting the card is a good idea. You may also try some Hungarian foods or visit bars so you will get more savings.

I think the cards give a good value for money especially the 48h and 72h ones. That’s because you’ll spend more time in the city and you’ll be able to visit some attractions which you probably couldn’t visit during 1 day time in Budapest. Lukács Baths are a good example because the entry ticket is 10 EUR. Add a walking tour to that, a visit to a museum and some shopping and you already saved yourself some money. 🙂

You can buy the card at any info point centers, MAV ticket offices, travel agencies, hotels and online. You get a 5% discount when you buy it online.