In December 2024, we embarked on a memorable family trip to Budapest, a city renowned for its enchanting Christmas markets and festive spirit. As someone with a deep appreciation for holiday traditions, I was excited to revisit this beautiful city and share its charm with my family. We decided to drive to Budapest and although it was a long journey, the excitement of exploring this stunning city during the festive season made every mile worth it. Read on to find out about our festive family trip to Budapest.

Friday afternoon and evening: Christmas markets

Upon arriving, we parked our car in Anantara New York Palace Budapest Hotel’s garage as instructed by our hotel. To our delight, it meant that we had to walk through the hotel’s beautifully decorated foyer. We even managed to sneak a peek into the famous New York café. After we checked in into our hotel, we took a moment to relax before we were ready to take on festive Budapest and explore its Christmas markets.

We decided to walk towards St. Stephen’s Basilica so we got to see a few other major sights in Budapest such as the Great Synagogue. Our first festive stop was at Városháza Winter Park and its ice-rink. Unfortunately, ice-skating was too expensive so we moved on and took some photos with a very interesting Lego tram near Deák Ferenc square. Kids really loved that huge tram made entirely of Lego bricks apart from its undercarriage. I was happy to see a vibrant Christmas market at Deák Ferenc square which had plenty of food stalls and a cheaper mulled wine than other Christmas markets. The Fashion street with its high-end boutiques and sparkling Christmas lights and decorations in the shape of shoes and dresses was just around the corner of Deák square so we went there too. Kids immediately saw a huge Lindt teddy bear in front of Lindt shop so naturally we just had to go in and buy some chocolates. There was another surprise in the Fashion street; a huge Jeep in a window display surrounded by a Lego city.

The cold didn’t bother me but kids did complain about it. However, the sight of Budapest Ferris Wheel at Elizabeth square soon made them forget all about it. I promised them that we would go for a ride the next day. Then, we crossed the street and found ourselves surrounded by crowds heading towards St. Stephen’s Basilica renowned for its breathtaking architecture. We were treated with the evening light show; a display of the Nutcracker ballet on the stunning facade of basilica accompanied by music. Talk about the perfect timing! It was time for my kids to try the delicious chimney cake with cinnamon. Unexpectedly, my daughter didn’t really like it so I had to buy her an extortionately expensive doughnut. Since St. Stephen’s Basilica Christmas market was voted as the best Christmas market in 2024 it was no surprise that food and drink prices were high. I had rum punch in a charming festive mug which I just had to buy to add it to my collection of Christmas markets mugs. Unlike in Austria, there wasn’t an option to return the mug and get your deposit back. You could either just pay for your drink and get it in a paper cup or pay more for a lovely mug which you can keep.

Since St. Stephen’s Basilica isn’t far from Vörösmarty square Christmas market we decided to check it out as well. There were less people around so I got to peruse all the stalls with different craft products, Christmas decorations, leather products and more. The air was filled with different delicious scents such as orange and cinnamon and cabbage and goulash. It was a bit difficult to know exactly how much something costs since Hungary still uses its local currency, the forint. I had some local cash but actually I didn’t need to since all vendors accepted credit cards. Kids took several rides on the free miniature railway on the right side of Gerbeaud coffee house. Suffice to say, they had lots of fun. I noticed lovely green mugs at a stall but I already bought one mug so that was enough. One of the main shopping streets in Budapest, Váci street, commences from Vörösmarty square so we explored it since kids wanted to buy some souvenirs. Váci street had great Christmas lights too. After a lot of walking and excitement we returned to our hotel but kids still weren’t tired enough to fall asleep immediately.

Saturday: river cruise and sightseeing

On Saturday, we took a bus from our hotel to the iconic Elizabeth Bridge, catching a river cruise that offered us a unique view of the city. We enjoyed our Danube cruise while drinking wine and juice on board. It was sunny and bright and we saw all the major landmarks such as the Liberty bridge, Buda castle, the Chain Bridge and the Parliament. Kids entertained themselves with colouring books and my son actually listened to the audio guide as well. The boat circled around Margaret island and returned back to its starting point near Elizabeth bridge. After disembarking we hopped on the tram and then a bus up to the historic Castle District (Buda).

We explored Fisherman’s Bastion and took numerous photos of the great views. There were some Christmas stalls as well but we proceeded towards Matthias church with its colourful tiles and the Castle. You could easily spend a whole day just wandering around the Castle district but I promised my kids that we would go on the Ferris Wheel. At one point my kids and I got separated from my husband and since I left my phone with him (I don’t know why anymore) I had no chance of reaching him. I decided to stay put and wait for him instead of trying to find him and luckily he showed up pretty soon but it felt like eternity to me. We descended down from the Castle and found Zero kilometer stone; a sculpture marking Hungary’s reference point for road distances. We’ve also seen the coat of arms of the former Croatian-Hungarian kingdom which existed within the Austrian-Hungarian empire.

Then we took a bus towards the Ferris Wheel. My kids enjoyed the ride on the Ferris Wheel and my husband and I admired the views. You can see the Parliament’s dome and St. Stephen’s basilica and many other beautiful buildings from the Ferris wheel. Kids let off steam at the children’s playground near the Ferris wheel while I called the hotel and prolonged our stay for one more night. The original plan was to check out on Sunday morning and do some more sightseeing and then leave in the evening but we decided that it would be better to spend the night and depart on Monday morning. Besides, our room price was a bargain. After our delicious Hungarian lunch we stumbled upon another great children’s playground so we let our kids play there too.

Since we had our 1 day travel pass I decided to take the underground from Vörösmarty square to the Heroes’ square. My kids haven’t had the chance so far to take a ride on the underground train so that was a fun experience for them. We walked from the underground station through the City park (Városliget) towards the magically lit Vajdahunyad Castle and its skating rink. Vajdahunyad Castle isn’t actually a proper castle since it was only built in 19th century to showcase different architectural styles. Today it houses the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. The boating lake in front of the castle transforms into an ice-skating rink in the winter. My kids pleaded with me again to go ice-skating but I refused because they don’t know how to ice-skate and because it was very expensive. However, we did go ice-skating several times after the trip. There’s also a small amusement park near the castle where we had a very tasty hot chocolate. Afterwards, we made our way to Heroes’ Square, where the grandeur of the statues and historic buildings left us in awe.

Sunday: Central Market hall and Parliament

Sunday was a more relaxed day than the previous two days since we’ve basically seen all the major sights apart from the parliament. Thus, I didn’t have a lot planned for Sunday. We strolled down to the Liberty Bridge and explored the Central Market Hall nearby, indulging in some hot chocolate and freshly baked biscuits. Coincidentally, the shopkeeper who sold us some traditional biscuits studied Croatian so we talked to him in Croatian for a while. Next, we walked along the Danube to the strange whale building which is a modern shopping, cultural, and entertainment center. My husband wanted to check out the military exhibition inside so I took the kids to that interesting children’s park near the Ferris Wheel.

While we were wandering around Budapest, we noticed several tiny sculptures such as a diver near New York cafe and Lisa Simpson near the Liberty bridge. Had I known about these before, we could have had a scavenger hunt to find them all. Anyway, when my husband came to the park, it was his turn to watch the kids and my turn to have some free time. I used that time well and wandered around the Christmas markets to see how they look like in the daylight. Firstly, I checked out the stalls of Elisabeth’s square Christmas market near the Ferris Wheel. I bought some strudels and more local biscuits and watched a shopkeeper masterfully cut salami. Even if you aren’t hungry, you’ll want to eat something because of all the delicious food scents in the air. Then, I crossed the street and went to St. Stephen’s Basilica market again where I purchased some gingerbread for a charity. They were pretty and tasty and I helped a good cause. I finished my markets’ exploration at Deák square.

Kids were hungry and wanted to eat at McDonald’s this time so we went to Váci street. Later, we finally headed to the Parliament which we saw from the river boat but I wanted to get up close and personal. Little did I know, that we would come across another great children’s playground on the way to the parliament. And guess what? Yes, we just had to try out that playground’s equipment too. After that, we were finally staring at the grand parliament building. It reminded me a bit of the Westminster’s palace in London. As we were gaping at it, the lights turned on and it looked even more beautiful. A big Christmas tree on the side of the parliament and Christmas creche added to the festive feeling. We got down to the Danube and enjoyed the views of the Chain bridge and Buda castle all lit up.

At that point my husband and I got hungry since we didn’t eat with our kids, so we returned to Deák Ferenc square Christmas market and ate there. We chose traditional market food: goulash in bread, pumpkin soup and lángos. Suddenly, it started snowing. What better way to end our festive trip to Budapest than with some real winter magic? Kids were delighted and since it got much colder as well, we slowly made our way back to the hotel. There our kids watched the snow falling from the warmth of our hotel room.

Monday: departure and Varaždin

Our festive family trip has come to an end. In conclusion, we’ve had lots of fun discovering Christmas markets in Budapest and we’ve also seen all the major landmarks. Moreover, I practically ate my body weight in traditional Christmas dishes. Now, it was time to go home. However, we decided to have lunch in Varaždin, a baroque town in the northern Croatia. After our lunch, we strolled around Varaždin and saw its Old Town.

Suddenly, we stumbled upon some gorgeous Christmas decorations and a Christmas town for kids. It was such an unexpected surprise. We visited Santa’s house and the elves’ workshops. Kids had a blast. My husband ventured inside a board game shop while I bought some more sweets at the main square. We returned to our car with our soul filled with Christmas spirit and our bellies full of delectable food. All in all, it was such a great family trip.

We visited Budapest in December 2024.

This article is also featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Budapest.