Budapest card and pass

If you are planning a trip to Budapest, you are surely wondering if there is a Budapest Card that can support your planning of things to do and see.
A tourist pass that would allow you to visit as much of this history-rich European capital as possible.
Well, there are currently two types of cards available for Budapest, from which you can choose the one that best suits your travel itinerary.

In this article we discover the tourist passes available for Budapest, highlighting their advantages and possible limitations.

What are the passes to Budapest?

There are two types of tourist passes for visiting the city of Budapest:

• the Budapest Card
• the Budapest Pass (the full name is Budapest Digital Pass, but for convenience we will use Budapest Pass from now on)

They have very similar trade names, but they are not the same thing; they are different products.

Both include free attractions and discounts on tours and experiences, but we already anticipate that the Budapest Card is certainly richer in terms of offerings and hours of validity than the Budapest Pass.

On this page we discover all the details of both solutions, so that you have the information you need to be able to decide whether it is convenient for your trip to choose one and which one.
As is often the case, there is no clear-cut answer, but much depends on your travel planning, the days available, and your attitudes as a traveler.

By understanding the logic of its operation, you will know what to choose.

What is the Budapest Card

Let's start with the Budapest Card, a cumulative tourist ticket that allows, for a set price, access to Budapest's several tourist attractions and museums.
Added to this is the possibility of use public transportation free of charge Throughout the validity of the Budapest Card.
Completing the offering is an audience of discounts 10 to 50 percent in other "minor" attractions, restaurants, souvenir stores.

As you can see, the offer is definitely comprehensive, and this pass is well suited to those who visit Budapest with the intent to explore it touristically, and stay for the days necessary to enjoy the city well.

The Budapest Card is purchased online, and you will have to pick it up as a physical card version once you arrive in Budapest, at the Budapest Info Point Városháza Park (or other alternative places I indicate later in the article) by showing the voucher that will have arrived to you by email following your online purchase.

At each attraction you visit, as well as to access public transportation, you must show the physical card.

Purchase the Budapest CARD

What the Budapest Card includes

The Budapest Card has quite a rich offering, although it does not include everything Budapest has to offer from a tourist perspective.
Let's see for the sake of completeness a greater detail of the attractions and museums with admission included in the Budapest Card.

Museums included on the Budapest Card

These are the museums that can be visited for free with the Budapest Card:

• Hungarian National Gallery
• Budapest Historical Museum - Castle Museum
• Hungarian National Museum
• Museum of Fine Arts
• Robert Capa Center for Contemporary Photography
• Hungarian House of Photography - Mai Mano House
• Memento Park - Museum of Statues
• Műcsarnok Art Gallery
• Ferenc Hopp Museum of Oriental Arts
• Aquincum Museum
• Liget Visitor Center Budapest
• Vasarely Museum
• Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art
• Hungarian Museum of Trade and Catering
• Obuda Museum
• Kiscelli Museum
• Budapest Gallery
• Jewish House of Prayer
• Palinka Experience interactive museum
• Csopa Science Center - Palace of Wonders
• Goldberger Textile Collection

Attractions included on the Budapest Card

In addition to museums, several tourist attractions are also included in the Budapest Card:

• Free visit to the Budatower (Buda Tower)
• Free visit to the Palvolgyi Caves
• Free official castle bus
• Free walking tours of Pest and Buda (warning: IN ENGLISH!)
• Free admission to the St. Lukács thermal bath and swimming pool
• Free ride on the Zugliget Chairlift
• Urban Betyar restaurant and visitor center

Other discounts and experiences included

And these are the experiences discounted with the Budapest Card:

• 50 percent discount on guided tours of the Franz Liszt Music Academy
• 50% discount for St. Stephen's Hall in Buda Castle
• 25% discount on city cruises Legend
• 25% discount for the Museum Hospital in the Rock and Antiatomic Bunker
• 20% discount for Hop-On Hop-Off bus
• 20 percent discount at Széchenyi Bath, Rudas Bath, Aquaworld Resort and Lupa Beach
• 15% discount on door-to-door airport transfer service with miniBUD
• 10% discount for the Great Synagogue in Budapest
• Discounts of 10 to 20 percent at Molnár's Kürtőskalács Restaurants, Halaszbastya Restaurant, Zsolnay Café, Parisi Passage Cafe, Cafe Astoria, Hard Rock Café

The attractions included, as well as the discounts (I mean both as an amount and the discounted service) may change over time, usually small changes that we try to keep up to date.
However, before purchasing the Budapest Card, please check the provider's website for any updates in this regard.

Tip: If you are considering purchasing a card, consider the days when museums and attractions are closed: if your card is active in a time frame that includes, for example, Monday-a day when some sites are closed-you will use less one day of its validity.

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Major attractions excluded

Despite the extensive list of attractions and museums included in the price, the Budapest Card leaves out some of the city's landmark attractions, which are generally part of all tourist itineraries for those visiting Budapest.

Not included are: the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Royal Palace, there is only 10% discount for the Great Synagogue, places that in any travel guide are listed as the best of the city to visit.

This is not to say that the Budapest Card is invalid, not least because there is no alternative that includes these attractions.
The correct reading is that for a complete exploration of Budapest one must take into account that one must purchase tickets for the excluded attractions just mentioned, and cover the others with the Budapest Card.

The Budapest Card remains a very valuable tool to ensure your visit to Budapest is as complete as possible.

Types of the Budapest Card

The Budapest Card offers a wide choice in terms of hours of validity.
You can choose the 24-hour, 48-hour, 72-hour, 96-hour, 120-hour and the 72-hour plus, which offers a few more advantages than the previous ones.
Apart from the latter, in fact, they all have the same kind of discounts and/or freebies, what changes is only the hourly duration.

This coverage makes it possible to adapt to the different tourist needs of each person, both those who stay for a few days and those who - fortunately - can indulge in a longer stay in the city.

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Public transportation included

All available types of Budapest cards allow unlimited free travel on the rides of BKK Zrt., a public transportation company, within the city.
It includes streetcars, trolleybuses, metro, buses, ships and suburban trains.
The card is also valid on the cogwheel railway (streetcar line No. 60), with which you can reach the Buda hills.

It does not, however, include the Buda Funicular (free only with the 72 Plus version) and bus number 100E (the Airport Shuttle that connects the airport to the city).

As stated in the list of benefits, there is 20% discount for Hop-On Hop-Off vehicles and 15% discount on airport transfer service.

Normally, if you do not have a Budapest card, passes for public transportation cost money:

• 6 euros, for 24 hours
• 14 euros, for 72 hours

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Skip-the-line option

This option does not seem to be included in any of the cards, which we might count among the shortcomings of this tool.
This is not a serious handicap, but we will have to be good at planning an itinerary that includes visiting the most popular attractions at smart times that allow us to reduce waits at the entrance.

There is also to consider that the attractions at highest risk of queuing are those not included in the passes (both passes), so it is natural that the skip-the-line option is not present.

What the Budapest Card Special 72 Plus includes

Of all the possibilities offered by the Budapest Card, the 72-hour denomination presents-as we said-a plus version that, at a cost of 99 euros instead of 69, includes, in addition to what has already been listed:

• Door-to-door airport transfer service with miniBUD
• Danube Cruise with Legend Duna Bella
• Round-trip ride on the Budapest Funicular 
• Entrance to the Church of Matthias 
• Hungarian dessert (Molnár's kürtőskalács)

This is a 30 euro difference from the standard 72-hour Card that is worth spending if you intend to use/enjoy all 5 extra activities that the 72 Plus offers.

If, for example, you do not need the transfer to/from the airport (which is discounted with the other cards anyway) and give up the Hungarian dessert without too many regrets, the cost already becomes too high, it is better to buy individual tickets.

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Budapest Card Price

The cost of the Budapest Card depends, of course, on the duration you choose:

• Rate 24 hours (1 day) - 39 euros
• Rate 48 hours (2 days) - 53 euros
• Rate 72 hours (3 days) - 69 euros
• Rate 72 hours Plus (3 days): 99 euros
• Rate 96 hours (4 days) - 87 euros
• Rate 120 hours (5 days) - 96 euros

The validity indicated is daily, and it activates on the date you indicate on the back when you have the physical card in your hand.
Therefore, if you pick it up early in the morning, you can activate it the same day, since you have the whole day in front of you.
If you pick it up in the afternoon, consider whether to activate it the same day (taking advantage of only half a day) or the next day.

Purchase the Budapest CARD

Price comparison with and without budapest card

In this table, you can compare the costs of individual entrances without a card with those with a Budapest card.
We have selected the most popular attractions, those included in any sightseeing tour for those visiting Budapest for the first time.

Budapest Card / Single Entrance Comparison Table

Attraction	Cardless entry	72h card entry	Input with 72h PLUS card
Parliament	16 €	16 €	16 €
Basilica of St. Stephen	6 €	6 €	6 €
National Museum	9 €	Free	Free
Castle History Museum	10 €	Free	Free
Bus to the castle	14 €	Free	Free
Hungarian National Gallery	8,50 €	Free	Free
Museum of Fine Arts	13,50 €	Free	Free
St. Matthias Church	7,5 €	7,5 €	Free
Great Synagogue	27,50 €	-10%	-10%
Sikló funicular railway a/r	8 €	8 €	Free
St. Lukács Spa	16 €	Free	Free
Danube River Cruise	Starting from 13 €	Starting from 13 €	Free
Public transportation	14 € (72h)	Free	Free
Total	163,00 €	69 + 55,10 = 124,10 €	99 + 32,10 = 131,10

The ticket prices shown may not be perfectly up to date, partly because of the Hungarian forint/euro exchange rate.
However, they are indicative for Budapest's convenience calculation.
For the exact information, check the official websites of the attractions for any price changes.

Does the Budapest Card pay off?

Economically it does not offer striking savings in the typical "first trip to Budapest," but it is still to the facts advantageous.
Its added benefit is convenience, which saves time, and time we know is money even on vacation.
Also, by having the card, you can afford the "luxury" of getting into some of the included attractions quickly (for time reasons), just to "see what it's like," which you would not do if you were forced to buy the ticket at full price.

The answer to the convenience of the Budapest card is therefore-as it often is-it depends.
It depends on the kind of vacation you want to take, how many things you want to see, how many days you have in your itinerary.

Therefore, to comment on convenience, you must first consider how long you will stay in Budapest.

If for a few days (up to three), you will barely have enough time to visit the most famous sights, which are not included in the card.
And so in this case the purchase of the Budapest Card makes little sense, unless - by choice or previous visits - you want to concentrate more on the attractions included in the card.

If you stay, however, for more than 3 days, you will also have more time to visit other attractions outside the main ones, thus making the best use of the card.
In this case it becomes convenient and advisable to buy the Budapest Card: it makes sense to take the 72 Plus if you do at least 3-4 activities each day or visit many museums that have discounts with the card.

It may be worthwhile to have a card, moreover, if what you are planning is not your first time in Budapest and you have already visited the most famous sights and monuments: in this case, having a card with free admissions to many lesser-known sights can give you a better understanding of the city.

In general, however, if you decide to take advantage of the Budapest Card, our advice is to choose the 72 plus, especially if you will arrive in Budapest by plane and need the airport transfer, which is included in this version of the card.

Purchase the Budapest CARD

Where to buy the Budapest Card

The Budapest card is conveniently purchased online.

Purchase the Budapest CARD

After choosing your denomination, you will receive an electronic voucher via email with which to physically pick up your card at the Budapest Info Point Városháza Park in the city center, open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
You will need to sign the card on the back, where the date of first use will be listed. Apparently, the checkers are very lax, so don't forget to fill it out and sign it right away.

Or you can pick up the purchased Card at the following BKK Customer Service Centers:

• Budapest-Ferenc Liszt International Airport Terminal 2A Open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Budapest-Ferenc Liszt International Airport Terminal 2B Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Deák Ferenc tér M. open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

(Times shown are those valid at this time, Always check for variations before going to the site)

Conditions of the Budapest Card

• Services included in the card can be used only after the card has been validated with a signature and a start date on the back
• The card is valid for one person and is non-transferable throughout its duration, from the time and date of first use
• By purchasing the card through the link on this page, you can request a refund up to 24 hours prior to the day of the start of its validity indicated during online purchase.

What is the Budapest Pass

The other tourist pass for visiting the city of Budapest-the Budapest Pass-is a significantly more limited tool in its offerings than the Budapest Card.

This is a pass that, at a cost of 63 euros, includes:

• a 2-hour cruise on the Danube River (with welcome drink)
• A guided bus tour of the city
• access to Parliament with skip the line option
• thecity audio guide app, with interactive maps, walking and public transport routes (tickets for transport are not included in the pass)

The Budapest Pass does NOT include the use of public transportation.

It is so different from its predecessor that they should not be compared by looking for a better or a worse, but rather fit decidedly different needs.
This pass is designed for generally quick visits to Budapest, and/or where one does not want to delve into the cultural-historical knowledge part of the city.

The parliament is the only major attraction included, while the Danube cruise serves to get a general overview of the city, seen from a special as well as very fascinating perspective.
Similarly, the guided bus tour serves for a quick understanding of the city in a short time, without delving into anything, but with a broad and comprehensive view nonetheless.

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Where to buy the Budapest Pass

Purchasing the Budapest Pass is done online: you choose the date for which you require the pass to be valid and receive your tickets via email, complete with a discount code to get 10% off a subsequent reservation.
Once you arrive in the city, the pass will be immediately usable without having to physically pick it up.

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Validity of the Budapest Pass

When purchasing online, you are prompted to choose the date from which the pass is considered active and you can download the App.
As you continue in the process, you will be asked to select the dates and times to take the cruise and the Grand City Tour + Parliament visit.
Since the tickets are non-refundable, we recommend that you plan very carefully the day and time to do the offered activities, with a minimum vacation itinerary.

Does the Budapest Pass pay off?

Given the average costs of the individual attractions included in the Budapest Pass, there is definitely some financial savings by purchasing the pass, although it is not as net as in the previous case.
To put it better, the economic advantage - while present - is not its strong point.
The main advantage lies in having a ready-made digital pass to access the included attractions (which saves you time).
That combined with the economic savings still present, makes it a valuable tool for those who have this kind of approach to Budapest in mind.

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Budapest tourist passes: which one is worthwhile?

These are two very different proposals, aimed at tourists with equally different goals.
The first, Budapest Card, very rich and articulated, including public transport, is absolutely convenient for those who want to visit Budapest in depth, with a few days available to access most of the attractions included.
The second, Budapest Pass, much more essential for getting a taste of the city, with "general" activities that allow you to grasp it in broad strokes.
Generally well suited for weekends (or long weekends), or for those who have a non-in-depth tourist approach by choice.

In the case ti a classic exploratory trip of the city, with perhaps 5-7 days available, we believe we recommend the Budapest Card 72 plus, it seems to us the best tool considering all the services included.

If your visit is limited to 1 or 2 days, then you are better off with the Budapest Pass, which definitely includes interesting attractions (Parliament and cruise) to do even on a quick visit, while the Budapest Card of equal length includes attractions-pass us the term-less suitable for a short trip.

The evaluation criterion is really the length of the vacation and what you can plan in the visit itinerary, in the time available.

Budapest, to be visited satisfactorily, requires at least 4 days, which you can take advantage of by mixing the Budapest Card 72 Plus and individual tickets.

Purchase the Budapest CARD Buy Budapest PASS