CHILDREN’S RAILWAY (GYERMEKVASÚT)
Despite its reputation as a big, gloomy metropolis, Budapest is surprisingly kid-friendly. Many of the city’s best experiences—such as splashing around in a warm-water whirlpool at Széchenyi Baths, or ogling giant monuments from the communist days at Memento Park—bring out the kid in any traveler.
Try these tips to keep your kids content throughout the day.
• Hungarian food is generally flavorful, filling, and easy to enjoy. But a few ingredients (like liver and spicy paprika) are liberally used and may gross out finicky eaters.
• Make sure to start the day with a good breakfast (at hotels and B&Bs, breakfast is nearly always included).
• Picnic lunches and dinners work well. Supermarkets and grocery stores abound in the city center, and assembling a picnic at one of the city’s many turn-of-the-century market halls (especially the Great Market Hall) is a cultural experience. Having snacks on hand can prevent meltdowns.
• Choose easy eateries. All of the places listed under “Snacks and Light Meals” on here—including cafeterias, open-face sandwich shops, hummus bars, and Fornetti pastry kiosks—are quick and easy, and kids can see what they’re getting before they order. If you’re browsing the Great Market Hall, the food stands upstairs are another easy choice. Eating al fresco is great with kids.
• Eat dinner relatively early (around 18:00) to miss the romantic crowd. Skip fancy or famous places, which are too formal for kids to really enjoy.
• While I haven’t listed kids’ prices in this book, most sights charge much less for children than for adults—always ask.
• Budapest’s hotels often give price breaks for kids (and when it’s hot, air-conditioning is worth the splurge).
• If you’re taking the train outside of the city, ask about family or child discounts.
The key to a successful Budapest family vacation is to slow down. Tackle one or two key sights each day, mix in a healthy dose of pure fun at a park or thermal bath, and take extended breaks when needed.
• Incorporate your child’s interests into each day’s plans. Let your kids make some decisions: choosing lunch spots or deciding which stores to visit. Turn your kid into your personal tour guide and navigator of the Metró system. Deputize your child to lead you on my self-guided walks and museum tours.
• Public WCs can be hard to find. Try shopping malls, museums, cafés, and restaurants, particularly fast-food places.
• Follow this book’s crowd-beating tips to a T. Kids hate lines even more than you do.
• Give your child a money belt and an expanded allowance; you are on vacation, after all. Let your children budget their funds by comparing and contrasting the dollar and forint.
• Buy your kids a trip journal and encourage them to write down their observations, thoughts, and favorite memories. This journal could end up being their favorite souvenir.
• Have a “what if” procedure in case something goes wrong. Give each child a business card from your hotel, along with your contact information and taxi fare, to use if you get separated. If they have a mobile phone, make sure they know how to use it in Hungary.
The top attraction for kids is the same as it is for adults: thermal baths (
see the Thermal Baths chapter). Széchenyi Baths—with colorful outdoor pools and mostly mixed-gender areas—are fun for families (though children under 14 are not allowed in the indoor thermal pools). Gellért Baths’ outdoor area and fun wave pool offer the best thermal bath thrills for kids in Budapest. At both of these baths, children over two years old pay full price. I’d skip the Rudas Baths with kids.
For a more kid-oriented water park, you have two good options in or near Budapest: Aquaworld is about nine miles north of downtown, but still in the city limits (www.aqua-world.hu); Aquaréna is about 20 miles northeast of town, in the countryside near Gödöllő Palace and the Lázár Lovaspark horse show (on the way to Eger, in the village of Mogyoród, www.aquarena.hu).
There are also fun-for-kids thermal baths in and near Eger (see here).
Local parents filled me in on their favorite playgrounds. Many of these are in parks also described in more detail in this book, and are fun for moms and dads, too.
A pair of inviting playgrounds flank the bottom (south) end of this square, which is ringed with some of Budapest’s grandest buildings. Nearby is a fun, interactive fountain, where kids step on panels to make the fountains start and stop. The café in the middle of the park is perfect for parents to sit out in the sun and sip a coffee. (This square is described in detail on here.)
Tucked in the very heart of downtown Pest, kitty-corner from Elisabeth Square (with its summer Ferris wheel—see later), this small, leafy square has a handy playground that’s popular with local kids and their parents.
Enjoyable playgrounds are scattered throughout this park, as well as other attractions listed below.
This highly conceptual park is tucked behind the Mammut shopping center (near M2: Széll Kálmán tér). In addition to a fun playground, entertaining exhibits called “House of the Future” and “Palace of Miracles” might appeal to older kids.
On a sunny day, there’s no better place to have fun than in City Park or on Margaret Island.
The fun, dynamic statues at Heroes’ Square help bring Hungarian history to life. The fairy-tale Vajdahunyad Castle—a striking ensemble of Hungarian buildings—also captures young imaginations. You can rent bikes or bike carts, and the big artificial pond near Vajdahunyad Castle usually offers paddleboats in summer and ice skating in the winter. If the weather’s good, just spread out a picnic blanket and enjoy the park like a local. The park is slated for renovation through the next few years, which should result in even better facilities for kids (but in the meantime, it may be a bit torn up). With a little more energy, tackle one of the following attractions. (For more on this area, see the Heroes’ Square and City Park Walk.)
Budapest has an entertaining big-city zoo complex, with a “safari park,” butterfly house, petting zoo, baby rhino, and more. It also has redeeming sightseeing value: Many of its structures are playful bits of turn-of-the-20th-century Art Nouveau. (To reach the beautiful Art Nouveau elephant house, turn right inside the main entry, then right again at the fork, and look for the white-and-turquoise tower.) Sometimes on summer weekends, kids can feed the animals.
Cost and Hours: Adults-2,500 Ft, kids ages 2-14-1,800 Ft, 7,300-Ft family ticket covers two adults and two kids; May-Aug Mon-Thu 9:00-17:00, Fri-Sun 9:00-18:00; these are last entry times—zoo stays open one hour later; shorter hours Sept-March; Állatkerti körút 6-12, district XIV, M1: Hősök tere, tel. 1/364-0109, www.zoobudapest.com.
Nearby: The zoo recently expanded, nearly doubling its territory and taking over an old amusement park next door. This area, called the Holnemvolt Park (“Once Upon a Time Park”), displays exotic animals, hosts puppet shows, offers pony rides, and boasts some fun rides—from a rickety wooden roller coaster to a beautifully restored, century-old merry-go-round (each ride costs 1-2 tokens for 200 Ft apiece). While none of it will thrill Americans who’ve been to Six Flags, it’s good fun and also has attractions for younger visitors. Holnemvolt Park—which can be accessed directly from the zoo, or separately (find the entrance to the right of the old circus building)—is included in a zoo ticket, or 500 Ft on its own, but may be closed off-season (Nov-March).
The Játék Mester Zoo Playhouse, described later, is also in the middle of the zoo action.
This old-fashioned big-top act includes clowns, gymnasts, and animals. In operation since 1891, the circus moved into its current City Park home—nestled between the two parts of the zoo, facing the swimming pool entrance for Széchenyi Baths—in 1970.
Cost and Hours: Adults- 1,900-4,500 Ft, kids-1,500-3,100 Ft, show schedule changes depending on season but typically 2-3 shows per day on weekends, M1: Széchenyi fürdő, tel. 1/343-8300, www.fnc.hu.
This delightful island in the Danube is filled with diversions, including baths/swimming pools, a small petting zoo, great bike trails, and fun bike-cart rentals. For details, see here.
Right in the heart of Pest’s Town Center, this inviting garden is a favorite place for local urbanites to simply relax with their children. Small but beautifully landscaped, it’s a popular after-school hangout for local kids. For a full description, see here.
This leafy, restful square—also in Pest’s Town Center—is a fine place to get a break from the city anytime. But in recent summers, it has also hosted an enjoyable 215-foot-tall Ferris wheel called the Budapest Eye. Operating only in good weather (typically mid-May-mid-Oct), it offers three slow spins up and over the rooftops of downtown Budapest (adult-2,400 Ft, child-1,500 Ft, generally runs daily 10:00-24:00 or later in summer, until 22:00 in shoulder season). While it’s pricey (and the nearby view terrace at St. István’s Basilica is cheaper and equally scenic), it’s a fun ride.
Kids with hill-climbing stamina might enjoy the trails that twist up this peak overlooking the Danube to great views.
Budapest has several playhouses (játszóház) for young kids—basically big, colorful, indoor jungle gyms with lots of hands-on activities. While most of the clientele are Hungarian tots, others are welcome, and it could be a good opportunity for your child to make a Magyar buddy. You’ll generally pay 1,000-2,500 per child, they’re typically open daily from 9:00 or 10:00 until 20:00, and adults are free or deeply discounted. Popular choices include the following: The Játék Mester Zoo Playhouse (Állatkert Játszóház), in City Park, is wedged down a narrow path between the back end of the zoo and the circus (just across from Széchenyi Baths entry, M1: Széchenyi fürdő, www.jatek-mester.hu). The Millipop Játszóház—on the Buda side, in the Millenáris Park near the Mammut shopping mall—is bigger and more extensive, with laser tag (Kis Rókus utca 16-20, M2: Széll Kálmán tér, www.millipopjatszo.hu).
And for something even more exciting—especially for bigger kids— the outdoor Római Kalandpark (Adventure Park) has high-ropes courses, a giant sandbox, and laser tag (at the north end of Óbuda, past Aquincum and on the way to Szentendre at Szentendrei út 189, take the Szentendre/H5/purple HÉV line from Batthyány tér to the Rómaifürdő stop, www.romaikalandpark.hu).
This unusual attraction in the Buda Hills is a holdover from the communist days, when kids were primed from an early age to eagerly work for the betterment of their society. While the commies are long gone, their railway’s kid-friendly message of “work is fun!” is full steam ahead—and the line is still manned entirely by children (aside from driving the engines, of course). Children get a kick out of seeing fellow kids selling tickets, acting as conductor, and so on.
The only drawback is that it’s on the outskirts of town and requires a few transit changes, but if you—and your kids—have a spirit of adventure, it’s a fun ride through the Buda Hills (see map on here). The easiest trip is this: From Buda’s Széll Kálmán tér (on the M2/red Metró line), hop on tram #59 or #61 and ride two stops to Városmajor (or simply walk 10 minutes along the busy road called Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor away from the Danube). Here you can switch to the rack railway (fogaskerekű vasút), which climbs up in about 15 minutes to the end of the line at Széchenyi-hegy. From this stop, it’s a short walk to the starting station of the Children’s Railway line, which putters seven miles in about 40 minutes through the hills (part of a national park) to the other end at Hűvösvölgy. Near this station is a stop for tram #61 back to Széll Kálmán tér.
Cost and Hours: Public transit covered by regular transit tickets; Children’s Railway tickets: free for kids under 6, 350 Ft one-way for kids 6-14, 700 for adults; 3,500-Ft “family day ticket” covers two adults and three kids or one adult and four kids; train runs about hourly, sometimes 2/hour on summer weekends; May-Aug daily 9:00-19:00; Sept-April Tue-Sun 9:00-17:00, closed Mon; old-fashioned steam engine runs occasionally for an extra charge, confirm schedules on website: www.gyermekvasut.hu.
The Lázár Lovaspark horse show—near Gödöllő Palace, about 33 miles northeast of downtown—is entertaining for the entire family, and gives your kids the chance to explore a real, working, traditional Hungarian farm, complete with all of the unique livestock this country is known for (wooly pigs, giant longhorn cattle, twisty-antlered goats, dreadlocked dogs, and so on). The public-transit option for getting here is probably too much of a hassle with kids; consider making it easier with taxi rides to and from the Gödöllő train station, or hire a driver for the entire day. Notice that this is also close to Gödöllő Palace (with some upper-crust history that could bore some kids—but the Empress Sisi stories may fascinate others) and to the Aquaréna waterpark mentioned earlier; these could be combined into a very busy, but fun, day out from the big city. The horse show and palace are explained in the Day Trips from Budapest chapter.
Memento Park, with its gigantic statues, captures kids’ imaginations—and offers a good springboard for a lesson about the communist days. (Teenagers might enjoy learning more at the House of Terror—though that engaging exhibit is too powerful for most young children.) See the individual tour chapters for details.
The Puppet Theater (Bábszínház) offers frequent morning and afternoon performances. The playful “children” shows feature light Hungarian folk tales, while the “youth/adult” shows can include weightier opera performances and avant-garde modern puppetry (1,000-1,600 Ft depending on show and time). Performances are typically not in English, but the puppets still entertain (across from the House of Terror at Andrássy út 69, district VI, M1: Vörösmarty utca, tel. 1/342-2702, www.budapest-babszinhaz.hu).
Kids might also enjoy the touristy, crowd-pleasing Hungarian folk music and dancing shows presented by Hungária Koncert (see here).
The Labyrinth of Buda Castle, while a bit too hokey for serious adults, might entertain children with the opportunity to explore the caves beneath Castle Hill. It’s especially enjoyable (and a bit spooky) after 18:00, when it’s lit only by lanterns. For details, see here.