The best things to do in Budapest

1.Buda CastleFree

The huge royal palace on Castle Hill, home to the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.

Tip: The courtyards and terraces are free to walk around. Ride the funicular up from the Chain Bridge, or walk up the steps for free.

2.Fisherman's Bastion

White fairy-tale towers and terraces above the river, with the best view of the Parliament across the water.

Tip: The lower terraces are free; only the upper towers need a ticket during the day. Come at sunrise for no crowds.

3.Matthias Church

A Gothic church with a roof of coloured tiles and an interior painted from floor to vault.

Tip: It sometimes closes for weddings and services, especially on Saturday afternoons.

4.Gellért HillFree

A wooded hill over the Danube with the Liberty Statue on top and a view straight down the river and its bridges.

Tip: Walk up from the Elisabeth Bridge end for sunset; it takes about 20 minutes.

5.Rudas Baths

A 16th-century Ottoman bath with an octagonal pool under a domed roof, plus a rooftop pool overlooking the river.

Tip: Check the schedule before you go: some days and sections are men-only or women-only, and there are late-night sessions on weekends.

6.The Hungarian Parliament

The vast neo-Gothic parliament on the riverbank, with the Holy Crown of Hungary inside its domed hall.

Tip: You can only go in on a guided tour, and tours sell out; book online a few days ahead.

7.St Stephen's Basilica

Budapest's biggest church, with a dome you can climb for a 360-degree view of the city.

Tip: Evening organ concerts are held in the basilica several times a week.

8.Shoes on the Danube BankFree

Sixty pairs of iron shoes on the riverbank, a memorial to the Jews shot into the Danube in 1944–45.

9.The Chain Bridge and the Danube promenadeFree

The city's oldest bridge, guarded by stone lions, and the riverside walk on the Pest bank with views to Buda Castle.

Tip: Walk it after dark, when the castle, the Parliament and the bridges are lit up.

10.Great Market Hall

A huge 19th-century iron market hall with paprika, salami and produce downstairs and food stalls upstairs.

Tip: It's closed on Sundays and quietest on weekday mornings.

11.A night cruise on the Danube

An hour on the river past the lit-up Parliament, Buda Castle and the bridges.

Tip: The public BKV river boats cover much of the same stretch for the price of a transport ticket.

12.Dohány Street Synagogue

The largest synagogue in Europe, with a memorial garden and the Hungarian Jewish Museum.

Tip: It's closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays; shoulders and knees must be covered.

13.The ruin bars

Bars built inside crumbling old buildings and courtyards, filled with junk-shop furniture. Szimpla Kert was the first.

Tip: Szimpla holds a farmers' market on Sunday mornings, when you can see the place in daylight.

14.Andrássy Avenue and the Hungarian State Opera

A grand boulevard of mansions running out to Heroes' Square, with the gilded neo-Renaissance opera house on the way.

Tip: The opera runs guided tours most afternoons; ride the M1, continental Europe's oldest metro line, back to the centre.

15.House of Terror

A museum about Hungary's fascist and communist regimes, in the building used by both secret police forces.

Tip: It's closed on Mondays. Allow at least two hours.

16.Heroes' Square and City ParkFree

A monumental square of statues at the end of Andrássy Avenue, and the park behind it with Vajdahunyad Castle and its lake.

17.Széchenyi Baths

A yellow neo-baroque palace in City Park with outdoor thermal pools, open year-round.

Tip: Go on a winter morning, when steam rises off the pools and the crowds are smaller.

18.Hungarian National Museum

The country's history from the Romans to 1989, in a classical building where the 1848 revolution began.

Tip: It's closed on Mondays.

19.Margaret IslandFree

A car-free park island in the middle of the Danube, with a running track, gardens and a musical fountain.

20.A day trip to Szentendre

A little riverside town of painted houses, churches and galleries, about 40 minutes north by suburban train.

Tip: Take the H5 HÉV from Batthyány tér; in summer you can come back by boat on the Danube.