Getaways from Budapest: day trips and destinations close by.

From the airport to the centre on the 100E

There are direct flights to Ferenc Liszt Airport (BUD) from Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Alicante, Valencia, Bilbao, Seville, Gran Canaria and Tenerife South. The 100E bus runs from the airport to the centre, in about 40 minutes. To get to know the city before setting out, a day with the Castle District, the Rudas bath and the cruise at dusk.

For leaving, each station has its direction. From Nyugati the Danube trains leave to the north: to Vác and Nagymaros, and to Esztergom. From Keleti, those to Eger and those of the Győr line, which stop at Tata; the latter can also be taken at Kelenföld. The two HÉV suburban trains go where the train does not: the H5, from Batthyány tér, to Szentendre, and the H8, from Örs vezér tere, to Gödöllő; outside Budapest they require a supplementary ticket. A hire car, which can be collected at the airport, pays off for road 11 along the Danube bank, for Hollókő and for Balaton, where the sites are spread apart.

Free mornings in Szentendre, Vác and Gödöllő

Less than an hour away fit loose mornings or quiet days: Szentendre, with its Baroque old town, 30 minutes away; Vác and Nagymaros, with the 18th-century mummies and the ferry opposite Visegrád, and Gödöllő, Sisi's palace, 35; Tata and its springs, and the Danube Bend by car, with Szentendre, Visegrád Citadel and Esztergom on the same day, 55.

Between one and two hours is the full day: Esztergom by train, with the basilica and the bridge to Slovakia, 60 minutes; the Palóc village of Hollókő, a World Heritage Site, 95; the weekend between Balaton and Hévíz, 105, and Eger, 110.

From two hours onwards the journey shows: Keszthely and the Festetics Palace, 130 minutes, still fits in a long day with a bath in Hévíz in the afternoon; Pécs, 145, calls for two nights, with the Roman necropolis, the Ottoman mosques and the Zsolnay Quarter.

Hot water in Hévíz and at the Eger baths

In winter, hot water: Hévíz thermal lake is open all year, the Eger baths combine with the castle and, from October to January, Gödöllő lights up its light garden at dusk. In spring, from April to June, Pécs and Hollókő can be seen without the heat, and the Danube Bend and Tata fill up at weekends. In summer Balaton rules, with Tihany, the ferry and the lavender in late June. In autumn, the Eger grape harvest and the cellars of the Valley of the Beautiful Woman.

Eger Castle in the morning and the baths in the afternoon

• Without a car, in a day: Eger, castle, minaret and thermal bath. Two hours by train from Keleti, the 1552 castle in the morning and the baths in the afternoon.
• With one night: Eger with cellars and Turkish bath. The same town without the train back: the afternoon in the cellars and the bath the next morning.
• By car: the Danube Bend on road 11, with lunch in Esztergom and back in Budapest around half past six.