What to do with kids in Budapest?

Budapest with kids

Many people think that Budapest is only famous for partying and drinking.

This is definitely true, but not many know that,Budapest has developed into a kid park city.

Hence,it makes it a perfect place to visit with the family and kids in 2024.

In the last two years, majority of children parks in Budapest have been renovated with varieties of attractions that will keep you kids busy.
Here are some of those.

Skate park in city center at Elizabeth Square (Erzsebet ter)

Erzsebet Skate park has been operating since 2019.

If you are traveling to Budapest with kids, you should definitely visit it.

It is walking distance from Deak Ferenc ter.

Skating in the Erzsebet park is free of Charge as of 2024.

There is no renting facility for skates, hence, you can only watch others if you do not bring your own.

You will find lots of skaters training and exploring new techniques with their skates.

The location is 1051 Budapest Erzsebet Square.

Boraros Ter Skate Park Under Petofi Bridge Budapest

There is a great Skate park located under the Petofi Bridge (Red color Bridge).

The located is a bit off the main Budapest city but still a good place to visit for free with children.

You will see kids of all age with their skates,rollers and bikes teasing around in the skate park.

Entry to Boraros ter skate park is also free.

There is no renting facility and you should bring your own skates.

Other attractions near Boraros ter skating park are Nehru Park and Balna (Whale).

The location is 1097 Budapest, Boraros Ter.

Erzsebet children park in Budapest city center

If you are traveling to Budapest with kids 2 to 10 years old in 2024.

You can enter for free to Erzsebet Children park, which is located closer to the Erzsebet skate park.

There are swings, slides, climbing ropes and a huge xylophone.

There is an option to play with sand but you should have your sand toys.

Few benches are also available in the park for sitting.

The Erzsebet children park is surrounded by boundaries, and entry exit is only possible with doors along the fence.

Playing around Vorosmarthy square in Budapest

Vorosmarthy square is the central area of Budapest for restaurants, apparel and souvenir shopping.

There are statues right in the middle which appear to be a great attraction for kids to run around.

In 2024, the area around the statues has grass and hard tiles on the floor, where children love to run around.

Right next to the statues’ monument, there is a fountain with 4 lions.

In winter times, the fountain is not operational but still children can go and run in circles around the fountain.

St Stephen Basilica with Kids in Budapest

One of the biggest and beautiful churches of Hungary,St.Stephen’s Basilica is located 10 mins walk from Deak Ferenc ter.

The main requirements of church is to have proper dressing and keep science inside.

You can visit the basilica with children who are not going to cry and make less noise.

If the kids are mature enough to stay quiet, they will love to see the great artistic work and beauty of Basilica.

Although for adults, entry is 200 HUF, kids can enter free.

At Basilica, you can go to the Bell tower, however, you need to pay a fee of 1000 HUF for adults.

The area in front of the Basilica is also a nice place to sit all around the year.

It is not allowed to bring cycles, Scotties or cars in front of the Basilica.

After coming out of the Basilica, parents can bring drinks, coffee, ice cream or tea from the nearby shops and sit on the Basilica chairs.

The area in front of the Basilica is a pleasant place for kids to run around.

Children will love to run in circles based upon the floor tiles design, which are beautifully designed.

If you happen to visit Budapest during Christmastime, the Basilica is a must-visit in the evening with kids.
There are two main reasons. One is that there is a night light show when they play moving graphics with projectors on the walls of the Basilica.

The light show is free to watch and kids will love to see the show in the winter nights.

In addition, the St. Stephen square is turned into a huge Christmas market in December.
The Christmas market has many temporary shops for sweets, drinks, desserts, cakes and toy shops for kids.
Kids will love to enjoy the decorated Christmas tree and the lighting at the Saint Stephen Basilica.
Entry to the Christmas market is also free. However, at peak covid times, you need to show your vaccination card.

Visiting Great Market Hall Budapest with kids

Great Market Hall is a great place for tourists to visit for free with children in Budapest.

It is a huge hall with shops of vegetables, fruits, dairy products, fresh meat.

The hall has a unique artistic style with colorful shops for souvenirs.

You may buy Rubic cube, children t-shirts and Hungarian wooden toys.

Kids would love to eat the variety of street food in the food court of Great Market Hall.

Great market hall is quite crowded most of the time.

If you are traveling with 2 to 3 years old kids,its better not leave them running around.

For going to first floor of Market hall, you can use the escalators, while there is no lift.

It is located near Fovam Ter.

Margaret island Budapest visit with Kids

Margaret island is an eye shaped island between Buda and Pest

It is a nice attraction if you are travelling to Budapest with kids.

Entry to Margaret island is free for adults and kids.

The main attractions in Margaret island in summer are the fountain shows which are happening at the sunset.

The fountain is 10 mins walk if you are entering from Margaret bridge.

It’s free to see the fountain show at Margaret island, which starts in the evening at sunset (8 30 – 9 00 pm) in summers.

Good thing is that there are lots of benches for visitors to sit.

Despite so many benches, it is still better to arrive 20 mins before the fountain show to find seating places for you and kids.

Walking from one end (Margaret Bridge )to the other end of Margaret island (Arpad Bridge) take round 35-40 minutes.

7 mins walk from the mountain is a children playing park, which has been recently renovated.

There is also a mini zoo if you are walking from Margaret bridge towards the Arpad bridge, which is located on the eastern side.

Moving further, you will find Rose Garden which is a beautiful place to sit and relax with flower beds
and shaded trees.


Once you reach near the Arpad bridge, you will find the Japanese Garden which is a small peaceful place to sit round with a pond nearby.

Walking on chain bridge with kids

Any visit to Budapest is incomplete without exploring the Danube bank.

Even if you are traveling with kids to Budapest, the kids will enjoy walking on the Chain bridge from Pest to Buda side or vice versa.

Watching the might Danube with beautiful monuments is an unforgettable experience for kids.

You can walk on chain bridge and then, from the base of Buda Castle, hike towards the Hungarian National Gallery.

The hike towards the Hungarian national gallery is tiring to some extent, but kids will love the views from the hill towards the city.

You do not need to pay to walk inside Buda Castle, however, going inside to the Hungarian Art Gallery comes with some fees.

From the Hungarian National Gallery, you can walk towards the St. Matthias Church and then towards the fisherman Bastian, which is a mesmerizing walk.

You do not need to pay to walk along any of these monuments, only if you want to go inside the Mathias Church.

Fisherman Bastian and Buda Castle have great locations to have a family picture with the whole city in the background.

Free Concerts and festivals in Budapest with family

During the summer, various parts of Budapest are decorated for various festivals.

These festivals have concerts arranged inside, which are free to visit and enjoy music.

Kids will love to dance and sing songs with the performers.

Budapest Kids Festival
Budapest Kids Festival

Alongside the concerts, there are areas for kids from 2 to 8 years of age, where they can play with toys and perform interesting activities.

These concerts and activities can be found at Andrassy Utca, Vajdahunjad Castle (near Heroes Square).

These activities are free to enter for locals as well as foreigners.

Visiting the CAT CAFE Budapest with families

One fun place where kids would love to spend some time is the CAT cafe.

It’s a café where there are cats hanging around.

You can drink coffee while cats will be resting on the next chair or table.

The cat café is so famous that you may need to wait in a queue to enter.

If you are at Basilica,its a few minutes walk away and located at Budapest, Révay u. 3, 1065.

The cat cafe is not only a fun place for kids, but the service and the products they offer are also great.

Entry is free. You can eat sweets,cakes and variety of drinks.

Roman Beach Budapest for families

At a one hour drive from Budapest, you can visit Roman Beach.

The area is located near Rozgonyi Piroska street 2..

The flow of Danube at the Roman beach is pretty optimum and has been shifted into a beach type attraction.

There are cafes,restaurants,BBQ places and a sandy beach which are operational during the summers.

Roman beach is definitely an attraction in Budapest that can be visited with kids.

However,keep in mind that it is at least a half to full day activity and may not be well suited if your stay is less than 2 days.

You do not need to pay at the Roman beach area.

City Park Budapest with kids

If you are coming with kids and family, and looking for a fun and free place in Budapest, then, City park Budapest should be on top of your list.

City park is the biggest park in Budapest, perfect for kids, couples, families, runners, and fitness fanatics.

The whole park was closed for around 2 years for renovation, and open for public since one year.

There is no entry fees or such, as you can enter from any side.

There are numerous ways how you can reach to the City park, but due to the huge size of the park, visitors may miss out some important attractions.

Budapest kids park
Budapest kids park

If you are traveling with kids (age 1 to 12), a must-visit part is the city park part called ,Városligeti Nagyjátszótér (click on the link to access the location).

It has all the fun that kids can enjoy from hiking, sliding, jumping, wall climbing, water activities and sandy portions.

Under the park, there is a paid parking lot, where visitors can park their cars.

If you are coming on a public holiday, you can park for free at designated places in some streets closer to the park.

A couple of streets which are closer to the children play area are Peterdy Utca, Debminszky Utca and Damjanich Utca.

Walking from any of these streets to the park is not more than 10 minutes.

If you are coming from the town center,e.g. Deak Ferenc ter to the children playing area in city park, you can either take the yellow underground metro, which brings you to heroes square.

From heroes square, it’s is around 1.5 KM walk to reach the children area mentioned above, or you can take a bus from heros square to reach Debminszky Utca bus station.

Other option is to take bus 74 closer to town center and drop off at Ötvenhatosok tere (István utca).