In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Our judgement, not a ranking: pick Prague for a first visit of two to three days on foot, with a Castle, an Old Town and a river that need little booking, and for beer halls. Pick Budapest for thermal baths, a big night out in the ruin bars and a city spread across both banks of the Danube, and book the Hungarian Parliament before you fly. Prague uses the koruna (CZK) and Budapest the forint (HUF), not the euro. On cost the two are close: Eurostat’s 2024 price level for restaurants and hotels is 74.1 in Czechia and 71.8 in Hungary (EU27 = 100). Or book a tour: a guided walk covers the main sights in one booking, from 1,271 CZK for the Prague Castle tour with entry and 12,857 HUF for Budapest’s three-hour orientation walk.
⚠️ Book Budapest’s Parliament, not Prague’s Castle. Advance tickets for the Hungarian Parliament are sold online only, and visitors from outside the EEA, including the UK, US, Canada and Australia, pay 14,000 HUF. Nothing in Prague needs booking ahead except the Clementinum, whose e-tickets are released every Monday for the following two weeks. Closed days to plan around: the Prague Jewish Museum and Budapest’s Dohány Street Synagogue are shut on Saturdays, and the House of Terror in Budapest on Mondays.
Prague and Budapest side by side
Prices are the operators’ adult rates, in each city’s own currency. Each row links to the city’s own guide for the detail.
| Prague | Budapest | |
|---|---|---|
| Main sights and entry prices | Prague Castle Main circuit 450 CZK, valid two days; Jewish Museum 600 CZK; Old Town Hall 350 CZK, plus 100 CZK for the lift; Clementinum 380 CZK | Parliament 14,000 HUF for non-EEA visitors; National Gallery 5,800 HUF; Basilica 2,600 HUF for the church; House of Terror 4,000 HUF; Dohány Street Synagogue 9,000 HUF |
| Public transport | No tap-in card: 90 minutes 46 CZK in the PID Lítačka app (50 CZK on paper), 24 hours 140 CZK, 72 hours 340 CZK. One ticket covers metro, tram, bus and ferry. The metro stops at about midnight | Single ticket 500 HUF, 90 minutes 850 HUF, 24 hours 2,750 HUF, 72 hours 5,750 HUF. Contactless works on the metro and the 100E only. The metro stops for the night; tram 6 and the night buses run all night |
| Tourist tax | 50 CZK per person per night; under-18s exempt | 4% of the room rate in most central districts; under-18s exempt; the rate varies by district |
| Airport to the centre | Trolleybus 59 and metro A, about 35 minutes, on one 90-minute ticket; the Airport Express bus to the main station is 200 CZK | Bus 100E to Deák Ferenc tér, 40 minutes, on its own 2,500 HUF ticket; or bus 200E and metro M3 on an ordinary 850 HUF ticket |
| How many days | Our judgement: two to three; the three-day plan is Castle, Old Town, Jewish Quarter and Kutná Hora or the beer experience | Our judgement: three; the three-day plan is Pest, then Buda with a bath, then Andrássy út |
| Thermal baths | The bath product is the beer spa: warm water with brewer’s yeast and hops, and beer on tap, from 1,932 CZK for an hour | Széchenyi from 13,200 HUF on a weekday; Rudas 12,000 HUF, Lukács 7,000 HUF, Dandár 3,500 HUF. Gellért is closed until a planned reopening in 2028. All the baths compared |
| Nightlife | Beer halls and pubs; organised night pub crawls are banned; no night metro | Ruin bars in District VII; Instant-Fogas daily 18:00 to 06:00, free entry; crawls from 735 to 1,472 HUF with free shots |
| Best season | Highs of 24.4 to 26.5°C from June to August; June is the wettest month at 68.6 mm | Highs of 26.6 to 28.6°C from June to August; June is the wettest month at 60.0 mm; Sziget runs 10 to 14 August 2027 |
| Price level, restaurants and hotels | Czechia 74.1 | Hungary 71.8 |
The price level is Eurostat’s for 2024, with the EU27 average at 100, so both countries sit about a quarter below it. It is a country figure and covers restaurants and accommodation together. December has 8 hours of daylight in both cities.
Book a tour instead
A guided walk puts a guide and the booking in one purchase, and a day trip adds the transport. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult, in each city’s currency.
| City | From | Tour |
|---|---|---|
| Prague | 1,271 CZK | Castle tour with a local guide and entry ticketad, 2½ hours |
| Prague | 1,614 CZK | Jewish Quarter walking tour with admissionad, 2½ hours |
| Prague | 1,687 CZK | Kutná Hora tour with the Bone Chapelad: train both ways and the entries, with the ossuary slot booked for you |
| Prague | 521 CZK | Pilsner Urquell Experiencead: a beer museum and two beers; the door price is 579 CZK |
| Budapest | 12,857 HUF | 3-hour orientation walking tour of Buda and Pestad: four public transport tickets, no admissions |
| Budapest | 15,792 HUF | Parliament entry ticket with audio guidead; the operator’s own ticket is 14,000 HUF for non-EEA visitors, without the audio guide |
| Budapest | 9,110 HUF | Unlimited Prosecco, beer, Aperol and Limoncello spritz cruisead |
| Budapest | 31,224 HUF | Danube Bend day tripad: 9 hours with lunch, three towns on one booking |
Which city for whom
Each pick below is our judgement, built on the figures in the table.
First-timers: Prague, unless baths are the point
Prague fits a first visit of two to three days. The Castle at 9:00, Charles Bridge, the Old Town Hall for the clock on the hour and the Jewish Quarter are a walk apart, and the one-day plan books nothing ahead except the Clementinum. Budapest asks more of a first visit: the Parliament to book, the Buda Castle funicular that does not run on Mondays of odd-numbered weeks, and a river that separates the sights. If a thermal bath is why you are going, choose Budapest and read the baths compared first.
Széchenyi Baths, Budapest. Photo: Guillaume Baviere, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Couples: Budapest for the evening, Prague for the walk
Budapest has the evenings: Rudas runs night bathing on Fridays and Saturdays, sold online only, Széchenyi is open to 22:00 on Fridays, and the Danube cruises include dinner boats at 36,367 to 40,407 HUF on GetYourGuide. Prague’s evening is on the water or in a hall: Vltava cruises run about 300 to 550 CZK for an hour, the jazz boat is 1,198 CZK, and classical concerts are held in the Castle and Old Town. A weekend that is mostly walking cobbled streets suits Prague; one built around a bath and a late dinner suits Budapest.
Groups: Budapest for one big night, Prague for beer
Budapest has a crawl a group can book: ruin-bar crawls are listed from 735 to 1,472 HUF with a guide, queue-skipping entry and free shots, and Instant-Fogas has free entry. A late-licence bar in District VII must stop guests taking drinks into the street, so finish the drink before you leave. Prague has banned organised night pub crawls since October 2024, so a group books a bar-by-bar night itself: the Pilsner Urquell Experience is 579 CZK at the door, and a beer spa is from 1,932 CZK. There is no night metro in Prague, and the metro stops at about midnight.
Families: Prague, or Budapest with Palatinus
Prague is easier with children. The Petřín funicular is 100 CZK a ride and free with a 24-hour or 72-hour ticket, the tower with the Mirror Maze is 300 CZK, and the tower has a family ticket at 500 CZK. Budapest’s four big baths, Széchenyi, Rudas, Lukács and Dandár, admit no one under 14, so a family that wants a bath goes to Palatinus on Margaret Island, where a child’s ticket for ages 3 to 14 is 2,500 HUF on weekdays and a family ticket for three is 7,600 HUF. Neither city charges its tourist tax for under-18s.
A tight budget: close, and decided by the room
Eurostat’s price level is 2.3 points lower for Hungary, which is not a margin to plan on. What moves the bill is smaller. Prague’s tourist tax is a flat 50 CZK a night, while Budapest’s 4% grows with the room rate. Both airports have a route on an ordinary ticket, the 90-minute ticket in Prague at 50 CZK and the 200E bus with metro M3 in Budapest at 850 HUF, and both have a dearer express. Free entries differ: Vyšehrad in Prague is free all year, and Castle Hill in Budapest is free, with the Fisherman’s Bastion terrace at 1,700 HUF. Budapest’s cheapest bath is Dandár at 3,500 HUF on a weekday. Our judgement: choose on the dates and the flights, not the prices on the ground.
Prague or Budapest for Christmas
Budapest’s markets, at Vörösmarty Square and St Stephen’s Basilica, are free and open on 13 November 2026; the Basilica market runs to 1 January 2027 and Vörösmarty Square to 31 December. Prague’s two big markets, on Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square, open on 28 November and run to 6 January 2027, daily 10:00 to 22:00. Both Budapest markets close at 14:00 or 15:00 on 24 December, and Prague’s 2026 Christmas Eve hours are not published. Our judgement: Budapest for a November trip, Prague for the days after New Year. Prague’s Christmas markets, Budapest’s Christmas markets and the Christmas market cities compared have the hours.
Day trips and where to stay
The easy day trip from Prague is Kutná Hora, a 51 to 56 minute train, and from Budapest Szentendre or Gödöllő, each a suburban train of 39 minutes or less. The full lists are day trips from Prague and day trips from Budapest.
For a first visit, stay in Prague’s Old Town (see where to stay in Prague) or in Budapest’s Belváros-Lipótváros on the Pest riverside, where the airport bus ends (where to stay in Budapest). For what to book in each, see Prague and Budapest; for an evening plan and a table to book in each city as a couple, see romantic city breaks for couples; for a budget across eight cities, see cheap city breaks in Europe; for the weather month by month, see where to go each month.
Common questions
Is Prague or Budapest better for a first city break?
Our judgement: Prague for a first visit of two to three days on foot, because the Castle, the Old Town and the river sit close together and only the Clementinum needs booking ahead. Budapest for a first visit built on thermal baths and the ruin bars, with the Hungarian Parliament to book before you go.
Is Prague or Budapest cheaper?
They are close. Eurostat's 2024 price level for restaurants and hotels, with the EU27 average at 100, is 74.1 for Czechia and 71.8 for Hungary. It is a figure for each country, not for the capital. Prague's tourist tax is a flat 50 CZK per person per night; Budapest's is 4% of the room rate in most central districts.
Is Prague or Budapest better for nightlife?
Budapest for a big night out: the ruin bars of District VII, where Instant-Fogas is open daily from 18:00 to 06:00 with free entry. Prague for beer halls and pubs; its organised night pub crawls have been banned since October 2024, so a group goes from bar to bar on its own.
How many days do you need in Prague and in Budapest?
Our judgement: two to three days in Prague, and three in Budapest, which fits Pest, Buda with a bath, and Andrássy út. Each city has a three-day plan on this site and a one-day plan for a short stop.
Prague or Budapest for Christmas?
Budapest's markets open on 13 November 2026 and run to 1 January 2027, and Prague's run from 28 November to 6 January 2027. Before 28 November Budapest has the big markets open, and Prague only its smaller one at Náměstí Míru, from 20 November; from 2 to 6 January only Prague's are open. Both Budapest markets are free.
.jpeg){kind=link}