Best Budapest Boat Tours
One of Budapest’s most popular offerings, Danube River boat tours are not in short supply. There are loads of these boat tours, most of which last around an hour, and start from early afternoon and continue into the evening. Booking in advance is very strongly recommended: a day or two in advance at the minimum for sunset tours or fancy evening cruises. But with so much to choose from, you will need a handy guide to tell you what’s out there.
And that’s exactly what you will find here.
There are just so many different boat tours, companies, scheduled starting times, durations, and the most important distinction: ticket price. Here, you can learn more about what you get with each of the top-rated Danube River boat tours, and there are a few quirky additions such as historical boats or alternate routes to spice things up.
Introducing the Tour Operators
Before heading onto those critical details and interesting add-ons, it is important to know just whose boat you are boarding. There are several major boat tour providers in Budapest; the following are the biggest.
- Mahart PassNave (1994): Arguably the biggest in Budapest, it offers everything from 2-deck sightseeing ships to large charter boats. Mahart also hosts many add-on cruises in combo packages with bus tours and other tours
- Silverline (2011): Focuses on sightseeing; the Silverline (and its sub-brand Purpeliner) ships are easily distinguished by their purple highlights. This operator focuses on high-end sightseeing cruises
- Legenda (1990): The standout ships are its panoramic, glass-roofed boats that are used in basic boat trips but also for Danube Dinner experiences and similar themed events
- Hungária (1995): A golden oldie, Hungária mostly specialises in restaurant and event cruises, but it also has sightseeing trips. It has modern and historic ships, including the two-deck Gróf Széchenyi paddle-wheel boat
- Portum Lines (2012): An indie boat company that does dinner and drinks cruises but also private boat hire. Its fleet has mostly smaller or medium-sized passenger vehicles
- Duna Cruises (2019): A newer company with a focus on historic and chic modern boats. Its two main ships are the paddle-steamers Kisfaludy and Hableány
All of these are established boat tour companies, and while there are a few more out there, these are the ones whose Danube River tours you will come across the most.
Picking between the two really depends on how you prefer to travel. A coach tour runs on a fixed schedule, with a local live guide who talks you through what you are seeing. You travel with closed, same-language or bilingual groups, which many visitors find more comfortable because you have some common ground to socialise with your fellow adventurers.
Hop-on hop-off is a more flexible type of tour, and your ticket can last anywhere from 1 to 3 days, so you can keep using the services even after you have done an entire loop. This flexibility also helps you cram in more activities – you could get Parliament tour or river cruise tickets, and use the hop-on bus tour to get to these places.
Comparing Boat Tours
A good starting place is to compare prices, duration, schedules and then what kinds of optional extras each tour throws into the mix. For clarity’s sake, the boat tours are named by provider.
| Boat Tour | Price | Duration | Schedule | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpleliner Parliament Panorama Cruise | ~4,500 to ~5,500 HUF | 60 minutes | Every 45 minutes from 16:45 to 22:00 | No extras |
| Portum Lines Highlights | ~5,500 to ~6,500 HUF | 60 minutes | Every 75 minutes from 18:15 to 22:00 | Welcome drink |
| Purpleliner City Sightseeing Tour | ~4,500 to ~5,500 HUF | 60 minutes | Every 45 minutes from 15:30 to 22:00 | No extras |
| Mahart Night Cruise with Drink | ~7,000 to 7,500 HUF | 50 minutes | Every 30-40 minutes, varying starting time (~17:00 to 21:30) | Welcome drink, optional Buda/Pest starting points |
| Hungária Evening Cruise with Drink Options | ~4,000 to 8,500 HUF | 50 or 90 minutes | 19:00 (Gróf Széchenyi), every hour from 16:00 to 21:00 (Bakony) | Welcome drink options |
| Duna Cruises Kisfaludy | ~4,000 to 11,500 HUF | 60 minutes | Every 90 minutes from 13:00 to 22:00 | Welcome drink |
| Legenda Day Cruise | ~7,500 HUF | 70 minutes | Every 45 minutes from 10:15 to 17:00 | Welcome drink and Margaret Island guided walk |
| Legenda Evening Cruise with Drink | ~9,000 HUF | 60 minutes | Every 20 minutes from 17:40 to 22:00 | Welcome drink |
| Mahart Hop On with Drink | ~5,000 HUF | 1 day | 13:15, 14:30, 15:45 | Welcome drink |
Best Boat Tours
With the base information covered, below you can find out more about the highlighted Danube River boat tours.
Purpleliner Parliament Panorama Tour
A no-nonsense boat tour by Silverline’s sub-brand, Purpleliner, this tour lasts a standard hour, runs continuously, and starts from the Buda side opposite the Danube. It is well-priced, offers good service, and has a flexible schedule that fits into your plans.
- Availability: Every 45 minutes from 16:45 to 22:00
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Starting points: 1011, Budapest Batthyány Square Dock 1/b
- Ticket prices: ~4,000 HUF to 5,500 HUF depending on starting time
- Extras: None
- Provider: Purpleliner (Silverline)
- Guide: Live guide
Purpleliner’s Parliament Panorama Tour runs like clockwork and takes you for the full hour up and down the Danube River. The start, midway and ending points are all in front of the Parliament, hence the name. This is one of the best budget river tours out there, but that also means it tends to get crowded. Also, while there is an upper deck on the Purple boat, it is small, and covers a little space at the back of the boat. Book in advance and arrive a good 30 minutes early to the dock if you want to secure window seats or side seats on the upper deck.
You can download a 15-language audio guide to listen to on this tour, but they also have live guides on selected scheduled trips. Just be warned, when the boat is packed it can be hard to hear the guide over the noise. The boats are Silverline’s classic two-deck, purple-highlighted catamarans. It is quite spacious on the lower deck, with comfortable modern seats, but if the boat crowds up then you may have to stand – so it is worth lining up early. The good news is that the tours run so regularly that a good 30 minutes should do.
Portum Lines Highlights Cruise
A tour that puts a drink in your hand and cruises from sunset to evening, this is one of the best value Danube River tours out there. Portum Lines, a smaller provider, has created something with this tour that even locals can enjoy with this excellent cruise, and it sells out very quickly.
- Availability: 18:15, 19:30, 20:45, 20:00
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Starting point: 1138, Budapest, Újlipótváros, Dock 42
- Ticket prices: ~5,500 HUF to 6,500 HUF weekday/weekend
- Extras: Welcome drink
- Provider: Portum Lines
- Guide: None
There are a few drawbacks to this tour. Portum Lines uses its smaller boats, there is no guide, not all seating is comfortable, and spaces can run out. Also, instead of starting where most tours do, Portum Lines starts this tour up in the 13th district. This falls outside most touristy areas, and we do recommend standing in line earlier to secure a good spot, so there are some drawbacks to this tour.
Though you can’t really ask too much of this highly affordable service. It is still a best seller, something remarkable for the relatively smaller Portum Lines. If you don’t mind the awkward starting point, smaller boat, and lack of guides, then you can enjoy a killer sunset boat tour for a fraction of the going rate.
Mahart Night Cruise with Welcome Drink
Rolling out the red carpet, Mahart PassNave is Hungary’s biggest boat operator and this is their standard sightseeing with a drink passage. Choose between starting from Buda or Pest, and enjoy your drinks aboard the Moszkva-class boats.
- Availability (Buda): 18:10, 19:20, 20:30
- Availability (Pest): Every 30-40 minutes from 18:00 to 21:30
- Duration: 50 minutes
- Starting point (Buda): 1011, Budapest, Batthyány Square 1
- Starting point (Pest): 1051, Budapest, Vigadó Square 5
- Ticket prices: ~7,000 HUF to 7,500 HUF depending on starting time
- Extras: Welcome drink
- Provider: Mahart Cruises
- Guide: 6 language audio guide
This is a classic tour that starts from the centre of Budapest, either on the Buda or Pest side. It takes you past all the key landmarks on a standard tour route, going down to Petőfi Bridge and as far up as Margaret Bridge, and you can either sit up on the outdoor rooftop deck or in the indoor lower deck. There are smoking areas, you get a glass of Törley Prosecco, though you can always swap it for a non-alcoholic drink.
Service is reliable, and while these are not the most modern boats out there, nor are they historical ones, they are big and spacious. If you want to start from the Buda side, check the itinerary, as the tours generally go from Friday to Sunday, and only 3 times per day. Audio guides are offered via a scannable QR code onboard, and there are 6 language settings.
Purpleliner City Sightseeing Cruise
This Purpleliner cruise is basically the Pest-starting version of the Parliament Panorama Cruise. It is budget-friendly, starts relatively early at 15:30, and service reliably runs until 22:00.
- Availability: Every 45 minutes from 15:30 to 22:00
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Ticket prices: ~24,000 HUF
- Starting points: 1052, Budapest, Jane Haining Rakpart Dock 11
- Ticket prices: ~4,500 HUF to 5,500 HUF depending on starting time
- Extras: None
- Provider: Purpleliner (Silverline)
- Guide: Live guide
This is basically the Pest-side starting version of the Purpleliner Parliament Panorama Tour. It takes you past all the main sights, gives you the full 60 minutes, and has both a live guide on selected trips and an audio guide that you can download on your smartphone and listen to. Cruising on Silverline’s classic purple catamarans, you can sit upstairs on the rooftop deck or take a seat down in the spacious indoor lower deck.
Just like with the Purpleliner, however, this is a quick-selling tour. It is worth both booking in advance, and also you should head to the starting point near Vigadó Square nice and early, especially if you pick peak times around sunset. The tour does have extra slots around this time – you have up to 6 time slots between 17:45 and 20:00, but this can vary by day. So book in advance, and if you desperately want window or key rooftop seats, arrive a good 30+ minutes early.
Hungária Evening Cruise with Drink Options
There are 2 boat tours to pick from here, and for either you can get the standard 1 drink or upgrade to 2 cocktails. Hungária gives you the choice between the 1940 pre-war paddle steamer Gróf Széchenyi and the renovated 1960s Bakony motor cruise. The latter takes you round in the standard 50 minutes, whereas the paddle steamer takes a good 1.5+ hours.
- Availability: 19:00 (Gróf Széchenyi), every hour from 16:00 to 21:00 (Bakony)
- Duration: 50 (Bakony) or 90 minutes (Gróf Széchenyi)
- Starting point: 1051, Budapest, Antall József Rakpart Akadémia Pontoon 2
- Ticket prices: ~4,000 HUF to 8,500 HUF depending on starting time
- Extras: Drink Options
- Provider: Hungária Koncert Ltd
- Guide: 30 language audio guide
The Bakony is the obvious choice if you are looking for a straightforward boat tour, and they start on the hour from 16:00 to 21:00. Created in 1968, it has a spacious indoor lower deck, and a panorama terrace up top that is a lot wider than Mahart’s or Silverline’s boats. This is a treat in itself, and you can pick between the 1 Prosecco offer, or upgrade to 2 cocktails/3 beers. Cocktails include Aperol Spritz, Gin and Tonic, Limoncello Spritz, Lillet Spritz, and Mimosas.
The other option is the Gróf Széchenyi boat, a two-deck paddle steamer with pre-war interiors. Think stained glass ceilings, opulent bronze chandeliers, wood panelling and teak decks, it really is one of a kind. It is also the cheaper of the two boat tours, but there are some drawbacks. The Gróf Széchenyi takes nearly double the amount of time that Bakony takes to make the same circuit, and it only sets off once a day, at 19:00. Still, if you can plan around it, this is some great value for money on the Danube River, and you have more than enough time to soak up the atmosphere.
Duna Cruises Historical Cruise Kisfaludy
On the subject of nostalgia, the Duna Cruises’ Kisfaludy offers you a taste of how people travelled up and down the Duna back in the mid 19th century. This is a replica of an 1846 ship that sailed in Balaton and was launched by the Count István Széchenyi himself.
- Availability: Every 90 minutes from 13:00 to 22:00
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Starting point: 1052, Budapest, Jane Haining Rakpart 10. Dock 10
- Ticket prices: ~4,000 HUF to ~12,500 HUF depending on starting time
- Extras: Welcome drink
- Provider: Duna Cruises
- Guide: 29 language audio guide
While this may be a replica of a ship that originally set sail in 1846, it doesn’t run purely on steam. It is propelled by a hybrid engine, meaning you get the same feeling as a steam engine, but not steam engine speed (which would extend the duration of the tour quite a bit – not that that matters). The ship is smaller than most, only seating around 80 people, but it is cosy, has vintage charm but with modern materials, and a good selection of drinks.
You get a premium Tokaj Frizzante or an orange juice as a free welcome drink, and there is a bar on board where you can buy more drinks. The ship has a fully heated deck during winter, a QR code audio guide in 30 languages, and free Wi-Fi on board. All in all, this is a pretty charming way to enjoy the Danube, but be careful to check time slots as the price jumps significantly for the slotted times around sunset.
Legenda Daytime Boat Cruise
Legenda ups the ante by giving you an extended 70 minute cruise, which does a full loop around Margaret Island. You will ride in Legenda’s featured glass-roof Duna Bella, with a welcome drink of your choice, and there is a stop at Margaret Island, where you can hop off and join a free 30 minute live guided walk, before jumping onto the following boat to complete the loop and finish the tour.
- Availability: Every 45 minutes from 10:15 to 17:00
- Duration: 70 minutes
- Starting point: 1052, Budapest, Jane Haining Rakpart 7
- Ticket prices: ~7,500 HUF
- Extras: Welcome drink + 30 minute live walking tour (Margaret Island)
- Provider: Legenda Kft
- Guide: 30 language audio guide
You get to board one of Legenda’s Duna Bella, with a small panoramic upper deck, and a lower deck that has glass roofs along its sides. Upon entry, you get two welcome drinks, one is a choice between wine, beer, sparkling wine or a soft drink, the other is either a classic Duna Bella lemonade or a tea. Onto the main draws, this trip goes down South past the Liberty Bridge before making a turn, heading up to Margaret Island, and then proceeding to do a full circle around the Island.
Near the middle of its circle around the Island, facing the Buda side, it does a brief stop. There, you can jump off the boat and join a free live guided tour of the Island. This tour is done in English and Spanish. Then, you can head back to the drop off point and jump on the Duna Bella’s next trip. It is also one of the few tours to start early, with the first tours starting at 10:15 in the morning.
Legenda Evening Cruise with Drink
The Danube Legend is Legenda’s nigthtime sightseeing boat, and this is when those curved glass roofs really become handy. The tours start every 20 minutes, they do full 1 hour loops of the Danube, and you get premium comfort in the modern Legenda fleet.
- Availability: Every 20 minutes from 18:00 to 22:00
- Duration: 60 hour
- Starting point: 1052, Budapest, Jane Haining Rakpart 7
- Ticket prices: ~9,000 HUF
- Extras: Welcome drink
- Provider: Legenda Kft
- Guide: 30 language audio guide
During sunset and early evening, other tours tend to throw in an extra slot per hour to stay competitive, but Legenda keeps a very consistent schedule. The 20 minute regimen is reliable and efficient, and even then you may find that tickets completely vanish on the day you would go. So booking ahead is optimal. There are plenty of seats to take up, even if you sit inside you can get a panoramic view of the Danube embankment.
And that is one of the main draws of this tour. Indoor space at night that doesn’t feel boxed in. So during seasons when the Danube can get cold at night, this is the obvious choice for comfort. It is popular for good reason, and always a strong option if you don’t want to brave colder breezes but still want the full views.
Mahart Hop On Cruise with Drink
The only hop-on boat tour in Budapest, this is a fun little tour that connects Pest to Buda to Margaret Island. Mahart gives you a welcome drink when you board the ship, and then you can use your ticket for the full day, jumping off and back on at the designated stops.
- Availability: 13:15, 14:30, 15:45 (and 17:00 in season)
- Duration: 65 minutes circuit, full day ticket
- Starting point: 1052, Budapest, Vigadó Square Dock 5/A
- Ticket prices: ~5,000 HUF
- Extras: Welcome drink
- Provider: Legenda Kft
- Provider: Mahart Cruises
- Guide: 6 language audio guide
A hop-on hop-off boat cruise is a handy way to explore the city and extend your river cruise with stops in between. But there are some strict limitations. For one, there are only 3 tours during the day (4 in season), and this boat tour only does 3 stops. The start/finish point at Vigadó, a Buda stop at Batthyány and a stop at Margaret Island. It doesn’t travel nearly as far as some of the other tours on this list either.
That being said, this is a great way to get in some exploration of Buda and of Margaret Island from Pest, and connect those dots on the river instead of by bus or any other mode of transport. The boat cruise is highly rated, and tickets for this tour sell out quite quickly.