Spring, April to June
The best of the year. Mild, the terraces open, the trees on Andrássy and Margaret Island come out, and the crowds have not yet arrived. Late May and June are close to ideal.
Summer, July and August
Hot — genuinely hot, regularly over 30°C, and the city is built of stone and holds it. Castle Hill in the afternoon is punishing. This is peak season for prices and queues, but also when the outdoor programme is at its fullest: open-air cinema, concerts on Margaret Island, and Sziget, the enormous music festival on Óbuda Island in August, which fills the city for a week.
If you come in summer, do the hills early and the baths late.
Autumn, September and October
The other sweet spot. September is warm without the heat, prices drop, and the light is good. October brings the wine harvest, the Budapest Wine Festival in the castle grounds, and 23 October, the national holiday marking 1956, with ceremonies and a fair amount of political feeling.
Winter, November to March
Cold, often grey, sometimes snowy, and much the cheapest time to come. Two things make it worthwhile.
The first is the baths. The outdoor pools at Széchenyi in the steam and the snow are the single best winter experience in the city, and the indoor complexes are far less crowded than in August.
The second is the Christmas markets, from mid-November to New Year, on Vörösmarty tér and around St Stephen’s Basilica, the latter with a light show projected onto the church and a small ice rink. They are better than most in the region and less overwhelming than Vienna’s.
The ice rink in the City Park, on the boating lake in front of Vajdahunyad Castle, runs from about late November and is one of the largest outdoor rinks in Europe.
January and February are the quietest and cheapest months, and the ones to choose if crowds are what you are avoiding.
Dates worth knowing
15 March — the 1848 revolution, national holiday, ceremonies at the National Museum. 20 August — St Stephen’s Day, the biggest day in the calendar, with a procession of the Holy Right and fireworks over the Danube in the evening. The city is full. 23 October — the 1956 anniversary and the declaration of the Republic in 1989.
Museums close on some public holidays and most close on Mondays year-round, which catches people out more often than the weather does.