Weekend escape to Budapest with a dog: thermal baths, the Danube and Buda vs Pest in 3 days

Before getting into the itinerary, there's a question you have to answer before you go to Budapest: Buda or Pest? The city is really two cities joined by the Danube and its bridges, and each bank has such a different character that it's worth thinking carefully about where to sleep — especially if you have a dog.

Pest, on the flat bank, is the lively side: the grand boulevards, the Parliament, most of the restaurants and cafés, and the Jewish Quarter with its ruin bars — those bars and clubs that Budapest planted in abandoned buildings and empty lots and which have become one of the city's defining features. It's the most practical base for getting around on foot and the one with the most pet-friendly accommodation.

Buda, on the other side of the river, is the hill: the Castle, cobbled quiet streets and far less noise at night. We chose an apartment in Pest, close to the riverbank, precisely because we wanted Frida to be able to go out without depending on a lift or steep slopes, and because at the end of a long day, you're glad not to have to climb the hill. tuPetate's pet-friendly accommodation filter helped us quickly rule out places that only accepted small dogs, which in Budapest are more common than you might expect.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon, dropped our bags and headed straight out so Frida could stretch her legs after the flight. The Danube promenade on the Pest bank, between the Chain Bridge and the Parliament, was our first proper look at the city and it worked beautifully: wide, flat, with benches every few metres and none of the traffic that crowds other riverside walks.

We crossed the Chain Bridge on foot at sunset, which turned out to be one of the simplest and most beautiful things we did all weekend. The bridge is open to pedestrians and dogs without any restriction, with wide pavements on both sides, and from the middle you watch the Parliament light up over the water as the sky turns orange. Frida stopped several times to sniff the railing, entirely oblivious to the fact that we were crossing one of the most photographed bridges in Europe.

We had dinner on a terrace near the apartment in Pest, where they served us without asking whether the dog could stay under the table. It was our first confirmation that Budapest, despite not having a reputation for being especially pet-friendly, is considerably more relaxed than expected — a good sign for a first night with the bags still half unpacked.

The second day was the one we were most worried about organising well, because we wanted to experience Budapest's thermal ritual without leaving Frida on her own all day. The solution we landed on was to take turns: in the morning I went to Széchenyi, the grand neo-baroque thermal complex in the Városliget, while my partner stayed with Frida and walked around the surrounding park, which has broad grassy areas alongside the lake by the Vajdahunyad Castle.

Hungarian thermal baths — Széchenyi, Gellért, Rudas — do not allow dogs, which makes complete sense given that they're shared thermal pools: it's worth knowing this in advance and arriving without any illusions on that front. What does work well is taking turns, as we did, or pairing the bathing session with a long walk through the adjacent park, which more than makes up for the wait.

In the afternoon we crossed over to Buda to climb up to the Castle. The gardens and terraces around the Fishermen's Bastion welcome dogs without any issue, and the views of Pest and the Danube from up there are some of the best in the city. Frida climbed the slope with a bit of protest halfway up, but the moment we reached the top and she felt the river breeze, all was forgiven.

For the last morning we saved the plan Frida enjoyed most of the entire trip: Margaret Island, an elongated park in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest, almost entirely free of motor traffic. It's pedestrian for the most part, with dirt paths and grass running around the whole island, fountains, and more than enough space for a high-energy dog like her to run on a long lead without bothering anyone.

We walked the island from end to end at a leisurely pace, stopped at the Japanese garden and let Frida rest in the shade of the large trees near the northern tip. It's the kind of place you don't expect to find in the centre of a European capital, and for a short break it's the perfect way to wind down the weekend before the rush of the flight home.

On the way to the airport we stopped at the Great Market Hall, next to the Liberty Bridge, to pick up some Hungarian paprika and grab a bite standing at one of the stalls on the upper floor. With a dog, it's easier to pop in for a short visit and at quieter times; on a Sunday mid-morning it was calm and Frida moved easily between the stalls without anyone minding.

For a short weekend, what worked best for us was getting around mainly on foot and dipping into the tram when our legs — not Frida's — needed a rest. Tram 2, which runs along the Pest bank of the Danube from the Parliament to the Great Market Hall, is almost a sightseeing tour in itself and accepts dogs without a muzzle or carrier as long as they're calm and on a short lead.

Budapest's metro — the oldest on the continent after London's — also allows medium and large dogs on a lead, though we preferred to avoid it during the busy morning rush hour given the volume of people. For short crossings between Pest and Buda, walking across the bridges was almost always our preferred option: they're wide, safe and the view makes any small delay worthwhile.

Hungary is a member of the European Union, so the paperwork for Frida was the same as for any trip within the EU: an implanted microchip, a European pet passport with a valid rabies vaccination recorded in it. No quarantine and no additional border formalities. It's worth checking the vaccination date well in advance of booking your flights, in case a booster is needed.

On the weather: Budapest has a pronounced continental climate, with summers that can be genuinely hot and heat up the pavement on Pest's main avenues considerably, and cold winters that often bring fog over the Danube. Spring and autumn are the kindest seasons for long walks with a dog — mild temperatures and far fewer crowds than high summer. We went in October and the light on the river in the late afternoon had that golden tone you only see at this time of year.