Day One: Budapest Tours

Coach, Segway, foot, cycle - we have all kinds of tours to show you the best of Budapest. Join a local guide on a Budapest sightseeing tour that includes a visit to the magnificent neo-Gothic Parliament House. Then see the city at street level on a city walking tour, taking in all the sights from Heroes' Square to St Stephen's Basilica and the Buda Castle district. Or see these sights on a Budapest bike tour, with a comfortable bicycle and an English-speaking tour guide included. Of course, the most unusual way to get around Budapest is on a Segway sightseeing tour, including a glide down the Grand Boulevard of Andrassy, Budapest's best shopping street. In the evening, two sightseeing hits come together on the night walking tour and river cruise. On foot and from the river, it's the best way to see Budapest brilliantly illuminated at night, from Pest's Danube Promenade to the Buda Castle district.

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Day Two: Budapest Food and Cultural Tours

To get a different perspective on Budapest, take a cultural or food tour of the city. The Hammer and Sickle Tour takes you back to the 50-year reign of communism for an insightful look at how daily life was lived under Big Brother. Or travel further back in time on a Jewish Budapest sightseeing tour, including a trip to the former middle-class Jewish District where you'll visit the world's second largest synagogue and the Jewish Museum. Bring your camera along on the Budapest Photography Tour, and see the city through the eyes of a local photographer. Then satisfy your hunger and thirst on a wine-tasting and lunch tour, including a wine cellar tour and typical Hungarian meal at a local restaurant. Stick to beer on a Budapest pub crawl or enjoy a Hungarian folklore show and dinner for a traditional night of entertainment in Budapest.

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Day Three: Day Trips from Budapest

The most popular day tour from Budapest is the Danube Bend Day Trip, a scenic full-day tour packed with highlights. You'll visit the gorgeous old towns of Visegrad, Esztergom and Szentendre, enjoy a three-course lunch and take a cruise on the River Danube. Or take a trip to the laidback resort of Lake Balaton, in a gorgeous part of Hungary. The tour also takes you to Herend, a historic hand-painted porcelain factory. Experience the beauty of the Puszta Great Plains, visiting the towns of Kecskemet and Lajosmizse. This memorable excursion into Hungary's rural heartland includes a horse and carriage ride, thrilling displays of horsemanship and a Hungarian meal at a traditional tavern accompanied by gipsy music. For a shorter half-day trip, visit the pretty museum and gallery town of Szentendre, returning to Budapest by boat.

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Danubius Grand Hotel Margitsziget

Built in the late 19th century on Margaret Island, this comfortable and tranquil hotel has all the mod cons and is connected via a heated underground corridor to a free thermal water treatments facility. Some of the 164 rooms have balconies, and Margaret Island is a sea of greenery in season.

Art'otel Budapest

This luxury "art" hotel set along the Danube in Buda wouldn't look out of place in London or New York. What makes this place unique is that it cobbles together a modern seven-story building, with views of the Castle and the Danube, and a baroque 18th-century building; they're separated by a leafy courtyard-cum-atrium. The choicest rooms are on floors 1 to 3 of the new building and some have balconies facing the Danube.

Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal

Decades in the remaking, and dating back more than a century, the revamped Hotel Royal is Budapest's most beautiful hotel. The original 1886 spa has been transformed into the Royal Spa, the double atrium entry is dominated by a massive marble staircase, and the stylish rooms have every luxury you could possibly need. Truly a legend "reborn!"

Bagolyvar

With reworked Hungarian classics that make it a winner, the "Owl's Castle" attracts the Budapest foodie cognoscenti. Staffed entirely by women - kitchen, at table, front of house - you'll find traditional dishes like veal stew with spatzle, served with a twist.

Café Pierrot

This very stylish and long-established cafe-cum-bar-cum-restaurant is one of the very few places to be recommended on Castle Hill. The decor is, well - what else? - clownish and there's live piano music every night. The food is Hungo-hybrid and good, and the staff are exceptionally friendly.

Rivalda

Rivalda is an atmospheric cafe-restaurant in an old convent next to the National Dance Theatre. With a mix of modern Hungarian favourites and more familiar international dishes, a thespian theme and a garden courtyard, it is the place to choose if you are going to splash out in the Castle district. The menu changes frequently and the wine list is among the best in town.