Love is most commonly associated with springtime, but buzzing hormones still swirl through our bodies in the other seasons, as well. With its balmy weather and long days, summer provides a wealth of opportunities for creative dates, and we’d like to help you sweep your significant other off their feet with some suggestions for enjoying each other’s company while experiencing Budapest’s one-of-a-kind attractions, from the Buda Hills chairlift to a Danube ferryboat excursion and much more.
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Panoramic hot tub atop Rudas Bath
If you and your date haven’t seen each other in swimwear (or underwear) yet, this activity might be better for after you’ve already been going out for a while... but once you’re familiar with each other’s skin, there’s no Budapest rendezvous destination that can compare with this one. On the rooftop of Rudas Bath, located at the base of Gellért Hill, we can enjoy a beautiful view of Budapest (or at least the part between the Liberty Bridge and Elizabeth Bridge) while soaking in hot thermal water. After dark, we recommend ordering two glasses of champagne and enjoying the high life to the fullest while admiring the passing boats and illuminated bridges.
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Standup paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarding, or SUP, is perfect for hot summer days when we want to stay close to the water but still be active. One of the local venues we recommend is Városliget Lake in City Park, just a few steps away from Heroes’ Square. The water is only about knee-deep at this local SUP spot, so the greatest injury we might acquire is a red stomach due to a hard bellyflop... but with just a little patience and skill, paddling together in this picturesque location by Vajdahunyad Castle can feel like gliding in a Venice gondola.
More details about SUP
3/14
Planetarium
Stargazing with a loved one is usually wonderful, but it can be difficult to plan ahead for this outdoor activity, as a cloudy night can interfere with your cosmic canoodling. However, at Budapest’s Planetarium, we can admire the heavens regardless of the weather, providing a dependable place to educate you and your date on astronomy (and how to make the most of the dark).
Check out the English shows of the Planetarium
4/14
Picnic on the closed Liberty Bridge
With its statuesque construction style and panoramic views, Liberty Bridge is always a romantic meeting place in the summer, but especially this year, when it is temporarily closed to traffic because of construction at one bridgehead – but meanwhile, the span remains open to the car-free citizens of Budapest, who quickly took over the structure. The bridge now acts as a one-of-a-kind venue for picnics, free of traffic, smoke, and noise. So spread a blanket, open the wine, and enjoy the panoramic sunset here while you can!
5/14
Pinball Museum
In the interactive exhibition of Budapest’s Pinball Museum, we can not only admire the vintage entertainment machines, but also play them and travel back in time with each press of the flipper buttons. Nostalgia is even sweeter when shared, and who wouldn’t want to compete for the highest score like kids after school here?
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Walking dogs at a shelter
Few people know that there is more that we can do to help animal shelters beyond providing donations – volunteer work is always welcome, as well, especially when it comes to walking restless dogs. This activity is almost always necessary there, so we don’t have to worry about the pups being disappointed for not taking them home after a nice stroll. It’s best to time shared volunteer work for the shelter’s open days, when there aren’t many temporary caretakers available for dog walking. Plus, if everything goes better than expected, you might fall in love with a little critter and expand the family.
Learn more about how you can help!
7/14
Blind Bar
People are allegedly more relaxed – if not scared – in the dark, although we obviously wouldn’t recommend dinner in Blind Bar to those who suffer from claustrophobia or panic attacks. When taking a date here, we can forget about offering compliments like “has anyone ever told you how beautiful your smile is?” Instead, we can enjoy a sense of shared achievement by successfully clinking our glasses, or sticking the drinking straw into our mouth instead of our eye.
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Ice-cream tour
Discovering the city one ice-cream parlor at a time is definitely more sweet than proposing a pub crawl, and undeniably more delicious – especially if we don’t attempt to eat a mountain of ice cream at every stop, but just a scoop at each. Recommend your favorite flavors to one another to make the experience even cooler, but be careful to avoid brain freeze!
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Bird-watching
Perhaps the best way to become lovebirds with a newfound acquaintance is to gaze together at the prettiest birds around. The perfect place for this is the romantic Merzse Marshland, lying on the outskirts of the capital’s Pest side. Walking on the six-kilometer-long path stretching from the train station of Rákoskert, we can leave behind the noise of the city and explore nature. Birds, deer, and even foxes might appear, probably jealous of your sweet date.
Read about our experience at Merzse Marshland here!
10/14
Cruising to Római Part
There are few things more romantic than a river voyage, since with a pleasant breeze, a cool drink, and the ever-changing panorama passing by, couples can enjoy moving sensations while sitting side-by-side. Share this sensation while riding Budapest’s public ferryboat to the charming hangouts of Római Part, where we recommend snacking on a quesadilla at Nap bácsi before having a few drinks on the pebbly shore in a comfy deck chair at Fellini, and it will feel like the two of you are already taking a holiday together.
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Open-air cinema
Open-air cinema is another great opportunity to take a classic date idea to the next level. At Raktár Beach and Várkert Bazaar, films are being screened in English with Hungarian subtitles, and tickets even include popcorn and a warm blanket. However, we recommend checking the weather forecast carefully before attending a film, as a sudden downpour can really ruin the romantic moviegoing mood.
Check out the schedule of Kertmozi Truck!
12/14
Skyward wind tunnel
Hidden within the industrial complex of Csepel Island, a state-of-the-art vertical wind tunnel provides guests with the chance to feel sensations of skydiving within a building. After arriving, you and your date get to dress up in a special suit, helmet, and glasses (providing a particularly unique outfit for shared selfies), before an instructor leads you through the process of simulated flying – or rather, hovering – in the wind tunnel.
13/14
BeerSpa at Széchenyi Bath
No, Budapest’s new BeerSpa isn’t the masculine version of Cleopatra’s milk bath – we don’t get to bathe in a tub full of actual beer. Instead, the wooden tubs are filled with a mix of 36°C thermal water, which is rich in minerals and infused with the natural extracts used to brew beer (malts, hops, brewer’s yeast, and barley). The effects of these ingredients are as beneficial for the skin as they are for the age-old beverage made from them, and as a bonus, we can pour and enjoy an unlimited amount of Czech beer on tap within reach from the tub, making this a particularly intoxicating date idea.
