What is the price of a Big Mac Menu and a Whopper Menu in Budapest? [Updated in 2024]

I know this might be an offense to many tourists visiting Budapest. It is, however, a reality that many people eat fast food at Burger King and McDonald’s while in Budapest. Why is that? Because it is easy and cheaper than most other restaurants, you don’t have to wait for a long time, and you know what you get.

So, what should you expect if you visit a McDonalds’ or a Burger King in Budapest to buy a Big Mac menu, a Whopper Menu, or maybe a Happy Meal in McDonald’s’? After all, families with children often hate waiting 30 minutes for an order to be served in a restaurant that visits such places. Or maybe students who are on a budget want something quick and cheap.

Are you hungry for a Whopper menu in Burger King in Budapest?
Are you hungry for a Whopper menu at Burger King in Budapest?

The price of a Whopper Menu in Budapest (updated in 2024)

If you are a fan of Burger King and their Whopper sandwich, the price of a Whopper menu in Budapest is 2320 HUF. (appx 6 Euro). If you want two pieces of meat in your Whopper menu (making it a Dupla Whopper King Menu), the price is 2620.

Why should you eat a Whopper and not a Big Mac? It feels fresher due to the fresh vegetables, and the meat feels more like meat.

The price of the children’s meal (King Junior Meal) at Burger King is 1490 HUF.

The price of a Big Mac menu in Budapest

Would you rather go to McDonald’s? I know the taste of a Whopper feels fresher than a Big Mac, but there is something about the Big Mac taste that makes it so easy to eat that you just love eating it. I remember watching Super Size Me once, and do you know what I dreamt of as I left the cinema? A Big Mac! 🙂

If you would like to buy a Big Mac menu in Budapest, the price for a normal size menu is 2380 HUF (appx. 6 Euro). If you want a bigger menu with larger fries and a larger drink, the price is 2540 HUF.

big mac in budapest
Do you want to eat at McDonald’s while in Budapest?

The price of the happy meal at McDonald’s is 1660 HUF as of January 2024.

Do you find these prices expensive, or is it worth it? It is worth noticing that you can get much better hamburgers for the same price (or lower) in serious hamburger bars in Budapest, so it isn’t necessarily cheaper to eat at Burger King or McDonald’s, compared to other places. But, it is quicker, it often feels safer, and the kids love it.

Fun fact: There are more than 50 McDonald’s restaurants in Budapest. In addition, you can find lots of Burger King restaurants. Besides these giants, you can also find more and more KFC restaurants.

So, what kind of tourist are you? Would you ever eat at Mcdonald’s or Burger King during a trip to Budapest or some other big city worldwide? Or would you rather find something local no matter what?

Is it safe to visit Budapest and Hungary with the present situation in Ukraine?

Have you been waiting for COVID to disappear so that you could finally come to Budapest (again)? But, as you finally started to plan your trip to Budapest again, the entire conflict between Russia and Ukraine showed up and suddenly you got one more reason to worry. But, do you need to worry about the conflict if you are coming to Budapest and to Hungary?

Hungary has more than 2150km of borders and the biggest part of this is the border shared with Slovakia at a total of more than 650km. The second-largest border is shared with Romania (443km), then followed by Austria with which we share a border of 366km. But, what about Ukraine?

The smallest border part in kilometers is with Slovenia (only 102km), and then comes Ukraine with which Hungary has 133km of common border. And yes, that can be experienced these days as the number of refugees entering Hungary from Ukraine might have reached 500,000 already.

But, it is very important to understand that on the Ukrainian side of the border, there are several cities and villages in which a large part of the population speaks Hungarian. So far, these villages and cities haven’t been attacked at all, meaning that they are still doing good, even though they are a part of Ukraine.

Is it safe to visit Budapest right now?
The Fishermen’s Bastion in Budapest – Source: Pixabay

What is the situation in Hungary?

The Hungarian people have done a wonderful job taking care of the people arriving in the country from Ukraine. Locals have opened up their homes and their wallets, and the government is also working with helping refugees coming to the country. Many of the refugees travel on to elsewhere in Europe from Hungary, while some reside here, hoping to stay here until the situation has calmed down in Ukraine so that they can return to their country once again.

As a tourist in Hungary…

If you come to Hungary as a tourist, you will most likely not notice anything at all. You might hear more of the Ukrainian language than normal, but since you most likely are unable to discern the languages you don’t know, you will not know whether the people you hear speak Hungarian or Ukrainian or any other language that you don’t know.

If you think about security, then there is no need to worry at all. It is considered a negative thing in general that the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Órban has a quite close friendship with Vladimir Putin, but if you think about the security of the country, then that might actually give it a little additional piece of security (if you fear Putin attacking areas outside Ukraine).

What about COVID?

Are you still worried about COVID as well? You might need to use a face mask on the flight carrying you to Budapest and to Hungary, but there is no need to use a face mask elsewhere in Hungary (besides if you have to visit a hospital or medical facility). There are still quite a lot of COVID each and every day and there are still quite some people dying due to COVID daily. However, people mostly live their lives like before COVID and all programs are available as they would normally be.


No matter what, you can come to Hungary without any worries. Get ready for a nice river cruise on the Danube, some tasty Goulash soup, and maybe a sweet sip of some wine from Tokaj?

Enjoy Budapest while watching the Amazon Original series Hanna

Sometimes it can be cool to watch a city you love on the TV screen. Nothing can be compared to walking along the Danube in Budapest enjoying the city during daytime and nighttime, but if you cannot do so at the moment, enjoying Budapest on your TV can be very nice as well!

A few days ago, I had the chance of watching the Amazon Original TV series named Hanna. It is based on the movie from 2011 carrying the same name, and it was released earlier in 2019. The first season consists of eight episodes, and it has been recorded in several countries, including Hungary. But, as I started to watch Hanna, I knew nothing about that.

Is that Budapest or not?

During the first episode and the start of the second, I often sat with the feeling that this could have been recorded in Budapest (partly). But, I didn’t see any famous buildings, so I didn’t know anything for sure. But then, towards the end of the second episode, I suddenly lost all doubts and knew that they had to have recorded parts of the Amazon series in Hungary.

Hanna recording in Szentendre Hungary

The picture above was what made me 100% sure that they had been recording scenes to this series in Hungary. Well, it might not be Budapest, but I at once recognized the peer for the Danube cruises in Szentendre. If you haven’t been to Szentendre yet, you better try it. It is a really beautiful city worth visiting!

They are chatting with the city of Szentendre in the background.
They are chatting with the city of Szentendre in the background.

By now, I knew that they had recorded in Hungary, and it was much easier to recognize buildings and to know things for sure after this. Of course, much of the recordings take place in streets hard to know something about for sure, but in the very end of episode 2, those who have left with a plane from Ferihegy 1 in Budapest, will feel at home.

Recorded in Ferihegy 1 in Budapest
Recorded in Ferihegy 1 in Budapest

They haven’t used Ferihegy 1 for public flights for quite a lot of years, but it is often used for recording movies and TV shows, and it is very easy to recognize.

And when you get to Hanna season 1 episode 3, you will also see a lot of clips from the Liberty square in Budapest, including the cafe in the middle of the square, the former stock buildings, and also a parking lot in Budapest.

Shooting episode at the cafe in the middle of the Liberty square in Budapest
Shooting episode at the cafe in the middle of the Liberty square in Budapest

It is important to know that the story doesn’t take place in Budapest. As a result, they always hide any text that might imply that it is recorded in Budapest. But, if you have a sharp eye and a love for Budapest and Hungary, you will for sure find even more scenes in the Hanna series on Amazon showing different areas and buildings in both Budapest and Hungary.

If you want to know more about Hanna and how you can stream it, check this article on amazonprime.fromabroad.org.

Have you seen Hanna? Or maybe some other TV show or movie packed with scenes from Budapest? Write a comment and let us know about it!

A nice Budapest panorama

The most popular spot in Budapest for beautiful pictures might be from the citadella at the Gellert Hill. But, if you climb down the hill, you can get some awesome shots as you walk towards the Gellert hotel as well.

liberty bridge panorama
A beautiful panorama shot of the Pest side, taken from the Gellert hill

The picture above was taken a month ago as I walked from the citadella on the hill towards the Gellert hotel. It was a beautiful day with nice a nice temperature and a lot of sunshine. And yes, Budapest is beautiful on such days. A

In the picture, you can see the Liberty Bridge (Szabadsag hid). This is the third oldest bridge between Buda and Pest, and it is very easy to recognize because of its green color. You can read more about this and all the other bridges of Budapest here. If you walk across the bridge, you will get to the Pest side, and here you will find the start of the popular shopping street Vaci utca. You can also find the Business university here (first building on the right as you cross the bridge). More interesting is the building coming after the Business university, that is, the Grand Market Hall. It looks like a train station, but it is much more exciting than a railway station. Read more about the Grand Market Hall and what you can find inside of it here.

In the upper right corner of the picture, you can see the small cupolas of the Gellert hotel (you can find the Gellert bath in the very same building).

The Danube is the river dividing Buda from Pest. The distance between Buda and Pest here is between 400 and 500 meters, making it a wide river, and perfect for river cruises. You can also see some of the boats used for longer river cruises on the Danube river at the picture. These travel between cities like Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. For river cruises inside the city of Budapest, they use much smaller boats.

Do you like the picture? Come to see Budapest for yourself, it is even prettier then!

Egyetem square in Budapest (University square)

Budapest has a lot of hidden treasures, and one of them is the amazing Egyetem square (University square). It can be found between the popular Ferenciek square and Kalvin square, and it is very close to another hidden treasure, the Karolyi garden.

Egyetem tér in Budapest
Egyetem tér in Budapest

The square has been named after the university at the square, the University of Law in Budapest. The University was moved to the location in 1784, and the University of Law has been present here since the start of the 19th century.

The building of the university is really beautiful, and at night it is illuminated, making it even nicer. At the right side of the university (see the picture above), you can see the so-called University Church, also known as the “University Church of St Mary the Virgin.” This is a very special church as it was raised by the only Hungarian Monastic order, the Pauline Fathers (Pálosok). The construction work started at the start of the 18th century, and the first stone of the church was set on the ruins of the destroyed Mosque from the Turkish reign.

By the end of the 18th century, the Pauline Fathers were dissolved by Emperor Joseph II, and the church was given to the university.

The University of Law at Egyetem tér
The University of Law at Egyetem tér

A perfect place for eating

The Egyetem square is a perfect place to grab something to eat. There are many restaurants in the area, and if you want to enjoy a nice wine dinner just next to the square, check this article.

Do not miss out on the square as you walk the streets of Budapest. It for sure deserves a few minutes of your time!

Taste the Chimney Cake in Budapest

Budapest is a city with a lot to see and discover. But, just as important – it is a city in which there is a lot to taste. And one of the best things to taste is the traditional Chimney Cake.

The Chimney Cake, also named Sekler cake by some, is a sweet pastry, originally coming from Transylvania. It has turned so popular, that not only can you find it on Christmas markets in Budapest (and on other festivals), but you can find special stores selling this. And, if you decide to visit Krakow, Bratislava, Vienna or Prague, you can find the Chimney Cake at larger festivities there as well.

The traditional Chimney Cake in Budapest
The traditional Chimney Cake in Budapest

The picture above is taken from Molnar Kurtoskalacs, a store in the main shopping street of Budapest (Vaci utca) in which you can buy these cakes all days of the week.

The chimney cake is a sweet dough cover with sugar. It is then grilled above charcoal (that is the real version), and in this process, the sugar is caramelized. As this process is finished, it is time to roll the chimney cake in either nut, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, or some other tasty ingredient.

It is extremely tasty, and a sure hit among kids.

Making the Chimney Cake even sweater

Whatever is popular, will be worked on and improved. In the latter years, the Chimney Cake has gotten some improvements to it, even though we are more fond of the original version.

The improvement is that they have started to add ice cream and/or Nutella to the chimney cake.

chimney cake with ice cream
Chimney cake with vanilla ice cream

On the picture above, you can see what it might be like as the chimney cake is stuffed with vanilla ice cream on the inside. Personally, I would rather just eat the normal version, but one of the great things about life is trying new things. And that is important when you come to Budapest… taste new things!

People are often afraid of buying something that they will not like, but if that should be a problem, just don’t eat it. But, you will only get richer tasting something, because you will have an experience of tasting something that you either liked a lot, or maybe didn’t like – but, you are still an experience richer!

Are you a real Chimney Cake enthusiast? Do not forget about the Chimney Cake festival in Budapest in October.

Would you rather eat some more serious food? You can read more about wine dinners and wine tasting programs in Budapest here.

Thank you for reading this article! We wish you a fantastic stay in Budapest, and should you need help with guided tours, river cruises on the Danube, or some other program, make sure to contact us. More information at https://www.hungarybudapestguide.com/.

Grillmania in Budapest – Worth a visit?

Grillmania is a restaurant located near the Gellert hotel in Budapest. It is a grill restaurant in which you can eat traditional Balkan meals. Is it worth a visit?

If you come to Budapest, you are for sure eager to eat traditional Hungarian Goulash soup, to drink Hungarian wine, and to enjoy everything that Hungary has to offer. But, what if you would rather eat something not so traditional Hungarian food? Maybe you want to taste some of the traditional courses from some of Hungary’s neighboring nations (to the south)? Grillmania is the restaurant for you!

The location of Grillmania is ideal as it is located along the busy Bartok Bela ut. You can sit outside and enjoy your meal from early spring until late autumn (but, it is possible to sit indoors as well). This isn’t a typical restaurant, it is more a mixture of a fast food and a normal restaurant. It doesn’t mean that you get to food quickly, but it has more to do with the style of it all.

Eating Cevapi at Grillmania in Budapest
Eating Cevapi at Grillmania in Budapest

What can you eat at Grillmania in Budapest?

You will find lots of traditional meals from countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. On the menu, you can find Pljeskavica. This is one of the national meals of Serbia. It is a piece of meat, but the meat is a mixture of pork, lamb, and beef. It looks like a hamburger and has a very enjoyable taste. It is often stuffed with cheese.

Another traditional meal at Grillmania is the Ćevapi (often referred to as Cevapcici). There are small meat sausages made of minced meat, and they are served with fries, and often with ajvar. This is a national meal in both Serbia and Bosnia, but the people of Croatia and Slovenia consider this one of their national meals as well.

Besides these, you will also find Shashlik, Ustipak, hamburgers, burritos, and other tasty food on the menu.

A grill-plate for two at Grillmania Budapest
A grill-plate for two at Grillmania Budapest

Is Grillmania worth a visit?

Maybe you are considering a visit to Grillmania in Budapest. Is it worth the money and the visit? First of all, the price level of the restaurant is fairly good. The grill-plate for two seen on the picture above costs less than 5000 HUF (appx 15 Euro), and it is more than enough for two persons. The normal single course meals cost less than 3000 HUF (less than 10 Euro), making them easy to digest (especially for tourists).

The quality of the food is good. The hamburger we ate was tasty, the grill-plate was ideal, and the cevapi was just fine. We had a hard time understanding how they could serve the Cevapi without ajvar (as it is such an important part of the meal), but if you want that, you will have to order it as an extra.

The atmosphere of the place is good, especially on a warm evening when you can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air, the people walking by, and just eat a large plate of food on the street.

Grillmania Budapest conclusion

If you want an easy grill-meal in Budapest with traditional courses from the Balkans, this is probably one of the best places to go in Budapest. It is very close to the heart of the city, making it easy to approach.

Have you been to Grillmania? Did you enjoy your meal? Please share your thoughts in the comment field beneath.

 

 

The Károlyi garden in the heart of Budapest

Few tourists have ever seen or visited the Károlyi garden, but if you want a breath of fresh air and a green lounge in the midst of your shopping time in Budapest, this is a garden worth visiting.

The Károlyi garden is located close to Váci utca, the shopping street in Budapest, but still hidden away. It is found in somewhere in the middle between famous spots such as Ferenciek tére, Astoria, and Kalvin tér. The park is one of the oldest parks of its kind in Hungary, and it has a rich and a long history.

The beautiful Karolyi garden in the heart of Budapest.
The beautiful Karolyi garden in the heart of Budapest.

It had its “prime-time” in the 19th century when it had lots of exotic flowers, its own tennis court, and other nice elements. The Károlyi family (the owners of the park) planned on selling the park at the start of the 20th century. However, it ended up in the hands of the state. Unfortunately, the park was heavily damaged during the Second World War, but after the war, it was quite quickly restored. But, during the 1970’s the park was closed down for almost ten years due to the construction of metro line three (the blue line). As a result, most flowers and green areas in the park died, and this had to be fixed over again as the construction work was finished.

Today it is a beautiful park. It doesn’t have the exotic flowers anymore, but it is still a peaceful lung in the heart of Budapest. There are two playgrounds in the park, there is a fountain, and there are several places where you can sit down to relax and gain new strength before discovering more hidden parts of Budapest.

The park is located next to the Karolyi palace, a beautiful building finished in 1830. Inside the palace, you can find the Petöfi Literature Museum, and you can also find the Karolyi restaurant, the location for one of our popular wine dinners in Budapest.

A visit to Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest

According to TripAdvisor, there are more than 2500 restaurants in Budapest. Ranked as the eight best of them all at the moment is Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest, so we decided to pay the place a visit.

When you come to a city like Budapest, many people want to eat “serious” food and visit traditional restaurants. Such people would never ever visit a hamburger restaurant like Lucky 7 Burgers. But, then there are all the rest of us who love a tasty hamburger, and who would skip all the “serious” restaurants in the world to taste a nice hamburger.

Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest from the outside
Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest from the outside

Sometimes hamburgers have been thrown into the “fast-food” category, and thus hamburger is per definition low-quality food. But, it doesn’t have to be, and since Lucky 7 Burgers is ranked eight among all the restaurants in Budapest based on more than 3000 votes, there has got to be some sort of quality behind it.

Visiting Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest

The restaurant has a fantastic location, only 100 meters from the Vaci utca, the main shopping street of Budapest. It is easy to find, and we were warmly welcomed as we entered the restaurant. It was a Friday evening and we arrived around 18.45. We were lucky to get a free table because 15 minutes later a sign was placed out in front of the restaurant telling it was full and that they could receive no more guests.

There are not many tables on the inside, so our estimate is that they can receive somewhere between 20-25 guests indoor at the same time. Luckily for them, they are really quick at preparing and serving the food, meaning the fluctuation of guests is high, and they can still serve lots of guests throughout the day.

We visited two different hamburgers with onion rings and with fries. Since we visited Lucky 7 Burgers, we had to order the burger carrying the name of the restaurant. This is what the hamburger looked like.

Doesn't this look tasty, or what?
Doesn’t this look tasty, or what?

We have been to quite a lot of hamburger restaurants in Budapest, and we have to say that the price level of Lucky 7 Burgers is higher than most other hamburger restaurants. But, there are no other restaurants with such a good location as this one. And, the service was fantastic. We got our food in less than 10 minutes (it felt more like 5 minutes), and not only did it look fantastic, it tasted fantastic. The onion rings were made of real onion (that isn’t always obvious), the fries were nice, and the burgers were really tasty. I am not a big fan of mustard in my burger, but even the mustard couldn’t destroy the taste of my Lucky 7 Burger.

The interior of Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest
The interior of Lucky 7 Burgers in Budapest

The interior of the restaurant is kind of sports-style. This isn’t the place for fine dining (try our new wine dinner if you want that), but it is a perfect place for a really fine hamburger! I believe families with kids will enjoy this restaurant a lot (and they also have special effects and gifts making the experience nice for children), men in love with meat, and everyone else who enjoys a good hamburger.

Will we return to Lucky 7 Burgers?

Of course, we will! When you find something you like as much as this, you return. And during our stay, we overheard a waiter welcoming a returning customer to the restaurant by saying: “Welcome back. I guess that means we have to do something right.” That is true. A returning customer is the proof of a nice experience, and I believe Lucky 7 Burgers will have lots of returning customers, something that can be seen by the fantastic reviews of the place on TripAdvisor as well.

Have you been to Lucky 7 Burgers? How did you enjoy the experience?

A fantastic wine-dinner in Budapest

We have just extended our list of wine tasting opportunities in Budapest with a magnificent wine dinner. It is a three-course dinner that is served together with three fantastic wines in the Károlyi restaurant, in the heart of Budapest.

The first thing that comes to your mind as you enjoy this wine dinner, is the incredible location of the restaurant. It is in the heart of Budapest, but it is still very quiet and in a very peaceful environment. From early spring till late autumn it is a perfect place to enjoy an outdoor wine dinner, as you sit in a quiet garden, next to a green park.

While enjoying the wine dinner outdoors, we could still hear the pianist playing the piano nicely on the inside. But, what did we actually eat at this wine dinner?

On a nice evening it is delightful to enjoy the wine dinner outdoors.
On a nice evening it is delightful to enjoy the wine dinner outdoors.

The first course – Goose liver brulée

The first course gave the entire experience a flying start. This was goose liver like never before. It was served on a tasty sweet bread, with caramelized brown sugar on the top. All of us enjoying the meat would gladly have stopped the experience right here, just to eat this alone over and over again. It was served together with a very nice dry white wine from the vulcanic Badacsony region.

starter wine dinner
What a start with this goose liver brulée – You just have to try it!

The second course – Veal goulash in a potato pancake

After the fantastic starter, we were ready for some heavier food. We were served a traditional Hungarian course, the Veal goulash, but with an uncommon side dish, a potato pancake. It was a tasty experience and served together with a red wine from the Szekszárd region, made by Vida Péter (the most famous winemaker in the region), this was a perfect main course for our wine dinner.

veal goulash with pancake
Veal goulash inside a potato pancake – eat it all, and you will for sure not leave the restaurant hungry!

The third course – Lime cake with fruits

The final of the wine dinner was a lime cake with fruits. It was an absolutely worthy finish of the meal, especially as it was accompanied by one of the most traditional sweet white wines from Tokaj, a Tokaji Szamorodni. The cake itself wasn’t very sweet (it didn’t contain any sugar, not gluten), but it was a perfect combination together with the sweet Tokaj wine.

The lime cake was a perfect dessert combination together with the sweet Tokaj wine
The lime cake was a perfect dessert combination together with the sweet Tokaj wine.

As we finished up our meal, we so much enjoyed our evening, that we sat outside in the fresh air for some more hours just chatting and enjoying the atmosphere. We had enjoyed all three courses, but we all agreed, that the starter was the most surprising (very positively speaking) course to all of us.

The wines accompanying the courses just made the experience even better.

wine dinner in budapest
If you like wine and good food, this wine dinner is for you!

Doesn’t this sound like a great way to spend an evening in Budapest? Would you like to try the wine dinner yourself? Read more about our wine tasting experiences in Budapest and send a reservation request at our wine tasting page.

If you have got a question, or want to share your thoughts, please use the comment field beneath.