Enjoy a lovely buffet dinner on the river Danube in the heart of Budapest while taking in the fascinating riverside attractions, also part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

Budapest Dinner Cruise & Gypsy Band

One of the most popular options to enjoy a relaxing evening in Budapest is to take part in the popular Budapest buffet dinner cruise. The sightseeing cruise is from 7 pm with live music. Buffet dinner is included in the price, also a selection of drinks: 1 Welcome Drink, 1 Bottled Mineral Water, 1 Glass of Wine/Beer/Soft Drink.

Booking E-Ticket

Budapest Buffer Dinner Cruise

Buffet Dinner Cruise & Gypsy Band

The Budapest Buffet Dinner Cruise fee includes the following:

• Sightseeing on the river Danube in Budapest city
• 7pm – 9pm program with top attractions
  
• Actual cruising: 1,5h
• Buffet Dinner  – self served all inclusive starters, salads, mains, sides, desserts – please reserve in advance
• 3 Drinks included: 1 Welcome Drink, 1 Bottled Mineral Water, 1 Glass of Wine/Beer/Soft Drink
• Optional Unlimited Drink Package
• additional Hungarian drinks available for purchase at the Boat Bar (pay as you order)
• Gypsy Trio Band playing live salon music & Folk Dancers
• optional Wine Tasting also available on cruise
• Student discount available
• Free for children under 6 of age
• E-Ticket via email (no printing needed)

Prices of 7pm Cruise & Gypsy Band from Jan 15th, 2024:

The price of the 7pm Dinner Cruise & Gypsy Band is very reasonable :

• Dinner  & 3 Drinks Tickets: 89 Euro for Adults, 86 Euro for Students (3 Drinks included: 1 Welcome Drink, 1 Bottled Mineral Water, 1 Glass of Wine/Beer/Soft Drink)
• Dinner  & Unlimited Drinks Tickets: 134 Euro for Adults, 131 Euro for Students
• Cruise & Tokaji Tickets Includes 1 Welcome drink and 1 Glass of  Tokaji “Aszu 5 Puttonyos”: €29 for Adults €26 for Students (alcohol served for over 18 only, valid Student ID is needed), no dinner included – coming soon
• Wine & Food Tasting tickets: from €105
• Children under 6: free of charge
• For group discounts please send your inquiry to info [at] budapestrivercruise.com

Booking E-Ticket

Dinner Cruise & Gypsy Music

Picture the fairy tale riverfront of Budapest you will see during your dinner cruise: the two banks of the river Danube are spotted with brightly lit churches, the Buda Castle on the Castle Hill, the neo-Gothic turrets of the Hungarian Parliament, the palm leaved Statue of Liberty on the Gellert Hill, the cupolas of the Art Nouveau Gellert Baths, the elegant curves of the Gresham Palace (Fours Seasons Hotel) and the soaring domes of the majestic St Stephens Basilica behind them. You will be cruising in one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites with us, and one of the twinkling treasure boxes of the river Danube.

Budapest night views are charmingly romantic and breathtakingly beautiful as the city illuminates at night. Besides romance, the city is full of history, and telling tales of the faded glory, traces of the communist past. So your less romantic and more intellectual side can contemplate on the history of a nation, and of human fragility. But fate is the source of true beauty, isn’t it?

Dinner Cruise & Gypsy Band at 7 pm

The 7 pm river cruise includes the river cruise, the dinner, the live music. Dinner cruises are available all year round (the boats are heated in winter time and cooled with AC in summer time).

The program is available from 7pm (the starting hours are subject to change. If there is a new starting hour, Guests will be contacted possibly 48 hours before the cruise date).

Guests can arrive from 6.30pm, the dinner and live music starts at 7pm. The cruise leaves the dock at 7.15 pm and and arrives back at 8.45pm.

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Prices of the Budapest Dinner Cruise (Adults) from Jan 15th, 2024

Cruise with Buffet Dinner & 3 Drinks & live Music:  89 Euro

Prices of the Budapest Dinner Cruise (Students, Children)

from Jan 15th, 2024

Cruise with Buffet Dinner & 3 Drinks & live Music: 86 Euro

Booking E-Ticket

The 7pm pm river cruises with optional buffet style dinner run every day, even on Hungarian national holidays. However, on some of the public holidays like on August 20, at Christmas or at New Year, there are special Danube cruises. Please check our event calendar for the timetable of Budapest cruises.

Budapest night river cruise with dinner

Delicious Dinner on the Budapest Dinner Cruise

And the palate: the popular Budapest buffet dinner cruises are composed by a one of the well-known chefs of Hungary, Peter Molnarka. Kindly note that currently this cruise offers a limited range of menu items as seen below.

Nostalgia Boats with Open Deck (AC in summer, heating in winter time)

Count Szechenyi Event Boat Budapest

The nostalgia boat will take you on one of the finest dinner experiences in Budapest: the night river cruise is 1.5 hours, and you are guaranteed to enjoy every minute of the 90 minute cruise from the Margaret Island down to the Rakoczi Bridge in the south and back to the Chain Bridge.

This well paced boat trip will let you feel the beauty of the night lit Budapest on your skin: the dinner cruise is reported to be the highlight of many tourists’ Budapest visit. If you ask fellow tourists or read dinner cruise reviews, you will hear ‘it was incredible, awesome, fantastic, exciting, romantic, unforgettable’ and most would use the term ‘beautiful’. Beauty indeed.

Booking the Dinner Cruise with Gypsy Band Online

Booking E-Ticket

The 7pm Dinner & Cruise Budapest night river cruises, which can be reserved through our online booking form (see on the left side), include a gentle ride on the river Danube right in the heart of the city, between Buda and Pest with many of the best sights Budapest can offer: the 19th century palaces, churches, residential houses, historical bridges, the turreted Hungarian Parliament, the green slopes of the Gellert Hill and the Castle Hill with the Buda Castle on top, the bustling bars along the river Danube, etc.).

The selection of drinks are included in the price of the river cruises, and if you want to enjoy a candle lit dinner on the boat, you can book a seat for a Dinner too.

Budapest Chain Bridge Night BRC

When are the Budapest dinner river cruises?

Each night, Budapest offers a dinner river cruise of various programs and inclusions. Please check the full range of Budapest Dinner Cruises for further details.

The buffet dinner boats are air conditioned in the summer, and heated in cold weather, so the popular river cruises are on program all year round, including holidays.

Port of the dinner Danube river cruise

The meeting point of the Danube river cruise is close to the Chain Bridge, which you usually see on all postcards, just behind the Gresham Palace (the Art Nouveau palace of the Four Seasons Hotel Budapest).

We will meet with our dinner cruise guests half an hour before the cruise begins. Boarding time is approx. 30 min. before departing.
Please arrive in time for the river cruise at 6.30. All the details are sent to cruise guests in the confirmation email, please read it carefully.

Budapest Matthias Church Night BRC

How can I book my Budapest night river cruise?

You can book your Danube river cruise via our online booking forms (see on the left side). Please note that we can only accept registrations with payment, as seats are limited on the cruise ships.

Booking E-Ticket

Menu of the Budapest Buffet Dinner & Cruise

Kindly note that since the restart after the Covid 19 pandemic, this programmes operates with a shortened menu list as follows (mostly offering Hungarian style dishes as a cultural tasting option):

Starters:

Hungarian Goulash Soup (LF) (GF)

Vegetable Soup (V) (LF)

Salad:

Mixed salad with Pesto (GF) (Vegan)

Pasta Salad with Yoghurt (V) (GF)

Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream (GF) (V)

Main:

Hungarian Beef Paprikash with Red Wine (GF)

Stuffed Cabbage Hungarian style (Turkey) (GF)

Strudel selection on Cruise

Turkey Fillet in Gravy and with Ragout (GF) ( LF)

Oven baked Vegetables (V) (GF)

Vegetable couscous (Vegan)

Side dishes:

Dumplings (V)

Rice (GF) (Vegan)

Roasted Potatoes with Parsley (GF) (Vegan)

Desserts:

Hungarian Strudel (V)

“Somloi” Trifle (V)

Fruit Bowl can be requested (GF) (Vegan)

(V): Vegetarian

(LF): Lactose Free

(GF): Gluten Free

Special Dietary Needs

‘Free from’ foods (GF, LF, V) are served in a Buffet Dinner setting where there is a risk of cross contamination when meals are being self-served. Please be aware that free from foods may contain traces of allergens. Not suitable for guests with severe allergies.

(Vegan): Kindly note that while the ingredients are mostly Vegan in several meals, we cannot completely guarantee a strictly Vegan option as such meals may contain traces of non Vegan elements due to cross contact in the kitchen.

We reserve the right to make seasonal adjustments to the dinner cruise menu and drink list based on the availability of fresh produce and the ongoing evaluation of customer feedback.

Live Music on the Budapest Dinner Cruises

Essentially, the music of the Danube dinner cruise is salon music, but occasionally at tourists’ request, the Rajko Gypsy Band is performing some of their peculiar pieces.

The live music for the romantic night lit views is salon music played by some of the best Hungarian musicians, who are the players of the often world touring Rajko Orchestra (Gypsy Band). You can hear the Rajko Orchestra playing ‘Fly My Swallow’ in the Great Synagogue in Budapest:

The performance also features a marvellous original Hungarian instrument, the famous “cimbalom”. The combination of string instruments and the cimbalom provides a uniquely Hungarian, unforgettable harmony and an outstanding atmosphere on-board.
Wish to hear your favourite popular song in a whole new adaptation?
During the performance, guests will have a chance to ask for their favourite songs from the artists to play.

 

Last updated: May, 2024