The Buda Hills are the city's back garden — beech woods and meadows fifteen minutes from the river, reached by a string of contraptions that are half the fun. The trick is to let the machines do the climbing and keep the walking for the ridge.
About five and a half kilometres, best on a clear morning. From Városmajor, take the Fogaskerekű (the cogwheel railway, running since 1874) up to Széchenyi-hegy. There you meet the Gyermekvasút — a narrow-gauge line run by children in uniform, signalling and ticketing with total seriousness. Ride a stretch or walk the forest path alongside it.
Come out at Normafa, the open meadow where the city walks on Sundays, then climb through beech to the Erzsébet lookout on János Hill — at 527 metres, the highest point in Budapest. Up the spiral, the whole city unfolds along its river.
Then the best part: the Libegő chairlift, single open chairs down through the treetops to Zugliget, where bus 291 takes you home.
