Budapest's two big Christmas fairs, on Vörösmarty tér and at St Stephen's Basilica, are expected to open on Friday 13 November 2026. No 2026 dates are published yet, but both fairs have opened together on a mid-November Friday four seasons running, most recently on 14 November 2025. The Vörösmarty tér date is the less certain one: management of the square passed to the City of Budapest on 1 October 2026, and the city has said it is planning this year's market there.
Last season both fairs stayed open until 03:00 on New Year's Eve, and the Basilica fair reopened for a final day on 1 January; on 24, 25 and 26 December both kept shorter hours. Every fair date and hour below was read on the organisers' own websites on 1 October 2026. Anything not yet published for 2026 is marked as expected, and last season's hours are labelled 2025. This page will be updated when the organisers announce; last year the dates were public by 18 October.
Budapest's Christmas markets 2026 at a glance
Hours are last season's; 2026 hours are not published yet.
| Fair | Opens in 2026 | Season ended | 24 Dec 2025 | 25–26 Dec 2025 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vörösmarty tér | 13 Nov, expected | 1 Jan 2026, 03:00 | 10:00–14:00 | 12:00–18:00 | 11:00–03:00 |
| St Stephen's Basilica | 13 Nov, expected | 1 Jan 2026, 18:00 | 11:00–15:00 | 11:00–20:00 | 11:00–03:00 |
Sources: vorosmartyclassicxmas.hu and adventbazilika.hu, both checked on 1 October 2026. In 2025 the Vörösmarty tér fair ran as Vörösmarty Classic Xmas; with the city now managing the square, this year's organiser, name and hours may change.
When do the Budapest Christmas markets open in 2026?
Budapest's two main Christmas fairs are expected to open on Friday 13 November 2026. When we checked on 1 October 2026, both official sites still showed the 2025/26 season and no 2026 date.
The expectation rests on a pattern in the organisers' own announcements. Both fairs opened on Friday 18 November 2022, Friday 17 November 2023, Friday 15 November 2024 and Friday 14 November 2025: each time the Friday nearest 15 November. In 2026 that Friday is the 13th. Some travel sites already list 13 November 2026, but no organiser has confirmed it; until one does, it is a projection.
The Vörösmarty tér date carries an extra risk. Hungary's parliament voted on 22 September 2026 to move the square's management from the local district to the City of Budapest from 1 October (Világgazdaság, 22 September 2026), and in August the city said it was preparing its own plan for this year's market there (Népszava, 13 August 2026). Szent István tér, where the Basilica fair stands, is not part of the change. Until the Vörösmarty tér market is announced, its date, name and hours could all differ from last season's.
Last year Budapest media reported the dates on 18 October 2025. If your trip depends on opening night, wait for the announcement before you book anything you cannot change. If the season keeps last year's shape, a trip between late November and Christmas will find both fairs open.
Vörösmarty tér Christmas market: hours, and why 28 December matters
Last season's fair on Vörösmarty tér, Vörösmarty Classic Xmas, ran from 14 November 2025 until 03:00 on 1 January 2026, open 11:00–21:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 11:00–22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (vorosmartyclassicxmas.hu, checked 1 October 2026; 2026 hours not yet published).
Hungarian craft stalls shared the square with food stalls, and a free children's mini-railway ran from 14:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and from 11:00 to 20:00 at weekends.
The date to plan around is 28 December. Last season the craft exhibitors and the mini-railway were there for the last time that day, and the square was then prepared for the New Year's Eve party. The fair stayed open, from 11:00 to 21:00 on 29 and 30 December and from 11:00 to 03:00 on New Year's Eve. If this year's market follows the same plan, see the crafts before then.
St Stephen's Basilica Christmas market: hours and the light projection
The Advent Feast at St Stephen's Basilica (Advent Bazilika), on Szent István tér, ran from 14 November 2025 to 1 January 2026, open 11:00–22:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 11:00–23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (adventbazilika.hu, checked 1 October 2026; 2026 hours not yet published).
Last season its organiser listed nearly a hundred Hungarian craft exhibitors, among them ceramicists, leatherworkers and goldsmiths. It says the fair has been voted Europe's best Christmas market four times. A 12-metre Christmas tree stood in the centre of the square under a net of lights, and a tunnel of lights ran towards Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út. In front of the church were a nativity scene and a monumental Advent wreath, whose candles were lit on the Sundays of Advent.
In 2025 a 3D light projection played on the Basilica's façade every day from 17:30, repeated every half hour; for the fair's 15th season the organisers added a new film celebrating the Basilica's 120 years. On some evenings a concert at 17:00 came first.
Is entry free, and can you pay by card?
Entry is free. The Basilica fair's house rules say everyone may visit at no charge, and neither fair's website listed a ticket last season.
Prices are in forints (HUF). In 2025 every large kitchen at both fairs offered one dish at a fixed 1,600 HUF, and both fairs ran themed food weekends, with goose and fish dishes among them. Plain lángos (fried flatbread), lángos with cheese and sour cream, stuffed cabbage, sausage with bread and mustard, and plain mulled wine were sold at capped prices (Szabad Föld, 12 November 2025).
The Basilica fair's 2025 rules allow card or cash. To pay cash at a food or drink stall, you first load the money onto a HelloPay card, which you get free at points around the fair; whatever is left on it is paid back in cash at the refund point. Other stalls take cash directly. The Vörösmarty tér fair's site said nothing about payment, so carry a card and some forints.
Are the markets open on 24, 25 and 26 December and on 1 January?
Last season, yes: both fairs opened on 24, 25 and 26 December, with shorter hours. In 2026, 24 December is a Thursday, and 25 and 26 December fall on Friday and Saturday.
- 24 December 2025: Vörösmarty tér 10:00–14:00, the Basilica 11:00–15:00.
- 25 and 26 December 2025: Vörösmarty tér 12:00–18:00, with the mini-railway from 14:00 on the 26th; the Basilica 11:00–20:00.
- 29 and 30 December 2025: Vörösmarty tér 11:00–21:00, without its craft stalls; the Basilica listed no special hours, only its usual ones.
- 31 December 2025: both 11:00–03:00.
- 1 January 2026: the Basilica 11:00–18:00, its last day and a lentil-themed food day. Vörösmarty tér had closed at 03:00.
2026 holiday hours are not published yet; check both official sites the week you travel.
New Year's Eve 2026/27 in Budapest
Both of Budapest's main Christmas fairs stayed open until 03:00 on New Year's Eve 2025, so you could spend midnight at either. If the pattern holds, 31 December 2026, a Thursday, will run the same way, but the 2026/27 hours are not published yet.
Last year BKK, Budapest's transport authority, published its New Year plan on 29 December (BKK). On the night of 31 December 2025, all four metro lines, M1 to M4, ran all night, as did every suburban HÉV line and some tram, trolleybus and bus routes, trams 4 and 6 among them; the 100E and 200E airport buses kept their normal timetable. Expect this year's plan in late December.
Leave fireworks at home. The Basilica fair's house rules ban items that endanger public safety and name New Year's Eve fireworks among them. A city decree in force since December 2025 also bans the larger consumer fireworks in every residential area of Budapest on New Year's Eve, allowing them only in areas marked on the city's maps, from 20:00 on 31 December to 02:00 on 1 January (budapest.hu, 2 December 2025).
How do you get there from the airport, Vienna or Zagreb?
From Liszt Ferenc International Airport, the 100E Airport Express bus runs around the clock to Deák Ferenc tér, via Kálvin tér. BKK gives the journey as 40 minutes. The bus needs its own airport ticket, 2,500 HUF since 1 October 2025, which you can buy by bank card on board or in the BudapestGO app (BKK).
From Deák Ferenc tér, Vörösmarty tér is a short walk, or one stop on metro M1, at the end of the line. The Basilica fair is a short walk from Deák Ferenc tér and closer still to Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, the next M1 stop the other way; Arany János utca on M3 is also nearby. The two fairs are about half a kilometre apart. One trap: M1 also has a station called Vörösmarty utca, five stops from Vörösmarty tér. For the fair, ride to Vörösmarty tér.
From Vienna, ÖBB says there is a direct train to Budapest every hour (ÖBB); for 10 December 2026, its journey planner shows them reaching Budapest-Keleti in under three hours. Check your own date there or with MÁV. Vienna's Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz opens on 13 November 2026, the day Budapest's fairs are expected to open. Our Vienna Christmas-to-New-Year guide covers which of its markets stay open after 26 December, and the 2026 Christmas markets guide has the dates for Vienna, Salzburg, Nuremberg and Prague.
From Zagreb, HŽPP, Croatia's passenger railway, lists one direct train each way between Zagreb and Budapest-Déli, taking about six to six and a half hours (HŽPP). Its current timetable runs until 12 December 2026, so check later dates with HŽPP or MÁV. Advent in Zagreb runs from 28 November 2026 to 7 January 2027.
Do you need a data plan in Hungary?
It depends on where your SIM was issued.
Hungary is in the EU. A SIM from any EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, and since 1 January 2026 from Ukraine or Moldova, falls under the EU's roam like at home rule: you pay your home prices, within your operator's fair-use terms (European Commission). If that is you, you probably do not need a plan for Budapest. The exceptions are a tariff with a small fair-use cap, a tablet without its own SIM, a companion on a SIM from outside the EU, and a trip that continues outside the EU. When EU roaming is enough covers the edge cases.
A SIM from the UK, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, the Gulf or a Western Balkan country outside the EU, such as Serbia, Albania or Kosovo, is not covered. In Hungary it roams on whatever terms your operator sets in your contract. That group is who a travel eSIM is for: a separate data line beside your usual number, which goes on handling calls and bank codes.
For Budapest alone, the Hungary eSIM page lists the current sizes and prices. For a trip that adds Vienna, Prague or Zagreb, the Europe eSIM covers Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and Croatia on one plan, though not Turkey, Albania or Kosovo; a week of trains between three cities is where 10 GB over 30 days makes sense. Install it at home before you fly; its validity does not start until the eSIM first connects to a supported network at your destination. The installation guide has the steps. Personal hotspot is free on every Horizon plan. Horizon plans have no throttling.
Short answers
When does the Budapest Christmas market open in 2026? Both fairs, on Vörösmarty tér and at St Stephen's Basilica, are expected to open on Friday 13 November 2026. Neither date was confirmed on 1 October 2026, and Vörösmarty tér's is less certain now that the City of Budapest manages the square; this page will change when they are announced.
Until when is it open? Last season Vörösmarty tér closed at 03:00 on 1 January and the Basilica fair at 18:00 that day. The 2026/27 closing dates are not published yet.
Is the Budapest Christmas market open on 25 and 26 December? Last season, yes: Vörösmarty tér from 12:00 to 18:00 and the Basilica from 11:00 to 20:00. On 24 December they closed at 14:00 and 15:00.
Is it open on New Year's Eve? Last season both fairs stayed open from 11:00 until 03:00, and the metro ran all night. The 2026/27 hours are not published yet.
Where are the Budapest Christmas markets? On Vörösmarty tér, at the end of metro line M1, and on Szent István tér in front of St Stephen's Basilica, near Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út (M1) and Arany János utca (M3). They are about half a kilometre apart.
Do you need a ticket? No. The Basilica fair's rules make entry free, and neither fair's website listed a ticket last season.
Can you pay by card? At the Basilica fair, yes, under its 2025 rules; cash at its food and drink stalls goes through a free, refundable HelloPay card. Prices are in forints (HUF).
