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- Length
- 75 minutes
- Drinks
- Sparkling wine refills
- Price
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Guide · Getting here
Vienna to Budapest by boat: the honest answer
A hydrofoil once linked the two capitals, and the state shipping company still sold a weekend programme in 2025. Here is what its operator publishes, and how to reach the Danube in Budapest instead.
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Editorial team, budapestchampagnecruise.comUpdated October 26, 2026about 7 min to read16 sources
Quick answer
- 01Regular boat?
- None listed: MAHART's timetable menu shows the Vienna line as a 2025 programme.1
- 02The 2025 trip
- A 2-day hydrofoil package on three weekends: May, June and July.2
- 03Journey time
- As published for 2025: Budapest 07:30, Vienna 14:30, upstream.3
- 04Low water
- MAHART's Danube Bend boats stopped from 13 July to 31 October 2026.4
- 05Instead
- Arrive by land, then take the river in town: our cruise from $29.
Is there a boat from Vienna to Budapest?
Not as a regular line you can simply book for a Tuesday. The company that ran the hydrofoils, MAHART PassNave, is the Hungarian passenger shipping firm whose majority owner has again been the Hungarian State since 2013.5 Its timetable menu still lists the Vienna hydrofoil line, but as a 2025 programme.1 Going from Vienna to Budapest by boat, in other words, depends on what the operator chooses to run in a given year.
And what it published for 2025 was not a ferry but a package.2 The 2-day Vienna hydrofoil programme was scheduled for three weekends: 10-11 May, 21-22 June and 19-20 July.2 It started in Budapest, not in Vienna, and it was sold as a trip to Vienna and back, with lunch, a hotel night and a bus tour, organised by MAHART Tours.67 The published programme offered no one-way seat for a traveller heading east, and no sailing outside those three weekends; check MAHART for the current programme.
The river itself has been the other obstacle. In 2026 MAHART stopped even its short Danube Bend cruises to Szentendre, Visegrád and Esztergom from 13 July to 31 October because the water was too low.4 A fast boat needs depth, and the stretch between the two capitals is long. If you see a promise of a daily boat between Vienna and Budapest, check who publishes it and for which dates before you plan a trip around it.
As MAHART published it
Two days on the hydrofoil, as published
-
Day 1, 07:00
Meet at the port
Meeting at the International Port in Budapest.3
-
Day 1, 07:30
Hydrofoil to Vienna
Departure, with a bottle of water and a coffee on board.3
-
Day 1, 14:30
Arrival in Vienna
Docking at the DDSG ship centre on Handelskai.3
-
Day 2, 14:00
Hydrofoil home
Departure from Vienna between 14:00 and 14:30.8
-
Day 2, 20:00
Back in Budapest
Arrival at the International Port.8
What the 2025 hydrofoil trip looked like
On the 2025 programme the hydrofoil left Budapest at 07:30 and reached Vienna at 14:30, docking at the DDSG ship centre on Handelskai.3 A bottle of water and a coffee were served on board. On the second day, after a bus tour of Vienna with a Hungarian-speaking guide, the boat left Vienna between 14:00 and 14:30 and arrived at the International Port in Budapest at 20:00.86 It made for two long, scenic days on the river.
The package included the hydrofoil both ways, lunch on the day of arrival with drinks extra, 1 night with buffet breakfast and the guided bus tour.6 Insurance was sold separately. It was a comfortable way for Budapest residents to spend a weekend in Vienna, but it was not built for visitors arriving from abroad, and the guide spoke Hungarian, which matters if you were hoping for commentary on the way.
The boats themselves are fast. MAHART says its hydrofoils travel at about sixty kilometres per hour and names Budapest to Vienna, Visegrád or Esztergom as their routes.9 A Vöcsök-type hydrofoil carries 71 passengers in enclosed cabins with panoramic windows at the bow.10 It is a thrilling way to travel, low and quick over the water, with the banks racing past the windows, and it is a pity it runs so rarely on the long route to Vienna.
Your options
Getting between the capitals, and onto the river
| Option | How | Length | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAHART hydrofoil package | Boat, 2 days | 1 night | 3 weekends in 2025 |
| Guided day trip from Vienna | Van via Bratislava | 12.5 hours | On listed dates |
| Danube Bend boat | Boat to Szentendre | 4.5 to 7.5 hours | When water allows |
| Our open-bar cruise | Boat, city stretch | 75 minutes | Dates on the listing |
Three ways to the water
Once you reach Budapest
Most reviewed
Longest river dayDanube Bend boat
Vigadó Square to Szentendre
- Length
- 4.5 to 7.5 hours
- Guide
- Optional, English
- Price
- from $23
Two capitals, one dayDay trip from Vienna
Bratislava and Budapest by van
- Length
- 12.5 hours
- Pickup
- Included
- Price
- from $207
Decision helper
Which way to the river suits you?
Choose by where you start and how long you have
Watch for MAHART's Vienna programme
In 2025 it ran on three weekends as a 2-day package.2
The guided day trip by van
12.5 hours to Bratislava and Budapest with pickup.
The Danube Bend boat
4.5 to 7.5 hours to Szentendre and back, when the water allows.4
Our open-bar cruise
75 minutes past the Parliament with sparkling wine refills.
the HM2 appeared in Budapest in 1986: it sailed under Austrian colors until 1990 under the name of DONAUPFEIL as a regular Vienna-Budapest line
A Budapest to Vienna day cruise?
People often search for a Budapest to Vienna day cruise, imagining breakfast in one capital and dinner in the other. Upstream, against the current, the 2025 hydrofoil took from 07:30 to 14:30, and the return the next day ran from mid-afternoon to 20:00.38 That leaves no room for a same-day round trip, and the programme never offered one: it was always a 2-day package with a night in Vienna.2
One way is possible in a day, but only as part of that package and only on its dates. For most travellers the train or the road is the practical link between the two cities, and the video on this page walks through the train in detail. The upside is that you arrive with energy left for the river in Budapest, which is where the boats really are: departures every evening on the city stretch, against a handful of hydrofoil weekends.
If the idea of the Danube between the capitals still pulls at you, there are multi-day river cruises on this route. This site does not sell them and does not compare them, because they are a different kind of holiday: a cabin, several nights and many ports. Treat them as a separate decision with its own research, and book the evening on the water in Budapest as the part of the river you can count on.
Checklist
Planning the route between the capitals
01
If you want the hydrofoil
- Check MAHART's site for this year's dates
- It is sold as a 2-day package
- The bus guide speaks Hungarian
02
If you go by land
- Train or road between the cities
- Save the river for an evening cruise
- Check low-water notices on the Danube
Calculator
Price the river once you arrive
Choose an option and the number of travellers
People
Total from$58
per guest from $29
Check availabilityfree cancellationEach total multiplies the cheapest starting price of that cruise by the number of guests, converted at the ECB rate of the day; the booking page gives the final figure.
Video
Vienna to Budapest by train: tickets, trains and tips
YouTube loads nothing on this page until you press play.
A route with a long history
Fast boats between the two cities are not a new idea. In 1933 Dr Kornél Fényes ran a 15-horsepower gliding boat from Budapest to Vienna at an average speed of 40 km/h.12 A hovercraft named Donaupfeil sailed a regular Vienna-Budapest line under Austrian colours from 1986 until 1990.11 For a few decades, crossing between the capitals by fast boat was something people did as a matter of course.
Budapest built for that traffic. The International Boat Port on Belgrád Quay opened in 1937, and MAHART PassNave still keeps its office at the international port there, on Belgrád rakpart.1314 The company itself was established in its present form on 1 January 1994.5 On the 2025 programme the hydrofoil back from Vienna was due at that same International Port in the evening, right in the centre of the city.8
Today the dock is busier with city boats than with international ones. The Floating Lotus cruises leave from International Pier No. 1, and the open-bar cruise this site books boards at docks on the same Pest bank. Standing there at sunset, it is easy to imagine the hydrofoils coming in from Vienna, and easy to understand why people still search for a way to repeat that journey.
What about a Bratislava to Budapest boat?
No Bratislava to Budapest boat appears in MAHART's programme, which ran from Budapest to Vienna.3 The tour on the listings that links Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest goes by road: a guided day trip from Vienna by van to Bratislava, with an optional stop in Győr, and on to Budapest, lasting 12.5 hours with pickup included. The day runs long, yet all three cities fit between breakfast and bedtime.
That day trip is rated 4.78 from 958 reviews and starts from $207. It suits travellers based in Vienna who want to see both cities in a single long day, with an English-speaking guide. It is not a boat, and the river appears only from the bridges and the embankments, but it covers the same geography as the old hydrofoil, and it runs on many more dates. Bring patience for the motorway and a jacket for the walking stops.
If you are travelling the other way and want to see Bratislava from the water, look for boats on the Vienna side of the border, which fall outside this guide. On the Hungarian side, MAHART's own boats run north from Budapest to the Danube Bend: Szentendre, Visegrád and Esztergom, by hydrofoil or excursion boat, when the water allows.154 That is the closest thing to the old river journey that you can still book from the Hungarian side.
Arriving in Budapest: put the river first
However you arrive, the river is waiting. The most reviewed cruise in the city is the one this site books: 75 minutes on the Danube with Hungarian sparkling wine refilled at the bar, spritzers and beer, past the Parliament, Buda Castle and the bridges, from $29. It has 46,606 reviews and a rating of 4.76, and dropping the booking 24 hours or more before the boat leaves costs you nothing. It is the easiest first evening after a day of travel.
For a longer day on the water, a boat trip runs from the Vigadó Square ship station to Szentendre and back, self-guided or with an English-guided option and a 2-course lunch, for 4.5 to 7.5 hours. It starts from $23 and is rated 4.39 from 1,496 reviews. Remember that low water stopped MAHART's own Danube Bend boats from 13 July to 31 October 2026, so check the date you have in mind.4
And there is the public boat. BKV's City Centre Cruise is a daytime hop-on hop-off service between its ports, which makes a good first orientation after a long journey.16 Take it by day to learn the riverside, then come back to the water at night for the lights. Vienna to Budapest by boat may be rare, but Budapest by boat is easy, and the capital looks its best from exactly where the hydrofoil used to arrive.
Your evening afloat
Sparkling wine, spritzers and the lit Danube.
Pick a date, board 15 minutes early, and cancel free up to 24 hours before.
You ask,we answer.
Does a regular boat run from Vienna to Budapest?
Not as a daily line. MAHART's timetable menu lists the Vienna hydrofoil as a 2025 programme, sold on a few weekends.12
How long did the hydrofoil take?
About seven hours upstream. On the 2025 programme it left Budapest at 07:30 and reached Vienna at 14:30.3
Where did the hydrofoil arrive in Vienna?
At Handelskai. It docked at the DDSG ship centre on Handelskai, and returned to the International Port in Budapest.38
Was the hydrofoil sold one way?
No, as a 2-day package. The 2025 programme included the boat both ways, lunch, 1 hotel night and a bus tour.6
Can I travel from Bratislava to Budapest by river?
Not as a scheduled boat. The listed tour linking Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest goes by road: a 12.5-hour guided day trip by van.
Why did boats stop in 2026?
Low water on the Danube. MAHART's Danube Bend boats did not run from 13 July to 31 October 2026 because of low water.4
What can I do on the river once in Budapest?
Take a city cruise. Our open-bar cruise lasts 75 minutes; BKV's public boat runs by day as a hop-on hop-off service.16
Sources
What this text is based on
- 1MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART PassNave home page↩
- 2MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Vienna by hydrofoil: 2-Day Vienna Hydrofoil Program 2025 (operator page, archived 21 April 2025)↩
- 3MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Vienna by hydrofoil: 2-Day Vienna Hydrofoil Program 2025 (operator page, archived 21 April 2025)↩
- 4MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART PassNave home page↩
- 5MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART PassNave home page↩
- 6MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Vienna by hydrofoil: 2-Day Vienna Hydrofoil Program 2025 (operator page, archived 21 April 2025)↩
- 7MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Vienna by hydrofoil: 2-Day Vienna Hydrofoil Program 2025 (operator page, archived 21 April 2025)↩
- 8MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Vienna by hydrofoil: 2-Day Vienna Hydrofoil Program 2025 (operator page, archived 21 April 2025)↩
- 9MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART hydrofoil fleet↩
- 10MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART hydrofoil fleet↩
- 11MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Hydrofoils in Hungary↩
- 12MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Hydrofoils in Hungary↩
- 13MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)Hydrofoils in Hungary↩
- 14MAHART PassNave (Hungarian state-majority passenger shipping company)MAHART PassNave home page↩
- 15Hungarian Tourism Agency (visithungary.com)Come like kings by boat↩
- 16BKV (Budapest public transport company)Riverboat Service↩
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