The musical fountain
Hungary's largest dancing fountain at the southern entrance, its jets moving to music on the hour.
Ralf Roletschek — CC BY-SA 1.0 fi · Jakub Hałun — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jakub Hałun — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jakub Hałun — CC BY-SA 4.0
An hour and a half walking south to north and returning by bus. On a bike, an hour covers the full loop. With family, grass and a picnic, make it a whole afternoon — the island is not a sight to complete but a place to sit in.
Among the best family places in Budapest: no cars, playgrounds, a free small animal park, and pedal carts seating four. Bring food and sit on the grass — options on the island are few and priced high.
From the south via Margaret Bridge (trams 4/6 stop mid-bridge), and from the north via Árpád Bridge. Only one bus, the 26, runs the length of the island — use it to come back if you tire.
Gül Baba's tomb is minutes from the southern end on the Buda side, and the Lukács baths are close by. The three make one quiet afternoon away from the centre.
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Margaret Island is a green strip two and a half kilometres long in the middle of the Danube, between Margaret Bridge and Árpád Bridge, and it is Budapest's principal breathing space: entirely free of cars apart from a single bus route, and filled with running and cycling paths, lawns and large trees. It takes its name from Princess Margaret, daughter of King Béla IV, whom her father pledged to the convent if Hungary survived the Mongol invasion in the 13th century — she lived and died a nun in a convent on this island, and the ruins of the Dominican house still stand among the grass. What people do here: run, hire bicycles and family pedal carts, sit on the grass, and watch the musical fountain at the southern entrance, whose water dances to music on the hour. The island also has a small Japanese garden, a rose garden, a 20th-century water tower and a thermal swimming complex. Entry is entirely free at any hour. The best approach: come in from Margaret Bridge at the south and walk to the northern end, or hire a bike at the entrance. The island is far quieter than either bank, and it is the best place in Budapest for an afternoon with no programme.
Hungary's largest dancing fountain at the southern entrance, its jets moving to music on the hour.
Remains of the house where Princess Margaret lived and died in the 13th century, standing unfenced in the grass.
A pond, bridges, rocks and arranged planting at the northern end — the quietest corner on the whole island.
A five-kilometre rubberised loop around the island that Budapest uses daily — the clearest place to watch the city simply living.
Margitsziget, mid-Danube between Margaret Bridge and Árpád Bridge