Budapest dinner cruises compared

Three kinds of evening on one river

Budapest has more than one dinner cruise, and they are not the same evening. One is a seated four-course dinner where you order dish by dish. One is a buffet with unlimited drinks brought to your table. The third has no dinner at all: it is a 75-minute sail with sparkling wine and beer. All three pass the Parliament and Buda Castle, so the view is not what separates them. What separates them is how you eat, how you drink, how long you stay and where you board.

The candlelit dinner cruise

This is the cruise this site is built around. It lasts two and a half hours and sails from Dock 7. Adults eat four courses and children three, and every course is chosen from a menu instead of being set for the table. A welcome drink comes first: champagne, wine, beer, a soft drink or mineral water. Local Hungarian musicians play live while you eat, and guided commentary names the landmarks as they pass. The operator describes the boat as a panorama bubble boat with a glass-covered deck.

• Four courses for adults, three for children
• A welcome drink, then further drinks bought on board
• Live music and guided commentary
• Boards at Dock 7, under a Legenda City Cruises sign

The buffet cruise with unlimited drinks

The River Diva cruise also lasts two and a half hours, but it swaps the ordered dinner for a seasonal buffet spread over several stations. Cocktails, spirits, Prosecco, wine, beer and soft drinks are included and brought to your table, and there is live music. After dinner you can go up to the panoramic rooftop deck when the weather allows. It boards at the Akadémia 3 dock near the Chain Bridge, and the boat is wheelchair accessible. Tables follow booking size, and a window seat cannot be guaranteed.

The drinks sail with no dinner

The third option is a 75-minute sightseeing sail, not a dinner. A welcome glass of Hungarian sparkling wine comes on boarding, and refills are poured at the bar. Self-service stations offer Aperol, Hugo, Rossini and Limoncello spritzers, and beer is available on request. The commentary is recorded English, timed to the route, with music between sections. Snacks are for sale at a cashless bar. People prone to seasickness should skip it, and the boarding dock depends on the option you pick. Children aged 0 to 3 travel free with an infant ticket, guests aged 4 and over need a standard ticket, and guests under 18 must be with an adult and cannot drink alcohol.

What is and isn't included

Read the inclusions before you read the fare. On the candlelit cruise the dinner and one welcome drink are covered, and every further drink is bought on board. On the River Diva cruise the buffet and the drinks are covered, but tips, a transfer from your hotel and any food or drink outside the package are not. On the drinks sail the sparkling wine, spritzers, beer, lemonade and water are covered, and food is not. The pages for the buffet and drinks cruises both state that a transfer from your hotel is not included.

• Candlelit: dinner and a welcome drink; more drinks paid on board
• Buffet: the buffet and unlimited drinks; tips not included
• Drinks sail: unlimited sparkling wine, spritzers and beer; no food

Diets and allergies

The three cruises answer this differently, so check before you pay. The candlelit cruise cannot provide a vegan menu and is not suited to guests with food allergies. Its printed menu does include meat-free dishes, such as a goat cheese mousse starter and a cauliflower main, and it carries a gluten-free and a lactose-free key, but a serious allergy is a reason to choose another evening. The buffet cruise offers vegetarian options and asks you to tell the provider about gluten-free or other needs in advance, and it states that an allergen-free environment cannot be guaranteed. The drinks sail serves no meal.

Seats, decks and weather

On the candlelit cruise you are led to a table, and the booking does not let you choose a window table, which some guests wish it did. One guest on the top deck found the speaker distorted, so tell the crew early if the sound bothers you. The buffet cruise cannot guarantee a window seat or a particular table, and its rooftop deck depends on the weather. The buffet and drinks cruises both normally run in rain. On the drinks sail an indoor lounge and open-air areas exist, though the layout varies by vessel.

What guests say, good and bad

Guests' notes on the candlelit cruise are warm and a little mixed. Many praise the food, the choice of dishes, the attentive waiting staff and the live music, and one writes that having a choice at all came as a surprise after cruises with a set meal. Others are less taken: one found the food disappointing, one found the speaker on the top deck distorted, and one wished for more commentary on the sights. The night views are the constant in almost every note. Weigh the pattern across many reviews and not one.

Booking and cancellation

All three cruises carry free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure and a reserve now, pay later option on the booking page, so you can hold a table without paying today. The operator of the candlelit cruise also sells it directly on its own site, with its own timetable and terms, so compare the date and time you want before you commit. Party groups are not allowed on the candlelit cruise, and the buffet cruise asks you to book together whenever possible so that your group is seated together.

How to choose

Start from the evening you want, then check the boarding point against where you are staying. The candlelit and buffet cruises both run two and a half hours, so the real choice is between ordering your own dinner and having a buffet with drinks included. If the evening is a celebration, the candlelit cruise is the one guests write about that way, though no table or decoration is promised. If you only have a short window, take the drinks sail.

• You want to order each course: the candlelit dinner
• You want drinks included with a buffet: the River Diva cruise
• You want an hour of views and a glass in hand: the drinks sail

Read next: Dock 7 Budapest: boarding guide

Who this isn't for

Skip the candlelit dinner cruise if you use a wheelchair, are vegan, have a food allergy or are travelling with a child under 3. It does not take party groups, pets, luggage or large bags either. Skip all three if you need a guaranteed lit skyline: the decorative lighting on the Parliament and the bridges is the city's call and cannot be promised for a given date. And if what you want is a quick drink on the embankment, none of these evenings is that short.