Budapest in December: light, ice and a dated 2026 calendar

Checked 6 November 2026. Holiday hours for both ice rinks are not published yet. The 24 December law has been voted, and we could not confirm that it has been signed or published in the official gazette.

December 2026, date by date

13 November: the markets open

The two big Christmas markets, at the Basilica and on Vörösmarty tér, open on Friday 13 November. We keep market dates, hours and a timed route on their own page.

20 November: the City Park rink

The rink is closed between seasons. Its operator says the 2026/27 ice season starts on this date, as read on 6 November 2026. The rink's story is further down.

28 November: KoriPark

A second rink opens at Budapest Park and skates until 31 January.

6 and 13 December: Mikulás and Luca

Both fall on a Sunday this year. Mikulás is St Nicholas's day. The markets page tells both stories.

Around 12 December: the earliest sunset

The sun sets at about 15:53, the earliest of the year. From here the evenings slowly get longer, though the days keep shrinking for another week.

19 December: the busy stretch on the ice

KoriPark's peak period starts today and runs every day until 3 January.

21 December: the shortest day

Sunrise is at about 07:28 and sunset at about 15:55: 8 hours 26 minutes of daylight.

24 to 26 December: three public holidays, if the law takes effect

Parliament voted on 3 November to add Christmas Eve to 25 and 26 December as a public holiday from this year. Most shops would have to close all day on the 24th, while restaurants, hotels, flower shops, sweet shops and petrol stations may open. Allowed to open is not the same as open. We list what's open from 24 December to 2 January separately. Our crawl is closed on 24 and 25 December and runs on the 26th.

28 December: last day for the craft stalls

Vörösmarty tér's craft stalls and mini railway finish today, though the market itself goes on.

31 December: choose your evening

Spend the daylight on what 31 December looks like hour by hour, or on which baths are open over the holidays, and finish well before evening if you are coming out with us. We meet at 19:00 at Oktogon, in front of Burger King, two hours ahead of our usual 21:00. The 31 December crawl, party ticket worth €50 included, starts with welcome champagne and ends at Instant-Fogas as the last stop.

The light: the earliest sunset is not on the shortest day

The earliest sunset comes about nine days before the shortest day. Sunset bottoms out around 12 December at about 15:53, and by 21 December it has already moved to about 15:55. Sunrise goes the other way and keeps getting later until the end of the month, so the mornings carry on darkening after the evenings have turned.

There is not much sun in what daylight you get. Wikipedia's climate table, citing NOAA figures for 1961 to 1990, gives Budapest 47.5 hours of sunshine in December against 274.2 in July. That works out at about an hour and a half a day. So do your walking around midday, and keep the evenings for what is lit or indoors.

The ice: the City Park rink

The City Park rink's operator says it opened on 29 January 1870, and headlined that January "156 éves", 156 years old. Its homepage this season calls the rink "100 éves", 100 years old. We could not read the explanation, so we cannot reconcile the two ages. It sits beside Vajdahunyad Castle, and the operator calls it one of Europe's most beautiful and largest outdoor rinks. Világgazdaság reported more than 337,000 visitors in the 2024/25 season, over 30,000 more than the year before.

Wikipedia adds two details we did not find on the operator's own pages. The skating area grew to 12,000 square metres in a rebuild that reopened on 16 December 2011, and in summer the same ground is filled with water and used for boating. For the Danube in the same season, read about the river in winter.

KoriPark is the newer alternative. Children under three skate free.

As of the date above, neither rink has published its hours for 24, 25 or 31 December, or for 1 January. The City Park rink says tickets will appear on its site as the date approaches.

December from our side of the bar

These figures come from our own booking data, not from anyone's guess about the city.

• December has been our biggest month for direct revenue. Of the 36 months from July 2023 to June 2026, December 2025 ranks first by revenue from bookings through our own site, and December 2024 ranks first of the twelve months of 2024. December 2023 was third of that year's six months in the data, behind August and July. New Year's Eve sales are in those months, and that ticket costs more than a regular night.
• The month jumps. Bookings through our site rose 72% from November to December in 2024, and 59% in 2025.
• Most people decide late. Across 2,153 direct bookings from January 2024 to June 2026, 60% were made on the day of the tour and 72% within 24 hours. Groups of seven or more are the exception, with a median of 7 days ahead. These are year-round figures. We have no such figure for 31 December, so don't read them as advice for that night.
• Winter changes where we go. In winter we lean toward the indoor ruin bars rather than any venue with a courtyard, and there is a welcome drink in every bar.

We run a guided crawl on December evenings from Oktogon at 21:00. In December we are closed only on the 24th and 25th, and on the 31st the same crawl moves to 19:00.

Questions people ask

How dark is Budapest in December?

On 21 December 2026 the sun rises at about 07:28 and sets at about 15:55, which gives 8 hours 26 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunset comes around 12 December, at about 15:53.

Can you ice skate in Budapest in December?

Yes. The City Park rink's operator says its season starts on 20 November 2026, and KoriPark at Budapest Park opens on 28 November and runs to 31 January. Neither had published holiday hours when we checked on 6 November 2026.

Are shops open in Budapest on Christmas Eve in 2026?

Mostly not, if the law voted on 3 November 2026 takes effect as reported: most shops would close all day on the 24th. Restaurants, hotels, flower shops, sweet shops and petrol stations may open. We could not confirm its publication in the official gazette as of 6 November 2026.

Can you decide on a night out on the day in December?

On a regular night, most of our guests do: 60% of 2,153 direct bookings from January 2024 to June 2026 were made on the day. That figure covers the whole year. Groups of seven or more book a median of 7 days ahead, and we have no such figure for 31 December.