Budapest · With kids

Állatkerti körút 6–12 in City Park, next door to the Széchenyi Baths, with more than 8,000 animals and some fine art-nouveau animal houses. Open 09:00–17:30 on weekdays and 09:00–18:00 at weekends; 5,900 Ft adults, 4,200 Ft children.

A narrow-gauge line through the Buda hills from Széchenyi-hegy to Hűvösvölgy, run by 10–14-year-olds apart from the driver, and doing it since 1948. The trip takes 40–50 minutes; it runs daily except Mondays from September to April, and it takes cash in forint only.

Hands-on science centre at Mátyás király út 24 in Óbuda: push-and-pull physics exhibits, a lab and live shows. Open 09:00–18:00 on school days and 10:00–19:00 at weekends and holidays. The obvious wet-afternoon plan with five to twelve year-olds.

An open-air lido on the west side of Margaret Island (bus 26) with a wave pool, thermal pools, slides and a lot of grass. It is a summer place — the leisure pool, outdoor thermal pools and slides shut at the end of August — so check what is actually open before you go.

The open single-seat chairlift from Zugligeti út up János-hegy, the highest point in Budapest, with the Elisabeth Lookout tower at the top. It pairs naturally with the Children's Railway, which stops a short walk away at Jánoshegy.