[MENTION=38332]madderlake[/MENTION] - It was crowded but not nearly as bad as I expected. This being my first visit to Budapest we were doing "touristy" things: for example, we were able to get tickets to tour the Hungarian Parliament Building same day, for a slot an hour and a half ahead of dropping by the ticket window, late afternoon (I'd heard they often sell out quickly for the day early on). We were able to catch the next up funicular up to Buda Castle with basically no line, etc.

I'd asked someone about the minimal crowds and they commented that they thought the heatwave was keeping folks away to some degree so YMMV.

HTH