Must-see attractions in Hungary

  • Párisi Udvar

    Budapest

    Built in 1909, Párisi Udvar is a stunning, ornately decorated piece of Eclectic architecture, with Moorish, Gothic and art nouveau elements. It was for…

  • Gresham Palace

    Budapest

    This sumptuous art nouveau building facing the Danube across V Széchenyi István tér, with its gold tiles, mosaics and celebrated wrought-iron Peacock…

  • Tropicarium

    Budapest

    The vast aquarium complex called Tropicarium is apparently the largest in Central Europe. The place prides itself on its local specimens – though there’s…

  • Castle Casemates

    Eger

    Beneath Eger Castle are these casemates hewn from solid rock. Part of them is open to the public, accessible via the Dark Gate in the eastern section of…

  • Kőrössy Villa

    Budapest

    Built as a family home in 1899, this delightful villa at the top end of Városligeti fasor near City Park is master architect Kálmán Albert Körössy's most…

  • Citadella

    Budapest

    The Citadella is a fortress that never saw battle. Built by the Habsburgs after the 1848–49 War of Independence to defend the city from further…

  • Kiscell Museum

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    Housed in an 18th-century monastery, this museum contains three excellent sections. Downstairs you’ll find a complete 19th-century apothecary brought from…

  • Budapest Zoo

    Budapest

    This zoo, which opened with 500 animals in 1866, has an excellent collection of big cats, hippopotamuses, bears and giraffes, and some of the themed…

  • Vajdahunyad Castle.

    Vajdahunyad Castle

    Budapest

    Erected for the 1896 millenary celebrations originally in canvas and later built in stone, the castle was modelled after a fortress in Transylvania – but…

  • Óbuda Museum

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    Anchor tenant of the Zichy Mansion, where you’ll also find the Vasarely Museum, but with its own entrance on Fő tér, this wonderfully revamped museum…

  • Matthias Fountain

    Castle District

    Facing the Royal Palace’s large courtyard to the northwest is the Romantic-style Matthias Fountain, portraying the young king Matthias Corvinus in hunting…

  • Hungarian Agricultural Museum

    Budapest

    This huge and rather esoteric museum is housed in the stunning baroque and gothic wings of Vajdahunyad Castle. Scattered across a dozen palatial halls,…

  • Károly Garden

    Budapest

    A pleasant place to take a breather, this flowered-filled garden was built for the Károly Palace, which now houses the Petőfi Museum of Literature…

  • Buda Tower

    Castle District

    The big steeple on the south side of Kapisztrán tér, opposite the Museum of Military History and visible for kilometres to the west of Castle Hill, is the…

  • Invisible Exhibition

    Castle District

    This is a very unique interactive hour-long 'tour' of different settings (for instance, crossing the road, taking a bus) in total darkness, led by a blind…

  • Apostles' Tower

    Budapest

    Accessed via the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, the Apostles' Tower stands 30m tall and looks down on the beautiful Ják Chapel, as well as giving you a…

  • Szemlőhegy Cave

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    This beautiful cave, about 1km southeast of Pálvölgy and Mátyáshegy caves, is the most accessible of the three. The temperature at Szemlőhegy is 12°C and…

  • Cave Church

    Budapest

    This chapel is on a small hill directly opposite (north of) the landmark Danubius Hotel Gellért and baths. It was built into a cave in 1926 and was the…

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    Antifascist Monument

    Budapest

    This memorial dedicated to the 'victims of the German occupation' appeared at the southern end of V Szabadság tér in July 2014. It remains extremely…

  • Béla Bartók Memorial House

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    North of Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor, this house (1924) is where the great composer resided from 1932 until 1940, when he emigrated to the USA. Visits are by…

  • Panoptikum

    Castle District

    This 1200m-long cave system, located some 16m (and 45 steps) under the Castle District, contains a motley collection of displays in its joined-up…

  • Petőfi Museum of Literature

    Budapest

    Just north of Egyetem tér and housed in the sumptuous neoclassical Károly Palace (Károlyi Palota), dating from 1840, this museum is devoted to Sándor…

  • Semmelweis Museum of Medical History

    Budapest

    This quirky (and sometimes grisly) museum traces the history of medicine from Graeco-Roman times through medical tools and photographs; inevitably in…

  • Overhead of Elizabeth Bridge and Belvaros.

    Elizabeth Bridge

    Budapest

    Elizabeth Bridge enjoys a special place in the hearts of many Budapesters, as this gleaming white suspension bridge (1964) was the first newly designed…

  • Goldberger Textile Museum

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    This museum tells the story of Hungary's textile industry and that of the textile factory founded by Jewish entrepreneur Ferenc Goldberger in 1784, which…

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    Hungarian Open-Air Ethnographical Museum

    Szentendre

    Just 5km northwest of Szentendre is Hungary's most ambitious skanzen (open-air folk museum displaying village architecture), with farmhouses, churches,…

  • Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art

    Budapest

    Housed in the architecturally controversial Palace of Arts just north of Rákóczi Bridge, the Ludwig Museum holds Hungary’s most important collection of…

  • Ruins of Roman military amphitheatre, Obuda.

    Roman Military Amphitheatre

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    Built in the 2nd century for the Roman garrisons, this amphitheatre, about 800m south of Flórián tér. It's not especially impressive but will give you an…

  • Basilica of St Stephen Treasury

    Budapest

    The treasury of the Basilica of St Stephen contains ecclesiastical objects, including censers, chalices, ciboria and vestments, plus an unforgettable art…

  • Holy Right Chapel

    Budapest

    This chapel in the Basilica of St Stephen contains the Holy Right (also known as the Holy Dexter), the mummified right hand of King St Stephen and an…

  • Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum

    Castle District

    Just north of Dísz tér, on the site of Budapest’s first pharmacy (1681), this small, entertaining museum contains a mock-up of an alchemist’s laboratory,…

  • Óbuda Synagogue

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    Next to the landmark Aquincum Hotel Budapest, the Óbuda Synagogue was built in 1821. For many years it housed Hungarian TV (MTV) sound studios because the…

  • Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum

    Castle District

    Part of the Castle Hill caves network, this subterranean hospital was used extensively during the WWII siege of Budapest and during the 1956 Uprising. It…

  • National Institute for the Blind

    Budapest

    One of the most extravagant art nouveau buildings in Budapest is within easy walking distance of City Park. To the southeast of the park is the National…

  • Former Swedish Embassy

    Budapest

    The former Swedish Embassy on Gellért Hill bears a plaque attesting to the heroism of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat and businessman who, along with…

  • Imre Nagy Statue

    Budapest

    Southeast of V Kossuth Lajos tér is an unusual statue of Imre Nagy standing in the centre of a small footbridge, having moved Hungary 'halfway to freedom'…

  • Anonymous Statue

    Budapest

    The statue of the hooded figure opposite Vajdahunyad Castle is that of Anonymous, the unknown chronicler at the court of King Béla III (r 1172–96) who…

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