Parliament building, Lipotvaros.

Parliament

Top choice in Budapest


The Eclectic-style Parliament, designed by Imre Steindl and completed in 1902, has 691 sumptuously decorated rooms. You’ll get to see several of these and other features on a guided tour of the North Wing: the Golden Staircase; the Dome Hall, where the Crown of St Stephen, the nation’s most important national icon, is on display; the Grand Staircase and its wonderful landing; Loge Hall; and Congress Hall, where the House of Lords of the one-time bicameral assembly sat until 1944.

The building is a blend of architectural styles – neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, neobaroque – and in sum it works very well. Tours in eight languages run for 45 minutes; to avoid disappointment book through Jegymester (www.jegymester.hu). The English-language ones are usually at 10am, noon and then hourly on the half-hour till 4.30pm, though there may be additional departures depending on demand.

Transportation

  • tram: 2
  • metro: M2 Kossuth Lajos tér

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Budapest attractions

1. Kossuth Lajos tér Lapidary

0.07 MILES

Assorted sculptures and other stones from the Parliament building on display in a lapidary below VI Kossuth Lajos tér.

2. Kossuth Lajos tér

0.08 MILES

Northwest of Szabadság tér, this square is the site of Parliament, Budapest’s most photographed building. The square reopened in 2014 after being restored…

3. In Memoriam: 1956 Revolution Memorial

0.08 MILES

The poignant underground In Memoriam: 1956 Revolution examines the events of `Bloody Thursday', 25 October 1956, when soldiers opened fire on a peaceful…

4. Parliament Visitors' Centre

0.09 MILES

The underground Parliament Visitors' Centre to the north of the Parliament building has reams of information and sells tour tickets. There's also a large…

5. Imre Nagy Statue

0.17 MILES

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'…

6. Shoes on the Danube

0.23 MILES

Along the banks of the river between Széchenyi István tér and Parliament is a monument to Hungarian Jews shot and thrown into the Danube by members of the…

8. Soviet Army Memorial

0.28 MILES

At the northern end of V Szabadság tér is a memorial to the Soviet army, the last of its type still standing in Budapest.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "hungary/budapest/parliament-and-around/attractions/parliament/a/poi-sig/1265118/1329733",
      "destination": "Budapest",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Hungary",
      "city": "Budapest",
      "position": "superzone"
    }