World City Guide

Key Attractions

Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain Bridge)
Eight bridges link Buda to Pest but the Chain Bridge is the first and most famous, with its solid arches and lion statues. Count István Széchenyi commissioned the Englishman responsible for London’s Hammersmith Bridge, William Tierney Clark, to design a bridge, after his father's funeral was delayed by a week while his son attempted to cross the Danube in particularly bad weather. Completed in 1848, the bridge was inaugurated in 1849, allowing for the integration of Buda, Pest and Óbuda in 1872. The Nazis having done considerable damage, the bridge was repaired and re-inaugurated on 21 November 1949. Adam Clark is honoured in a small square at the foot of the bridge. The kilometre zero, the point from which all distances from Budapest are measured, is located here.

1 Clark Ádám tér
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Budavári Palota (Buda Royal Palace)
First inhabited by King Béla IV, after the 1241 Mongol invasion, the Royal Palace had its heyday during King Mátyás’s reign (1458-90). In the late 18th century, Empress Maria Theresa rebuilt and enlarged the palace. The Royal Palace has risen Phoenix-like from the ashes of many wars – the Turkish siege (1541) and invasion (1686), the 1848-49 War of Independence and the latter stages of World War II. The result is a hotchpotch of styles from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, ranging from Baroque to modern. Within the palace’s partially reconstructed walls, lies a vast museum complex, which includes three museums (Budapesti Történeti Múzeum, Budapest History Museum; Ludwig Múzeum, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, the Hungarian National Gallery) and the National Széchenyi Library.

The Budapest History Museum, in the southern part of the palace, traces the city’s history from Buda’s liberation from the Turks in 1686, to the 1970s. The Ludwig Múzeum, in the palace’s northern wing, is named after its patron, Peter Ludwig, whose donations include Picasso, Warhol and Lichenstein. Eastern European paintings and sculpture provide a fascinating critique of crumbling communism. The Hungarian National Gallery is situated at the core of the palace. The encyclopaedic collection of Hungarian art from the 10th century to the present day portrays battles, both victorious and disastrous, romantic rural scenes and religious medieval altar paintings, providing a valuable insight into the Hungarian national identity. Visitors to the palace can book a tour, with an English-speaking guide, in advance.

I Budavári Palota, Dísz tér 17
Cars forbidden.

Budapesti Történeti Múzeum (Budapest History Museum)
I Budavári Palota (Wing E), Szent György tér 2
Tel: (01) 225 7809.
Website: www.btm.hu
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1600 (Nov-Feb); Wed-Mon 1000-1800 (Mar-Oct).
Admission charge.

Ludwig Múzeum
I Budavári Palota (Wing A), Szent György tér 2
Tel: (01) 375 7533/9175.
Website: www.c3.hu/~ludwig
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Magyar Nemzeti Galéria (Hungarian National Gallery)
I Budavári Palota (Wings B, C, D), Dísz tér 17
Tel: (01) 375 7533 or 224 3700.
Website: www.mng.hu
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800 (Apr-Oct); Tues-Sun 1000-1600 (Nov-Feb).
Admission charge.

National Széchenyi Library
I Budavári Palota (Wing F), Dísz tér or Palota útca
Tel: (01) 224 3700.
Website: www.oszk.hu
Opening hours: Mon 1300-2100, Tues-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1700 (Oct-Jun); Mon 1300-2100, Tues, Wed and Sat 0900-1700, Thurs and Fri 0900-2100 (Jul and Sep); closed Aug.
Admission: Free. Charge for special exhibitions.

Mátyás Templom (Matthias Church)
The Zsolnay pyrogranite tiles of Matthias Church are as colourful and richly patterned as snakeskin. Inside is a melange of styles from the 13th to the 19th centuries. It is thought that a church was first built on this site in 1015, by King István. The Renaissance King Mátyás Corvinus was crowned here in 1458, aged 14 years, and married twice within its walls. When the Turks occupied the Castle District in 1541, the church was turned into a mosque and the walls painted with extracts from the Koran. The building suffered in the 1686 siege of Buda and was restored in the 19th century by Frigyes Schulek, who uncovered remains of medieval wall paintings, vaulting and statuary, adding a few of his own gargoyles for good luck. In the 20th century, the church was used as a kitchen by occupying German forces, and later as stables by the Russians. Beyond the altar is the entrance to the Church Museum, which gives access to the underground crypts, chapel, jewels and the skull of the wife of King Mátyás’s brother. High Mass takes place on Sunday at 1000. There are frequent summer concerts on Friday at 2000.

I Szentháromság tér 2
Tel: (01) 355 5657.
Website: www.matyas-templom.hu
Opening hours: Daily 0700-2000 (church); daily 0930-1730 (treasury).
Admission charge.

Fishermen's Bastion
Behind the sanctuary of the Matthias Church, the Fishermen's Bastion offers a splendid view of the Danube and Pest. At the end of the 19th century, Frigyes Schulek designed a graceful system of stairs running from the Danube to the hilltop, and the current structure, which has been embellished with turrets, scrolls, arcades, curved stairs and statues, was intended to be the end point. The lookout terrace was completed in 1901, and the equestrian statue of King St Stephen was installed in 1906. Schulek imagined the bastion section defended by the fishermen’s guild, hence the name. Somewhat his vision was of a more austere, defensible and less decorated piece of architecture, but his original plans were later altered to the delight of today's visitors.

I Szentháromság tér
Transport: Funicular from Clark Ádám tér up Castle Hill; bus 6.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.

Hotel Gellért and Thermal Baths
Prudes are not advised to try out the Gellért Baths (valued since the Turkish occupation for their medicinal qualities) or any other thermal spas in the city, for that matter. Upon entrance, a strip of cloth is given to men and a tiny apron to women. Massages last 15 or 40 minutes – a vigorous experience not to be embarked upon by the faint-hearted. Bathing suits are donned before entering the main mixed swimming pool – an Art Nouveau beauty surrounded by columns. There are separate thermal pools of varying temperatures, steam rooms and sauna – one side for men and the other for women.

XI Szent Gellért tér 2-6
Tel: (01) 385 2200.
Website: www.danubiusgroup.com/danubius/gellert
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0600-1900, Sat and Sun 0600-1600.
Admission charge.

Budapest Baths
Budapest is well known for its baths, and indeed any visit to the Hungarian capital should include at least one session in one of the city’s many fine establishments. Apart from the Gellert Thermal Baths (see above), check out the following: the neo-Baroque Széchenyi Baths in Városliget, Állatkerti körút 11 (tel: (01) 321 0310; website: www.szechenyifurdo.hu), one of the largest spa complexes in Europe (and the first thermal bath of Pest), where you will find indoor steam rooms and thermal baths and outdoor pools where bathers play chess; the Kiraly Baths, II Fo utca 84 (tel: (01) 201 4392; website: www.kiralyfurdo.hu), housed in one of the city’s most important Ottoman monuments, where small baths of varying temperatures surround a large main pool – the traditional Turkish bath layout; the Rudas, I Dobrentei ter 9 (tel: (01) 356 1322), with its beautiful dome (shafts of light cut through the steam and give the room an eerie atmosphere), arguably the finest of Budapest’s baths (the Rudas is currently closed for refurbishment and is scheduled to reopen in January or February 2005); and Rac Gyogyfurdo, Hadnagy utca, 8-10 (tel: (01) 356 1010), another Turkish bath with an octagonal pool and a very beautiful Ottoman dome which has just undergone a massive refurbishment project. For more info visit www.spasbudapest.com

Országház (Parliament)
Imre Steindl’s design for Budapest’s Parliament, inspired by London’s Houses of Parliament, won first prize in a competition to celebrate the 1000th year of the Hungarian nation. Work commenced in 1885 and was finally completed in 1902. The parliament building opens onto Kossuth Lajos tér, named after the revolutionary leader of 1848. The edifice, with its elegant neo-Renaissance dome, topped by a pointy neo-Gothic spire, stretches for over 250m (820ft) along the River Danube. It was here that the crowds assembled on 23 October 1989, when Mátyás Szurös declared the Hungarian People’s Republic from the balcony on Kossuth Lajos tér. The red star, perched on the dome during the Communist era, was abandoned in 1990. Guided tours, which depart from gate 10, allow entrance to a wealth of marble and gold, columns and statues within. Although the wait may be long, visitors should be patient, for it is worth it, if only to see the numbered cigar holders outside the former upper house, where members left their Havanas burning during debates.

V Kossuth Lajos tér 1-3
Tel: (01) 441 4904.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000 and 1400, Sat and Sun 1000, subject to parliamentary sessions (guided tours only).
Admission charge.

Szent István Bazilika (St Stephen’s Basilica)
St Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest’s largest church, designed by József Hild, was built in 1845, although not consecrated until 1905. A storm destroyed the original dome in 1868. The building was rebuilt from scratch in neo-Renaissance style but suffered damage during World War II. The building seats 8500 and is currently undergoing restoration, begun in 1980 and set to continue for the foreseeable future. Inside, Gyula Benczúr’s painting of Szent István offering the Hungarian crown to the Virgin Mary, symbolises the alliance between Hungary and Western Europe. The church’s undisputed highlight is a glimpse of Szent István’s mummified hand, which lights up when Ft100 is slipped into a slot. The basilica’s tower offers excellent views of the city. Organ concerts are given on Mondays at 1900, July-October.

V Szent István tér 1
Tel: (01) 317 2859.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0700-1900, Sun 1300-1900. Opening times for Stzent Jobb Chapel and for the cupola vary, phone ahead. Tower: daily 1000-1800.
Admission: Free. Charge for the tower.

Városliget (City Park)
Városliget, Budapest’s largest park, was designed by the French landscape-designer, Nebbion, and is where locals go for leisurely strolls. Attractions include the botanical gardens, artificial lake (used for ice skating in winter) and Vajdahunyad Vára – a castle that displays Hungary’s varied architectural styles right up to the 19th century, with the Magyar Mezogazdasági Múzeum (Museum of Hungarian Agriculture) housed in the Baroque-style section. A statue of George Washington stands in the park, erected by grateful Hungarians who had been allowed to settle in America. The park also houses the City Zoo and the large and ornate Széchenyi Fürdo (Széchenyi Baths), which are famed as much for their giant floating chess boards as for the medicinal power of their waters, and are one of the oldest, largest spa complexes in Europe.

VI Dózsa György útca
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.

Széchenyi Baths
(see 'Budapest baths' above)

Magyar Mezogazdasági Múzeum (Museum of Hungarian Agriculture)
Vajdahunyad Castle, Városliget, Széchenyi Island
Tel: (01) 363 1117.
Website: www.mezogazdasagimuzeum.hu
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1600, Sat and Sun 1000-1700 (mid-Nov-mid-Feb); Tues-Fri 1000-1700, Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1000-1700 (mid-Feb-mid-Nov)
Admission charge.

Budapest Zoo
XIV Állatkerti körút 6-12
Tel: (01) 363 3710.
Website: www.zoobudapest.com
Opening hours: Mon-Thur 0900-1800; Fri-Sun 0900-1900 (May-Aug); daily 0900-1700 (Sep, Oct, Mar,Apr), daily 0900-1600 (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb)
Admission charge.

Dohány Zsinagóga (Central Synagogue)
Europe’s largest synagogue (and the world’s second largest) was designed by Lajos Föster, in a Byzantine-Moorish style and completed in 1859. Liszt and Saint-Saëns are among the famous musicians to have played the synagogue’s grand organ. Desecrated by German and Hungarian Nazis, its two Moorish domes gleam afresh after a ten-year restoration project financed by the Hungarian government and Tony Curtis’ Emmanuel Foundation. 724,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and their lives are remembered in the Jewish History Museum, annexed to the synagogue and at Imre Varga’s memorial to the side of the synagogue, where a family name is inscribed on each leaf of a metallic tree. Neolog (Orthodox) services are held on Friday at 1800 and Saturday at 1900. Visitors should contact the Jewish Information Centre, VII Síp utca 2 (tel: (01) 342 1335).

Dohány Zsinagóga (Central Synagogue)
VII Dohány útca 2
Tel: (01) 342 1335.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1500, Sun 1000-1300; closed Jewish holidays.
Admission charge.

Jewish Museum
VII Dohány útca 2
Tel: (01) 342 8949.
Website: www.c3.hu/~bpjewmus
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sun 1000-1500 (May-Oct); Mon-Fri 1000-1500, Sun 1000-1400 (Nov-Apr); closed Jewish holidays.
Admission charge.

Hosök Tere (Heroes’ Square)
Millenniumi Emlékmû (Millennium Monument)
Heroes’ Square was built in 1896, to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the Magyar conquest. Here the Archangel Gabriel at the top of a 36m (118ft) column (winner of the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900) is half-encircled by statues of the seven victorious Magyar tribal chiefs on horseback and Hungary’s most honoured rulers, from King Stephen to Kossuth.

VI Andrássy útca, corner of Dózsa Dyörgy útca
Website: www.budapestinfo.hu/en/sights/hosoktere.html
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.