Guiding tours around Beautiful Budapest, I cannot help but snap random moments that are catching my eye. From the vibrant street art to the hidden alleyways, there’s magic in every corner. Sometimes the best shots come when you’re not looking for them at all. This city is full of surprises, and I’m so grateful for every photo I get to capture along the way. Here’s to the joy of spontaneous exploration and the stories each photo tells! Spring is coming, days are getting longer and there is no greater joy than exploring this wonderful city.

Book a tour with me so that you can see some of these attractions and many more! All the private tours are fully customisable, based on your interests and preferences.

St. Stephen’s Basilica is the largest Catholic Church of Budapest and the third largest church of Hungary. After the devastating floods of the Danube river in 1838 local people from the neighbourhood wanted to thank God for saving their lives, and raised a lot of money for the construction of the largest church of the city. Construction works started in 1851 and after multiple unfortunate events (death of two of the church’s architects, a devastating storm when the dome collapsed) it was finally consecrated 54 years later, in 1905. The building is an appealing mix of different styles: Baroque, Classicist and Neo-Renaissance. The artworks (paintings, sculptures and stained glass windows) were all created by Hungarian artists, including Gyula Benczúr, Károly Lotz and Miksa Róth.

The church is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, the founder of the Catholic Church in Hungary, and the founder of a Christian state. His statue made of Carrara marble is the main altarpiece of the church. The principal relic of the Basilica is the mummified right hand of king Stephen, it is on display in the church hall.

A panorama terrace was created around the main dome of the Basilica at a height of 65 meters, which is the highest viewpoint in Pest, offering a 360-degree panorama over the city. You can take the stairs (about 300 steps) or the elevators to get to the dome. There is a Holy Mass in English in Mary’s chapel at 6.10 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and at 4.00 PM in the Basilica on Sundays and holidays.

We usually try to include the visit of the interior on the Budapest tours if time permits. You can learn more about the Basilica, visiting hours and ticket prices here.

I am spending a lot of time wondering around my beautiful city, and I am fortunate to see its buildings from all different angles and viewpoints. There’s something alluring about capturing a building from multiple angles; each perspective reveals a new layer of its architecture and character. As I moved around, I saw how the light shifted and how the structure seemed to change, transforming with each viewpoint. It’s a reminder that sometimes, to truly appreciate a subject, you need to step back and see it from every possible angle.

I keep saying that I really am a very fortunate person to spend most of my days out and about in my beautiful city. I am taking a lot of photographs and have just realised how many of those pictures capture the truly spectacular ceilings of buildings. I have a nice collection now and I decided to share a few of those photos with you. Unfortunately you cannot see all of these ceilings today, the Book Café has been closed for years for example, and there is no way that I would recommend to queue in front of New York Café for hours, but there are so many more great buildings with magnificent ceilings.

Being a tourist in a new place is not easy, you have to look in all directions all the time, but please, do not forget to look up! Feel free to send me your favourite photos! And I promise to keep adding more photos to the collection from time to time.

 

Street art in Budapest has always been of great significance. Art is not only what we see, it is not only made to please the eyes, artists seek to convey meaningful messages, art can communicate ideas and feelings. Art can be interpreted in so many different ways and it also is a great source to understand a nation’s culture and spirit. During the communist era Hungarians have developed a sixth sense to decode messages hidden in art, literature and music, messages that communist censorship tried to cancel.

Contemporary street art in Budapest is playful, symbolic and it makes you think. Storytelling is still the most important function, together with aesthetics but we see the concept changing, we recognise new language, new shapes, new design and new forms. And we welcome the new creators with innovative ideas.

Mykhailo Kolodko is a young artist of the new generation. He was born in Ukraine, studied monumental sculpture at the Lviv Academy of Arts and moved to Hungary with his family in 2017. Although he studied and was originally interested in monumental art, he became popular for his mini-sculptures both in Uzhhorod, Ukraine and in Budapest. His opinion is that the time of centrally planned and determined art is over, art today should reflect the interests of the artists and the people. His self definition and inspiration is that “even in small form it is possible to depict monumental idea”.

Locals tend to call his art guerrilla sculpture, as the bronze mini-statues pop up unexpectedly at public spaces without permission. Everybody loves treasure hunting, so it is no surprise that the statuettes quickly gained popularity to such extent that certain pieces were stolen. Others are treated as humans and people often dress them up in the cold winter months. They are small, about 10-15 cm each, the concept is that large-scale statues are also created in small size first, also, Kolodko says that the small size gives him a lot of advantages in speed, mobility, value and confidence.

I love the symbolism of Kolodko’s art. Long forgotten cartoon characters or fairy tale heroes are resurrected, historical moments are revived, other pieces pay homage to famous Hungarian people. The statuette itself, its location, its appearance, they all tell you a story. There are quite a few of them located in the city centre of Budapest and I’m happy to introduce them to you on a Budapest tour. Here are a few of my favourite Kolodko mini-sculptures:

  • The Sad Tank is a Russian tank facing Parliament that reminds us of the 1956 revolution, the muzzle of the tank is down and is of the shape of an elephant trunk indicating the war is over (2017).
  • The Rabbit with the Checkered Ears is the main character of a very popular Hungarian animated children’s series in the 1970’s. The rabbit is located on top of Castle hill and is enjoying the UNESCO protected Budapest panorama (2018).
  • Emperor Franz Joseph in a Hammock is a great metaphor of the emperor re-conquering in a peaceful way the Liberty bridge that was originally named after him (2021)
  • There Was Only One Dog Fair in Buda, a very popular folk tale taking us back to the time of Hungarian king Matthias. There are many folk tales inspired by the great king and about how he always rewarded the good people and punished the bad. You can recognise the Hungarian breeds like the puli and the vizsla.
  • Kermit the Frog from the Muppet Show is sitting in front of the former headquarters of the Hungarian national television.

I wish you good luck to locate as many Kolodko statues as you can, it is not always easy because of their size, in Hungary you can find them in Budapest, Vác, Veszprém, Tihany and Eger, they might pop up in other countries as well, like Italy or Germany. You can learn more about Mykhailo Kolodko and his art here and find out more about his mini-statues on Facebook.

 

Many of the travellers that contact me are interested in finding some local restaurants for a nice lunch or dinner. Food is such an important part of your overall experience, so I highly recommend to do a research, so that you find the restaurants that best suit your preferences. My list below is based on my personal experiences and on the feedback I’m getting from travellers:

  • MARUMBA
  • Gettó Gulyás
  • Mazel Tov
  • Menza
  • Rézkakas Bistro
  • Aszú Étterem
  • RETEK Bisztro
  • Stand 25
  • Déryné Bisztro
  • TATI Budapest
  • Szaletly Vendéglő
  • Borkonyha

Bon appétit – Jó étvágyat!

 

 

 

 

A little photo gallery from the thousands of photographs I’ve been taking while walking around my Beautiful Budapest. These are not the most famous attractions, but some hidden gems that you can discover when you book a tour with me. The reason why I’m sharing these with you is that I very much like the colours, the vibes, the ambience of these places. Feel free to contact me for more details!

 

Győr, Sopron and other beautiful towns of Hungary are a longer drive from Budapest, so unfortunately this is not my most popular tour. That is why it is always a special treat to travel near the Austrian border to explore the Baroque architecture, local culture and local food. The weather was not ideal, however, the fog made the towns look even more magical and special. We also had time to visit the absolutely exquisite Esterházy Palace in Fertőd, which I think is the number one attraction in Hungary (it really is a tough race). Thank you for the great experience and I cannot wait to take more people to Győr, Fertőd and Sopron!

We were very lucky last week because we had some snow in Budapest. As usually, it did not last for long, but it was a great day, Budapest is so beautiful covered in snow. Book a tour with me in January or February and hope for a nice snowy day!

You might have noticed already how much I’m fascinated by the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. I love the design, the colours, the shapes and the fantastic symbolism, the stories the buildings and objects tell us. We were fortunate enough to discover this beautiful little gem of Art Nouveau in the 6th district of Budapest with my travellers who were looking for their family roots in Budapest earlier this year.

The house is from 1904, designed by the Hungarian architect genius Albert Kálmán Kőrössy for the Sonnenberg family. Like many other buildings from the same period of time this building was also in a very bad shape by the end of the 20th century. Some of the residents decided to restore it to its original beauty, and they have been doing an amazing job. It is a very long and expensive process, some of the stained glass windows were already restored, and they are just exquisite. I cannot wait to see the rest of the project.

Join me for an Art Nouveau walk to find out more about this super exciting time period and the symbolism of Hungarian Art Nouveau. Also, you’ll find more details about the Sonnenberg house and the restoration process here.