A Must-See in Budapest: Wenckheim Palace

Located on the edge of Budapest’s elegant Palace Quarter, Wenckheim Palace is one of those places that often surprises visitors. Just steps away from busy streets, it offers a calm, richly decorated interior that feels worlds apart from the surrounding city—and that’s exactly what makes it so special.

Built in 1889, the palace was commissioned by Count Frigyes Wenckheim and his wife, Krisztina Wenckheim, and designed by architect Artúr Meinig. The Neo-Baroque exterior gives way to lavish interiors decorated in Louis XV style, reflecting the wealth and refined taste of Budapest’s late-19th-century aristocracy. At the time, Wenckheim Palace was considered one of the most beautiful private residences of the 8th district.

The highlight of the building is its magnificent ballroom. Spacious, light-filled, and richly ornamented, it could easily accommodate up to 500 guests. The Wenckheim family was known for their elegant receptions and social events, welcoming members of the political and aristocratic elite—including Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.

After Count Wenckheim’s death in 1912, the palace was sold to the city in 1927, and a few years later it began a new chapter. In 1931, it became the central building of the Budapest Metropolitan Library. Today, this unique function allows visitors to experience an authentic aristocratic interior while the building remains very much part of everyday Budapest life.

One of the palace’s great advantages is accessibility. The main halls can usually be visited during library opening hours. That said, occasional closures do happen due to filming, special events, or the summer break.

Good to Know Before You Go

  • Easy access: Wenckheim Palace can usually be visited during the opening hours of the Budapest Metropolitan Library, making it one of the easiest historic palaces to see from the inside without advance booking.

  • Best timing: Late mornings or early afternoons on weekdays are usually the quietest, offering the best chance to enjoy the interiors without crowds.

  • Possible closures: Parts of the palace may occasionally be closed due to filming, special events, or during the summer school break—worth keeping in mind if this is a highlight of your visit.

  • Photography: Discreet photography is generally allowed, but flash and tripods are not.

  • Who it’s ideal for: A great stop for visitors interested in architecture, film locations, libraries, or travellers looking for an elegant yet relaxed indoor visit.

  • How to include it: Wenckheim Palace fits naturally into a Palace Quarter walk or can be combined with nearby sights on a longer city tour.

Wenckheim Palace is also a popular filming location. Its interiors have appeared in several international productions, including Red Sparrow, The Alienist, Spy, and The Phantom of the Opera.

Elegant yet approachable, central yet surprisingly peaceful, Wenckheim Palace is an excellent stop on a Budapest walking or driving tour—especially for visitors interested in architecture, film locations, or simply experiencing a lesser-known side of the city’s aristocratic past.

If you enjoy discovering the stories behind Budapest’s buildings, you might also like my Beautiful Budapest Stories piece on Wenckheim Palace, where I focus more on atmosphere and hidden details.

 

The home of composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt

The Budapest home of Liszt is surprisingly modest with only two rooms, one of them serving as bedroom and study at the same time but it’s nevertheless full of treasures. The Budapest home of the one and only Hungarian composer universally renowned as one of the greatests of the 19th century was on the elegant Andrássy avenue.

His home is a museum now and it’s a remarkably valuable collection of objects: personal items and amazing instruments of music. My favourite piece is a music composing desk with a built-in three-octave piano keyboard, specially designed for Liszt in the 1870’s. I also love the ornate music stand that Liszt received as a gift in 1858 and thanked it by saying: “I wish to produce soon some works worthy of being offered as an homage to the three patrons of music: Beethoven, Weber and Schubert” – whose busts decorate the wonderful piece.

Although Liszt only welcomed visitors in his home on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, the museum is open to visitors every day except Sundays.

 

 

  •  

 

The mummies of Vác – a fantastic exhibition about life and death in the 18th century

Vác is a cute little town on the left bank of the Danube, it’s some 25 minutes drive from Budapest. The visit of Vác can be included in a customised Danube Bend day trip. It’s such a beautiful Baroque jewellery box, I strongly recommend a short visit. We had been fortunate to tour Vác with my travellers before the borders of Hungary got closed again on the 1st of September.

The mummified remains of 265 people were found in 1994 in the crypt of the Dominican church, they had been laid to rest in hand painted, wooden coffins in the 18th and 19th centuries. The bodies didn’t decompose but were mummified naturally because of the favourable air conditions and dry settings.

The findings were extraordinary and not only because it’s a veritable gold mine for ethnographers about 18th century Hungarian everyday life and funeral traditions. It’s also a fantastic source for medical researches, a large number of tests have been performed by scientists on the mummified remains related to tuberculosis, HIV researches and they could also confirm C section had been performed as early as in the 18th century in Hungary.

The coffins are simply beautiful, all colourful, all hand-painted, all prepared with a lot of care, it’s very much like the fascinating celebration of life and death in a small Vác museum.

 

 

A Must-See in Budapest: György Ráth Villa

I’m a huge admirer of the Hungarian Art Nouveau movement, and I’m always proud to show travellers some of Budapest’s most beautiful Art Nouveau buildings. For me, the former home of György Ráth, the first director of the Museum of Applied Arts, is a true jewellery box — both the building itself and the artworks and furniture on display are absolutely unique.

Originally built as the Ráth family home, the villa today houses the permanent exhibition “Art Nouveau – A Hungarian Perspective.” Every room feels different, yet perfectly harmonious. The furniture, textiles, ceramics, and artworks were selected and arranged with such care that visiting the villa feels like stepping into the private world of a cultured, well-travelled family.

Walking through the rooms is an intimate experience — like visiting an elderly relative whose home is filled with authentic objects, each telling its own story. Nothing feels staged or distant; everything feels lived-in, warm, and deeply personal.

Tips for your Ráth György Villa Visit

When visiting the villa, don’t forget to take a walk along Városligeti fasor, one of Budapest’s most elegant avenues, lined with fascinating Art Nouveau villas. It’s the perfect continuation of the experience and an often-overlooked highlight of the City Park area.

If you’re fascinated by Art Nouveau, this villa is a beautiful stop to include in a custom Art Nouveau walking tour of Budapest.

 

Budapest Cafés: The Book Café (Temporarily Closed)

The golden age of Budapest’s famous coffeehouses was at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Today, we are once again seeing a renaissance of coffeehouse culture — and Budapest remains a city where cafés are deeply connected to everyday life, culture, and history.

Hungarians have always loved their coffee, but cafés here have traditionally been much more than places to drink it. I explore this unique relationship in more detail in my main article, We Love Our Coffee – And Our Coffeehouses, Too, which looks at why coffeehouses have played such an important role in Budapest for generations.

On my Budapest Foodie Tour, we usually visit different historic cafés, giving travelers the chance to enjoy Hungarian coffee and cakes while discovering the stories behind these iconic places.

About the Book Café Budapest

Book Café has always been one of the most special and memorable café spaces in Budapest. Hidden inside a 20th-century department store on Andrássy Avenue, it surprised visitors with a breathtaking historic interior — high ceilings, ornate frescoes, and a grand atmosphere that felt more like a palace than a café.

Sitting in Book Café was an experience in itself. It was the kind of place where you could easily forget time, surrounded by books, elegant architecture, and the quiet hum of conversation. For many visitors, it was one of the most unexpected highlights of Budapest’s café scene.

Unfortunately, both the building and the café are currently closed, and at the moment there is no confirmed reopening date. Although it cannot be visited right now, Book Café remains one of the most talked-about historic café interiors in Budapest and an important part of the city’s coffeehouse heritage.

I sincerely hope that this beautiful space will reopen in the future. Until then, Book Café lives on in memories — and in stories I love to share when talking about Budapest’s rich and ever-evolving coffeehouse culture.

 

Lonely Planet: Best in Travel 2020

Lonely Planet has just published a list of the “Best destinations, journeys and sustainable travel experiences” for 2020. I am very proud, because Budapest is listed among 10 destinations in total, we’re number 2. It’s a great achievement, I only wish they didn’t include “Budapest is one of the most rewarding on your pocket” as I don’t want travellers to visit Budapest because it’s cheap. Come and see my city, because it’s beautiful! 🙂

Looking back at 2019

With over 250 tours I delivered last year I can’t tell how fortunate I am to show my travellers around the city and the country I love the most. This is my home, my birthplace and I’m looking forward to introducing it to even more people in 2020!

I’ve just had a look at which my most popular tours were last year:

  • “THE GRAND BUDAPEST” WALK: a great introduction of Budapest to first time visitors or travellers who only have one day to see the main highlights and some of the hidden gems.
  • JEWISH QUARTER WALK: including the visit of the world’s second largest synagogue and a walk in the ghetto which is today the Soho of Budapest with great cultural and creative vibes.
  • BUDAPEST FOODIE TOUR: as I also work for a Hungarian food magazin, I’m really happy to take you to local markets and little artisan food shops and to make sure you taste all the great Hungarian treats.
  • EGER AND WINE TOUR BY CAR: we love our wines and we love our wine countries, Eger, the postcard-like Baroque little town is famous for the Bull’s Blood, the great Hungarian red wine. 
  • A DAY IN TOKAJ WINE COUNTRY: another day trip, another tour to a beautiful wine region. I love Tokaj and the Tokaj wines and I hope that my travellers who picked this tour in 2019 loved it just as much as I did.

The Hand of St. Stephen – Hungary’s Most Unusual Relic

St Stephen’s mummified hand hides one of the most unusual and powerful Budapest stories, preserved for over a thousand years inside St Stephen’s Basilica.

Hidden inside St. Stephen’s Basilica, behind gilded doors and soft candlelight, you’ll find one of Hungary’s most extraordinary and deeply symbolic treasures: the mummified right hand of St. Stephen, Hungary’s first Christian king.

Who was St. Stephen?

St. Stephen (István király) was crowned in the year 1000 and became the founder of the Hungarian state and its Christian identity. His reign marked a turning point: Hungary officially joined Christian Europe, laying the foundations of the country we know today.

After his death, Stephen was revered as a saint — but the story of his right hand is anything but ordinary.

How did the mummified hand survive in Budapest?

Legend has it that when St. Stephen’s body was exhumed prior to his canonisation, his right hand and forearm were found miraculously preserved, while the rest of his body had decayed. This was interpreted as a divine sign.

The relic became known as the “Holy Right” (Szent Jobb) and, over the centuries, it travelled far beyond Hungary’s borders — hidden, stolen, rediscovered, and finally returned home.

Today, it rests in a dedicated chapel inside the Basilica, displayed in a richly decorated reliquary and illuminated like a jewel.

Seeing the Holy Right Hand of St Stephen today

Visitors to St. Stephen’s Basilica can still see the mummified hand up close. It’s not just a religious relic — it’s a powerful symbol of Hungarian history, identity, and continuity.

Even for non-religious visitors, the experience is striking. The silence, the atmosphere, and the sheer unexpectedness of seeing a thousand-year-old hand preserved in such detail often leave a lasting impression.

Visiting with a guide makes all the difference

The Basilica is included in many of my Budapest walking and driving tours, and the interior visit — including the Holy Right — is also possible. When you see the relic with a guide, the story behind it comes alive: the legends, the politics, and the very human history behind the saint.

Want to see it in person?

If you’d like to include St. Stephen’s Basilica and the Holy Right in your Budapest experience — whether on foot or by car — feel free to get in touch. I’m always happy to tailor a tour that matches your interests and pace.

 

100th review on TripAdvisor

I’m ever so grateful for all your kind words and reviews. This one is even more special because this is the 100th review I’ve had on TripAdvisor. Thank you very much for all the kind words and comments!!

What a treat! Just like VIP

We booked an 8 hour tour of Budapest. This turned out to be one of the best moments in our lives. We were greeted by Julia in the lobby of our hotel. She was already waiting for us. She took us to a huge black limo, which was at our discretion for the whole day. This car could even access blocked streets! Just like magic, the blocking posts just opened for us only. We felt like real VIPs. She took us to so many places. Her English is perfect. I do speak Hungarian, but my spouse speaks only English. We’re had absolutely no problem understanding everything. Julia gave us a lot of information about the past, present and a little future about the city, also about the country. Budapest is really a magical city, Julia made it even more attractive. We can’t wait to do it again. Oh, and let’s not forget the secret places she took us to. On our own we would’ve missed so much! She recommended some excellent restaurants, which we really enjoyed. 
We ended the day in the evening, tired but happy. It was a perfect getaway. We loved it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to have fun and at the same time learn about Budapest. 
Thank you Júlia! This will stay with us for ever. Can’t wait for the next time!

Must-See in Budapest: Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park

Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest is one of city’s most distinctive and beloved landmarks, beautifully tucked away in City Park. A visit here feels like stepping into a storybook — yet the castle’s origins are firmly rooted in Hungarian history.

The castle was originally built as a temporary structure for the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, created to showcase Hungary’s rich architectural heritage in a single complex. Its success exceeded all expectations, and after the exhibition ended, the decision was made to rebuild Vajdahunyad Castle in a permanent form — allowing future generations to enjoy it.

What makes Vajdahunyad Castle truly special is its unique blend of architectural styles. Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque elements appear side by side, representing famous buildings from across the historic Kingdom of Hungary. As you walk through the courtyards, over the bridge, and along the lake, each section reveals a different mood — and endless photo opportunities.

Today, Vajdahunyad Castle is one of the most visited attractions in Budapest. It also frequently appears as a filming location, so keen-eyed visitors may recognise it from international films and series. Inside, the castle houses the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, while the surrounding grounds invite relaxed walks in every season.

Vajdahunyad Castle is included in many of my Budapest walking and driving tours, often paired with Heroes’ Square, Andrássy Avenue, and other highlights of City Park. It’s a place where architecture, history, and everyday local life meet — and one I’m always happy to introduce to visitors.

If you’d like to explore Vajdahunyad Castle as part of a customised private tour, feel free to get in touch.

1
…
8
9
10
11