Heroes square truly is the alpha and the omega of all Budapest tours, driving or walking. It’s beautiful, monumental and the entire Hungarian history is on display. It’s the entrance to City Park, where there is so much to do or to see: the Zoo, Széchenyi bathhouse, the open-air ice skating rink, the Vajdahunyad Castle, the city Circus, some museums and great playgrounds for kids. It is very rare to see it as empty and deserted as it was this morning.
My travellers often ask me to recommend some great museums to visit during their stay in Budapest. I’ve put together a list of the museums that I like and that I think would be a great addition to your Budapest experience.
History lovers:
Hungarian National Museum – all about Hungarian history from the ancient times to nowadays. the most significant item on display is the coronation robe of the Hungarian kings from 1000. The interior of the museum is just magnificent.
Hospital in the Rock – a museum in the cave system of the Buda Castle District that served as an underground hospital during WW2. Amazing stories from the war and a very detailed presentation.
Budapest History Museum – dedicated to the history of the Buda Castle complex and Budapest. You can visit the old parts of the castle as well as the newly renovated royal halls.
Memento Park – although it’s located outside the city centre, it’s worth a visit. The cemetery of the old statues of the communist era puts on display Hungarian history in the second half of the 20th century.
Glass House – former Swiss consul Carl Lutz saved the life of thousands of Hungarian Jews during WW2. The museum is dedicated to his amazing work and to all people who found peace and safety in the Glass House of Budapest.
Art lovers
Fine Art Museum – hundreds of thousands of pieces from all the different periods of European fine arts. Plan to spend a couple of hours to see them all.
National Gallery – an amazing collection of Hungarian art form the Middle Ages to nowadays. The museum is located in the Royal Palace of Buda and offers magnificent views over the city.
Ludwig Museum – the contemporary art museum started from a private collection and is expanding dynamically year by year. You can admire art from the late sixties to present time.
Don’t forget that most of the Budapest museums are closed on Mondays, always check the opening hours before your visit! Feel free to get in touch with me for further details and more information.
The recently renovated Rumbach Street Synagogue is part of the synagogue triangle in the Jewish district of Budapest.
The building was designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner and was built in the 1870’s. The Moorish Revival style of the synagogue is stunning, you can admire the combination of vivid colours (reds, blues, purples and golden), the craftsmanship and the richly ornate interior. The unique octagonal shape of the interior has eight sides, it was designed as an homage to the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.
The synagogue belonged to a smaller local community before WW2 but unfortunately lost its function after the war was over, most of the community was killed in the Holocaust. The building became neglected and after decades of decoy became renovated and reopened in 2021.
The Orthodox synagogue in Kazinczy street was bulit in Art Nouveau architecture in the early 1900’s. The Art Nouveau characteristics are truly magnificent: the rose window on top of the facade, the various building materials including raw brick and colourful stone pieces, the floral ornaments, the stained-glass windows. The building is a masterpiece of the architects, Sándor and Béla Löffler.
The synagogue was badly damaged during WW2 and the building was restored after the war. It’s part of a complex where there are apartments, two kosher restaurants, a little design shop, a kosher grocery store and offices of the Orthodox community. The visit of the synagogue can be included in the Budapest Jewish district tour.
I keep posting about Eger wines and wine tasting tours, and it seems to me that wine tours are becoming more and more popular. My personal opinion is that exploring local food and wine is a defining part of our travel experience. I’m so happy to realise how much my travellers enjoy the local wines and traditions.
Eger is a very cute Hungarian little town with a lot of history and culture and with amazing red wines. Let me know if you’re interested in a tour, so that I can send you more details. We can include as many different wineries as you wish, we can do wine tasting, we can walk around the wine cellars, it is the best way to explore local food and local wine.
Here are some pictures of our last tour to give you more ideas.
I’m taking a lot of pictures and videos while I’m walking around my Beautiful Budapest. Here is a little video to show you some of the attractions I’ve taken recently. I hope by seeing it all of you will want to see it for yourself. Don’t hesitate to book a tour with me, so that you can have the most amazing Budapest experience!
There are a few buildings that I love in Budapest, Mai Manó House is one of them. It’s such a special building near Andrássy avenue, full of little details and a facade that tells you many stories. We walk by the building very often while we discover the Pest side of the river.
It was designed for Mai Manó, photographer of Emperor Franz Joseph in the 1890’s. As he was a renowned photographer, his profession was clearly demonstrated on the facade, you can see the little angels holding cameras and you can also observe the muses of photography. The main front of the building is full of colours and is richly decorated by colourful ceramic tiles. The style is Neo-Renaissance with a lot of flower and animal motifs.
The House of Photography is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions, and the interior is just as fascinating as the outside.
Finally, the moment has come, as of the 7th of August, travellers from outside the EU can enter Hungary by air. The rules are:
“persons who are able to present an English or Hungarian language document containing the results of a molecular biological test (SARS_CoV-2 PCR test) not older than 72 hours, conducted in conformity with professional medical regulations in one of the following countries:
a Member State of the European Union or in a candidate state of the European Union,
a member state of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,”
It means that all you need is to have a negative PCR test (not older than 72 hours). We’ve been waiting for this for such a long time, it’s such a great news and I really hope that many visitors will want to visit my Beautiful Budapest these coming weeks.
I get a lot of inquiries about travel restrictions related to COVID, it’s actually still not easy to find out who can enter Hungary.
The basic rules:
Hopefully very soon the same restrictions will apply to travellers coming from the EU and from outside the EU, it’s basically a political decision and there is nothing we can do to help visitors.
The good news, is that if you are in Vienna or Bratislava, you’re very close to Budapest and can easily plan a daytrip to visit my beautiful city. The train connections between Vienna and Budapest and between Bratislava and Budapest are great and it’s easy to book tickets. I can also help you to arrange for private transportation if needed.
I’m happy to customise any of my walking or driving tours so that you can have the perfect Budapest experience. I can pick you up at the train station or meet you in the city centre of Budapest and you’ll see all the main attractions and the most beautiful parts of the city in a couple of hours. Please let me know if you need more details or have further questions.
I’m starting a new series to introduce you the most famous statues of Budapest and some of the hidden gems, too. These are the beautiful monuments of Budapest we usually see on our walking or driving tours in Buda and Pest.
The equestrian statue of Count Gyula Andrássy is at the Parliament building. He was a great politician and statesman, one of the key figures preparing the Compromise that created the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1867.
