The newly renovated State Opera House

I’ve had the chance to visit the interior of the State Opera House shortly after it reopened after long years of renovation works. The interior is just magnificent. I’ve always felt overwhelmed by the style and grandeur of the building, and I wasn’t disappointed. I love the colours, the smells, the amazing Neo-Renaissance design and ornaments. Visiting the building is like a time travel to the late 1800’s.

I’d highly recommend to buy a ticket for an evening performance or to buy a ticket to visit the Opera – there are guided tours in English every day at 1.30 PM, 3.00 PM and 4.30 PM. Private tours are also available, please let me know if you’re interested, I’m happy to include the Opera visit in a driving or walking tour.

Entrance fee to St. Stephen’s Basilica

Many of us have been surprised earlier this year to learn that visitors need to buy a ticket to see the interior of St. Stephen’s Basilica. So far the general opinion was that the house of God is open for everybody and visitors only had to pay a small amount of donation at the entrance.

You need to buy the tickets in advance at the ticket office, which is located to the right of the church. The ticket price is HUF 1.200 (about EUR 3) per person. Be aware that during wedding ceremonies you are only allowed to a small part of the interior and the church is closed for visitors during church services.

Gyorgy Rath villa in City Park

I’ve had a group of interior design students from the US who booked an Art Nouveau tour with me. I thought they would be interested in seeing the villa of György Ráth, first director general of the Museum of Applied Arts of Budapest.

His home is an amazing source of inspiration for art lovers. One really feels like visiting a family with great sense of art and culture. The British, Austrian and French Art Nouveau are all on display and one can also admire the Oriental influence, as well as the Transylvanian roots appearing in Hungarian art at the turn of the century. The 600 pieces of art in the exhibition represent all branches of applied art: jewellery, furnitures, Zsolnay ceramics, Tiffany glassware, amazing paintings and sculptures.

The museum is open for the public from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM.

 

Public transportation in Beautiful Budapest

You know that I love Budapest and I love the public transportation of the city. Some of you also know that my personal protest against the Russian aggression in Ukraine is that I refuse to buy petrol and haven’t driven my car for a while. The video below shows what I experience and see every day while I’m riding the local metro and trams.

Mai Manó House – House of Hungarian Photography

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.

Your reviews

Your reviews on TripAdvisor or on my website are highly appreciated and I’m always very glad to read how much you enjoyed your tours. This is a recent review from my TripAdvisor profile:

Julia is the best tour guide I ever had
Our PR agency spent one weekend in Budapest – a team of 5 people – we wanted to celebrate a challenging business year in this beautiful city so close (and connected) to Vienna. We contacted Julia as we wanted to get some really good insights for Budapest, yet we did not have so much time – so we booked 3 hours with her. Julia took us on an outstanding tour in Budapest – I have never met such a dedicated, experienced and in the meantime passionate tour guide / a person loving her home country – every minute with Julia was interesting and exciting, she gave us such a vivid impression of Budapest from its interesting history / culture / architecture – connecting to todays story .. To be with a tour guides like her is pure luck, thank you Julia for this wonderfuld day – we would book her again and can only recommend to anyone who really wants to get a great insight to Budapest.
Thank you very much!

Winter in Budapest

Yes, it’s relatively cold and some days may be foggy and gray but Budapest is still the most beautiful city of the world. However, I’d recommend to book shorter tours if you don’t want to stay out in the cold for a full day 🙂

Parliament reopens – reduced ticket prices until September 2021

Great news from Budapest: from the 14th of May the fascinating building of the Parliament of Hungary can be visited again, there are tours every day between 9.00 AM and 3.00 PM. What’s more important is that the ticket prices have been reduced by 50%:

EU citizens: HUF 1600 / person

non-EU citizens: HUF 3200 / person

I think it’s a great opportunity to visit the Parliament now, I often tell that this really is one of the most spectacular buildings of Beautiful Budapest and definitely is a must-see when you visit my city.

As for now the COVID regulations are very strict: “The House of Parliament is open for visitors with an immunity certificate or immunity certificate application as well as for minors under their supervision; after their body temperatures are taken. The use of hand sanitisers installed in the Parliament building and the Visitor Centre is mandatory. Wearing a mask covering the nose and mouth is recommended. Please observe the social distancing rule and keep a 1.5-metre distance from others. Visits are to be undertaken on the sole responsibility of the visitors.”

The only problem is that it’s impossible for individuals to book a tour in advance, tickets can only be purchased on the spot on the day of the visit. I’m an official Tour Guide partner of the Parliament Visitor Center with special permissions so if you book a Full-day tour with Parliament visit with me I can book your Parliament tickets in advance. The Parliament visit can be incorporated in other tours, too, just let me know about your preferences!

Margaret Island

The largest Budapest park, the place chosen by princess Margaret when she gave up her life as a princess and started a new life in the monastery or an island where lepers lived isolated a long time ago; it is literally the favorite park of the Budapesters. I’m not a big fan of comparing places to other places but I can tell that it’s like our very own Central Park.

Unfortunately we very rarely include the visit of the island in the tours, because it’s a rather long walk from the city center. Still, when we do, my guests always appreciate it because it’s pretty, unique and it’s also an off-the-beaten-path experience.

The best method to discover the island is to rent a special bicycle for maximum 6 people. I’d suggest to ride all the way from the south to the north and not to miss the Japanese Garden, the Rose Garden, the small zoo, the Water Tower. Also, take some time to enjoy the music of the Musical Fountain.

 

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