Budapest Museums – updated

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. I’ve just updated the list, so that you can have the most amazing cultural 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.

Ráth György villa – the Art Nouveau fans (myself included) will love this exhibition near the City Park. It’s the home if György Ráth, former director of the Museum of Applied Arts with very unique interiors, furniture and art from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Kiscelli Museum – showcasing the cultural history of Budapest from the 18th century to nowadays. It’s located a little further from the city centre, but it’s worth the extra time.

Photography lovers

Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center – located in the Art Nouveau Ernst House in Nagymező utca is named after Robert Capa, the first photo journalist of the world with his war reportage on the Spanish Civil War, WWII, China, and Vietnam.

Mai Manó Ház – the Hungarian House of Photographers with temporary exhibitions showcasing the works of some of the greatest Hungarian photographers from the 21th and 21st century.

Music lovers

Liszt Museum – the little museum is located in the home of composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt, and actually, you’ll feel like you’re visiting him personally. Most of the items are original and belonged to Franz Liszt.

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 or if you feel like that there is something else you’d like to add to this list.

Budapest Museums

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.

 

Update on travelling to Hungary from the US

I’ve had received today some inquiries about how the new recommendations issued by the European Union might affect travels from the US to Hungary. The US is one of the five countries that have been removed from the EU safe travel list.

What is important is that this is a guidance and each EU countries decide individually about travel restrictions. As for Hungary, you can enter Hungary if you come from the US with a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours – no PCR test is needed when you get to Hungary by road, rail or waterway.

What is even more important is that Budapest is as beautiful as always, it’s not overcrowded with tourists, so it’s still a great time to come and see. Let me know if you have questions, or book a tour! Also, don’t forget that a private tour is safer than being in large tour groups, myself and the drivers I work with are fully vaccinated and can’t wait to meet you!

Beautiful Budapest - Fiseherman's Bastion
Beautiful Budapest – Fiseherman’s Bastion

Visiting the Gödöllő Palace

I love my Gödöllő-Hollókő tour for many reasons, one of those being that I’m truly fascinated by the beauty of the Baroque Palace of Gödöllő. There are so many things to fall in love with: the architecture, the style, the colours, the details. It really is special because throughout the tour one has the impression to travel back in time to the 19th century.

On our very last visit earlier this month we were being guided by Queen Sissi – the wife of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef which has made our tour even more remarkable.

Private daytrip to the lake Balaton from Budapest

The lake Balaton is the number one destination of Hungarians in the summer months. It’s the greatest freshwater lake in Central Europe and is famous for its wine regions, cute little villages, beautiful castles and of course the magnificent views over the lake.

You can book the tour or contact me for further details. I’ll make sure to include in the itinerary all the sights you would like to see.

Budapest Lake Balaton Private Tour
€610

VESZPRÉM AND THE LAKE BALATON

Medium
8 hours
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Great Synagogue Budapest

Unfortunately the Great Synagogue (or as we call it the Dohány street Synagogue) is not yet open for visitors, however, we were fortunate enough to visit the building. It was unusually quiet and empty without the hundreds of tourists but it was a very special tour as you can see in the pictures. The synagogue will reopen in August and hopefully you’ll include a visit when you are in Beautiful Budapest.

Book the Jewish Quarter tour with me to explore all the sights and history of the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.

 

 

Budapest Jewish Quarter Private Walking Tour
€180

BUDAPEST JEWISH QUARTER WALK

Easy
4 hours
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Goodbye Chain Bridge, see you soon!

The iconic Chain Bridge is closed for renovation works and will hopefully reopen at the end of 2022. We’ll of course miss it and our walking and driving tours will be a little bit different but we all agree that our Old Lady has needed these renovation works for a very long time.

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!

Getting ready for the summer months

It’s hard to tell now what happens next week or next month and when and how we can start travelling again. The crazy April weather wouldn’t help either, it’s raining and cold in Budapest and it’s hard to believe that summer is only two months away.

However, I’m optimistic and I got my first COVID-19 shot yesterday, so I start planning for the bright summer months to come. I’ll continue offering virtual tours because I know this is the only option for many of you for the next couple of months so feel free to book a live tour streamed from the streets of Budapest or an authentic Hungarian cooking class.

I’ll also offer social distance friendly tours, those were very popular last summer and I think that it’s a safe option for families and groups of friends travelling together. The social distancing tours are available in English and French, as for now I have four options:

  • Buda Castle District walk
  • Downtown Pest walk
  • Jewish quarter walk
  • Szentendre tour by car

All of the tours are designed to be 100% social distance friendly. We don’t take public transport, avoid crowds and admire all buildings only from the outside. It’s not a group tour, it’s only for you, your family or friends.

Rules are the same as last year:

  • Tours are maximum 3 hours long
  • Only walking and driving tours are available, we don’t use public transportation
  • Travellers, tour guide (and driver) are required to wear a mask for the length of the tour
  • No inside visit of the monuments, attractions, museums
  • No coffee or lunch break together
  • Maximum number of travellers on the tour shouldn’t exceed 4 people

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any question or need more details.

15th of March in Hungary

Today is a national holiday in Hungary, we celebrate the outbreak of the revolution of 1848-1849.

Today we celebrate our national independence, the freedom of speech, the freedom of press and we remember the heroism and the courage of the young Hungarians who became united to confront and fight the oppressors.

I hope that the spirit of the revolution lives on in the Hungarian soul and we never give up fighting for the values our ancestors had been fighting for 173 years ago.

 

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