Sightseeing
Overview
The Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain
Bridge) is the central point of Budapest. From here, hilly Buda
is to the west and the plains of commercial Pest
are to the east. A steep climb in the Sikló,
the 19th-century funicular, leads to Buda’s Várhegy
(Castle Hill), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where
many attractions are clustered. Szentháromság
tér (Trinity Square) is at the heart of the district
and usually thronging with visitors. Closeby is the mosaic-roofed
Mátyás templom (Matthias Church),
fronted by King Stephen’s statue and the
fairytale Halászbástya (Fishermen’s
Bastion), with the best views of Pest, particularly of the Országház
(Houses of Parliament). A mass of museums are housed within Budavári
Palota (Buda Castle Palace), first built by Béla
III, following the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, and reconstructed
over the centuries.
South of the Chain Bridge lies Gellért-hegy
(Gellért Hill), named after Bishop Gellért, who was
rolled off the hillside in a barrel for converting the Magyars to
Christianity (according to legend). At the summit are the Liberation
Monument and Citadella, a Hapsburg fortress built to subdue
the Magyars after the 1848-9 revolution. Nearby are some of Budapest’s
oldest spas, the Rudas and Rác baths and enjoyed during the
Turkish occupation (1526-1699), as well as the Hotel Gellért,
which was built in 1913.
From here, Szabadság híd leads to
Pest, which extends out from the Belváros
(inner city). The busiest parts are the shop-lined Váci
utca and the square, Vörösmarty tér,
marked by a statue of the poet, Mihály Vörösmarty
(1800-1855), and the location of the Gerbeaud pâtisserie.
The most grandiose monument in Pest, Hosök tere
(Heroes’ Square), is reached via Andrássy út,
home to the Opera House. The Szépmûvészeti
Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts) and Mûcsarnok
(Palace of Art) border the monument and Városliget
(City Park) is just behind it. Warm vapours rising from underground
hot springs swirl up into the square, which is much favoured by
many teenage skateboarders. Closer to the River Danube lies the
Dohány Synagogue, the second largest in
Europe, as well as the small Jewish quarter (district VII). In the
south is the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum (Hungarian
National Museum). The reconstructed remains of the capital of the
Roman province of Pannonia lie in northern Budapest’s
Óbuda district.
Tourist
Information
Budapest Tourism
Office
H-1364 Budapest Pf 215
Telephone number: (01) 266 0479. Fax number: (01) 266 7477.
E-mail: info@budapestinfo.hu
Website: www.budapestinfo.hu
IBUSZ tourist office, V. Ferenciek tér
10, and Budapest Tourist, Roosevelt tér
5 (near the Chain Bridge) and VIII Baross tér 3 (close to
the Keleti station), also provide tourist information. The main
information office of the Budapest Tourism Office
is located in Liszt Ferenc tér 9-11 (telephone number: (01)
322 4098). Other offices can be found in the main hall of Nyugati
station (telephone number: (01) 302 8580), at Budaörs
in the AGIP Complex, VII Király utca, and the Castle
District, I Tarnok utca 9-11.
Passes
The Budapest Card is very simple to use and good
value. The card provides free travel on public transport, entrance
to over 60 museums and attractions including the Hungarian
National Gallery, Budapest Zoo and the
Museum of Fine Art, half-price city sightseeing
programmes, reductions on cultural and folklore programmes and discounts
at spas, shops, restaurants, airport minibus and car hire services,
sports facilities and flights. Full details are provided in the
information guide that is provided with the card. The Budapest
Card costs Ft4,350 for 2 days and Ft5,450 for 3 days and
is valid for 1 adult and 1 child under 14 years. Cards are available
from tourist information offices, hotels and at main underground
ticket booths. Budapest Tourism Office provides online details of
the discounts available at each location and more information on
the Budapest Card is available (telephone number:
(01) 266 0479).
Key
Attractions
Széchenyi
Lánchíd (Chain Bridge)
Eight bridges link Buda to Pest
but the Chain Bridge is the first and most famous,
with its solid arches and lion statues. Count István Széchenyi
commissioned the Englishman responsible for London’s Hammersmith
Bridge, William Tierney Clark, to design a bridge,
after his father's funeral was delayed by a week while his son attempted
to cross the Danube in particularly poor weather. Completed in 1848,
the bridge was inaugurated during 1849, allowing for the integration
of Buda, Pest and Óbuda in 1872. The Nazis having done considerable
damage, the bridge was repaired and re-inaugurated on 21 November
1949. Adam Clark is honoured in a small square at the foot of the
bridge. The kilometre zero, the point from which all distances from
Budapest are measured, is here.
1 Clark Ádám tér
Opening hours:
Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Budavári
Palota (Buda Royal Palace)
First inhabited by King Béla IV, after the 1241 Mongol invasion,
the Royal Palace had its heyday during King Mátyás’s
reign (1458-90). During the late 18th century, Empress Maria Theresa
rebuilt and enlarged the palace. The Royal Palace has risen Phoenix-like
from the ashes of many wars, the Turkish siege (1541) and invasion
(1686), the 1848-49 War of Independence and the latter stages of
World War II. The result is a hotchpotch of styles from the 18th,
19th and 20th centuries, ranging from Baroque to modern. Within
the palace’s partially reconstructed walls, lies a vast museum
complex, which includes 3 museums, Budapesti Történeti
Múzeum, Budapest History Museum,
Ludwig Múzeum, Ludwig Museum of
Contemporary Art, and the Magyar Nemzeti Galéria,
the Hungarian National Gallery, and the National
Széchenyi Library.
The Budapest History Museum, in the southern part
of the palace, traces the city’s history from Buda’s
liberation from the Turks in 1686, to the 1970s. The Ludwig
Múzeum, in the palace’s northern wing, is
named after its patron, Peter Ludwig, whose donations
include Picasso, Warhol and Lichenstein. Eastern European paintings
and sculpture provide a fascinating critique of crumbling communism.
The Hungarian National Gallery is situated at the
core of the palace. The encyclopaedic collection of Hungarian art
from the 10th century to the present day portrays battles, romantic
rural scenes and religious medieval altar paintings, providing a
valuable insight into the Hungarian national identity. Visitors
to the palace can book a tour, with an English-speaking guide, in
advance.
I Budavári Palota, Dísz tér 17
Cars forbidden.
Budapesti Történeti
Múzeum (Budapest History Museum)
I Budavári Palota (Wing E), Szent György tér
2
Telephone number: (01) 225 7809.
Website: www.btm.hu
Opening hours: Wednesday-Monday 1000-1600
hrs (November-February), Wednesday-Monday 1000-1800 hrs (March-October).
Admission charge.
Ludwig Múzeum
I Budavári Palota (Wing A), Szent György tér
2
Telephone number: (01) 375 7533/9175.
Opening
hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1800 hrs.
Admission charge.
Magyar Nemzeti Galéria
(Hungarian National Gallery)
I Budavári Palota (Wings B, C, D), Dísz tér
17
Telephone number: (01) 375 7533 or 224 3700.
Website: www.mng.hu
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1800 hrs
(April-October), Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1600 hrs (November-February).
Admission charge.
National Széchenyi Library
I Budavári Palota (Wing F), Dísz tér or Palota
útca
Telephone number: (01) 224 3700.
Website: www.oszk.hu
Opening hours: Monday 1300-2100 hrs, Tuesday-Friday 0900-2100 hrs,
Saturday 0900-1700 hrs (October-June), Monday 1300-2100 hrs, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Saturday 0900-1700 hrs, Thursday and Friday 0900-2100
hrs (July and September) closed during August.
Admission: Free.
Mátyás
Templom (Matthias Church)
The Zsolnay pyrogranite tiles of Matthias
Church are as colourful and richly patterned as snakeskin.
Inside is a melange of styles from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
It is thought that a church was first built in this location in
1015, by King István. The Renaissance King Mátyás
Corvinus was crowned here in 1458, aged 14, and married
twice within its walls. When the Turks occupied the Castle District
in 1541, the church was turned into a mosque and the walls painted
with extracts from the Koran. The building suffered in the 1686
siege of Buda and was restored in the 19th century by Frigyes
Schulek, who uncovered remains of medieval wall paintings,
vaulting and statuary, adding a few of his own gargoyles for good
luck. In the 20th century, the church was used as a kitchen by occupying
German forces, and later as stables by the Russians. Behind the
altar is the entrance to the Church Museum, which gives access to
the underground crypts, chapel, jewels and the skull of the wife
of King Mátyás’s brother. High Mass takes place
on Sunday at 1000 hrs. There are frequent summer concerts on Friday
at 2000 hrs.
I Szentháromság tér 2
Telephone number: (01) 355 5657.
Website: www.matyas-templom.hu
Opening hours: Daily 0700-2000 hrs (church),
daily 0930-1730 hrs (treasury).
Admission charge.
Fishermen's
Bastion
Behind the sanctuary of the Matthias Church, the Fishermen's Bastion
offers a splendid view of the river Danube and
Pest. At the end of the 19th century, Frigyes
Schulek designed a graceful system of stairs running from
the Danube to the hilltop, and the current structure, which has
been embellished with turrets, scrolls, arcades, curved stairs and
statues, was intended to be the end point. The lookout terrace was
completed in 1901, and the equestrian statue of King St
Stephen was installed in 1906. Schulek imagined the bastion
section defended by the fishermen’s guild, hence the name.
Somewhat his vision was of a more austere, defensible and less decorated
piece of architecture, but his original plans were later altered
to the delight of today's visitors.
I Szentháromság tér
Transport: Funicular from Clark Ádám tér up
Castle Hill, bus 6.
Opening hours: Daily
24 hours.
Free admission.
Hotel
Gellért and Thermal Baths
Prudes are not advised to try out the Gellért Baths
(valued since the Turkish occupation for their medicinal qualities)
or any other thermal spas in the city, for that matter. Upon entrance,
a strip of cloth is given to the men and a tiny apron to women.
Massages last 15 or 40 minutes and a vigorous experience not to
be embarked upon by the faint-hearted. Bathing suits are donned
before entering the main mixed swimming pool – an Art Nouveau
beauty surrounded by columns. There are separate thermal pools of
varying temperatures, steam rooms and sauna with one side for men
and the other for women.
XI Szent Gellért tér 2-6
Telephone number: (01) 385 2200.
Website: www.danubiusgroup.com
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 0600-1900 hrs,
Saturday and Sunday 0600-1600 hrs.
Admission charge.
Budapest Baths
Budapest is well known for its baths, and indeed any visit to the
Hungarian capital should include one session in one of the city’s
many fine establishments.
Apart from the Gellert Thermal Baths (see above),
check out the following
The neo-Baroque Széchenyi
Baths in Városliget, Állatkerti körút
11 (telephone number: (01) 321 0310), one of the largest spa complexes
in Europe, where you will find indoor steam rooms and thermal baths
and outdoor pools where bathers play chess.
The
Kiraly Baths, II Fo utca 84 (telephone number: (01) 201 4392),
housed in one of the city’s most important Ottoman monuments,
where small baths of varying temperatures surround a large main
pool – the traditional Turkish bath layout.
The
Rudas, I Dobrentei ter 9 (telephone number: (01) 356 1322),
with its beautiful dome, arguably the finest of Budapest’s
baths (the Rudas is currently closed for refurbishment and is scheduled
to reopen in January or February 2005).
Rac Gyogyfurdo,
Hadnagy utca, 8-10 (telephone number: (01) 356 1010), another Turkish
bath with an octagonal pool and a very beautiful Ottoman dome which
has just undergone a massive refurbishment project. For more info
visit www.spasbudapest.com
Országház (Parliament)
Imre Steindl’s design for Budapest’s Parliament, inspired
by London’s Houses of Parliament, won first prize in a competition
to celebrate the 1000th year of the Hungarian nation. Work commenced
in 1885 and was finally completed during 1902. The parliament building
opens onto Kossuth Lajos tér, named after
the revolutionary leader of 1848. The edifice, with its elegant
neo-Renaissance dome, topped by a pointy neo-Gothic spire, stretches
for over 250m (820ft) along the River Danube. It was here that the
crowds assembled on 23 October 1989, when Mátyás Szurös
declared the Hungarian People’s Republic
from the balcony on Kossuth Lajos tér. The red star, perched
on the dome during the Communist era, was abandoned in 1990.
Guided tours, which depart from gate 10, allow entrance to a wealth
of marble and gold, columns and statues within and although the
wait may be long, visitors should be patient, for it is worth it,
if only to see the numbered cigar holders outside the upper house,
where members left their Havanas burning during debates.
V Kossuth Lajos tér 1-3
Telephonhe number: (01) 441 4904.
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 1000 hrs and 1400 hrs, Saturday and Sunday 1000 hrs,
subject to parliamentary sessions (guided tours only).
Admission charge.
Szent István
Bazilika (St Stephen’s Basilica)
St Stephen’s Basilica is the largest church in the city, designed
by József Hild, was built in 1845, although not consecrated
until 1905. A storm destroyed the original dome in 1868. The building
was rebuilt from scratch in neo-Renaissance style but suffered damage
during World War II. The building seats 8500 and
is currently undergoing restoration, begun in 1980 and set to continue
for the foreseeable future. Inside, Gyula Benczúr’s
painting of Szent István offering the Hungarian crown to
the Virgin Mary, symbolises the alliance between Hungary and Western
Europe. The church’s undisputed highlight is a glimpse of
Szent István’s mummified hand, which lights up when
Ft100 is slipped into a slot. The basilica’s tower offers
excellent views of the city. Organ concerts are given on Mondays
at 1900 hrs from July to October.
V Szent István tér 1
Telephone number: (01) 317 2859.
Opening hours:
Monday-Saturday 0700-1900 hrs, Sunday 1300-1900 hrs. Opening times
for Stzent Jobb Chapel and for the cupola vary, phone ahead. Tower:
daily 1000-1800 hrs.
Admission: Free. Charge for the tower.
Városliget
(City Park)
Városliget, Budapest’s largest park, was designed by
the French landscape-designer, Nebbion, and is
where locals go for leisurely strolls. Attractions include the botanical
gardens, artificial lake (used for ice
skating during the winter) and Vajdahunyad Vára
– a castle that displays Hungary’s varied architectural
styles right up to the 19th century, with the Magyar Mezogazdasági
Múzeum (Museum of Hungarian Agriculture) housed
in the Baroque-style section. A statue of George Washington
stands in the park, erected by grateful Hungarians who had been
allowed to settle in America. The park also houses the City
Zoo and the large and ornate Széchenyi Fürdo
(Széchenyi Baths), which are famed as much for their giant
floating chess boards as for the medicinal power of their waters,
and are one of the oldest, largest spa complexes in Europe.
VI Dózsa György útca
Opening hours:
Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Széchenyi Baths
(see 'Budapest baths' above)
Magyar Mezogazdasági
Múzeum (Museum of Hungarian Agriculture)
Vajdahunyad Castle, Városliget, Széchenyi Island
Telephone number: (01) 363 1117.
Website: www.mezogazdasagimuzeum.hu
Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 1000-1600 hrs,
Saturday and Sunday 1000-1700 hrs (mid-November-mid-February), Tuesday-Friday
1000-1700 hrs, Saturday 1000-1800 hrs, Sunday 1000-1700 hrs (February-November)
Admission charge.
Budapest Zoo
XIV Állatkerti körút 6-12
Telephone number: (01) 363 3710.
Website: www.zoobudapest.com
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday 0900-1800 hrs,
Friday-Sunday 0900-1900 hrs (May-August), daily 0900-1700 hrs (September,
October, March, April), daily 0900-1600 hrs (November, December,
January, February.)
Admission charge.
Dohány
Zsinagóga (Central Synagogue)
Europe’s largest synagogue was designed by Lajos Föster,
in a Byzantine-Moorish style and completed during 1859. Liszt
and Saint-Saëns are among the famous musicians
to have played the synagogue’s grand organ. Desecrated by
German and Hungarian Nazis, its 2 Moorish domes gleam afresh after
a 10-year restoration project financed by the Hungarian government
and Tony Curtis’ Emmanuel Foundation. 724,000
Hungarian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and their lives are
remembered in the Jewish History Museum, annexed
to the synagogue and at Imre Varga’s memorial to the side
of the synagogue, where a family name is inscribed on each leaf
of a metallic tree. Neolog (Orthodox) services are held on Friday
at 1800 hrs and Saturday at 1900 hrs. Visitors should contact the
Jewish Information Centre, VII Síp utca 2 (telephone number:
(01) 342 1335).
Dohány Zsinagóga
(Central Synagogue)
VII Dohány útca 2
Telephone number: (01) 342 1335.
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 1000-1500 hrs, Sunday 1000-1300 hrs, closed Jewish
holidays.
Admission charge.
Jewish Museum
VII Dohány útca 2
Telephone number: (01) 342 8949.
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 1000-1700 hrs, Sunday 1000-1500 hrs (May-October),
Monday-Friday 1000-1500 hrs, Sunday 1000-1400 hyrs (November-April),
closed on Jewish holidays.
Admission charge.
Hosök
Tere (Heroes’ Square)
Millenniumi
Emlékmû (Millennium Monument)
Heroes’ Square was built in 1896, to celebrate the millennial
anniversary of the Magyar conquest. Here the Archangel Gabriel at
the top of a 36m (118ft) column (winner of the Grand Prix at the
Paris World Exhibition in 1900) is half-encircled by statues of
the seven victorious Magyar tribal chiefs on horseback and Hungary’s
most honoured rulers, from King Stephen to Kossuth.
VI Andrássy útca, corner of Dózsa Dyörgy
útca
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Margitsziget
(Margaret Island)
Wedged in a loop of the River Danube and linked
by Árpád híd and Margit
híd to Buda and Pest, the 2-km (1.5-mile) Margaret
Island is one of the calmest and greenest spots in Budapest. No
cars are allowed – the island from Margit híd to Árpád
híd can be crossed on foot in 20 minutes. The island is named
after the devout daughter of King Béla IV,
who lived here in a Dominican convent in the 13th century. The ruins
of her convent still stand on the east bank, near the remains of
a Franciscan church. Other points of interest include a 100-year-old
park, the 1930s reconstruction of a 12th-century chapel, sculptures
of Hungarian artists and writers, an open-air theatre and UNESCO-listed
water tower. There are also 2 hotels (Danubius Grand and
Danubius Thermal) on the island. During the summer,
Margaret island is bursting with people heading for a swim at the
Hajós Alfréd swimming pool or Palatinus
pool, which are fed by underground springs.
Margaret
Island
Website: www.budapestinfo.hu/en/sights/margitsziget.html
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Szobor Park
(Statue Park)
Just as Lenin Boulevard and Marx Square
no longer exist in Budapest, so their statues and monuments have
been sent into exile to Statue Park a 30-minute trip leads to this
eerie and increasingly popular outdoor attraction.
XXII Balatoni útca, corner of Szabadkai útca
Telephone number: (01) 424 7500.
Website: www.szoborpark.hu
Opening hours: Daily 1000 hrs -sunset.
Admission charge.
House of Terror
Museum
For an insight into Hungary’s turbulent recent history, visit
the House of Terror Museum. Featuring the grim decades of Nazi
and Communist repression, this new museum is housed
in the former headquarters for the secret police of both the Nazi
and Communist governments, an address that filled the heart of the
average Hungarian with dread for the best part of fifty years.
The museum has many memorable exhibits, and the atrium features
a Soviet tank and a huge wall covered with portraits of the victims.
The stylish, high-tech exhibit is designed for Hungarians, but the
English audio guide gives tourists the same very powerful experience.
This is the most expensive admission in Hungary, but it's still
cheap by Western standards, and the experience is priceless for
anyone with an affinity for Eastern Europe’s struggle for
freedom under these brutal regimes.
Andrassy útca 60
Telephone number : 374 2600.
Website: www.terrorhaza.hu
Opening hours: 1000 to 1800 hrs Tuesday to
Friday. Open until 1930 hrs on Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday.
Admission charge. |
