Budapest Sights

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This section only highlights the most important attractions in the city. See the Buda, Castle Hill and Pest articles for details on each of them, and for listings of local sightseeing.

Most of Budapest's famous sights are concentrated on Castle Hill on the Buda side, in downtown Pest and along the riverside walkways.

The Danube River and the leafy hills of Buda

The main sights on Castle Hill are:

• The Royal Palace (Királyi palota). The most popular attraction on the hill. Home to the:
• National Gallery (Nemzeti Galéria) www.mng.hu. Inside the Royal Palace wings B, C and D houses an astounding collection of paintings.
• The Fisherman's Bastion and lookout terrace (Halászbástya). For impressive views across the Danube to Pest.
• Matthias Church (Mátyás templom, aka Church of Our Lady). Dominant neogothic church crowning Budapest's cityscape - nowadays is under reconstruction.

Other museums on the Castle Hill:

• The Historical Museum of Budapest www.btm.hu.
• The Music Museum. Includes a collection of musical instruments and the Bartok archive.
• The Military Museum www.militaria.hu.
• Marzipan Museum.
• Pharmacy Museum.
• Museum of Medieval Judaism.

The Danube Bridges (see Orientation above), especially the Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd) are really attractive and make it worthy to promenade along the river bank. Lánchíd (pronounced “laance heed”) means chain bridge and the suspension structure of the bridge is made of chains whose links are huge dog-bone shaped metal bars linked by pins at their ends.

You can have a superb glimpse over the bridges from the Citadella on the top of Buda's Gellert Hill (Gellérthegy).

Riding a boat is ideal as you can enjoy both riverbanks at the same time. For romantic views of the city, go at night.

Margaret Island (Margitsziget) and its large parks (see Buda) are a very pleasant place to relax and wander. Perfect for a sunny afternoon.

The Parliament Building

Downtown (Belváros) of Pest is the administrative and business centre of Budapest and the whole of Hungary. The main sights here are:

• The Parliament Building (Országház). A neogothic jewel, beautifully situated overlooking the Danube. It is very much worth going inside, but you can only do that during guided tours, which are FREE (ignore those trying to pick you up outside the Parliament). Tickets for guided tours can be obtained each day from 8AM. You will have to go in front of the Parliament and queue at the ticket line. Again, ignore those that ask you if you want a guided tour. Just pick up your ticket inside and come back at the hour on the ticket. Guided tours in English are held each day at 10, 12 and 14.
• St. Stephen Cathedral (Szent István Bazilika) basilica.hu. The main church of Budapest is an important example of neoclassical architecture, recently renovated.
• Great Synagogue and the Jewish Museum (Dohány utcai Zsinagóga) www.dohany150.hu The biggest Synagogue in Europe, and the most impressive in the world. Next to the Synagogue is a small but impressive museum. In the rear of the Synagogue is a memorial for victems of the Shoah. The synagogue was recently restored to its former grandeur. A block away you'll find a smaller, but nearly identical synagogue built long before the Great Synagogue. The plaque in front explains that this was used as some sort of assembly grounds for those persecuted during the Holocaust before they were deported. It has not been renovated, and you can see through the boards on the outside how decrepit it still is. A chilling sight.

Museums in at the city centre:

• Museum of Ethnography www.neprajz.hu.
• National Museum www.museum.hu.
• Museum of Applied Arts www.imm.hu.
• Natural History Museum www.nhmus.hu Mainly minerals at display.
• Ludwig Museum of Modern Art www.ludwigmuseum.hu.
• Holocaust Memorial Centre www.hdke.hu.
• Museum of Transport.
• Jewish Museum at the main synagogue www.dohany150.hu.
• Bible Museum.

The Andrássy út boulevard in Pest stretches from Downtown (Belváros) to the City Park (Városliget). It is listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List and has some important sights along it, including:

• The State Opera House
• The House of Terror (Terror Háza) www.terrorhaza.hu/index2.html. Housed in the secret police headquarters, this museum objectively documents the terror of the Nazi and Communist eras. Visiting is hard work, but essential for anyone wishing to understand Hungary's recent past.
• The Hopp Museum of East Asian Art www.hoppmuseum.com. Nearby is another similar collection, namely Gyorgy Museum.
• Ernst Museum www.ernstmuzeum.hu. Contemporary Hungarian art.

Heroes' Square

• The City Park (Városliget) is at the far end is probably the most pleasant of Pest's districts and features several interesting if low-key attractions which are often overlooked:
  • Heroes' square (Hősök tere) - with the Millennium Monument.
  • Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) www.szepmuveszeti.hu has an incredible range of European artwork from Greek and Roman times to the present. Especially valuable is its collection of Spanish Baroque painting.
  • Vajdahunyad Vára is a castle on a little island on a lake built for the 1898 World Fair. In the winter, the lake is turned into the city's biggest ice rink. Nowadays it houses an agricultural museum.

On Buda side there are:

• Aquincum www.aquincum.hu was a city in the Roman times, it's remains are turned into a great open-air museum. It's situated in the Óbuda district of northern Buda.

• Gül Baba Türbéje www.museum.hu/museum/index_en.php?ID=27 is the shrine where Gül Baba (literally Rose Father, from whom the Rózsadomb (Rose Hill) was named) lies.Offers a nice view and the little street which leads down the hill from there contains more houses that won the "House of the Year" award.

• Kassák Museum at the Zichy Castle shows works of the modern Hungarian artists as well as modern Hungarian art.

• Kiscelli Museum www.btmfk.iff.hu - The Budapest Picture Gallery.

• Statue Park - Rather than smash the statues of the Communist era, the Hungarians arranged them with a twist of irony in this park to the south of Buda.

• Victor Vasarely Museum shows many works of the famous Hungarian-born post-modern painter Vásárhelyi Győző (1908-1997).

Music related Museums: Music lovers, beware that all four museums are closed in August.

• Kodály Museum.
• Liszt Museum.
• Bartók's House.
• The Music Museum. Includes a collection of musical instruments and the Bartok archive.

Additional Museums:

• Fashion Museum.
• MEO Budapest's art fair.
• House of the Future www.jovohaza.hu.

There are several travel agencies, tour operators offering city tours or walking tours, if you don't have much time, you can use one of them and you can visit the main sights within 3 - 4 hours.