Budapest Card offers you free public transport and almost 150 accept points which make it quite easy to explore the best places in the City.
As they say even a life-time might be too short to explore all the beauties and spectacles of Budapest being highly ranked among the most beautiful cities of the world!
Still we would like to give you a few hints what are the must-be-seen places if you stay for 2 or 3 days in Budapest!
Please get acquainted with our route proposals for the 48 and 72 hours Budapest Card:
Budapest within 48 hours
Lovers of city sightseeing tours can select in Budapest from a broad range of choices; bus sightseeing, Danube promenade ship cruises or walking city tours. Following special programs are recommended besides the traditional city bus sightseeing tours in 12-16 languages: visiting the Parliament, the Opera and the Ethnography Museum, a walk in the Buda castle, seeing the historical downtown of Pest, Jewish Budapest, Art Nouveau in Budapest, the Red Star tour (historical monuments of Communism).
The promenade ship sightseeing cruises „Danube Bella” and „Danube Legend” in 30 languages and the candlelight dinner cruise program with live music on the newly built Panorama vessels of Legend Ltd.
Budapest successfully blends the centuries-old architecture and cultural heritage with today’s modernism -the treasured monuments are continuously restored in their original beauty depending on the availability of funds.
The Buda Castle, the Danube shore and the Andrássy Avenue are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites so those beauties must be seen. The Castle District has several museums, such as the Castle Museum, War History Museum and the Hungarian National Gallery. The façade of the Royal Palace looking over the Danube gives a magnificent panorama of Budapest. The Fishermen’s bastion with its white limestones gives a spectacular framing to the St. Matthias Church which is neighboring the Hilton that received the ’Hotel of the Year’ award in the year of its construction. Its café and terrace are popular places in the summer season.
The spectacular Danube banks can be seen during the sightseeing tours. The famous route of the tram line Nr. 2 goes along the Danube banks where the beautiful buildings can be seen during a retour route: starting from the Jászai Mari square, the tram travels around the Parliament’s building than gives an excellent view of the St.Matthias Church, the Fishermen’s bastion and the Royal Castle on the opposite side, followed by the Danube bridges, with the Chain Bridge being the eldest. After the Elizabeth bridge, the panorama of the opposite Buda side is characterized by the Gellért-Hill and the Art Nouveau building of the Gellért Hotel and Spa located at the foothill and the bridgehead. Please visit the Gellért Spa, take a massage and taste the Cuisine of Gellért Hotel Brewery using the Budapest Card discounts.
The Budapest Citadel (former fortress, today museum) on the Gellért-hill is the most important viewpoint in Budapest from where the Castle Panorama and the Danube banks constituting the World Heritage site can be admired in their full glory.
At the end of the route, the modern buildings of the New National Theatre and the Palace of Arts appear when closing in to the Lágymányos bridge. The Palace of Arts is the centre of musical and cultural life of Budapest. Buy a ticket and enjoy this great cultural experience or visit the Ludwig Museum in the building, exploring the worlds of contemporary artists.
On the way back, the majestic building of the Budapest Corvinus University and the exotic Market Hall can be viewed on the right side, later the row of the Pest Hotels follow with the Vigadó Concert Hall, which has also a spectacular lobby and concert hall.
The Gresham Palace which is currently owned by the Four Seasons Hotel and the Neo-Renaissance building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences are located on the Roosevelt square.
The Andrássy Avenue is a characteristic place of Budapest, with the Millennium Underground Train, being the first of its kind on the European continent. Its stations preserved the original layout from 130 years ago, with each station presenting the most important buildings of the Era. The Avenue ends at the Hero’s Square, where the Museum of Fine Arts offers the world-famous Spanish collection and the opposite building of the Arts Hall featuring temporary exhibitions of contemporary arts.
The Andrássy Avenue and its surroundings bear the uniform character of the late 19th century architecture, despite the distinguished sequencing of the functionality along the avenue. Andrássy Avenue is named after the Prime Minister of the Era who has merits in developing Budapest to a metropolis. The Avenue features the cream de la crème of eclectic Belle Époque architecture with the Opera House of shining beauty which can be visited during guided tours outside the performances. There are other interesting highlights besides these buildings to be visited such as the surroundings of the well-designed Avenue. The Andrássy road of almost 2,5 km has been originally inspired by the French boulevards with a service road designed for gentlemen riders.
Following the Octagon square one gray sinister building awaits its visitors, the „House of Terror” the former Headquarter of the ÁVH Secret Service with its permanent exhibition presenting the horrors of Nazi Arrow Cross and Communist state terror.
The palaces of the villa-row are named after their original owners or architects. The East-Asian Art Museum can be found in the palace of its original owner Ferenc Hopp, who donated his collection for the State. There are several Embassies located in the magnificent villas. The elegant and renovated Bauhaus building on the corner of the Munkácsy Mihály street was designed by the architect Alfréd Hajós, the winner of the Gold medal at the 1896 Athens Olympic games in swimming. The neo-renaissance building of the Hungarian Fine Arts University ornaments the Andrássy Boulevard and the nearby Kodály circus hosts the Zoltán Kodály Memorial Museum in the home of the great 20th century Hungarian composer.
The Avenue finishes with the Millennium Monumental of the Hungarian conquest. The statue of the Archangel Gabriel is watching over the monument with the sculptures of the seven Hungarian tribe chieftains. Under the arcades of the Hungarian Pantheon the statues of the Hungarian Kings, Princes, Warlords and Statesmen are exhibited. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can be found in front of the Memorial where each President and Prime Minister visiting Hungary lays wreaths. The square is surrounded on the one side by the Museum of Fine Arts with it world famous Spanish collection and by the Arts Hall on the other side hosting temporary exhibitions.
The picturesque City Park Pond located directly behind the Hero’s square, invites for boat paddling in the summer season and for ice-skating during winter. The amusement and cultural institutes of the City Park (Budapest Zoo, Budapest Amusement Park, Széchenyi Thermal Bath, the Vajdahunyad castle built on a small artificial island and the Museum of Agriculture and the Transport Museum of Budapest) are the favorite touristic destinations of Budapest.
Budapest within 72 hours
Dear visitors, we hope that Budapest will enchant you and you stay for 3 days here. If you have already seen the Royal castle the Danube banks and the Andrássy Avenue and many other special places.
The Parliament is dominating the Pest side of the City. Both its monumental Neo-gothic appearance and its interior architecture are magnificent. The Hungarian St. Stephen’s crown is guarded here together with the scepter and the orb while the golden embroidered royal cloak is kept in the National Museum of Hungary. The St. Stephen’s Cathedral the biggest Church in Budapest is not too far from the Parliament where the Holy Right, i.e. the mummified hand of St. Stephen, the first Hungarian King is safeguarded. The dome of the Cathedral can be accessed and visitors have a unique panorama of the City. The Baroque-styled Danube Palace is located within 5 minutes walking distance, which hosted the Leopold-town Officer’s Casino. Nowadays its main hall with 292 seats hosts symphonic concerts and folk dance performances.
The Opera is located nearby on the Andrássy Avenue, which is one of the most beautiful buildings of Budapest. It is not only the superb programs but also the architecture itself which makes it worthy to visit. But don’t satisfy yourself with a guided tour only, spend an evening in the Opera listening to one of the great Opera Classics or seeing the world-class ballet performances every day of the week.
We recommend the Transport Museum of Budapest to those interested in the history of transportation enjoying to see old machinery and relics. The collections of the Museum located in the City Park feature many interesting and special artifacts such as the vintage cars collections, space capsules. The mock up collection is world-famous, featuring miniature and meticulous copies of original locomotives, railway carriages, cars, vessels. The Railway History Park and Museum Budapest features a collection of almost 100 museum quality locomotives and visitors can even ride some of the trains in the park.
Antique Roman monuments are exhibited in the Aquincum Open Air museum, the former seat of the Province, which helps easily to imagine the antique city of baths, amphitheaters and soldiers. The furniture exhibition at the Nagytétény Baroque Castle covers the periods of Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism and Biedermeier. Budafok being famous for its winery is located quite closely with its huge labyrinths of wine cells fermenting bottles of selected wine and fine sparkling wine. The guided tour and wine tasting takes at least a half day.
The visiting of the Memento Park Budapest is also an unforgettable and astounding experience and a time warp into the world of Communism – the collection features the gigantic monumental, sculptures assembled from throughout Hungary but especially from Budapest and its surroundings.Budapest is a city of spas its special medicinal waters are mentioned already by 16th century traveler’s accounts. The Turkish baths of that Era still exist and one of them Rudas, is still in use with the original setup. The most elegant of all baths and Spas is the Gellért Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool with its open-air wave and bubbling baths and thermal pools and high-quality balneal-therapy services.
During your excursions and walks in Budapest it is worthwhile to visit some special restaurants and cafés. The traditional Kárpátia restaurant has a special atmosphere and patina featuring traditional Hungarian Cuisine in a splendid interior – just like in the famous Matthias’ Cellar located nearby. The Gerbeaud café at the Vörösmarty square has an elegant and cozy atmosphere. We wish that during your walks in the City you will also find that there is no reason not to fall in love with Budapest!
