Things to do in Budapest!
Hey all! I found a bunch of things for us to do in Budapest!! Sorry it's a lot of information but take a look especially at Castle Hill, House of Terror, the Labyrnth, Margaret's Island, Buda Castle, Turkish Baths, etc. There are also boat rides down the Danube... if that interests you, I can look more into it. But take a look and let me know which things particularly interest you! I think I got all of the good stuff on this list-- I am not sure the best place for a Turkish Bath, but other than that, the list is complete to the best of my knowledge! If there is anything you particularly are interested in doing or not interested in doing, speak now or forever hold your peace!!!
Love ya!
Marina
Városliget (City Park)
Budapest's largest park, Városliget, houses a number of fascinating historical sites, including the bizarrely-constructed Vajdahunyad Castle and a George Washington memorial that miraculously survived the Cold War. In addition, it contains the city's main amusement park, Vidam Park, and the Municipal Zoo. Other attractions include the Botanical Gardens, the Municipal Circus, the Transport Museum, the Aviation Museum, the Széchenyi Medicinal Baths and swimming pool and the renowned Gundel Restaurant. City Park Pond, where you can hire a rowing boat in the summer, becomes Europe's largest outdoor skating-rink during the winter. The park's top attraction is Vajdahunyad Castle, a bizarre agglomeration of architectural styles constructed between 1896 and 1902 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar presence in the area. Its varied architectural styles, ranging from Romanesque to Gothic, are intended to represent each century since the arrival of the Magyars. Originally constructed as a temporary installation, it was rebuilt with permanent materials due to public demand. Today it houses the Budapest Agricultural Museum and hosts shows and events in the summer. The famous and paradoxical City Park George Washington memorial was erected in absentia by a group of Hungarian emigrants in the US in 1906 and mysteriously managed to avoid falling prey to anti-American iconoclasm during the Cold War
Address: District XIV
Directions: Budapest's major park, at the northern end of Andrássy Út, adjacent to Heroes' Square.By Metro: 1 (orange line) to Hösök tere (Heroes' Square) or Széchenyi fürdö, in the park itself.
Hungarian State Opera House (Magyar Állami Operaház)
Among the treasures in the UNESCO World Heritage site that covers Budapest, the Danube's banks, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue is the impressive 19th-century neo-renaissance building of the Hungarian State Opera House. Designed by Miklós Ybl, its stunning marble Royal Stairway leads into one of the most elegant interiors in Europe. The Hungarian State Opera and Hungarian State Ballet share the stage.
Whether there to catch a performance or just for a guided tour, visitors can enjoy glitter, grandeur and grand frescoes galore by Károly Lotz. This imperial luxury is not suprising when you know that Emperor Franz Josef funded most of the construction. Once inside, walk around the grand marble stairways and find the first-floor museum, which is normally open during performance intervals. The exhibition of posters, scores, manuscripts and costumes gives you an idea of the history of the building.
Address: 22 Andrassy St 1061
Directions
:situated in central Budapest and easy to find, towards the opposite end of Andrássy Avenue to Heroes' Square and the City Park, Városliget. By Metro: Opera on the yellow line.By Mainline: Nyugati Station to the north and Keleti Station to the east.
Contact Details: Hungarian State Opera House (Magyar Állami Operaház)
Email: info@opera.hu
Phone: +36 (0) 1 331 2550
Hungarian National Gallery
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
The Hungarian National Gallery, housed in the breathtaking Buda Palace, offers a vast collection of art ranging from the medieval to the 20th century.
Originally founded during the great reform of the 19th century, the gallery moved to its current location in 1975. Highlights include a comprehensive collection of Hungarian 19th-century masters including Károly Ferenczy, Mihály Munkácsy and Pál Szinyei Merse. The permanent exhibtion includes a medieval and renaissance stone store, late gothic altars and a range of contemporary art.
Address: Buda Palace, Wings A, B, C, & D, Castle Hill
House of Terror
Having survived two terror regimes, Budapest's House of Terror is a monument to Hungary's victims. During the Second World War, the building was the headquarters of the Arrowcross Party, the Hungarian ultra-right. After the war, when Hungary was occupied by the Soviet Union for more than 40 years, it was the base of the Communist political police. In 2002, after a year of renovation, the House of Terror museum opened, dedicated to the memory of all those imprisoned, tortured and killed within. The museum also serves to remind us that sacrifices were not made in vain - eventually freedom and independence won out.
Cost: Ft1500; concessions Ft750; seniors & students (with ID) free
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm (until 7.30pm Sat & Sun)
Address: 60 Andrássy út 1062
Directions
By Metro: line 1 to Vörösmarty Utca Station.By Tram: 4 or 6 to Oktogon.
Contact Details: House of Terror
Phone: +36 1 374 26 00
Parliament (maybe just walk around and take pictures, but not take a tour inside)
Majestically stretching along the Danube embankment, the Hungarian Parliament is a neo-gothic maze of golden halls and grand corridors, permanently housing Hungary's national assembly. Designed by architect Imre Steindl at the end of the 19th century and partly modelled on London's Houses of Parliament, the palace is graced with a spire-topped red dome, overlooking the Danube to one side, Kossuth
Cost: Ft2070; concessions Ft1035
Opening Hours: 8am-4pm (until 11am Mon & 2pm Sun)
Address V. Kossuth Lajos ter 1-3
Directions
Tram line 2, metro line M2 and bus line 15 all stop at Kossuth Lajos tér.
Contact Details:
Email:
tourist.office@parlament.hu
Phone:
+36 (0) 1441 4000
Great Synagogue (Nagy Zsinagóga)
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-3pm; Sun 10am-1pm
Budapest's Great Synagogue (also known as the Central Synagogue) is the world's second-largest, after Temple Emmanuel in New York. While too large to heat in winter for services, it is open all year (save Saturdays) for visits. Ludwig Förster's Byzantine-Moorish design, with its impressive onion-shaped towers, has been lovingly restored after the sacrilegious damage done by the Nazis.
The synagogue is in the historic Jewish Quarter, where the ghetto used to be towards the end of the Second World War. The National Jewish Museum on the corner is on the site where Theodore Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, was born. Gravestones in the garden indicate the mass grave of the many thousands who starved and froze to death in the ghetto during the winter of 1944. The inverted menorah - a weeping willow - in the courtyard is the Shoah Memorial. Each of the willow leaves commemorates the name of a family murdered by the Nazis. The extensive and expensive restoration work on the synagogue was finished by 1996 and it now serves the largest Jewish community in Central Europe.
Address
2 Dohány utca VII
Directions
By Bus: 7, 7A, 78.By Tram: 47, 49.By Trolleybus: 74
Statue Park
Budapest's Statue Park opened in 1993 and offers visitors a glimpse behind the Iron Curtain. After the fall of communism, the statues of Lenin, Marx, Engels, Dimitrov and Ostapenko were removed from Budapest's streets to the park. One of the most exciting outdoor museums in Eastern Europe, it is the world's only such collection.
Cost: Ft600
Opening Hours: 10am-sunset
Address :22nd district, At the corner of Balatoni út and Szabadkai utca
Directions
From Budapest city centre, take the Metro 3 (blue), the 7 bus (only red!), or the 173 to Etele tér (terminus). From there, take the Volán Bus (yellow), from stop number 7, toward Diosd-Erd. Buses leave every 20 minutes. Get off at the Szoborpark stop, after about 15 minutes. Tickets are available in the Volánbusz Building.
Contact Details: Statue Park
Phone:
+36 1 424 7500
Castle District
Take the funicular up the hill to Budapest's Castle District and discover the narrow streets and cobbled squares of this medieval town. At its heart is the turquoise-domed Royal Palace, which hosts Hungary's National Library, the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. Check out the neo-Gothic Matyas templon church and the neo-Romanesque Fishermen's Bastion, then gaze at the domes and spires of central Budapest across the river.
Directions: Located on the west side of the Danube in central Budapest, best reached via the dedicated funicular. Alternatively, you can walk up the hill via various flights of steps.
Buda Castle
aka. 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). In 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 three 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 .
Fishermen's Bastion
Behind the sanctuary of the Matthias Church, the Fishermen's Bastion offers a splendid view of the 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.
Budapest Baths
Budapest is well known for its baths, and indeed any visit to the Hungarian capital should include at least 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 (tel: (01) 321 0310; website: www.szechenyifurdo.hu), one of the largest spa complexes in Europe (and the first thermal bath of Pest), where you will find indoor steam rooms and thermal baths and outdoor pools where bathers play chess; the Kiraly Baths, II Fo utca 84 (tel: (01) 201 4392; website: www.kiralyfurdo.hu), 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 (tel: (01) 356 1322), with its beautiful dome (shafts of light cut through the steam and give the room an eerie atmosphere), arguably the finest of Budapest's baths (the Rudas is currently closed for refurbishment and is scheduled to reopen in January or February 2005); and Rac Gyogyfurdo, Hadnagy utca, 8-10 (tel: (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
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 útcaWebsite: www.budapestinfo.hu/en/sights/hosoktere.html 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 or needed – 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 two hotels (Danubius Grand and Danubius Thermal) on the island. In 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.
Museum of Fine Arts
Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts houses an outstanding collection of ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian art and antiquities, as well as a fine collection of work by European old masters from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Its collection of Spanish art is one of the largest outside Spain, with highlights including paintings by El Greco and Pieter Bruigel the Elder. There is also a full programme of temporary exhibitions.
Cost: Ft2000; concessions Ft1500
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5.30pm (until 9.30pm Thu)
Address 41 Dözsa György út 1146
Directions By Bus: take the 4, red (express) 4, red 20 and 30 buses or the 75 and 79 trolley-buses to Hõsök tere/Heroes? Square station. By Underground: M1 to Hõsök tere/Heroes? Square station.
Email: info@szepmuveszeti.hu
Phone: +36 1 469 7100
(on the other page I looked at, it said the permanent exhibits are free and that you only have to pay for the other exhibits up to Ft 800)
Ecseri Flea Market (Ecseri bolhapiac)
From old Russian dolls and transistor radios to paintings and antique furniture, it's all here at this, the mother of Budapest flea markets. Enjoy the vibe, but don't dish out big time unless you really know what you're getting, or have an antiques expert in tow. The deep fried dough with garlic or cheese, known as Lángos, tides hungry bargain hunters over until lunchtime
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 8am-4pm; Sat 8am-3pm; Sun 8am-1pm
Address
156 Nagykõrösi út 1194
Directions
By Bus: 52.
CAVES
Labyrinth aka. CASTLE CAVE (VÁRBARLANG)
(I. District: Úri utca 9. www.labirintus.com) A feature of all karst cave systems is the perpetual dripping of water, and this one is no exception. The temperature is a constant 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14°C) and the humidity around 90 per cent. The system stretches for over six miles beneath the streets and buildings of the ancient Castle District of Buda. It is believed those cave chambers originally fashioned by the action of thermal waters were already in use over a half a million years ago as both hunting ground and shelter. It was much later, during the Turkish period, that for military and economic reasons the system was expanded. Individual chambers were not only joined together with each other but also to the cellars belonging to the houses above. Thus a real labyrinth was formed in the very belly of Castle Hill. Further systematic construction of tunnels linking the caves was carried out in the 1930's. There was even an underground shelter built that could accommodate up to ten thousand people. Its value became obvious during the siege of Budapest towards the end of the Second World War. Thousands of people took refuge here in the winter of 1944/45. There is a story – perhaps apocryphal, nobody really knows any more – that for a time post was delivered to families sheltering in the caves. Nowadays 43,000 square feet of caves can be explored and enjoyed in Buda Castle's unique Labyrinth. (Open 9.30 a.m. – 7.30 p.m.)
CHAPEL IN THE ROCK (SZIKLAKÁPOLNA)
(II. Szent Gellért tér) Gellért Hill Cave – also known as Saint Ivan's Cave – has its entrance in the hillside 75 feet above the level of the River Danube. The first modern entrance was constructed in 1925/26 with the aid of explosives and the interior of the cave was made into a chapel resembling that found at Lourdes. Later a Pauline monastery was built alongside and connected to the chapel with its own private entrance. Sadly, the Communists confiscated the chapel in 1951, desecrating it over one night and then sealing up the entrance with concrete "for security reasons." It then suffered ignominious spells serving as a karst water inspection station and government store, until three years after the political changes – in 1992 – it was finally restored into a functioning chapel.
PÁLVÖLGY CAVE
(II. Szépvölgyi út 162. Tel.: 325-9505) Extending to over 8½ miles, this is the second largest cave system in Hungary, but its discovery was an accident. Legend has it that one day in June 1904 the ground suddenly opened up under a sheep that happened to be grazing in the garden belonging to the local mine. One János Bagyura, the son of the overseer, rushed to try and save the animal and noticed that the hole that had opened up appeared to lead somewhere. For the next six years a determined band of amateur potholers continued a series of excavations, and succeeded in opening up a half a mile of caves. Although the cave is probably best known for its dripstones, of arguably far more interest are the high-ceilinged fissure-like corridors, the significant differences between their levels, and the way the mineral waters have fashioned the rock into unusual spherical shapes. The part of the system that has been reopened to the public is about a third of a mile long and contains much that is of interest. Visitors will witness weirdly shaped stalagmites and stalactites, as well as sparkling crystals of calcite and fantastic fossils of shells. All around are unusual rock formations that have stood unchanged for thousands of years. This is a world that appears to have petrified, where even the temperature remains constant (at 52°F, or 11°C) regardless of season. (Open every day except Monday from 9.00 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. Guided visits only. Tours set off every hour at a quarter past the hour.)
SZEMLŐHEGY CAVE
(II. Pusztaszeri út 35. Tel.: 325-6001) This cave system was discovered three quarters of a century ago. In the autumn on 1930, during quarrying on a plot of land adjacent to Zöldmáli út (the site of present day Barlang utca 10), it was observed that deep, narrow fissures had begun to open up in the rock. The quarry owner called in some experts and they observed that the material making up the pisolite finials that covered the walls of the caves to an extent not seen anywhere else in Hungary was in fact not calcite, as might have been expected in a dripstone cave, but aragonite, which is a residue left over from thermal water. This, along with the presence of crystals of calcium sulphate, confirmed that the caves had been formed by thermal waters. Decades of research and exploration followed, until the caves were finally opened to the public in 1986. A 300-yard stretch of the mile-long system has been illuminated and made accessible to visitors. The unusual animal shapes of many of the rock formations are particularly popular with children, as is the so called Chamber of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since 1990 the caves have also served a medical purpose. The purity of the air rivals that of high-altitude sanatoria. The humidity level is almost 100 per cent, which has many therapeutic benefits, and the dust content of the air is a fraction of the norm to be found at ground level. These ideal conditions reassert themselves as soon as half an hour after the departure of the last visitors. (Open every day except Tuesday. Guided visits only. Tours set off every hour on the hour.)
Love ya!
Marina
Városliget (City Park)
Budapest's largest park, Városliget, houses a number of fascinating historical sites, including the bizarrely-constructed Vajdahunyad Castle and a George Washington memorial that miraculously survived the Cold War. In addition, it contains the city's main amusement park, Vidam Park, and the Municipal Zoo. Other attractions include the Botanical Gardens, the Municipal Circus, the Transport Museum, the Aviation Museum, the Széchenyi Medicinal Baths and swimming pool and the renowned Gundel Restaurant. City Park Pond, where you can hire a rowing boat in the summer, becomes Europe's largest outdoor skating-rink during the winter. The park's top attraction is Vajdahunyad Castle, a bizarre agglomeration of architectural styles constructed between 1896 and 1902 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar presence in the area. Its varied architectural styles, ranging from Romanesque to Gothic, are intended to represent each century since the arrival of the Magyars. Originally constructed as a temporary installation, it was rebuilt with permanent materials due to public demand. Today it houses the Budapest Agricultural Museum and hosts shows and events in the summer. The famous and paradoxical City Park George Washington memorial was erected in absentia by a group of Hungarian emigrants in the US in 1906 and mysteriously managed to avoid falling prey to anti-American iconoclasm during the Cold War
Address: District XIV
Directions: Budapest's major park, at the northern end of Andrássy Út, adjacent to Heroes' Square.By Metro: 1 (orange line) to Hösök tere (Heroes' Square) or Széchenyi fürdö, in the park itself.
Hungarian State Opera House (Magyar Állami Operaház)
Among the treasures in the UNESCO World Heritage site that covers Budapest, the Danube's banks, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue is the impressive 19th-century neo-renaissance building of the Hungarian State Opera House. Designed by Miklós Ybl, its stunning marble Royal Stairway leads into one of the most elegant interiors in Europe. The Hungarian State Opera and Hungarian State Ballet share the stage.
Whether there to catch a performance or just for a guided tour, visitors can enjoy glitter, grandeur and grand frescoes galore by Károly Lotz. This imperial luxury is not suprising when you know that Emperor Franz Josef funded most of the construction. Once inside, walk around the grand marble stairways and find the first-floor museum, which is normally open during performance intervals. The exhibition of posters, scores, manuscripts and costumes gives you an idea of the history of the building.
Address: 22 Andrassy St 1061
Directions
:situated in central Budapest and easy to find, towards the opposite end of Andrássy Avenue to Heroes' Square and the City Park, Városliget. By Metro: Opera on the yellow line.By Mainline: Nyugati Station to the north and Keleti Station to the east.
Contact Details: Hungarian State Opera House (Magyar Állami Operaház)
Email: info@opera.hu
Phone: +36 (0) 1 331 2550
Hungarian National Gallery
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
The Hungarian National Gallery, housed in the breathtaking Buda Palace, offers a vast collection of art ranging from the medieval to the 20th century.
Originally founded during the great reform of the 19th century, the gallery moved to its current location in 1975. Highlights include a comprehensive collection of Hungarian 19th-century masters including Károly Ferenczy, Mihály Munkácsy and Pál Szinyei Merse. The permanent exhibtion includes a medieval and renaissance stone store, late gothic altars and a range of contemporary art.
Address: Buda Palace, Wings A, B, C, & D, Castle Hill
House of Terror
Having survived two terror regimes, Budapest's House of Terror is a monument to Hungary's victims. During the Second World War, the building was the headquarters of the Arrowcross Party, the Hungarian ultra-right. After the war, when Hungary was occupied by the Soviet Union for more than 40 years, it was the base of the Communist political police. In 2002, after a year of renovation, the House of Terror museum opened, dedicated to the memory of all those imprisoned, tortured and killed within. The museum also serves to remind us that sacrifices were not made in vain - eventually freedom and independence won out.
Cost: Ft1500; concessions Ft750; seniors & students (with ID) free
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm (until 7.30pm Sat & Sun)
Address: 60 Andrássy út 1062
Directions
By Metro: line 1 to Vörösmarty Utca Station.By Tram: 4 or 6 to Oktogon.
Contact Details: House of Terror
Phone: +36 1 374 26 00
Parliament (maybe just walk around and take pictures, but not take a tour inside)
Majestically stretching along the Danube embankment, the Hungarian Parliament is a neo-gothic maze of golden halls and grand corridors, permanently housing Hungary's national assembly. Designed by architect Imre Steindl at the end of the 19th century and partly modelled on London's Houses of Parliament, the palace is graced with a spire-topped red dome, overlooking the Danube to one side, Kossuth
Cost: Ft2070; concessions Ft1035
Opening Hours: 8am-4pm (until 11am Mon & 2pm Sun)
Address V. Kossuth Lajos ter 1-3
Directions
Tram line 2, metro line M2 and bus line 15 all stop at Kossuth Lajos tér.
Contact Details:
Email:
tourist.office@parlament.hu
Phone:
+36 (0) 1441 4000
Great Synagogue (Nagy Zsinagóga)
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-3pm; Sun 10am-1pm
Budapest's Great Synagogue (also known as the Central Synagogue) is the world's second-largest, after Temple Emmanuel in New York. While too large to heat in winter for services, it is open all year (save Saturdays) for visits. Ludwig Förster's Byzantine-Moorish design, with its impressive onion-shaped towers, has been lovingly restored after the sacrilegious damage done by the Nazis.
The synagogue is in the historic Jewish Quarter, where the ghetto used to be towards the end of the Second World War. The National Jewish Museum on the corner is on the site where Theodore Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, was born. Gravestones in the garden indicate the mass grave of the many thousands who starved and froze to death in the ghetto during the winter of 1944. The inverted menorah - a weeping willow - in the courtyard is the Shoah Memorial. Each of the willow leaves commemorates the name of a family murdered by the Nazis. The extensive and expensive restoration work on the synagogue was finished by 1996 and it now serves the largest Jewish community in Central Europe.
Address
2 Dohány utca VII
Directions
By Bus: 7, 7A, 78.By Tram: 47, 49.By Trolleybus: 74
Statue Park
Budapest's Statue Park opened in 1993 and offers visitors a glimpse behind the Iron Curtain. After the fall of communism, the statues of Lenin, Marx, Engels, Dimitrov and Ostapenko were removed from Budapest's streets to the park. One of the most exciting outdoor museums in Eastern Europe, it is the world's only such collection.
Cost: Ft600
Opening Hours: 10am-sunset
Address :22nd district, At the corner of Balatoni út and Szabadkai utca
Directions
From Budapest city centre, take the Metro 3 (blue), the 7 bus (only red!), or the 173 to Etele tér (terminus). From there, take the Volán Bus (yellow), from stop number 7, toward Diosd-Erd. Buses leave every 20 minutes. Get off at the Szoborpark stop, after about 15 minutes. Tickets are available in the Volánbusz Building.
Contact Details: Statue Park
Phone:
+36 1 424 7500
Castle District
Take the funicular up the hill to Budapest's Castle District and discover the narrow streets and cobbled squares of this medieval town. At its heart is the turquoise-domed Royal Palace, which hosts Hungary's National Library, the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. Check out the neo-Gothic Matyas templon church and the neo-Romanesque Fishermen's Bastion, then gaze at the domes and spires of central Budapest across the river.
Directions: Located on the west side of the Danube in central Budapest, best reached via the dedicated funicular. Alternatively, you can walk up the hill via various flights of steps.
Buda Castle
aka. 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). In 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 three 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 .
Fishermen's Bastion
Behind the sanctuary of the Matthias Church, the Fishermen's Bastion offers a splendid view of the 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.
Budapest Baths
Budapest is well known for its baths, and indeed any visit to the Hungarian capital should include at least 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 (tel: (01) 321 0310; website: www.szechenyifurdo.hu), one of the largest spa complexes in Europe (and the first thermal bath of Pest), where you will find indoor steam rooms and thermal baths and outdoor pools where bathers play chess; the Kiraly Baths, II Fo utca 84 (tel: (01) 201 4392; website: www.kiralyfurdo.hu), 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 (tel: (01) 356 1322), with its beautiful dome (shafts of light cut through the steam and give the room an eerie atmosphere), arguably the finest of Budapest's baths (the Rudas is currently closed for refurbishment and is scheduled to reopen in January or February 2005); and Rac Gyogyfurdo, Hadnagy utca, 8-10 (tel: (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
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 útcaWebsite: www.budapestinfo.hu/en/sights/hosoktere.html 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 or needed – 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 two hotels (Danubius Grand and Danubius Thermal) on the island. In 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.
Museum of Fine Arts
Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts houses an outstanding collection of ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian art and antiquities, as well as a fine collection of work by European old masters from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Its collection of Spanish art is one of the largest outside Spain, with highlights including paintings by El Greco and Pieter Bruigel the Elder. There is also a full programme of temporary exhibitions.
Cost: Ft2000; concessions Ft1500
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5.30pm (until 9.30pm Thu)
Address 41 Dözsa György út 1146
Directions By Bus: take the 4, red (express) 4, red 20 and 30 buses or the 75 and 79 trolley-buses to Hõsök tere/Heroes? Square station. By Underground: M1 to Hõsök tere/Heroes? Square station.
Email: info@szepmuveszeti.hu
Phone: +36 1 469 7100
(on the other page I looked at, it said the permanent exhibits are free and that you only have to pay for the other exhibits up to Ft 800)
Ecseri Flea Market (Ecseri bolhapiac)
From old Russian dolls and transistor radios to paintings and antique furniture, it's all here at this, the mother of Budapest flea markets. Enjoy the vibe, but don't dish out big time unless you really know what you're getting, or have an antiques expert in tow. The deep fried dough with garlic or cheese, known as Lángos, tides hungry bargain hunters over until lunchtime
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 8am-4pm; Sat 8am-3pm; Sun 8am-1pm
Address
156 Nagykõrösi út 1194
Directions
By Bus: 52.
CAVES
Labyrinth aka. CASTLE CAVE (VÁRBARLANG)
(I. District: Úri utca 9. www.labirintus.com) A feature of all karst cave systems is the perpetual dripping of water, and this one is no exception. The temperature is a constant 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14°C) and the humidity around 90 per cent. The system stretches for over six miles beneath the streets and buildings of the ancient Castle District of Buda. It is believed those cave chambers originally fashioned by the action of thermal waters were already in use over a half a million years ago as both hunting ground and shelter. It was much later, during the Turkish period, that for military and economic reasons the system was expanded. Individual chambers were not only joined together with each other but also to the cellars belonging to the houses above. Thus a real labyrinth was formed in the very belly of Castle Hill. Further systematic construction of tunnels linking the caves was carried out in the 1930's. There was even an underground shelter built that could accommodate up to ten thousand people. Its value became obvious during the siege of Budapest towards the end of the Second World War. Thousands of people took refuge here in the winter of 1944/45. There is a story – perhaps apocryphal, nobody really knows any more – that for a time post was delivered to families sheltering in the caves. Nowadays 43,000 square feet of caves can be explored and enjoyed in Buda Castle's unique Labyrinth. (Open 9.30 a.m. – 7.30 p.m.)
CHAPEL IN THE ROCK (SZIKLAKÁPOLNA)
(II. Szent Gellért tér) Gellért Hill Cave – also known as Saint Ivan's Cave – has its entrance in the hillside 75 feet above the level of the River Danube. The first modern entrance was constructed in 1925/26 with the aid of explosives and the interior of the cave was made into a chapel resembling that found at Lourdes. Later a Pauline monastery was built alongside and connected to the chapel with its own private entrance. Sadly, the Communists confiscated the chapel in 1951, desecrating it over one night and then sealing up the entrance with concrete "for security reasons." It then suffered ignominious spells serving as a karst water inspection station and government store, until three years after the political changes – in 1992 – it was finally restored into a functioning chapel.
PÁLVÖLGY CAVE
(II. Szépvölgyi út 162. Tel.: 325-9505) Extending to over 8½ miles, this is the second largest cave system in Hungary, but its discovery was an accident. Legend has it that one day in June 1904 the ground suddenly opened up under a sheep that happened to be grazing in the garden belonging to the local mine. One János Bagyura, the son of the overseer, rushed to try and save the animal and noticed that the hole that had opened up appeared to lead somewhere. For the next six years a determined band of amateur potholers continued a series of excavations, and succeeded in opening up a half a mile of caves. Although the cave is probably best known for its dripstones, of arguably far more interest are the high-ceilinged fissure-like corridors, the significant differences between their levels, and the way the mineral waters have fashioned the rock into unusual spherical shapes. The part of the system that has been reopened to the public is about a third of a mile long and contains much that is of interest. Visitors will witness weirdly shaped stalagmites and stalactites, as well as sparkling crystals of calcite and fantastic fossils of shells. All around are unusual rock formations that have stood unchanged for thousands of years. This is a world that appears to have petrified, where even the temperature remains constant (at 52°F, or 11°C) regardless of season. (Open every day except Monday from 9.00 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. Guided visits only. Tours set off every hour at a quarter past the hour.)
SZEMLŐHEGY CAVE
(II. Pusztaszeri út 35. Tel.: 325-6001) This cave system was discovered three quarters of a century ago. In the autumn on 1930, during quarrying on a plot of land adjacent to Zöldmáli út (the site of present day Barlang utca 10), it was observed that deep, narrow fissures had begun to open up in the rock. The quarry owner called in some experts and they observed that the material making up the pisolite finials that covered the walls of the caves to an extent not seen anywhere else in Hungary was in fact not calcite, as might have been expected in a dripstone cave, but aragonite, which is a residue left over from thermal water. This, along with the presence of crystals of calcium sulphate, confirmed that the caves had been formed by thermal waters. Decades of research and exploration followed, until the caves were finally opened to the public in 1986. A 300-yard stretch of the mile-long system has been illuminated and made accessible to visitors. The unusual animal shapes of many of the rock formations are particularly popular with children, as is the so called Chamber of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since 1990 the caves have also served a medical purpose. The purity of the air rivals that of high-altitude sanatoria. The humidity level is almost 100 per cent, which has many therapeutic benefits, and the dust content of the air is a fraction of the norm to be found at ground level. These ideal conditions reassert themselves as soon as half an hour after the departure of the last visitors. (Open every day except Tuesday. Guided visits only. Tours set off every hour on the hour.)
posted by Marina | 11:23 AM
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