Things to do in Hungary

The 18 best things to do in Hungary

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1. 1BudapestBook ahead

   Soak in the pools at Széchenyi Thermal Bath

   Széchenyi Thermal Bath in City Park is one of Europe's largest bath complexes and popular with Hungarians and visitors alike. Once known as the Artesian Bath, the domed building you see today opened in 1913, and its Neo-Baroque interior and Art Nouveau mosaic hall are worth a look on the way in. There are 18 medicinal water pools, plus an outdoor adventure pool, a swimming pool, a drift pool and a hot tub, along with saunas, steam rooms and massages. Because the water is hot, it is a good outing in winter too, even when it is freezing outside. The yellow M1 metro line serves the bath.

   Tip: Buy your ticket online before you go to skip the ticket queue, and check the day's opening times on the bath's site, since hours for individual services vary.

   Standard daily locker ticket, Monday to Thursday: HUF 13,200 (about $41) · Standard daily locker ticket, Friday and weekends: HUF 14,800 (about $46) · Standard daily locker ticket, holiday and peak dates: HUF 15,800 (about $49) · Normally age 14 and over only. Standard locker ticket; bring towel, swimsuit and slippersFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Széchenyi Thermal Bath (official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
2. 2BudapestBook ahead

   Tour the Parliament and see the Holy Crown

   The House of Parliament on the Danube took 17 years to build, from 1885 to 1902, to a design by Imre Steindl, who died five weeks before its inauguration. The wing along the river is 268 m long, the dome rises 96 m, and it has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. A guided tour of about 50 minutes, with multilingual guides, follows a gold-plated corridor of statues and stained glass to the main floor. In the Dome Hall, the Holy Crown of Hungary and the coronation insignia have been kept under guard since 2000. You also see the old Chamber of Peers, panelled in Slavonian oak, and a lounge with Europe's largest hand-knotted carpet.

   Tip: Outside on Kossuth Square, look out for the changing of the guard, and for the classic photo of the whole facade, view it from across the river at Fisherman's Bastion.

   Tour HUF[fee]; reserve an actual language and time slot. Events can cancel visitsKnow the fee?
   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
3. 3Budapest

   Look across the Danube from Fisherman's Bastion

   Fisherman's Bastion runs for 140 m along the edge of the Buda Castle District, and its terraces look straight across the Danube to the Parliament. Architect Frigyes Schulek designed it; works began in 1899 and it opened to the public on 9 October 1905. Its seven stone towers stand for the seven tribal leaders who led the Magyars into the land, and the name comes from the Fishermen's Town below, whose residents once defended this stretch of the castle wall. In the courtyard stands Alajos Strobl's equestrian statue of Saint Stephen, Hungary's first king. It has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987, and Matthias Church is a few steps away.

   Tip: Walk the full length of the facade for different angles on the Parliament, then step next door to Matthias Church while you are up on the hill.

   Adult upper lookout, 2026: HUF 1,700 (about $5) · Upper lookout opens at 9 AM; check seasonal closing and event restrictionsFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
4. 4Budapest

   Climb the tower of Matthias Church

   Matthias Church, officially the Church of the Assumption of Buda Castle, was first built in the 13th century as the first church in the town of Buda, and its popular name recalls the royal wedding of King Matthias held here. After the Ottomans took Buda in 1541 it served as a mosque, and when the city was retaken in 1686 it became a Baroque church again. Franz Joseph I and Elisabeth were crowned here in 1867. Architect Frigyes Schulek later rebuilt it in the Gothic Revival style you see now, with painted interiors based on medieval patterns and a roof of glazed Zsolnay tiles. For a higher view, 197 steps lead to the balcony of the church tower.

   Tip: Use the church's audio guide, which plays on your own phone through a QR code and the church's free Wi-Fi, in English, Hungarian, Italian or Polish.

   Adult church admission, tower excluded: HUF 3,400 (about $10) · Church ticket; tower separate. Check the daily calendar for services and ceremoniesFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Matthias Church (official)
5. 5Budapest

   Walk the courtyards of Buda Castle

   Buda Castle has crowned Castle Hill since a first fort went up in the 13th century, after the Mongol invasion. King Matthias turned it into what may have been Europe's first Italian Renaissance royal palace, but the siege of 1686 and the fires that followed destroyed almost the whole Gothic and Renaissance complex. Today's Neo-Baroque palace was completed in 1904 under Franz Joseph I, badly damaged in World War II and restored in plainer form by the 1980s. It now houses the Hungarian National Gallery, the largest public collection of Hungarian fine art, along with the Budapest History Museum and the National Széchényi Library. The gallery's terrace looks over the Danube to Pest.

   Tip: The palace dome, part of a National Gallery visit, opens only when the weather allows, so save it for a clear day.

   Outdoor courtyards; museums and special interiors have separate tickets
   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Hungarian National Gallery (official, Hungarian text)
6. 6Budapest

   Cruise the Danube at sunset

   The Banks of the Danube are the core of Budapest's UNESCO World Heritage site, first listed in 1987 with the Buda Castle District. The protected stretch runs from Margaret Bridge to Liberty Bridge and takes in Castle Hill, Gellért Hill with the Citadella and the Liberty Statue, the Parliament, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Art Nouveau Gresham Palace. A one-hour sightseeing cruise is the easiest way to see it all from water level, with the Parliament, the bridges and the riverside palaces sliding past. Sightseeing boats run for visitors, and the city's public transport company also runs boats on a regular timetable, slower but scenic.

   Tip: Choose an evening sailing, since the Parliament and the bridges look their best at sunset.

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Hungarian Tourism Agency
7. 7Budapest

   Cross the Chain Bridge past its stone lions

   The Széchenyi Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. Count István Széchenyi championed it after bad weather kept him from crossing the river for several days in 1820; William Tierney Clark designed it, Adam Clark built it, and it went up between 1839 and 1849. Retreating German troops blew it up in 1945. The four stone lions at its abutments are by sculptor János Marschalkó, and a long-running legend claims he forgot to carve their tongues and took his own life in shame. It is only a legend: the lions have tongues, and you can see them if you peer into their mouths. Today the bridge is a symbol of the joined city.

   Tip: The lions are a favorite photo stop, so step around to the side of one for a look inside its mouth.

   Public bridge walkway; follow temporary access restrictions
   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
8. 8Budapest

   Pause at the Shoes on the Danube Bank

   Not far from the Parliament, sixty pairs of iron shoes stand at the water's edge on the Pest embankment, men's, women's and children's, as if their owners had just stepped out of them. The memorial honors the Jews shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in the winter of 1944 to 1945; victims were often forced to take off their shoes before they were killed. Film director Can Togay conceived it and created it with sculptor Gyula Pauer, and it was installed in 2005. Cast iron signs in Hungarian, English and Hebrew mark the site. Visitors often leave candles or flowers inside the shoes.

   Tip: Treat it as a memorial rather than a photo set: walk quietly, keep off the shoes, and visit it together with the Parliament nearby.

   Outdoor memorial; visit quietly
   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center
9. 9BudapestBook ahead

   Visit the Dohány Street Synagogue and its memorials

   The Dohány Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. Designed by Ludwig Förster in the Moorish style, with an inner sanctum by Frigyes Feszl, it was consecrated on 6 September 1859 and seats nearly 3,000, men downstairs and women in the galleries, under towers 44 m high. The complex tells the story of Budapest's Jews: the Heroes' Temple of 1931 for 10,000 Hungarian Jewish soldiers of World War I, a garden cemetery where about 2,600 victims of the wartime ghetto lie, the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park with its weeping willow memorial, and the Hungarian Jewish Museum. Free guided tours run in several languages.

   Tip: The complex is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, sleeveless tops, shorts and short skirts are not allowed, and men are given a kippah to wear at the entrance.

   Adult: HUF 14,500 (about $45) · Complex ticket; Saturdays and listed holidays closed. Winter Friday closes at 2 PMFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 7, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Jewish Tour Hungary (Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, official); Dohány Street Tourist Center, Jewish Tour Hungary; Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
10. 10Budapest

    Look over Pest from St. Stephen's Basilica dome

    St. Stephen's Basilica is Budapest's largest church, 96 m high, and it took 54 years to build: József Hild began it in 1851, Miklós Ybl reshaped it in the Neo-Renaissance style, and József Kauser finished it in 1905. Its most treasured relic is the Holy Right Hand, the mummified hand of Saint Stephen, the king who founded the Hungarian state, and the legendary footballer Ferenc Puskás is buried here too. A stone-railed terrace circles the main dome 65 m up. It is the highest lookout in Pest, with a 360-degree view over the city and, in fine weather, to the Buda hills. Climb the stairs or take one of the lifts added in 2003.

    Tip: Cover your knees and shoulders, since visitors in unsuitable clothing can be turned away, and plan a Sunday visit for the afternoon, when the church opens to visitors after the morning masses.

    Church: HUF 2,600 (about $8) · Panorama terrace and treasury: HUF 5,000 (about $15) · Combined: HUF 6,800 (about $21) · Monday to Saturday 9 AM to 5:45 PM, Sunday from 1 PM; ceremonies overrideFee changed?

    Last verified Nov 7, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); St. Stephen's Basilica (official, Hungarian text); St. Stephen's Basilica (official, Hungarian text); St. Stephen's Basilica (official, Hungarian text)
11. 11Budapest

    Browse paprika and salami at the Great Market Hall

    The Great Market Hall is a vast three-story building with an iron frame and plenty of glass, designed by Samu Pecz and opened in 1897 at the Pest end of Liberty Bridge. It is Budapest's best-known market hall, damaged in World War II and restored in the early 1990s. The stalls sell paprika, salami, honey, spices, pickles, mushrooms, coffee and Hungarian wines, including Tokaji, and many sell traditional embroidered table and bed linen. There are plenty of places to eat, too, so it is a good stop for lunch and for picking up food souvenirs to take home.

    Tip: Pair it with a walk across Liberty Bridge just outside, which is sometimes closed to traffic in summer so people can picnic and relax on it.

    Entry free; meals extra. Monday to Friday 6 AM to 6 PM, Saturday until 4 PM; holidays closed
    Sources: European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Hungarian Tourism Agency
12. 12Budapest

    Ride the M1 under Andrássy Avenue

    Andrássy Avenue runs from Deák Ferenc tér to Heroes' Square and, with the Millennium Underground beneath it, joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2002. Completed in 1896 for the 1,000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest, it changes in three sections: palatial apartment buildings, cafes and shops up to Oktogon, then lower buildings with side roads once meant for carriages, then villas near City Park. Along the way you pass Miklós Ybl's Hungarian State Opera House and the House of Terror Museum. Beneath it runs the yellow M1 line, opened in 1896 as continental Europe's first underground railway, its stations and cars still reminiscent of that era.

    Tip: Walk the avenue one way and ride the M1 back, since the line also stops at Heroes' Square and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath.

    Public street; use the metro for the longer return from City Park
    Sources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
13. 13Budapest

    Meet Hungary's history at Heroes' Square

    Heroes' Square, at the top of Andrássy Avenue, is Budapest's largest square. Its Millennium Monument marks the 1,000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of 896: Archangel Gabriel stands on a 36 m column holding the Holy Crown and a double cross, above equestrian statues of the chieftains of the seven Hungarian tribes, led by Grand Prince Árpád. Two curved colonnades hold 2.8 m bronze statues of the rulers and leaders who shaped Hungary, each with a relief from their era, topped by figures of War and Peace, Labor and Wealth, and Knowledge and Glory. The monument was designed by Albert Schickedanz and György Zala, and its Gabriel statue won the grand prize at the 1900 Paris World's Fair.

    Tip: The Museum of Fine Arts and the Műcsarnok flank the square and City Park begins right behind it, so plan a half day around here.

    Outdoor square; events can restrict access
    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
14. 14Budapest

    See Old Masters at the Museum of Fine Arts

    The Museum of Fine Arts on Heroes' Square grew from the Esterházy family collection, bought by the Hungarian state in 1870, and its building was inaugurated by Franz Joseph in 1906. It covers European painting and sculpture from the 13th to the end of the 18th century, with works by Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Dürer, El Greco, Velázquez, Rubens and Rembrandt, plus ancient Greek and Roman sculpture and Egyptian antiquities. Its collection of 17th-century Dutch painting, more than 500 works, is one of the largest anywhere outside the Netherlands. A major renovation was completed in 2018. Hungarian works from the shared collection hang in the National Gallery at Buda Castle.

    Tip: The museum sits beside City Park and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath, so pair a morning of paintings with an afternoon soak.

    Adult: HUF 5,800 (about $18) · Tuesday to Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM, last entry 5 PMFee changed?

    Last verified Nov 7, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Museum of Fine Arts Budapest (official, Hungarian text)
15. 15Budapest

    Explore the House of Music Hungary in City Park

    House of Music Hungary in City Park was designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, with a transparent, undulating roof that echoes the patterns of sound waves and lets natural light filter in. Inside are exhibitions on the history of music, interactive displays where you can try making music, and concert halls with a program that runs from classical to contemporary. The underground Sound Dimensions exhibition, with its Sound Dome, won a Blooloop innovation award, and the building has collected a long list of prizes, including a special award at the European Museum of the Year Award in 2025. Geothermal energy heats and cools it.

    Tip: Check the program calendar before you go, since the house hosts concerts and sometimes closes for events, and allow about 15 minutes to walk across the park from the M1's Széchenyi Baths stop.

    Exhibition HUF[fee]; Mondays closed. Check timed admission and special closuresKnow the fee?
    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); House of Music Hungary (official); House of Music Hungary (official); House of Music Hungary (official)
16. 16Budapest

    Ride tram 2 along the Pest riverbank

    Tram 2 follows the Danube along the Pest bank, and a ride gives you a moving tour of the city's central stretch for the cost of an ordinary public transport ticket. Across the water you see Buda Castle and Castle Hill, and the bridges spanning the river pass one after another, with glimpses of places you will want to explore later on foot. It is often counted among the most scenic tram routes in Europe. Standard tickets are valid on trams as well as the metro, buses, trolleybuses and HÉV trains within Budapest, and you validate them when you board.

    Tip: Sit on the river side of the tram for the best views of the castle and the bridges.

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Hungarian Tourism Agency; Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
17. 17Szentendre

    Take the HÉV to Szentendre's old town

    Szentendre is a small town on the Danube about 25 km north of Budapest, reached by the HÉV suburban train from Batthyány tér. Serbian, Dalmatian and Greek settlers who arrived in 1690 gave it its Mediterranean look: cobbled lanes, small houses leaning on one another and Baroque steeples. The triangular Main Square has the Merchants' Cross, raised by Serbian merchants in 1763 in thanks that a plague spared the town. Nearby, the Serbian Orthodox Belgrade Cathedral has a grand iconostasis painted by Vasa Ostojić, and the Catholic parish church on Church Hill, the town's oldest monument, has a stone sundial from the 1300s. An artists' colony founded in 1926 still shapes the town.

    Tip: Climb to Church Hill first, then wander down through the lanes to the Danube promenade the town is known for.

    Public square; shops open individually
    Sources: Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Szentendre Tourinform; Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)
18. 18Szentendre

    See Margit Kovács's ceramics in Szentendre

    Opened in 1973, the Kovács Margit Ceramic Museum is one of Szentendre's most popular museums. It presents the life's work of Margit Kovács (1902 to 1977), the Kossuth Prize-winning artist seen as the innovator of Hungarian ceramic art, who donated the collection in 1972. More than 300 figural works span her whole career, and the second floor of the new wing recreates her Budapest home on Pozsonyi Road, potter's wheel included. In the last room, official copies of her best-known pieces can be touched, so blind and visually impaired visitors can enjoy them too. The Ferenczy Museum Center nearby shows the painters of the town's artists' colony.

    Tip: With a full day, add the Open-Air Ethnographic Museum (Skanzen), Hungary's largest open-air museum, where a museum railway links village groups of relocated rural buildings.

    Adult FMC day ticket, all open venues once paid: HUF 3,200 (about $10) · Daily 10 AM to 6 PM; same-day FMC pass also covers Ferenczy MuseumFee changed?

    Last verified Nov 4, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Szentendre official tourism site (Irány Szentendre); Visit Hungary (Hungarian Tourism Agency, official)

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