Ruins Of The Roman Town, Aquincum, Budapest, Hungary

Getty Images/Universal Images Group

Aquincum

Top choice in Óbuda & Buda Hills


The most complete Roman civilian town in Hungary was built around 100 AD and became the seat of the Roman province of Pannonia Inferior in AD 106. Visitors can explore its houses, baths, courtyards, fountains and sophisticated underfloor heating systems, as well as a recreation of a Roman painter's dwelling and Symphorus Mithraeum.

The purpose-built Aquincum Museum, just inside the entrance, puts the ruins in perspective, with a vast collection of Roman daily life objects and wall paintings.

At the museum, look out for the replica of a 3rd-century portable organ called a hydra and the mock-up of a Roman bath. Most of the big sculptures and stone sarcophagi are outside in the park. If you visit the site towards the end of May, dress in a toga for the Floralia Roman festival.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Óbuda & Buda Hills attractions

1. Roman Civilian Amphitheatre

0.29 MILES

The Roman Civilian Amphitheatre is about half the size of the one reserved for the military to the south. Much is left to the imagination, but you can…

2. Hercules Villa

1.11 MILES

Hercules Villa, in the middle of a vast housing estate northwest of Fő tér, is the name given to some reconstructed Roman ruins due to the astonishing 3rd…

3. Imre Varga Collection

1.46 MILES

This branch of the Budapest Gallery includes sculptures, statues, medals and drawings by Imre Varga (b 1923), one of Hungary’s foremost sculptors. Like…

4. Óbuda Museum

1.58 MILES

Anchor tenant of the Zichy Mansion, where you’ll also find the Vasarely Museum, but with its own entrance on Fő tér, this wonderfully revamped museum…

5. Vasarely Museum

1.6 MILES

Installed in the imposing Zichy Mansion (Zichy kastély), built in 1757, this renovated and rehung gallery contains some 150 works of Victor Vasarely (or…

6. Hungarian Museum of Trade & Tourism

1.74 MILES

This superb museum traces Budapest's catering and hospitality trade through the ages, including the dramatic changes after WWII, with restaurant items,…

7. Óbuda Synagogue

1.82 MILES

Next to the landmark Aquincum Hotel Budapest, the Óbuda Synagogue was built in 1821. For many years it housed Hungarian TV (MTV) sound studios because the…

8. Goldberger Textile Museum

1.94 MILES

This museum tells the story of Hungary's textile industry and that of the textile factory founded by Jewish entrepreneur Ferenc Goldberger in 1784, which…