Must-see attractions in Budapest

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    Hungarian Agricultural Museum

    Budapest

    This huge and rather esoteric museum is housed in the stunning baroque and gothic wings of Vajdahunyad Castle. Scattered across a dozen palatial halls,…

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    Szechenyi Bridge and Castle Hill at twilight.

    Széchenyi Chain Bridge

    Budapest

    Arguably the most striking of all the bridges in Budapest, twin-towered Széchenyi Chain Bridge, which is named in honour of its initiator, István…

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    Zwack Museum & Visitors' Centre

    Budapest

    Unicum, the thick medicinal-tasting aperitif made from 40 herbs and spices, is as bitter as a loser’s tears and a favourite drink in Hungary. To delve…

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    Károly Garden

    Budapest

    A pleasant place to take a breather, this flowered-filled garden was built for the Károly Palace, which now houses the Petőfi Museum of Literature…

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    Gul Baba Tomb, Vizivaros.

    Gül Baba’s Tomb

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    This renovated tomb contains the mortal remains of one Gül Baba, an Ottoman dervish who took part in the capture of Buda in 1541 and is known in Hungary…

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    Buda Tower

    Castle District

    The big steeple on the south side of Kapisztrán tér, opposite the Museum of Military History and visible for kilometres to the west of Castle Hill, is the…

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    Invisible Exhibition

    Castle District

    This is a very unique interactive hour-long 'tour' of different settings (for instance, crossing the road, taking a bus) in total darkness, led by a blind…

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    Ervin Szabó Central Library

    Budapest

    Southeast of the Hungarian National Museum is the main repository of Budapest’s public library system, which holds some 2.4 million books and bound…

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    Apostles' Tower

    Budapest

    Accessed via the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, the Apostles' Tower stands 30m tall and looks down on the beautiful Ják Chapel, as well as giving you a…

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    Szemlőhegy Cave

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    This beautiful cave, about 1km southeast of Pálvölgy and Mátyáshegy caves, is the most accessible of the three. The temperature at Szemlőhegy is 12°C and…

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    Nagytétény Castle Museum

    Budapest

    Housed in the huge Száraz-Rudnyánszky baroque mansion in deepest south Buda, this branch of the Museum of Applied Arts traces the development of European…

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    Cave Church

    Budapest

    This chapel is on a small hill directly opposite (north of) the landmark Danubius Hotel Gellért and baths. It was built into a cave in 1926 and was the…

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    Antifascist Monument

    Budapest

    This memorial dedicated to the 'victims of the German occupation' appeared at the southern end of V Szabadság tér in July 2014. It remains extremely…

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    Béla Bartók Memorial House

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    North of Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor, this house (1924) is where the great composer resided from 1932 until 1940, when he emigrated to the USA. Visits are by…

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    Panoptikum

    Castle District

    This 1200m-long cave system, located some 16m (and 45 steps) under the Castle District, contains a motley collection of displays in its joined-up…

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    Batthyány tér

    Castle District

    The centre of Víziváros, Batthyány tér is the best place to take pictures of the photogenic Parliament building across the Danube. In the square's centre…

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    Petőfi Museum of Literature

    Budapest

    Just north of Egyetem tér and housed in the sumptuous neoclassical Károly Palace (Károlyi Palota), dating from 1840, this museum is devoted to Sándor…

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    1956 Hungarian Revolution Monument

    Budapest

    This monolithic assembly of gleaming metal and rusting steel columns erected in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the abortive uprising stands on the…

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    Semmelweis Museum of Medical History

    Budapest

    This quirky (and sometimes grisly) museum traces the history of medicine from Graeco-Roman times through medical tools and photographs; inevitably in…

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    Overhead of Elizabeth Bridge and Belvaros.

    Elizabeth Bridge

    Budapest

    Elizabeth Bridge enjoys a special place in the hearts of many Budapesters, as this gleaming white suspension bridge (1964) was the first newly designed…

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    Goldberger Textile Museum

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    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…

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    Timewheel

    Budapest

    The Timewheel, on City Park’s western edge, is the world’s largest hourglass, standing 8m high and weighing 60 tonnes. Unveiled in 2004 to commemorate…

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    Shoes on the Danube

    Budapest

    Along the banks of the river between Széchenyi István tér and Parliament is a monument to Hungarian Jews shot and thrown into the Danube by members of the…

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    Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art

    Budapest

    Housed in the architecturally controversial Palace of Arts just north of Rákóczi Bridge, the Ludwig Museum holds Hungary’s most important collection of…

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    Egyetem Square (University Square).

    Egyetem tér

    Budapest

    Boasting a fountain, abstract sculpture, benches and shade sails, ‘University Sq’ takes its name from the branch of the prestigious Loránd Eötvös Science…

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    Buda Creative House

    Budapest

    This new gallery with rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art is housed in the stunning Castle Garden Kiosk (Várkert Kioszk), a lovely little…

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    Miksa Roth stained glass window, Erszebetvaros.

    Miksa Róth Memorial House

    Budapest

    This fabulous museum exhibits the work of the eponymous art nouveau stained-glass maker Róth (1865–1944) over two floors of the house and workshop where…

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    Ferenc Hopp Museum of East Asian Art

    Budapest

    This museum of East Asian art is housed in the former villa of its benefactor and namesake; the pagoda in front gives the game away. Founded in 1919, the…

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    Ruins of Roman military amphitheatre, Obuda.

    Roman Military Amphitheatre

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    Built in the 2nd century for the Roman garrisons, this amphitheatre, about 800m south of Flórián tér. It's not especially impressive but will give you an…

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    Liberty Bridge

    Budapest

    Liberty Bridge, with its fin-de-siècle cantilevered span, was opened in time for the Millenary Exhibition in 1896. The bridge was originally named after…

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    Mosaic representing Hercules and Nessus, From Villa of Hermes

    Hercules Villa

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    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…

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    Basilica of St Stephen Treasury

    Budapest

    The treasury of the Basilica of St Stephen contains ecclesiastical objects, including censers, chalices, ciboria and vestments, plus an unforgettable art…

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    Holy Right Chapel

    Budapest

    This chapel in the Basilica of St Stephen contains the Holy Right (also known as the Holy Dexter), the mummified right hand of King St Stephen and an…

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    Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum

    Castle District

    Just north of Dísz tér, on the site of Budapest’s first pharmacy (1681), this small, entertaining museum contains a mock-up of an alchemist’s laboratory,…

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    Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum

    Castle District

    Part of the Castle Hill caves network, this subterranean hospital was used extensively during the WWII siege of Budapest and during the 1956 Uprising. It…

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    Óbuda Synagogue

    Óbuda & Buda Hills

    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…

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    Nagy Imre tér

    Castle District

    On the northern side of Nagy Imre tér is the former Military Court of Justice, where the eponymous Nagy and others were tried and sentenced to death in…

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