What to See in Budapest

Overview

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Centre historique de Budapest, Budapest, Hongrie

Historic Centre of Budapest
In the urban centre of the Hungarian capital, the banks of the Danube, Buda Castle District, and Andrássy Avenue are UNESCO-listed for their architectural significance.

Monuments and Architectural Ensembles

Andrássy Avenue
With its beautiful buildings, villas, and townhouses, its shops, performance venues including the opera, and its museums, the avenue is considered the Champs-Élysées of the capital.

Gellért Baths
Budapest is famous for its (many) baths. Of all, the Gellért Hotel thermal baths are the most beautiful and luxurious, with their Art Deco style featuring a glass roof, balconies, columns, and abundant ceramics.

Rudas Baths
They are a fine example of architecture from the city's Turkish era. Built in 1550, they still feature their original dome and octagonal pool. Other baths in the city, such as the Király Thermal Baths, share similar characteristics.

Széchenyi Baths
Less luxurious than those at Gellért, these are the best-known, largest, most visited, and most touristy thermal baths in the capital.

Fisherman's Bastion
A beautiful neo-Romanesque terrace overlooking the city and the Danube, offering a lovely panorama of the area. It sits at the foot of Matthias Church.

Historic Centre of Budapest
In the urban centre of the Hungarian capital, the banks of the Danube, Buda Castle District, and Andrássy Avenue are UNESCO-listed for their architectural significance.

Buda Castle
Formerly the castle of the Kings of Hungary. In addition to enjoying the panoramic views and its exterior (the interior is not open to visitors), you can also discover the Budapest History Museum and the Hungarian National Gallery here.

Danube Promenade
A beautiful urban walk along the Danube. It offers a chance to discover the city and many of its stunning buildings.

Budapest National Opera
Like many major European cities, Budapest has a beautiful 19th-century neo-Renaissance opera house with sumptuous interiors. It can be visited.

Central Market Hall, Budapest
This is the largest market in the city. Built at the very end of the 19th century, it is a vast metal hall behind a beautiful period façade.

Millennium Monument
This is a commemorative monument located in Heroes' Square in Budapest. It is recognizable by its tall column (36 m) topped with the Archangel Gabriel. It celebrates a thousand years of Magyar conquest in this part of Europe (not the turn of the year 2000).

Budapest Parliament
This immense neo-Gothic building from the late 19th century on the banks of the Danube has a slight resemblance to the British Parliament. Part of it is open for visits, allowing you to see the Crown Jewels and several remarkable rooms.

Chain Bridge
This suspension bridge spanning the Danube is one of the city's symbols. Nearly 400 metres long, it dates from the mid-19th century. In a different style but not far away, Liberty Bridge is another remarkable bridge in Budapest.

Religious Buildings

St. Stephen's Basilica
This is the largest Catholic church in the country. Built in the neo-classical style, it dates from the mid-19th century and has a beautiful interior.

Kerepesi Cemetery
This old cemetery is something of Hungary’s national pantheon. Tombs, mausoleums, statues—the site "houses" many figures who played a significant role in the country’s history. A small museum on the grounds also showcases Hungarian funeral traditions and practices.

Matthias Church
This church, rebuilt many times and with origins dating back to the Middle Ages, is one of the city’s most beautiful, thanks to its stunning spire and roof covered in multicolored glazed tiles.

Serbian Church
This charming little Baroque church is a testament to the presence of Serbs in the city, who fled the Turks and took refuge in Budapest from the late 17th century onwards.

University Church
This is one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in the city. It dates from the early 18th century.

Great Synagogue of Budapest
The largest in Europe and the second largest in the world by capacity. It was built in the 1850s in the Moorish style. It has a very beautiful interior.

Museums

Hungarian National Gallery
The venue houses the largest collection of Hungarian paintings and sculptures from the 19th century to the present day.

House of Terror
This site, which housed the headquarters of the Hungarian Nazi Party and later, from 1945 to 1956, the communist political police, traces the history of the fascist and communist regimes in Hungary and their countless victims.

Holocaust Memorial
A museum and research centre dedicated to the Hungarian Jewish community victim of the Holocaust during the Second World War.

Museum of Fine Arts
Housed in a neoclassical building with Corinthian columns, this museum features works by European painters and sculptors from all periods, along with Greek, Egyptian, and Roman antiquities, plus a small contemporary art section.

Budapest History Museum
Also known as the "Castle Museum" (due to its location), it traces the city's history from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Military History Museum
This former barracks in the Buda Castle district is dedicated to Hungary's military history through the centuries. It is one of the most important of its kind in Europe.

Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art
This is one of Europe’s most comprehensive and respected museums in its field, featuring works from Picasso to Andy Warhol, as well as Hungarian art from the 1960s to today.

Hungarian National Museum
Hungary's history through the centuries, showcased in temporary exhibitions and permanent collections. The whole is housed in an imposing building reminiscent of a Roman temple.

Vasarely Museum
The museum is dedicated to the works of the Franco-Hungarian painter and visual artist Victor Vasarely, whose foundation can also be seen in Aix-en-Provence.

Parks, Gardens, and Natural Spaces

Margaret Island
This large car-free island is a vast green, wooded space with various leisure facilities (swimming pool, thermal baths, etc.) and a few monuments. It’s a favorite spot for the city’s residents.

Gellért Hill
This is a distinctive wooded hill in Budapest offering panoramic views. It is home to a citadel and a monument commemorating the city’s liberation in 1945. At its base, fed by thermal springs, you can enjoy the Gellért and Rudas baths.

City Park
A lovely 120-hectare wooded park in the city centre, known for its setting as well as its winter ice rink, Széchenyi Thermal Baths, Vajdahunyad Castle, the zoo, the city circus, and several museums.

What to See in Budapest

Overview

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Monuments and Architectural Ensembles

Religious Buildings

Museums

Parks, Gardens, and Natural Spaces

Additional Information

Must-see & highly recommended

Recommended

Worth a look / Other