Some of my favorite activities in Hungary's capital city.
The sites below will provide a snapshot of Budapest's past and present.
#1 - Visit the Matthias Church and the Plague Column on the Castle Hill (location): Rising elegantly from the Danube's bank, Budapest's pedestrian-only Castle Hill contains the medieval Old Town with the Matthias Church, the Fisherman's Bastion, and the Buda Castle. It is also your chance to take panoramic photos of the Pest side stretched out across the river. This step-by-step guide might help you navigate.
Little has remained of the modest medieval church where people such as Matthias Corvinus and Habsburg Franz Joseph were crowned King of Hungary since architect Frigyes Schulek transformed the Matthias Church into the exuberant Gothic Revival building we see today (similar to how Viollet-le-Duc "updated" the medieval Notre-Dame in Paris in the late 19th century). There's an admission to enter the church.
That stern and confident gentleman cast in bronze is the canonized Stephen (975-1038), the country’s first king who laid the foundations of Christian Hungary. The base of the monument shows scenes from his life. Behind the church on Szentháromság tér rises a late-Baroque plague column, which was a Habsburg specialty: as a token of gratitude following a plague, the surviving residents erected such oddly shaped monuments adorned with flying angels and the patron saints of plague victims such as Saint Roche and Saint Sebastian.
#2 - Take in the Budapest panorama from the Fisherman's Bastion (location): Located beside the Matthias Church, the fairy-tale-like Fisherman’s Bastion is a similar 19th-century reimagination of the medieval past by architect Frigyes Schulek. The soaring white towers sync up with the church and offer stunning Budapest vistas. There's a small admission to enter the upper deck from which the views are especially impressive.
#3 - Go to the National Gallery (location): Located inside the Buda Castle, the National Gallery contains paintings and sculptures by Hungary's leading artists. Bonus: the general admission ticket provides access to the museum's panoramic cafe and the cupola up top.
I would draw your attention to the 15th-century Gothic triptychs; the Neoclassical sculptures of István Ferenczy who was known as the "Hungarian Canova;" the heroic paintings of Gyula Benczúr; Károly Ferenczy's brand of symbolism; the works of the Budapest-based art group, Nyolcak, inspired by Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism; the international section anchored by Courbet's Wrestlers; the nervous, uneasy joy on Vilmos Aba-Novák's canvases; the haunting sculptures of Tibor Vilt; the pioneering minimalism of Vera Molnár. And so much more (here, my favorites)!
#4 - Go to the Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti): The Museum of Fine Arts often turns out to be a great surprise for Budapest visitors. The giant building flanking Heroes' Square holds a world-class collection of old masters paintings by the likes of Lucas Cranach, Dürer, Raphael, Giorgione, Correggio, Titian, Bronzino, Tintoretto, El Greco, Pieter Bruegel, Rubens, van Dyck, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, and many others (here, my favorites).
How did all this come together in our neck of the woods? Most paintings had belonged to the Esterházy family, one of the wealthiest in Austria-Hungary, before the financially strapped Prince Miklós Esterházy sold them to the state in 1871. Excellent temporary shows, too.
#5 - Visit the Hungarian Parliament (location): People are often surprised by the size of the Hungarian Parliament. "A country with only ten million people, why such an enormous building?" When this Parliament was built in the late 19th century, Hungary was three times its current size and Budapest riding high on its golden period as a capital of Austria-Hungary. This giant Gothic Revival structure with its outsize open plaza were meant to parade the country’s newfound prestige (this golden period ended with WWI and the 1918 collapse of the Dual Monarchy).
The 45-minute guided tour is just the right amount of time to appreciate the lavish interior without getting tired and lost in one of its 691 rooms. After the tour, one could pay respect to the Budapest victims of the Holocaust at the poignant Shoes Memorial steps away on the riverbank.
#6 - Stroll down Andrássy Avenue (location): Named after Gyula Andrássy, the seminal foreign minister of Austria-Hungary of whom Queen Sisi was very fond, this 2.3 km (1.4 mile) grand boulevard connects the city center with Heroes' Square and the City Park. Andrássy Avenue is also known as the “Champs-Élysées of Budapest” given that Haussmann’s remake of Paris a decade earlier inspired this urban renewal program, which was meant to accommodate Budapest's rising population and represent the city's elevated status in Austria-Hungary.
Starting in downtown, one will pass fancy retail stores, Medici-type Revival palazzos, and the Opera House. The outer section is lined with handsome villas, many of them embassies now. As you saunter along, peep into the radiating side streets too, all of them the result of the great 19th-century buildup of Budapest.
#7 - Go to a thermal bath: Budapest's bathing culture harks back to the Romans, who first enjoyed soaking in the mineral-rich hot water simmering below the city's surface. Today, one can visit medieval hammams such as Rudas that were built during Budapest's occupation by Ottoman Turkey, and ornate baths such as Széchenyi that date back to Austria-Hungary. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to soak yourself inside Gellért Bath's Art Nouveau halls, because Gellért is undergoing a much-needed gut renovation and will remain closed until early 2029. Still, plenty of options out there.
#8 - Visit the National Museum (location): Founded in 1802, the country’s oldest and most famous museum contains a spectacular collection. The ground floor sheds light on the people and the cultures that inhabited the Carpathian Basin – Celtic, Roman, German, Hun, Avar, Slavic, Hungarian. The upper floor, across twenty halls, traces the history of Hungary from its tribal beginnings through the Árpád, the Ottoman, and the Habsburg periods to the 1989 fall of Communism.
Even if you don't feel like spending a whole day here, the astonishingly rich collection – with short and informative wall texts – is worth at least a glimpse (child-friendly, too). A special exhibition on the ground floor displays gorgeous porcelain from Central Europe as well as the Seuso Treasure, fourteen silver vessels from the late-Roman era that were unearthed in Hungary. Afterward, one could wind down with an Esterházy cake at Geraldine pastry shop in the charming museum-garden.
#9 - Take in the bird’s-eye view of Budapest from the St. Stephen’s Basilica (location): Named after Hungary's first king, the canonized Stephen, Budapest's biggest church is one of the great examples in Europe of the Renaissance Revival style. Architect Miklós Ybl was inspired by Alberti's 15th-century Basilica Sant'Andrea (in Mantua, Italy) and by Michelangelo's famous dome on the Saint Peter's (Vatican).
Sculptures of Hungary's saints decorate the central plan of the inside – Stephen, Emeric, Gerard, Ladislaus, Elizabeth, and Margaret – and there's a wonderful painting by Gyula Benczúr showing the moment when Stephen offers the Holy Crown of Hungary to the Virgin. Via elevator or stairs, one can visit the dome, with a completely open Budapest-vista. There's a small admission fee to both the church and the dome.
#10 - Visit Heroes’ Square (location): Hungary's national monument on Heroes' Square was built to celebrate in style the country's thousand-year birthday at the end of the 19th century (for good or ill, it's less bombastic than Italy's national monument from around the same time). Two sets of curved colonnades enclose bronze statues of (mostly) enlightened figures, such as the first king, Stephen, on the very left, who added Hungary to the Christian nations of Europe. Also here: the Renaissance-king, Matthias Corvinus, whose Buda Castle was known for its astonishing library and for its Italian artists, architects, and cooks (the Renaissance remains can be seen at the Castle Museum).
How come no statues of the great Habsburg kings and queens of Hungary (Maria Theresa, for example)? The anti-royalist and nationalist Hungarian Communist regime in the 1950s removed the Habsburg figures, who are patiently biding their time in a statue depot on the Budapest outskirts. In the middle of the square rises a Corinthian victory column topped by a long-winged Archangel Gabriel and surrounded by equestrian statues of ancient Hungarian chieftains who led the way into the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century AD.
#11 - Walk the “synagogue triangle” in Budapest's Jewish Quarter (location): Before Hungary’s alliance with Nazi Germany and participation in the Holocaust, the country was home to a thriving community of almost one million Jewish people. Budapest itself was the second biggest Jewish city in Europe after Warsaw, with nearly a quarter of its population being Jewish. Jews were the backbone of Budapest's middle class, contributing meaningfully to the city's economy, culture, and sciences (despite horrific events in 1944-1945, Budapest is currently the largest Ashkenazi city in continental Europe; this has notable cultural and political implications).
Inside the city's old Jewish Quarter, one can visit three dazzling synagogues near one another – Dohány, Rumbach, Kazinczy – including Europe’s biggest in Dohány Street, which is a good example for the search of a Jewish national architecture that occupied so many European architects in the mid-19th century.
#12 - Pay Tribute to Budapest's Holocaust Memorials (location): As mentioned above, Jewish people contributed immensely to Budapest becoming a rapidly developing metropolis. Until WWI, the Hungarian political leadership didn't allow political antisemitism to rear its ugly head and crushed all anti-Jewish movements (unlike neighboring Vienna). Not so in the period that followed: nearly all Jewish people from the Hungarian countryside were deported to and killed in Auschwitz in 1944. Budapest fared better, but members of the Arrow Cross movement murdered thousands. Here, the main memorials.
#13 - Wander through the City Park (location): Budapest's City Park has reinvented itself in recent years. The park's eye-catching architecture spans the Museum of Ethnography, the House of Music, the Millennium háza, the Vajdahunyad Castle, and the Széchenyi Baths. For those with young children: I'm told that the city's top playground is also here. One could reach the City Park from downtown on foot via Andrássy Avenue, and return with the museum-worthy M1 Millennium Underground (see below).
#14 - Visit the Museum of Ethnography (location): The Museum of Ethnography – that parabola-shaped building in Budapest’s City Park with a spectacular roof garden – has an astonishing permanent exhibition featuring tens of thousands of folk objects sourced from Hungary and around the world.
The show invites visitors to step into the shoes of ethnographers and consider fascinating questions: How to decide whether an item is museum-worthy? What to do with mass-produced modern objects, say plastic baskets, that have infiltrated folk life? How about the reverse phenomenon, when modern life makes use of folk art, as with the compositions of Franz Liszt or contemporary fashion? Bonus: the ceramics collection in the hallway and the outsize Budapest paper model from 1900 by the entrance.
#15 - Listen to my Budapest audio tours: I planned, wrote, and recorded several tours on VoiceMap. The app uses your location to play audio automatically at the right time and place – you can put your phone away and roam the city with me, so to say. I have three Budapest tours currently: City Center, Jewish Quarter, Andrássy Avenue (and one for Vienna).
#16 - Go to the House of Music (location): Budapest's newest museum explores the development of music from its tribal beginnings to the present day. The high-tech exhibition halls provide many samples and take visitors to detours about Hungary's great composers, such as Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, and Zoltán Kodály. There's also a “sound dome” and a place for people to try their hand at composing.
Up top, a music library contains a bunch of pop, rock, jazz, blues, and folk music records and magazines. The House of Music, with an excellent concert calendar, is located inside an astounding building designed by the Japanese architect, Sou Fujimoto.
#17 - Take a ride on Europe's oldest subway line (location): Budapest's M1 line was completed just in time for the 1896 opening of the Hungarian Millennial Exhibition, a massive event in the City Park, similar to a World's Fair. The stations are located conveniently close to the ground level and the cars are adorably undersized, at least by today's standards, which is why locals refer to it as the "kisföldalatti," meaning “small underground.” The train travels below Andrássy Avenue; I recommend you hop on for a few stops for the experience (tickets are sold at the machines and via the BudapestGO app). Just be sure to watch your head.
#18 - Take a river cruise on the Danube (location): It is one of the best ways to appreciate Budapest's beauty to the fullest. As part of a cruise ride, which takes about an hour, the Chain Bridge, the Buda Castle, the Hungarian Parliament building, and Margaret Island all appear within arm's reach. There are many cruise operators to choose from; my experience is that Legenda offers a comfortable journey (and audio guides in 30 languages).
#19 - Go to a classical music or jazz concert: Every year, many tourists head to Budapest specifically for its rich classical music scene, which is far from stuffy or old-fashioned. One could start by perusing the calendars of the Liszt Academy and Müpa Budapest. Iván Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra is another option. The Budapest Music Center hosts excellent jazz concert almost every evening (as does Jedermann Cafe). I already mentioned the House of Music. If experimental contemporary art is what you're after, head to Trafó.
#20 - Climb up to the Liberty Statue (location): Budapest is one of the few capitals in the world with a panoramic hiking trail right within their city center! The reward for the twenty-minute cardio exercise required to mount the dramatically soaring Gellért Hill is the sweeping 360-degree views.
Up top, the Liberty Statue (1947) honors the Soviet troops that liberated Budapest from the Nazis. The torso beside it is what remained of the fortress from which Habsburg troops monitored their perennially recalcitrant Hungarian subjects after the Revolution of 1848. I recommend taking the quieter path, setting off opposite the Gellért Baths. (I know people who bring along a chilled bottle of Tokaj for the hike and I don't blame them.)
#21 - Visit the Robert Capa Photography Center (location): The Capa Center is home to the first permanent exhibition of photography by Endre Friedmann (1913-1954), better known as Robert Capa, the famous photojournalist and war photographer who grew up in Budapest. A rotating set of 140 pieces are displayed, including his famous pictures from the Spanish Civil War and D-Day.
Beside Capa and Moholy-Nagy, André Kertész (1894-1985) is the best-known Hungarian-born photographer; another highlight of this museum is the rotating selections of Kertész works upstairs. Also here: excellent temporary shows by contemporary artists; the staircase of the Art Nouveau building fitted with József Rippl-Rónai's gorgeous stained glass windows; the joyful café on the ground floor!
#22 - Go to a smaller museum such as the Ráth György-villa: There are excellent smaller museums in Budapest; for example, the Ráth György-villa contains wonderful Art Nouveau objects, functioning as a replacement museum of sorts while the Museum of Applied Arts undergoes renovation. The Zwack Unicum Museum is dedicated to Hungary's iconic herbal liqueur, and, yes, the visit does include a taste. Is it stamps that get you going? No problem.
#23 - Stay in a panoramic one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Budapest
The fifth-floor apartment is located in the heart of town, steps from the lively Jewish Quarter, with the balcony overlooking Europe's biggest synagogue in Dohány Street. I only accept advertisements from tried-and-tested sources and this Airbnb rental is one of them.
#24 - Explore the Great Market Hall (location): Budapest opened six indoor markets between 1897 and 1902 to replace the unsanitary open air farmers' markets of the past. The central market was this enormous steel-framed hall, located strategically near the Danube where many goods were transported. Today, still, locals and tourists flock here for seasonal fruits, fresh and pickled veggies, ground paprika, and Hungarian salami and szalonna.
These produce vendors and butchers are generally on the ground level and downstairs. The upstairs is more touristy, with vendors of knick-knacks and tchotchkes, and food stalls that serve overpriced traditional foods such as lángos, goulash, and palacsinta.
#25 - Try a bowl of goulash: Hungary's most famous food, the goulash, is a crimson-hued beef soup layered with vegetables and imparting the sweet-sharp flavor of fresh paprika. The dish is named after the herdsmen in eastern Hungary – the gulyás – who prepared this hearty soup in large cast-iron pots starting around the 16th century. Few people cook it over open fire these days, but the goulash is still a beloved staple across households in the former Habsburg territories. In restaurants, prices usually range €6-10 for a bowl (here, some of my favorites).
#26 - Try lángos: For many people in Hungary, a visit to the market hall doubles as a trip to the lángos vendor. The shopping bags can wait on the side while a palm-sized, deep-fried flatbread is wolfed down by the high-top tables. Historically, lángos was a byproduct of bread baking in the family home; around the turn of the 20th century, however, deep-frying replaced baking and an urban street food was born. At its best, the crispy, golden crust yields to a soft and doughy and steaming inside. Sour cream and cheese are standard toppings, but options also include cooked cabbage, sausages, and red onions. Nutella too, at the new-wave vendors. Here, some of my favorites.
#27 - Eat your way through the city with my Foodapest card: Graphic designer Barbara Beke and I compiled essential foods and drinks that Budapest locals rely on to get through their days. Note: this isn’t a list of strictly traditional Hungarian fare; rather, it is an honest cross-section of what many Budapest residents actually eat and drink. You could read this brief explainer to each featured item, or simply print the card and go at it.
#28 - Go to a pastry shop: Similar to Vienna, Budapest has enjoyed a vibrant pastry culture since the days of Austria-Hungary. After all, who doesn't like to socialize over a luscious Dobos or Esterházy torte and hot chocolate? Many pastry shops (cukrászda) scatter across the city. Before a visit, you could familiarize yourself with the most popular local cakes.
#29 - Try Hungarian wine: Unlike beer, wine has been essential all throughout Hungary's history, with Tokaj and its complex sweet wines being the most renowned. Native grapes include furmint, hárslevelű (white), and kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch), which one can try at most Budapest restaurants and wine bars. My favorite Tokaj label is Disznókő, where I spent the 2021 harvest picking grapes, racking wines, manning the bottling machine. One can taste and stock up on Disznókő aszú in this downtown store. If you are new to Hungarian wines, read my introduction.
#30 - Go shopping: Budapest's shopping options span antiques, contemporary designer clothing, high-end porcelain, vinyl records, handmade shoes, craft chocolate, Tokaj wines, and so much more. See if the city's top retail stores offer something of interest to you.
#31 - Take in the city's architecture: Budapest offers plenty of eye candy for architecture fans. The consistent Revival style from the turn of the 20th century still dominates the cityscape: a neo-Renaissance building to your left, a neo-Baroque to your right, a neo-Gothic in between sort of thing. At its scale, this phenomenon is unique to Budapest.
I am also partial to the Neoclassical residential houses designed by Mihály Pollack in the early 19th century (mainly along Nádor utca) and to the pioneering buildings of Ödön Lechner, who created a local version of Art Nouveau. Here, all my favorites. One could also find out what caught the eye of Columbia Professor and Pritzker juror Barry Bergdoll during a recent Budapest visit.
#32 - Pedal away with Bubi, Budapest’s city bike: With densely built streets and a flat surface, the Pest side lends itself to be discovered on two wheels. Bubi (App Store; Google Play) provides an excellent coverage of all downtown neighborhoods, featuring more than 2,400 bikes and 220 docking stations. One can pedal away at wallet-friendly rates: a 30-minute ride amounts to the Hungarian forint equivalent of €4. No electric bikes yet, unfortunately. Please keep your wits about you and be respectful of others sharing the road. (More tips about getting around Budapest.)
#33 - Take the Children's Railway and the Libegő chairlift (location): Since 1948, Budapest has had an official rail line operated by children with adult supervision. The small train lumbers through dense woods and beautiful nature which occasionally give way to panoramic cityscapes. One could get off at Jánoshegy and descend from the hillside with the Libegő chairlift, also with striking views. The Children's Railway departs from Hűvösvölgy, reachable in half an hour from the city center by public transport. Naturally, both of these activities are ideal for families with small children.
#34 - Eat in Budapest's Chinatown (location): Few people know that some of the best Chinese food in Europe is served here in Budapest. With more than 30,000 people, Budapest's Chinese community is among the biggest on the continent and its Chinatown (Monori Center) layered with true-to-China restaurants, be it Sichuan fare, seafood, noodle soups, or Chinese hotpot. Examples include the affordable Hehe and the more upscale Spicy Fish. From mid-May to mid-September, an outdoor food market operates here every evening. Budapest's Chinatown is reachable in about twenty minutes by public transport.
#35 - Discover the Palace Quarter & the Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library (location): Budapest's Palace Quarter, the inner part of District 8, was once the most desirable and the playground of the Hungarian aristocracy. Residential palazzos of families such as the Festetics, the Esterházy, and the Károlyi cradled the giant Neoclassical building of the National Museum (1837-1847) and its sculpture-filled garden. The Communist regime chased out the Hungarian aristocracy after WWII, but a few of the astonishing interiors have been preserved. Such as the fourth floor of the Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library – formerly the Baron Wenckheim Palace – which tourists can glimpse for a small fee. The sixth floor contains the amazing Budapest collection, with a constantly rotating exhibition.
One will find students cramming for their exams in the former ballroom hung with a giant chandelier and in the mahogany-paneled cigar room. Gilded Rococo motifs appear throughout. The Palace Quarter is currently springing back to life thanks to lively cafes (Lumen), student bars (Fecske), craft beer bars (Mixát), smashed-burger joints (Smashy), pastry shops (Geraldine, in the museum garden), and second-hand clothing stores (Typo Showroom).
#36 - Grab a drink at a ruin bar (location): Budapest’s ruin bars appeared in the early 2000s when a few creatively minded locals opened unpretentious drinking joints inside the neglected buildings of the Jewish Quarter that barely escaped the bulldozers. Cheap drinks, a welcoming atmosphere, and a hodgepodge of flea-market furniture became their defining features. Although Szimpla Kert, the city’s first ruin bar, has become a major tourist attraction, it has retained its native spirit and worth visiting. If daytime activities are more your speed: Szimpla hosts a farmers' market every Sunday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
#37 - Travel back in time at a coffeehouse: Similar to Vienna, Budapest enjoyed a thriving coffeehouse culture in the 19th century; the city's fast-growing populace, especially artists and journalists, spent endless hours working and socializing under the sky-high ceilings, some even directing their mails to their preferred coffeehouse. The 1950s Communist nationalizations brought an abrupt end to these grand establishments, but a few have been revived in recent decades. Though popular tourist attractions today, some are truly spectacular with solid coffee and cakes.
#38 - Experience the contemporary side of Budapest: Sure, you don't need to come all the way to Budapest to try specialty coffee, craft beers, or bespoke cocktails, but if you are already here, you could see how the local artisanal scene stacks up against those in other cities you have visited. Budapest's specialty coffee culture and new-wave pizza shops are especially vibrant.
#39 - Take the Castle Hill funicular (sikló) to the hilltop: The second half of the 19th century brought revolutionary advancements in urban transportation across Europe and Budapest was among the first to introduce new forms of transport starting with the Castle Hill funicular (1870), followed by the cog-wheel railway (1874), and the Millennium underground (1896), all of which are still operational today.
This steeply ascending funicular, the second oldest of its kind in the world, was built to provide easy and affordable connection between the Chain Bridge and the ministries on the hilltop. Destroyed in WWII, the funicular was rebuilt in the 1980s with a pair of old-school cars that evoke the originals, although no longer steam-powered. They each have a name: Margit and Gellért. Have your camera ready because the scenic ride takes only about two minutes. Note that only round-trip tickets are sold and the experience might involve some waiting in line during peak hours.
#40 - Explore the cultural legacy of Communism in Hungary: I don’t think one should romanticize the Communist period in Hungary (1947-1989) about which most people have unkind memories. But there’s also no need to erase its cultural legacy, which was largely inspired by trends across the Iron Curtain anyway. Examples include the so-called “eszpresszó” cafes fitted with socialist modern furnishings – cheap imitations of midcentury modernism. One could try Bambi Eszpresszó where little has changed since the 1961 opening.
#41 - Visit Újlipótváros, a lively residential area set along the Danube (location): Known for its unique architecture and middle-class Jewish residents, Újlipótváros is a little city within the city that flies under the radar of most tourists. Specialty cafés, bookstores, art galleries, and impressive modernist buildings from the 1930s and 1940s line Pozsonyi út, the artery of the neighborhood.
#42 - Visit the Lehel Market (location): Inside a quirky postmodern building lies one of Budapest's busiest markets. One will find here everything from traditional cold cuts to fresh and pickled vegetables and homemade jams. And also lángos vendors and low-priced drinking joints to accompany local regulars for a beer and a shot of Unicum, the local herbal liqueur. Compared with the Great Market Hall, Lehel draws fewer tourists. For a true-to-Budapest experience, try going on a Saturday morning.
#43 - Discover the Bartók Béla Boulevard (location): In general, the Buda side can't hold a candle to Pest when it comes to energy, culture, commerce, and dining. So it is all the more delightful that Bartók Béla Boulevard has become a revitalized Buda area teeming with cafés, bars, and art galleries. Local residents are an eclectic mix: fashionable Millennials, engineering students from the nearby University of Technology, and old-timers.
Delicious morning pastries at Pékműhely, followed by coffee at Kelet, paintings at Godot, burger at Buda Smash (or perhaps pizza at Moto?), and a stroll through the university campus would be my kind of day. I would round things out with homemade pogácsa and fröccs at Borpatika.
#44 - Go to an art gallery: After more than four decades of Communist-era censorship, Budapest's art world is slowly coming back to life. At the city's leading art galleries one can sample everything from Biedermeier furniture, modernist paintings of the inter-war period, and contemporary art. Most artworks command high prices but the shows are free and open to the public.
#45 - Visit Budapest's antique row along Falk Miksa utca (location): Named after the prominent editor-journalist who tutored Queen Sisi in Hungarian language, downtown’s Falk Miksa Street is lined with antique stores and art galleries, more than 30 in total (good places to start: Nagyházi, Darius, BÁV). Some places specialize in porcelain, silver, and glassware, others sell prints, paintings, yet others do textiles and furniture. 18th-century decorative swords are what you’re after? Not a problem. Most stores are relatively pricey but tchotchkes and knick-knacks are also aplenty. Closed on Sunday!
#46 - Visit Liberty Square (location): Similar to the nearby Parliament building, Liberty Square embodies Budapest’s golden period in the late 19th century when a relatively provincial town rapidly transformed into one of the biggest cities in Europe with ambitions to match. The immense Revival Style buildings that ring the square express this ambition.
This gorgeous square also contains a strange amalgam of statues. There are statues of American Presidents (because the US embassy is here); there is an obelisk to Soviet soldiers (because they liberated Budapest and its Jewish ghetto in 1945); and there is a controversial memorial – and a counter memorial – to the victims of the German occupation of 1944.
#47 - Explore the Fiumei Road Cemetery (location): The Père-Lachaise of Budapest, this vast park near the city center hides a beautiful garden cemetery. Anyone is free to stroll through the limestone mausoleums and impressively designed tombstones while getting to know Hungary’s prominent statesmen (Lajos Batthyány, Ferenc Deák, Lajos Kossuth), artists (Mihály Munkácsy), architects (Ödön Lechner), and others, for example the Gerbeaud family behind the famous downtown pastry shop. Resting also here: the heroes of the Communist regime, including János Kádár, the longtime General Secretary.
In the back but accessed from outside hides the Salgótarjáni Street Jewish Cemetery, which contains the funerary monuments of the Jewish upper class, including those of such well-known industrialist families as the Weiss von Csepel, the Hatvany-Deutsch, and the Kohner.
#48 - Glimpse the Hungarian State Opera (location): Erected during the great wave of opera-building in the second half of the 19th century, Miklós Ybl's lively Renaissance-Baroque (neo) exterior is a highlight of Andrássy Avenue. Five bays of deeply recessed loggias covered by gilded barrel vaults face the street. Jacopo Sansovino's Biblioteca Marciana in Venice and Gottfried Semper's Dresden Opera might have been inspirations. Statues of famous composers appear atop the balustrade – Palestrina, Monteverdi, Beethoven, for example. (An example of the friendly competition between Vienna and Budapest at the time: imperial authorities specified that the size of the Budapest Opera had to be smaller than the Viennese.)
Franz Liszt, carved from stone, sits in the niche beside the entrance. The decorative program is even more dazzling inside, rich with marble, gold, and mahogany. It culminates in the grand stair hall, made for savoring spectacles and seeing and being seen. The Opera provides daily English-language tours.
#49 - Explore the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery (location): Hungary’s biggest Jewish cemetery is located a bit away from the city center (reachable in forty minutes with tram #28). Most well known is the eye-catching Art Nouveau tomb designed in 1903 for the Schmidl family by the star architect duo, Ödön Lechner and Béla Lajta. The cemetery's vestibule contains plaques and memorials rescued from Jewish buildings that were knocked down during Communist Hungary. To the left of the entrance is a modernist Holocaust memorial (1949) listing the names of tens of thousands of victims under heart-wrenching headers.
#50 - Walk or bike around Margaret Island (location): This car-free, green island perched in the middle of the Danube River is a true paradise – no wonder the Habsburg family kept it close to its chest before finally selling it to the city of Budapest in 1908. One could, for example, bike among the island's manicured lawns and English gardens planted with centuries-old London plane trees (with a Bubi city bike, see above, or one of those four-wheeled surrey bikes that can be rented on the island).
Or observe the remains of the medieval monastery that was home to Saint Margaret (1242-1270), daughter of King Béla IV; visit the island's tiny zoo; try to identify busts of Hungary's greats along the Artists' Promenade; marvel at the Japanese garden; join packs of locals on the running track ringing the island; go to a year-round beach (Palatinus) that uses thermal water gushing from below; or stay at the island's four-star hotel, Ensana, which has its own thermal baths.
#51 - Look at contemporary art at the Ludwig Museum (location): Budapest's main outlet for contemporary artworks is located in a stunning building along the Danube's bank in southern Budapest. The Ludwig Museum's permanent collection, which is rotated every few years, includes international heavyweights – Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Chuck Close, late-period Picasso, Vera Molnár – alongside local and regional artists from the same time. The temporary exhibitions are usually also ambitious.
#52 - Work from a public library (location): One of the underrated pleasures of life is working from a library: the communal pursuit of knowledge; the quiet without the solitude; the striking interiors. Budapest is especially well-supplied, because in addition to national, municipal, and university libraries, most museums contain research libraries. All of which are open to anyone and everyone with a valid ID card, Hungarian or foreign (some libraries might close during the peak summer season). One could start out at the wonderful library of the Hungarian Parliament or the ELTE university library. Here, my favorites.
#53 - Amble through Várkert Bazár (location): These polished pavilions lie on the Buda side between the Castle Hill and the Danube's bank. In the past, the area was home to everything from artists' studios to open-air concerts; today, one is here for the panoramic views, the expansive lawn, the restful cafes, and the temporary exhibitions both inside (YBL6 Művészeti Tér) and out. There's direct access to the Royal Castle, so you can combine with #1 above.
#54 - Go to a Michelin-starred restaurant: While a Michelin-meal always runs the risk of being a bit over-the-top, Budapest's Michelin-starred restaurants might still be worth a visit. Most places showcase traditional Hungarian fare through a contemporary fine dining lens with excellent local wines to pair.
#55 - Visit the Inner City Parish Church (location): Even if you aren’t religious, I recommend a visit to this wonderful Budapest church, a true palimpsest of history with Roman, Romanesque, Gothic, Ottoman, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Revival-style, and modern elements. There’s nothing like it in Budapest. The church’s continued existence is a small miracle – given its proximity to Elisabeth Bridge and the car-forward urban planning of the 20th century, the idea of razing or moving it periodically resurfaced.
#56 - Visit the Museum of Agriculture (location): The Museum of Agriculture isn’t on the radar of most Budapest visitors, even though it should be! Hungary was the “breadbasket” of the Habsburg Monarchy, supplying vast quantities of field crops, meat, and wine to the less favorably situated Alpine regions. This exhibition, which is charmingly old-school and very grand, is a tribute to the country’s rich soil and animal life.
It is enjoyable to simply observe the objects on display: handmade beehives; wine presses from the 19th century; dioramas of native species such as the mangalica, the grey cattle, and the racka sheep; old bottles of Tokaji; decorated pálinka flasks; inventive fishing nets; the country's first threshing machine (1852); hunting trophies that Hungary’s king, Franz Joseph, shot in the Gödöllő woods. The exhibition halls occupy the fairy-tale-like Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park. For a small additional fee, one can visit the lookout towers.
After each visit, I’m intent on immediately moving to the countryside, starting an animal farm and planting grapes for wine. (My commitment is short lived – I love cities.)
#57 - Learn about the Communist-era at the House of Terror (location): Hungary is still suffering the legacy of the four-decades-long Communist regime that reigned until 1989. This museum, inside the building that once headquartered the Communist secret police, explores the brutalities and the sheer idiocy of this period, especially the most repressive Stalinist years of the 1950 (the system meaningfully softened after the Revolution of 1956).
Although audio guides are available and most halls come with an information sheet, I find the presentation somewhat surface-level and pathos-filled. I recommend that you also visit the Communist-era hall inside the National Museum for more context.
#58 - Walk across the Chain Bridge (location): By 1830, the idea of linking Buda and Pest was pressing given that the city of Pest had become the commercial center of Hungary. There did exist a makeshift bridge but it was small and had to be dismantled during the winter months. The first permanent connection between the two sides, the Chain Bridge was completed in 1849, a time when the ancient world inspired art and architecture (Neoclassicism), hence those stone pillars resembling a Roman triumphal arch.
During the 1945 siege of Budapest, both the advancing Soviet and the retreating German armies tried to blow up the bridge (the Germans succeeded in this). It was rebuilt by 1949. Recently car-free and bicycle-friendly – and no longer with a toll, as was the case until 1918 – there has never been a better time to walk across the Chain Bridge!
#59 - Check out the award-winning M4 subway stations: A crisscross system of exposed concrete beams, playful lighting solutions, and location-specific designs lend a distinctly 21st century feel to the platforms of Budapest's recently completed M4 subway line, which connects the Keleti rail terminal with the Kelenföld railway station. The Fővám tér and the Szent Gellért tér stations won the prestigious Architizer A+ Award in 2014.
#60 - Visit an unusual McDonald’s at the Nyugati Train Station (location): In 1877, after just twelve months of work, the spectacular new complex of the Nyugati railway terminal sprung up along Budapest's Grand Boulevard. The sky-lighted roof and the delicate cast iron support structures were designed and manufactured by Gustave Eiffel’s office in Paris. Additional pavilions contained a ticket office, the waiting halls – for the royal couple a luxurious one whose entrance is still visible – a post office, a luggage room, and a restaurant.
In 1990, this restaurant building became home to a McDonald’s, the company’s second location in post-Communist Budapest. The high-ceilinged, historic interior was an unusual choice for a chain restaurant, but the Nyugati McDonald’s has remained very popular ever since and is regarded as one of the company’s nicest locations globally.
#61 - Visit the Budapest Zoo (location): Near Budapest's city center lies one of the oldest zoos in Europe, dating back to 1866. With elaborate Art Nouveau buildings housing the animals, a visit doubles as a tour of architecture. Although open year-round, some of the animals might be hibernating in the winter months, away from the public eye. Economically, the thermal water of the neighboring Széchenyi baths provides much of the zoo's heating.
#62 - Go ice skating or boating in the City Park (location): Even if you are like me – an ungifted skater, perennially imbalanced and feeling clown-like – a visit to Budapest’s ice rink has its attractions. Most of all the panoramic backdrop: the rink, which opened in 1870, is surrounded by a collage of monumental architecture from the fairy-tale Vajdahunyad Castle to the Baroque Revival pavilion of the rink itself.
In case you opt out of the action prematurely and bide your time on the sideline: the in-house cafe serves excellent mulled wine. The season usually goes from late November to February and they are open every day. During the rest of the year, the lake is used for boating.
#63 - Visit a local supermarket: A good way to gauge the "true" side of a city? Visit a grocery store! It is there that one will glimpse a broad cross-section of Hungarian people and what they like to – and can afford to – eat and drink. I recommend that you not leave without either or all of the following items: a Túró Rudi (chocolate-enclosed túró bar); a Sport szelet (rum-infused chocolate bar); a bag of Nógrádi pretzels; and Mogyi peanuts.
#64 - Climb up to the scenic tomb of Gül Baba (location): Gül Baba, "father of the roses," was a muslim monk who died in 1541 when Ottoman Turkey occupied Buda-Pest. His panoramic and beautifully maintained octagonal tomb (türbe) hides on a peaceful hillside in the city center on Rózsadomb, which is also named after him. I recommend that you climb up on Mecset utca through the rose garden and leave the area on the other side, down Gül Baba utca. You could combine a visit with a dip in nearby Lukács Baths.
#65 - Go to a concert on the A38 ship docked in the Danube (location): The ship was a Ukrainian stone carrier lumbering on the Danube before being converted into the city's go-to concert venue, hosting well-known international and local bands almost every night of the week.
#66 - Prepare for your Budapest trip with my interviews: Find out what other people think of Budapest – whether it's a Pritzker Prize juror; a local star professor; an expert of Austria-Hungary; a culinary ethnographer specializing in Hungarian food; an incredible sommelier; or a New York Times journalist. Here, the full list of people.
#67 - Take a day trip to Szentendre (location): Szentendre is a small, picturesque town about 45-minutes from Budapest by public transport. Szentendre is best known for its Mediterranean atmosphere, history of Serbian residents, and vibrant museum scene. It can make for a relaxing, culture-filled day trip. My Szentendre guide might help you get around.
#68 - Take a weekend trip to Pécs (location): The city of Marcel Breuer, of excellent museums, of rich Roman and Ottoman remains, Pécs is the most culturally rich city in Hungary beside Budapest, reachable within two hours by car or train. It is also a dynamic university town with a growing restaurant landscape. Here, you could find out how to spend an event-packed weekend in Pécs.
#69 - Take a weekend trip to Keszthely at Lake Balaton (location): During the warmer months, locals like to wind down by Balaton, Central Europe's biggest lake located in Western Hungary. There are countless villages and vacation resorts to visit; I am partial to Keszthely, historically the cultural capital of Balaton. Although less fashionable and a bit farther than some other parts, the rich legacy of the Festetics family makes Keszthely a worthy weekend destination. My guide could help you discover it.
#70 - Take a weekend trip to the Tokaj wine region (location): Hungarians are probably tired of hearing that Tokaj is mentioned in the national anthem and that Louis XIV called Tokaj “the wine of kings and the king of wines.” Peek beneath the surface of cliches, and you will find a wine region that is indeed very special. Tokaj wines are made with a benign fungus that attacks the grapes and leaves behind shriveled berries with a concentrated sweet-tart flavor with notes of honey, peach, and apricot.
Tokaj is located two-and-a-half hours from Budapest by car. If you are into wines and curious about a beautiful and culturally layered (and rather poor) part of eastern Hungary, do consider a Tokaj trip. Wineries and wine tastings take center stage, but there's plenty to do here for a weekend.
#71 - Take a weekend trip to Eger (location): Located an hour-and-a-half away from Budapest by train, Eger is a sizable city with a rich culture. As the seat of the archdiocese, Eger has a striking cathedral but it is best known for the castle where the Hungarian troops – including women, as famously depicted by Bertalan Székely – defeated the invading Ottoman army in 1552. Also here: excellent wines (Bull's Blood!), restaurants, and a thermal bath. Here, my recommendations.
#72 - Take a day trip to Esztergom (location): From Budapest’s Nyugati Train Terminal it takes exactly one hour to reach Esztergom, a Danubian city near the Slovakian border and the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary. This clerical patronage means that Esztergom is culturally far more impressive than cities of comparable size. For example, Esztergom's enormous Neoclassical basilica is internationally known, as is the Renaissance chapel inside it commissioned by Archbishop Tamás Bakócz in around 1500. In recent years, several new cafes, restaurants, and hotels opened, making Esztergom an attractive day-trip destination. Here, some of my recommendations.
#73 - Prep for your Vienna trip: The twin capitals of Austria-Hungary, Vienna and Budapest, still share many similarities when it comes to food, architecture, and culture in general (notable differences also exist, starting with language). If your next destination is Vienna, where I live part-time, you could try exploring the city using my recommendations.
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