Search
Sign in
Travelogues, travel stories
Why to visit Budapest?
I tell you a few reasons why to visit Budapest, th... More »
Hungarian cuisine
Hungarian cuisine has preserved much from the old ... More »
Sights of Szigliget
The settlement is known as one of the most attract... More »
Heviz, Hungary - Weekend Trip (Spa, wellness, thermal)
Heviz, which is Hungarian for "healthy water," is ... More »
6 days in Budapest
We spent 6 days in capital of Hungary, in Budapest... More »
Travel experiences
Budapest museums I.
Budapest History Museum – Castle Museum
Budapest, I., Szent György tér 2, 10 am–6 pm (10 am–4 pm between 1 November and 28 February), closed Tue.
Collection of archaeological finds in Budapest. Budapest in the Middle Ages: development of settlements from the Roman age to the 13th century. The medieval Buda royal palace: collection of original objects, seals, glassware, weapons, tombstones. Gothic sculpture from the royal palace. Budapest in modern times: historical moments in the life of a metropolis.
Public transport: Castle bus from Moszkva square
Budapest MUSEUMS,
Aquincum Museum and Ruins
Budapest, III., Szentendrei út 139,
April 15–30, October 1–31: archeological park 9 am–5 pm; exhibits 10 am–6 pm; May 1–September 30: archeological park 9 am–6 pm; exhibits 10 am–6 pm; (November 1–April 14: Closed for the winter season) Closed Mon.!
One of the largest archeological parks in Hungary looks back on a past of more than 110 years. The ruins area puts on display around one quarter of the Civil Town of Aquincum with its most characteristic public buildings and dozens of private houses. These building remains recall the most important heyday of the provincial capital, the town-structure from the AD 2nd–3rd century. Chronoscopes installed in the park provide a glimpse into the way the buildings of the town originally appeared. Visitors can see Roman period object from the territory of Budapest in the permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Pubilc transport: from Batthyány Square towards Szentendre by HEV.
Budapest History Museum – Castle Museum
Budapest, I., Szent György tér 2,
10 am–6 pm (10 am–4 pm between 1 November and 28 February), closed Tue.
Collection of archaeological finds in Budapest. Budapest in the Middle Ages: development of settlements from the Roman age to the 13th century. The medieval Buda royal palace: collection of original objects, seals, glassware, weapons, tombstones. Gothic sculpture from the royal palace. Budapest in modern times: historical moments in the life of a metropolis.
Public transport: Castle bus from Moszkva square
Museum of Military History
Budapest, I., Tóth Árpád sétány 40, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm (10 am–4 pm between 1 October and 31 March)
A rich collection of weapons from the days before the Turkish wars to the 20th century. Collection of uniforms, flags, maps, ammunition and 28,000 coins. Memories of pilots who emigrated after the Second World War. The exhibition “Thirteen Days, about the 1956 Revolution”, is well worth viewing.
Public transport: Castle bus from Moszkva square
Hopp Ferenc East Asian Art Museum
Budapest, VI., Andrássy út 103, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
The collection based on 19th century art collector Ferenc Hopp’s collection of 4000 items of East Asian, and primarily Japanese and Chinese, objects today has around 19,000 art objects. Among the pieces on display in the art collector’s former house are important Japanese medieval art items and Chinese bronzes and porcelain-ware.
Public transport: Yellow subway from Deak Ferenc square or Octogon square.
Museum of Applied Art
Budapest, IX., Üllôi út 33–37, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
The beautiful Art Nouveau building (with Zsolnay ceramics on the roof) designed by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos is one of the most attractive sights in the capital. Major collections and art objects: Oriental rug collection, wall hangings, Esterházy treasury, 17th century aristocratic costumes, Art Nouveau glassware, Italian majolica, Zsolnay ceramics, French furniture, Augsburg Baroque goldsmith’s work.
Public transport Budapest: Blue subway to Ferenc korut, or with tram 4 or 6 to the same.
Kassák Lajos Memorial Museum
Budapest, III., Fô tér 1, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
Exhibition in the former Zichy Mansion on the art of Lajos Kassák, leading artist of Hungarian avant-garde, poetry, painting and literary editor. The museum’s new permanent exhibition: 20th century Hungarian art, from the legacies of Hungarian authors.
From Batthanyi square take bus n. 6, 86, or tram n. 1 from Árpád bridge
Kiscell Museum
Budapest, III., Kiscelli utca 108, Tue–Sun: 10 am–4 pm
The museum building was constructed for the Trinitarian order in the 18th century, while it was later transformed into a Baroque mansion and even served as a hospital. Today it is one of the museums of Budapest in perhaps the most picturesque of locations, surrounded by woods at the foot of the Óbuda Hills. Its exhibitions embrace two major areas of collections from the Budapest History Museum: modern urban history, and the fine art collection of the Municipal Gallery.
Bus n. 60 from Batthanyi square
Ludwig Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (Palace of Arts)
Budapest, IX., Komor Marcell utca 1, Tue, Fri, Sun: 10 am–6 pm; Wed: 12 am–6 pm; Thur: 12 am–8 pm; Sat: 10 am–8 pm
The Hungarian contemporary art collection of Cologne art collector couple Irene and Peter Ludwig. A visit provides an overview of the past 50 years of universal art, and contemporary Hungarian art from the last 10 years.
Take tram number 2 from the Parliament, Boraros square (Petofi bridge), Fovam square (Freedom bridge), or from the Chainbidge,
Transport Museum
Budapest, XIV., Városligeti körút 11, Tue–Fri: 10 am–5 pm, Sat–Sun: 10 am–6 pm (closes one hour earlier from October to May)
One of Europe’s oldest transport history collections. Its model railway material is world famous. Permanent exhibitions over 8,000 square metres include: 100 years and today, 100 years of Hungarian motoring, A century of Hungarian state shipping, History of Motoring, History of steam locomotion, History of urban transport.
With tram n. 1.
Hungarian National Gallery
Budapest, I., Dísz tér 17, Tue–Sun.: 10 am–6 pm
The collection of 10,000 art objects sited in wings B, C and D of Buda Castle Palace covers the period from the foundation of the state to the present day. Permanent exhibitions: Medieval and Renaissance lapidarium, Gothic wood carvings and tableaux, Late Gothic winged altars, Renaissance and Baroque art, Habsburg palatine crypt, 19th century painting (Gyula Benczúr, Mihály Munkácsy, Viktor Madarász, Pál Szinyei Merse) and sculpture (István Ferenczy, Miklós Izsó), 20th century painting (József Rippl-Rónai, Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka, Béla Czóbel) and sculpture (Béni Ferenczy, Ferenc Medgyessy).
Castle bus from Moszkva square.
Hungarian National Museum
Budapest, VIII., Múzeum körút 14–16, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm (10 am–5 pm from November to May)
The museum (founded in 1802) was based on the numismatic, book and document collections of Count Ferenc Széchényi, and the number of art objects now exceeds one million. The huge national collection has occupied its present site, a neo-Classical building designed by Mihály Pollack, since 1846. Permanent exhibitions: History of Hungary from the foundation of the state to 1990, Lapidarium-Roman stone finds.
Kalvin square with blue subway.www.budapestinfo.hu 1516
Hungarian Natural History Museum
Budapest, VIII., Ludovika tér 6, 10 am–6 pm, closed Tue.
This imposing neo-Classical building together with the courtyard has hosted the museum’s mineral and rock collection since 1995. Permanent exhibitions: Man and nature in Hungary, Treasures from the mineral collection, Time track-rock park in front ofthe museum.
Kilinkak subway station with blue underground
Palace of Arts
Budapest, XIV., Dózsa György út 37, (Heroes’ Square), Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
The largest exhibition gallery in the country, a defining neo-Classical structure in Heroes’ Square. It does not have its own collection, but its regular temporary exhibitions feature mainly the contemporary arts, and the works of artistic groups.
Yellow subway till Hero’s square
Nagytétény Mansion Museum
Budapest, XXII., Kastélypark utca 9–1, Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
Not only Budapest’s, but indeed one of the country’s finest Baroque-age palaces. The mansion, built on 15th century Gothic foundations, took on its present form in 1766. Today the mansion forms a part of the Museum of Applied Art, and its rooms have a magnificent collection of European furniture (around 300 pieces, single items and suites) dating from the 15th to the 19th century.
Museum of Ethnography
Budapest, V., Kossuth tér 12., Tue–Sun: 10 am–6 pm
One of Europe’s largest specialist museums with around 139,000 Hungarian and 53,000international art objects. The former royal court, a magnificent building sited opposite Parliament, combines Renaissance, Baroque and neo-Classical elements. Permanent exhibitions: Traditional culture of the Hungarian people, From primitive societies to civilization.
Red underground to Kossuth Square.
Óbuda Museum
Budapest, III., Fô tér 1, Tue–Sun: 10 am–7.30 pm
The collection in the Zichy Mansion includes historical documents and relics of the industrial history of Óbuda and surroundings, running from Roman times to the 20th century. One can view Art Nouveau interiors and toy and game collections in its permanent exhibitions, as well as wrought-iron decorative work from old Óbuda houses.
Museum of Fine Arts
Budapest, XIV., Dózsa György út 41 (Heroes’ Square), Tue–Sun: 10 am–5.30 pm The core of the museum material derived from the superb collection of paintings formed by the Esterházys and donated in the 1870s. The grandiose neo-Classical building in Heroes’ Square has housed the collection (now around 100,000 art works) since 1906. The museum has a broad collection of foreign art from Antiquity to the present day. In addition to the Egyptian, Greek and Roman collections, the Italian collection, which gives a comprehensive overview of Italian schools of painting from the 13th to the 18th century, is very rich. The jewels of the Spanish collection are seven El Greco works, and among 19–20th century masterworks French painting is most comprehensively represented.
Yellow subway to Heroes square.
Statue Park
Budapest, XXII., Balatoni út (road No. 70)-corner of Szabadkai út, daily: from 10 am–dusk
Multi-ton socialism: mega-statues removed from public parks and streets around the capital, monumental representations of the period of socialism in Hungary (Lenin, Marx, Engels, Soviet soldiers etc.).17
Vasarely Museum
Budapest, III., Szentlélek tér 6, Tue–Sun: 10 am–7.30 pm
The museum is named after Hungarian-born painter Gyôzô Vásárhelyi who moved to Paris in 1930 to work, and who as Victor Vasarely gained world fame as the founder of the op-art movement. His pictures use sharp colours, geometric forms and optical illusions. The exhibition material encompassing the entire oeuvre of the artist is selected from 400 works bequeathed to the Museum of Fine Arts.
Jewish Museum
Budapest, VII., Dohány utca 2, Mon–Thur: 10 am–5 pm (10 am–3 pm between 1 November and 14 April), Fri, Sun: 10 am–2 pm
The museum, built in fitting style and attached to the uniquely beautiful Dohány Street Synagogue, has an unparalleled collection of Judaica. Permanent exhibitions: Devotional objects for Jewish celebrations, Everyday objects, History of the Hungarian Holocaust. Red subway to Astoria.