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Budapest Culture & history

Our most recommended Budapest Culture & history

Budapest: Széchenyi Spa Full Day with Optional Pálinka Tour

1. Budapest: Széchenyi Spa Full Day with Optional Pálinka Tour

Book your full-day ticket to the Széchenyi Bath in advance and take advantage of complimentary tasting of Hungary's famous spirit "pálinka" on an optional guided tour inside the Pálinka Museum. The Széchenyi Bath is the largest thermal spring bath complex not only in Budapest but in Europe as well. It was built in 1913 in a Neo-baroque style. At the time it opened its baths were private, having separate steam baths for men and women, as well as different public baths for men and women. In 1927, the spa complex was expanded and today it comprises 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools. After its expansion, the thermal artesian wasn’t adequate to supply the spa, so a new well was drilled. The second thermal spring dates from 1938. Towels and swimsuits are available for purchase only, no rental. Please note that swimsuits that cover the entire body are not permitted. During your visit, blow off some steam at the pools of Széchenyi Spa (built-in 1913.), which is Europe’s largest healing bath with its 15 indoor, and 3 grand outdoor pools. Pools are of varying temperatures, between 18 to 38 °C (64 to 100 °F). The complex covering 6220 square meters (67000 sq ft) also includes saunas and a steam bath. Afterward, discover a hidden gem in the city center to taste some Hungarian pálinka (spirits; non-alcoholic drinks are also available). Differently from whiskey or vodka, pálinka is made exclusively from different sorts of fruits and has an aromatic smell. Inside the Pálinka Museum's interactive exhibits, you will learn about its birth, tradition, and history. That’s why Hungary's Pálinka Act of Parliament exists which regulates and protects the production and quality of palinka.

Budapest: The Great Synagogue Skip the Line Ticket

2. Budapest: The Great Synagogue Skip the Line Ticket

Skip the lines and head straight to the security check with a guide to start your tour of the Great Synagogue. Visit the Heroes’ Temple, the graveyard, and the Jewish Museum. Honor Holocaust victims at the Emanuel Tree in the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park. Take a guided tour to hear about the history and architecture of the largest synagogue in Europe and the second-largest in the world, as well as the fate of the Hungarian Jews before and after WWII.  Then use your ticket to enter the Hungarian Jewish Museum next to the Synagogue. Admire its red and yellow brick facade combining Romantic style with Moorish elements. Learn about the life of the Jewish people in Hungary through everyday objects.  See the famous Emmanuel Memorial Tree in the Synagogue's backyard. Admire this magnificent weeping willow's small metal leaves engraved with a name of a Holocaust victim and plaques honoring non-Jewish rescuers.  Then, finish your visit the graveyard in the backyard of the Heroes’ Temple, the burial site of those who died in the ghetto during WWII.

Budapest: Light Art Museum Admission Ticket

3. Budapest: Light Art Museum Admission Ticket

Step into the modern Light Art Museum to become surrounded by colorful lights and optical illusions. Visit one of Budapest's most unique attractions and browse through a large collection of contemporary artworks. Immerse yourself in a fascinating, interactive, and vibrant space. Discover exciting installations and ground-breaking artworks in a fabulous hall that used to be a popular farmers' market. Come up close with a wide range of contemporary, historically significant, and modern art pieces. Bring the whole family along and be mesmerized by an exquisite selection of light artworks, projection mapping, immersive spaces, and site-specific installations. Snap amazing photos of unique pieces by pioneer light artist László Moholy-Nagy and op-art icon Victor Vasarely.

Budapest: Buda Castle Cave Walking Tour

4. Budapest: Buda Castle Cave Walking Tour

Explore a part of the network of underground tunnels under Castle Hill with your guide. Learn more about the history and role of the cave tunnels and their geology. Admire the natural limestone and the manpower that went into creating this labyrinth cave system. Meet for the cave tour either at Trinity Square (Szentháromság tér) or for the shorter tour option at Dárda Street, where you enter the Buda Castle underground cave system. After a short introduction, you will start your tour and learn about the history of the labyrinth-like of the cave system which once served as wine cellars, bomb shelters, and even a medieval prison. Admire the natural limestone caverns and the 800-year-old man-made cellars in one of the most unique caves of Hungary. The tour is a journey through time during where you will be able to learn a lot about not only the geology of the Buda Castle but also about the combined work of man and nature throughout many centuries.

Budapest: Buda Castle Vampires & Myths Evening Walking Tour

5. Budapest: Buda Castle Vampires & Myths Evening Walking Tour

Away from the crowds of Pest, this informative and educational tour takes you to some of the charming, magical places of the city where Hungarian rulers once toiled deep into the night at the Buda Castle. Hear stories of cruelty and learn the despicable actions of Elizabeth Bathory, the bloody countess. You will also learn how the Romanian prince, Vlad Dracula ended up in the prison of Buda Castle. Join your Gothic-attired guide as they take you on a 2-hour walking tour of the city by night. Learn the history of Old Hungary where, according to legend, "vampires" were born and roamed the streets during this dark period of European history.

Danube Bend & Szentendre with Lunch: Day Tour from Budapest

6. Danube Bend & Szentendre with Lunch: Day Tour from Budapest

This full-day tour of the mighty Danube is ideal for people who want to combine history with nature and would like to enjoy some of the most beautiful countrysides in Hungary. You will see historic monuments and art memorials while your guide provides a lively narrative of Hungarian life. You will visit the 750-year-old Royal Residence at Visegrád where you will learn about life in the Middle Ages while enjoying spectacular views of the Danube Valley. At Esztergom, the northern gate of Budapest, you will pause at the largest cathedral in the country and see the burial sites of famous cardinals as you gaze across the water towards Slovakia. Cross the river and border into Slovakia to see the stunning view from the opposite side.  You will stop at an artists' village in Szentendre, a baroque city located where the Danube River meets the Pilis Mountains. Wander the narrow streets to soak up the magical atmosphere and catch panoramic vistas of the river. You will have time to visit some of the museums, such as the world-famous Margit Kovács Ceramic Museum or the Confectionery Museum, where the buildings and people are made of marzipan. Browse the shops of the village if you prefer, before the return journey to Budapest. Travel during the months of May through September and this will be on a magical boat cruise, a fitting way to arrive back in the city center. In case of low water levels, the return to Budapest will be by bus.

Budapest: Spanish Guided tour of the Parliament Building

7. Budapest: Spanish Guided tour of the Parliament Building

With our guide in Spanish we will begin our tour at the statue of Ferenc Rákóczi in Kossuth Square, where we will talk about the protagonist to whom it owes its name, as well as being able to enjoy a unique panoramic view of the city. Our local Hungarian guides will reveal the best places to visit and the most relevant curiosities that you cannot miss on your visit to this incredible city. In our external visit we will visit the most important points of the enormous Kossuth Square and its surroundings, making reference to and reliving through our explanations all the historical events that took place in it. You will be shocked! We will visit the art deco Monument to the Hungarian victims of the red terror in Vertanuk tere, and we will be able to see the remains of the bullets of one of the most painful and important events for Hungarian citizens, the so-called Bloody Thursday of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. We will also visit one of the most innovative monuments in the city, the National Unity Monument, and we will tell you why its inauguration did not go unnoticed. We will end our exterior tour enjoying the history and views of the impressive façade decorated with huge columns and statues carved in stone of the Ethnographic Museum, which currently offers different temporary exhibitions. After our foreign visit, we will enter the Hungarian Parliament. On this audio-guided tour of the Budapest Parliament, you will be able to visit the most important rooms of the third largest parliamentary building in the world, which extends from the Chain Bridge to the Margaret Bridge. Once you are inside, you will find the grand Main Staircase, whose impressive decoration does not leave you indifferent: long red carpets, elegant chandeliers and luxuriously gold-plated ornamentation, a truly unique setting! You will also be able to see the Old Upper House, Councils of Deputies, the Hall of the Dome and the Crown Jewels. Do not miss this essential activity on your visit to the Hungarian capital! What will you discover on the tour? - Who was Ferenc Rákóczi? - What are the most important places you should not miss in the city of Budapest? - What is the Monument to the Victims of the Red Terror and what does it represent? - What was Bloody Thursday? - What does the new monument located in front of the Hungarian Parliament mean? - Who designed the Budapest Parliament? - What famous English palace is it inspired by? - What shape is the Upper House? - How many meters long is the building? - How tall is the Hall of the Dome? - Why is the Crown of Saint Stephen not a mere royal jewel?

Budapest: City Sightseeing Booze Cruise w/ Unlimited Drinks

8. Budapest: City Sightseeing Booze Cruise w/ Unlimited Drinks

Discover the sights of Budapest from the water on this sightseeing cruise. Relax with selected drinks from the open bar as you sail. Admire views of the Bronze Shoes, the Citadella fortress, and the Hungarian National Theater. Board the ship in the heart of the city and embark on a panoramic sightseeing tour of the capital city of Hungary. Cruise past some of the most prestigious hotels of Budapest, the Bronze Shoes, and the House of Parliament. Capture pictures as you go by the Gellért Hill, the Castle District, the Citadella, and the Hungarian National Theatre. Have unlimited access to beverages like house wines, draught beer, champagne (sweet and dry), soft drinks, tea, coffee, and mineral water. Warm up for a night out in Budapest or take the party on board with the option to purchase shots onboard. Finish your tour at your boarding point.

Budapest: Communist History Tour with House of Terror Option

9. Budapest: Communist History Tour with House of Terror Option

Travel back in time to the 45-year long Communist period in Hungary under Soviet military occupation with one of these two exciting guided tour options. Choose the walking tour option to go on a guided walking tour of the Budapest city center and visit the Budapest Retro Museum. Enhance your experience by choosing the option of the House of Terror. Meet your guide and begin a historical walk from the Parliament to the Budapest City Center. Start from the magnificent Hungarian Parliament, where you will see dramatic monuments, including the one commemorating the many victims of the red dictatorship.  Continue to Liberty Square, where you will find the Soviet Liberation Memorial, the last Communist monument of the city in its original place. Hear about and see sites from the Hungarian anti-Soviet revolution of 1956.  See the famous windows of Budapest, where Hungary's anti-Communist Catholic Church leader Cardinal Mindszenty spent the many years of his exile. Explore the ventilation channels of a secret underground nuclear bunker built in the years of the Cold War. After the walk, be invited to a 1-hour guided visit in Budapest Retro Museum. This unique collection displays street views, typical vehicles, the astronauts of the Soviet-Hungarian space flight, real interior home designs, and thousands of objects from the period of the 1960-1980. The museum is arranged over 3 floors in a fun and interactive way. Dress as a Communist comrade, or you can try to be a TV news presenter of the time. Choose the option of the House of Terror and uncover the secrets of the former seat of AVO State Protection Police (the local version of the Soviet KGB) as you visit the site on your own. See how it was faithfully restored to commemorate the many victims of the most brutal period of Communist dictatorship of the 1940s and 50s.  Follow your guide to learn about Hungary from WWII through Nazi rule to Soviet Communist occupation. Among others, you will see many documents of the life and economy of the 1950s, interrogation and torture rooms, the office room of the dreaded director, and the "Justice room" of political show trials. Head to the basement, where a part of the original prison cells were faithfully restored. View the various special rooms, a "wet cell", a "foxhole," a detention cell, a torture chamber and an execution room with gallows.  The last part of the exhibition shows the 1956 revolution against Soviet occupation and Communist rule, and its consequences, the retaliation and mass emigration. Finally, visit the Hall of Tears commemorating the victims, the Perpetrators' Wall, and the memorial of Soviet troops leaving Hungary.

Budapest: St Stephen's Basilica Tour

10. Budapest: St Stephen's Basilica Tour

Explore St. Stephen's Basilica, one of Budapest’s highlights, known for its monumental dome and beautiful Neo-Renaissance architecture. Find a perfect spot to admire the lavishly decorated exterior and discover its history on a guided tour inside the church. Meet your tour guide in front of the ticket office and start your guided tour to explore St. Stephen's Basilica. Discover its rich gold interior, many frescoes, and sculptures made by the renowned artists of the late 19th century. See the Holy Right, the naturally mummified right hand of the first Hungarian king, Saint Stephen, who ruled the country in the 11th century and converted Hungarians to Christianity. Learn about the 1,000-year-old Christian history of this nation. Choose the extended tour option or the private guided tour option to get to the top of the building. Take an elevator to the panoramic terrace around the dome, a lookout point above Budapest. Enjoy a 360-degree view of the whole city.  Climb a few steps inside the Southern Tower and explore the Treasury and Basilica exhibition. See several liturgical objects and artworks, including a replica of the crown worn by the kings of Hungary.  Learn about the history of the building and about Cardinal Mindszenty, the Catholic church leader of the 1950s and 1960s who was tortured and imprisoned by the Communist regime.

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What people are saying about Budapest

Overall rating

4.7 / 5

based on 7,627 reviews

Throughly enjoyed my Tuk Tuk tour. Gabor was a fabulous tour guide. We saw some wonderful sites and Gabor explained about the History of Budapest. Gabor was prompt and also asked if there was any specific place we would like to do. I really recommend this trip.

Just the two of us in the end so Andy turned into our private guide for a fascinating history lesson all about Budapest. Deffo take the e-bikes. Loved it

Our tour guide was great! Really enjoyed the stories he told us and the night time walk around the castle district. Highly recommend it!

Our guide was fantastic, knowledgeable, witty, accommodating. Would recommend!

Our tour guide was quite knowledgeable and very friendly.