Generally when I’m away with work I don’t have a lot of time to explore cities properly, so I find myself condensing things down so I can see as much as I can in a few hours. This usually means creating a walking tour that I can easily follow. Here’s my guide for what to see and do with a few hours in Budapest.
The starting point for this walk is the Szechenyi Chain Bridge on the Pest side of the Danube river.
Once across the bridge you enter into Clark Adam Square. The square’s named after the Scottish engineer Clark Adam who built the chain bridge and the tunnel you can see with its very ornate entrance. The square is also the point from which all roads in Hungary are measured. Right next to the tunnel is the funicular railway that’ll take you to the top of Castle Square.
The easiest way to get to the castle is via the funicular railway, and at the time of writing it’s about £10 return. The railway was first built in 1870 but was completely destroyed during World War ll. It’s been totally rebuilt and opened again in 1986. There are some impressive views on the way up.
At the top is the Buda Royal Palace. This is the third palace to stand on this site, the second and grandest being built by the Hapsburgs in the Baroque style. Sadly this was destroyed during the Second World War. What you see today is a rebuild with a lot of work still ongoing. Don’t be put off though, it’s a very impressive building which now houses two museums.
As mentioned the complex is home to several museums including the National Gallery of Hungary and the National Library. A little further into the complex is the famous Matyas Corvinus Fountain which depicts King Matyas leading a group of hunters with their hounds.
Next stop, Holy Trinity Square. It’s a real wow when you arrive here, there’s so much to take in. In the centre sits the Holy Trinity Statue, built in 1713 to commemorate the victims of the 1691 to 1709 plague. The column of the statue is covered with angels and topped with elements of the Holy Trinity.
Other points of interest to note in the square are the beautifully ornate Finance Building and the Old Town Hall of Buda but what dominates here is the spectacular Matthias Church. A church has sat on this site since 1015 AD, since then there’s been a number of rebuilds and rebirths but what we have today is something very special.
A short walk away is the romantic Fisherman’s Bastion with its white fairytale towers. Those towers aren’t just there for decoration, they do have a meaning and they represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896 AD. The Bastion is named for the guild of fishermen who defended this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages.
If time permits it’s worth taking a look at Mary Magdalene Tower, the Hungarian National Archives and the Vienna Gate.
Continue down to the river from where there are some amazing views of the Hungarian Parliament Building.
Wind your way back to the funicular railway and back down to Clark Adam Square. Walk back across the Chain Bridge returning to the Pest side of the river. Turn left and walk along the banks of the Danube until you reach the Holocaust Shoe Memorial. This moving memorial is to honour the victims of the Nazi’s secret police group, Arrow Cross. They executed Jews and others by shooting them and pushing them into the river, leaving them to drown. Before choosing who to shoot the victims were made to remove their shoes. The memorial has 60 bronzed shoes in the 1940’s style which represent the shoes left behind by the victims of Arrow Cross.
Continue a little further along the river and you’ll come to the huge Gothic masterpiece that is the building of the Hungarian Parliament. It dominates the banks of the Danube with its white gothic spires, red domes and 242 sculptures.
The parliament building was built between 1873 and 1904 and it’s impressive. Everywhere you look you can spot little details, it really is beautiful. Tours of the inside of the building are available.
Opposite the parliament is the Museum of Ethnography which carries a large and diverse collection of more than 200,000 ethnography artefacts. The building housing the museum was originally built for the Department of Justice in the 1800’s as a Supreme Court.
Saint Stephen’s Basilica is where we’re headed next but there’s a couple of stops to make first. Freedom Square is named after the freedom fighters who were executed here in the 1840’s and was originally a military barracks. Situated in the square is the Soviet Monument dedicated to the red army troops who liberated Hungary from the Nazis at the end of World War Two. The monument is quite a rare sight as most of the communist era statues were moved out of town to Memento Park when Hungary became a democracy in 1989.
The second stop is brief and a bit of fun. The bronze fat policeman statue is a good luck statue added to Zrinyi Street in 2008. Apparently the exaggerated large belly is meant to show how hearty Hungarian food is. You can rub it for good luck, and as you can see, many people do.
A little further on and the street opens up to a large square and the stunning Saint Stephen’s Basilica. The two towers and large dome dominate the square. The church is named after Stephen, the first king of Hungary, 975 to 1038. If the desire takes you, you can see his mummified fist which is kept in the reliquary. Construction of the church started in 1851 and was finished some 50 years later.
This is where the walk ends. I hope I’ve shown you what to see and do with a few hours in Budapest. It’s still possible to see a lot of the highlights that the city has to offer. I for one will definitely be back to explore this beautiful city some more.