The Castle District and other Budapest, Hungary Things to Do Tips

Sitting on one of the Buda Hills, the Castle District offers a commanding view of the city of Budapest. The whole district is a protected UNESCO World Heritage sight, and also the medieval centre of the city. It gives a concentrated "old world" feel, and includes some of Budapest's best sights and museums. It's large, and takes a good afternoon of walking to enjoy it, but the pace is relaxed and its easy to enjoy the experience. I was just going for the morning, and ended up spending the entire day there.

Key sights include Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, from which are some of the best views in Budapest. Further down is the famous funicular, an expensive but welcome trip up the steep slopes to the top. Next to that is the castle itself, an enormous palace complex, the size of which is impossible to comprehend until you see it in full from across the river. The palace contains a couple of excellent museums, including the vast Budapest City Museum.

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Address: District I
Directions: Take the funicular from Clark Adam ter (Buda bridgehead of the Chain Bridge), bus #16 from Deak F. ter, bus VAR from Moszkva ter, or walk up Vartok Utca from Moskva Ter.

While it overlooks the Danube it would require a long line and a keen eye to catch any fish from the Fisherman's Bastion. The history behind the name actually belongs to the fisherman's guild that defended this stretch of the wall in medieval times. The Fisherman's Bastion itself is a more modern construction, dating from the end of the 19th century, and built in a neo-Romanesque and neo-Gothic style. It's not only a real eye-catcher, especially with tall and slender spire of Matthias Church just behind, but it also offers fantastic views from its terraces.

One word of warning, however, is that it is a bit of a rip-off. It costs 3-4 euros to put a ticket in the machine and gain access to the terraces, but each section has its own machine, and you need a new ticket for each one! For a bargain, however, you can come at night when the machines are switched off, and you can walk about all over the terraces for free and admire Budapest's amazing nightscape. It's no good for pictures, however, as the uplights for the Fisherman's Bastion will flood your lens and spoil the image.

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Address: Castle District (Varhegy) in Buda
Directions: It can be reached by the Castle bus (Varbusz) from Moszkva ter.

The tall and distinctive spire of Matthias Church provides a great reference point for the castle district, as well as being a beautiful Baroque building. Its clean white lines hide a troubled past, however. During Turkish rule the church was stripped of its treasury, and its ornately frescoed walls were whitewashed, and the whole place was turned into a Mosque for the duration of Hungary's Turkish period.

The modern church, like the Fisherman's Bastion it sits next to, was mostly the result of work dating from the end of the 19th century.

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Phone: (+36 1) 489-0717
Address: 1014 Budapest, Orszaghaz utca 14
Directions: In the Castle District, next to Fisherman's Bastion. 'Varbusz' service from Moszkva ter metro to Szentharomsag ter or bus #16 from Deak F. ter to Disz ter.
Website: http://www.matyas-templom.hu

The Buda Castle complex is actually a vast palace from the 18th century, which itself was built upon the ruins of an earlier, medieval, palace. The medieval palace was destroyed during the great siege of 1686, when the city was captured by Christian forces chasing out the Ottoman Turks. Some of the old palace survived, including the walled "zwinger" gardens on the south side, and some of the deep underground rooms and passageways, some of which can be seen when wandering about the Budapest City Museum, which the palace contains.

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Address: District I
Directions: On the top of Castle Hill (Varhegy). Funicular from Clark Adam ter (Buda bridgehead of the Chain Bridge), bus #16 from Deak F. ter, bus VAR from Moszkva ter. No cars allowed.

Forming part of the massive Buda Castle palace complex, the Budapest City Museum shows off the long history of the city, from its early years as a Germanic-Hungarian trading town, through the Turkish occupation, to the tears of the 1956 uprising. The museum is deceptively large, containing not only four floors of exhibits, but also a maze like underground collection of rooms and passageways that make up part of the original medieval palace. If you wander around long enough, like I did, you'll find yourself in the original zwingers, the enclosed gardens that survived the palace's wrecking during the siege of 1686.

It's only a few euros to get in, which is quiet reasonable, but the additional cost of another three euros for the privilege of taking pictures is exhorbitant.

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Address: Castle District
Directions: Inside the courtyard of the palace.

To save your tired legs the Budapest transport company (BKV) runs a funicular service from Clark Adam Square on the Buda side of the Chain Bridge, to the top of Castle Hill, right next to the palace. It's probably the easiest and most obvious way to the Castle District if you are heading over to it from the Pest side, and that can be seen from the number of tourists using it. At the top of the funicular a man with a distinctive silver moustache loiters and waits to jump on small groups of people to offer them guided tours. He seemed persistant, but inoffensive, and was the only annoying character in the whole area.

The funicular runs from 7.30am to 10pm, and tickets can be bought at both ends of the track.

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Address: District I, Szent Gyorgy ter and Clark Adam ter
Directions: Next to the bridge at Clark Adam Square. Access by buses #4express, 16, 86, 105 (Clark Adam ter stop) or trams #19, 41 (Lanchid stop).
Website: http://www.bkv.hu

For me this is the most amazing building in Budapest, just edging out Buda Castle in magnificence. It's the center of all things political in Hungary, and this meant that when I was there the building had the added significance of being the stage of large political anti-government protests. A few day before I'd arrived in the city there had been riots in the city, with some hooligans even torching cars and buildings.

The protest outside the Parliament the day I visited the building was much calmer, and also sleepier, despite being the day of national elections in the city. It seemed that a lot of the fire had petered out in the belly of the protesters. There even seemed to be more homeless people there than protesters; they had been attracted there by the free food. Add them to the countless police, the news reporters from all over the world, and the curious tourists, and I think the protesters would probably have been in a minority.

The organisers were not put off, however. Traditional Hungarian songs blared out of the loud speakers, while several busy looking people rushed about getting things ready for what I guessed would be a much bigger gathering later on; the Russian reporter I spoke to hoped that it would get more interesting after it got dark. One man, clearly old enough to have seen the 1956 revolution, stood stalwartly with his Hungarian flag flying proud in the stiff wind with a hole cut out of the centre.

Like the Chain Bridge, the Parliament adds another English touch to this part of the Danube, as its Gothic Revivalist style is very similar to that of Britain's own famous Parliament in London, and was built in the same century. It is absolutely huge, and it is estimated to have used 40 million bricks in its contruction, along with half a million precious stones and 40 kilograms of gold. It contains nearly 700 rooms, 29 staircases, and ten courtyards within its walls.

And not surprisingly, it looks incredible at night.

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Phone: + (36) 1 441-4000
Address: 1055 Budapest, Kossuth tér 1-3.
Directions: On Kossuth Lajos ter; metro M2, trams #2 2A, trolley-buses #70 78 and bus #15 to Kossuth Lajos ter stop.
Website: http://www.parlament.hu

Freedom Square (Szabadság Ter), just behind the Parliament, is one of the finest and important in all of Budapest. This is attested to by the number of high profile organisations that have set up office there, including the National TV Station (MTV), the National Bank of Hungary, and the American Embassy.

Inside the square is a monument to those who died liberating Hungary from the Nazis and their Arrow Cross allies at the end of World War 2. It's basically a monument to Soviet soldiers, and while there is generally mixed feelings towards this particular "liberation", there's not quite the same antipathy as you get in other countries, so the memorial remains untouched.

The square is wide open and contains a small park centered around a pleasant cafe. Plenty of people come here on sunny days to sit, walk their dogs, or just enjoy the environment.

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Set back from the Danube, the Basilica is still an imposing building on the waterfront due to its impressive height and distinctive features. Along with the Parliament it is the tallest building in the city. You can get great views of the city from its dome, or you can simply admire its fine neoclassical lines from many parts of the city.

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Phone: +36 1 317-2859
Address: 1051 Budapest, Hercegprímás u.
Directions: Near Deak Ferenc ter (central metro station (M1 M2 M3), terminal for buses 4 9 15 and trams 47 49;M1 or bus 4 express Bajcsy-Zsilinszky ut station/stop.
Website: http://www.basilica.hu

At the end of the long and leafy Andrassy Utca lies the suitably grand Heroes' Square. Here the city commemorates the leaders of the seven tribes who founded Budapest with seven statues of each.

The square was constructed to celebrate the city's 1000th anniversary in 1896. More recently it has been a place to celebrate the city's rebirth, after years of isolation behind the Iron Curtain. In 1989 a quarter of a million people filled the square for the reburial of Imre Nagy, a former Prime Minister of Hungary who was executed for his part in the revolution of 1956.

The square, along with Andrassy Utca and the park behind it are all part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. Adjacent to the square are also two of Budapest's finest museums: the Museum of Fine Art and the Palace of Art.

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Address: Hosok tere
Directions: Pest side, near City Park - metro station Hosok tere (M1).