Budapest Sightseeing: Baths and Tickets Sorted
Budapest Sightseeing: Baths and Tickets Sorted
The Hungarian Parliament’s nearest metro stop is Kossuth Lajos tér, right on the M2 line outside the building’s own front steps.
The Hungarian Parliament
The interior only opens on a guided tour, roughly 45 minutes including security screening, priced at 7,000 HUF for EEA citizens and 14,000 HUF for everyone else, and it books out one to three weeks ahead in summer. Outside, the Changing of the Guard runs once a day at 12:30pm in Kossuth Lajos Square. Book a guided Parliament tour on GetYourGuide for a slot with skip-the-line entry, and Parliament’s own site shows current tour availability.
Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion
The castle grounds themselves are free to walk. Skip the funicular’s 5,000 HUF return fare: the free walk-up from Clark Ádám tér or Batthyány tér takes 10 to 20 minutes and covers the same hill. Fisherman’s Bastion’s lower terraces are always free; the upper terrace costs 1,700 HUF, card payment only, and turns free again after 9pm in summer or 7pm from October through May.
St. Stephen’s Basilica
The nave costs around 12 euros, or roughly 25 euros for the combined church, dome, and treasury ticket. The nearest metro is Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út on the M1 line or Arany János utca on the M3, both under 200 metres from the door. Book a St. Stephen’s Basilica dome ticket on GetYourGuide skips the line at the entrance.
Chain Bridge and the Danube
Free and iconic either way you cross it, Chain Bridge’s stone lions genuinely do have tongues, visible only up close or from above; a long-standing local legend claims otherwise, but a closer look settles it.
The Dohány Street Synagogue and the Great Market Hall
The Dohány Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world, its Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park sitting quietly in the courtyard behind it. The Great Market Hall is free to browse: the ground floor is for real grocery shopping, the upper floor for the more tourist-priced lángos and goulash stalls, so start on the ground floor before the crowds arrive.
A Bath to Look At or Soak In
Gellért Baths has been closed since 1 October 2025 and isn’t expected to reopen before late 2028. Széchenyi’s mustard-yellow courtyard in City Park and Rudas’s Ottoman-era octagonal pool on the Buda side are both worth a look even without a swim; Széchenyi’s and Rudas’s own sites list current hours. Search Budapest city tours on GetYourGuide covers all of the above with a guide filling in the history.
Before You Set Out
Wear shoes built for cobblestones, and pay in forint rather than euro wherever a till offers both. For the hands-on version of a bath visit, the activities guide covers ticket tiers and what to bring.