We've pre-picked the best hotels, hostels and bed and breakfasts to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. The stretch down Tárnok Street brings us into Dísz Square, the hub of the Castle District. Situated in the Buda section of Budapest, the Castle District sits on the eastern side of the Danube. The Castle District encompasses Castle Hill (Várhegy) – nerve centre of Budapest’s history and packed with many of the capital’s most important museums and other attractions – as well as ground-level Víziváros (Watertown). Fisherman's Bastion is minutes away. The Castle district (Varnegyed) on the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary is on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage and is one of the top places to see in Budapest. If you want something totally different and casual, or are traveling with kids who’d prefer something more familiar, the Jamie Oliver chain is a convenient and cozy option for pizza, pasta and other Italian favorites. © 2021 Lonely Planet. The palace was destroyed and rebuilt 6 times through the centuries. We have over 45 city and regional guides spanning four continents, with more being added each month! Take that, cross the street and turn left, walking up the street to the bus stop, where both #16 and #16A stop. You can check transit schedules at bkk.hu. Restaurant prices will be slightly more in this part of this city as well, but that’s to be expected given the ambience. ), we even made an adult coloring book with them, tips for preventing pick pockets in Europe, Where to Stay in Budapest: Budapest’s Best Areas to Stay, Budapest City Guide: How to Spend 2 or 3 Days in Budapest (with Downloadable Itinerary), People, Power, & Propaganda: A Review of Context Travel’s Communism Tour. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The administrative center of whole Budapest is in District V., in Lipótváros part. Looking for more ideas in Budapest? (If you need more ideas, you can find a pretty good list of the best Hungarian restaurants in Budapest here). That approach will let you see the 3 main highlights (4, if you include the view) at a leisurely pace. Alternatively, you can take Tram #4 or #6, or take metro line 2 (red) to Széll Kálmán tér, and then catch bus #16 or #16A, which will take you up a different side of Castle Hill. If you want a bit of a higher-end dining option in the Budapest Castle District, Pierrot is a good bet. The Castle District is one of the three World Heritage sites of Budapest. Buda Castle district. If you’d like to learn more about how this works, you can read more under our Disclaimer page. You’ll find the buses from Deák Square and Széll Kálmán Square stop and circulate here. This café has stood here since 1827, and is best known for. We'll only be in Budapest for 4 days. Budapest’s Castle District is packed with historic sights and attractions (the Royal Palace, the Matthias Church, medieval houses), charming, crooked streets following the shape of the hill. After a decade of travelling the world together, we’ve picked up a few tricks! The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has listed the view of the Danube embankments and the Buda Castle District - which is one of the most beautiful and romantic parts of the city of Budapest - as a World Heritage site on the 11th of December, 1987. Both are beautiful, and have struck a great balance between high-end (not quite luxury, but very nice) and eclectic quirkiness. In the evenings, it’s still pretty busy with all the restaurants in the area, but at night it’s pretty abandoned. It’s open from 7.30 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week, and costs HUF 1,200 one-way, or 1,800 return for adults, and HUF 700 one-way, 1100 return for children aged 3 to 14. Starting life as an emergency air raid hospital between 1939 and 1945, the Hospital in the Rock evolved over the years to deliver care during the 1956 Hungarian revolution, and to serve as a nuclear bunker during the Cold War, fitted to be able to accept and treat survivors of a nuclear or chemical attack. Below the boutique hotel of the same name, Pest-Buda has a Hungarian bistro feel to it, with a menu full of Hungarian comfort food in large portions. However, in this case the tours that don’t have reviews are organized by pretty reputable tour companies (Taste Hungary and Urban Adventures) so we decided to keep them in our list. All their tour guides (‘Docents’) are PhD or Masters-level experts in their field, meaning these tours go far beyond the typical surface-level info, and can really delve into the topic. gets good reviews and is well-located within this area. No part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission. The seven gleaming white turrets represent the Magyar tribes that entered the Carpathian Basin in the late 9th century. That said, there are also some interesting museums for those with special interests, and some good cafés and restaurants worth seeking out in the area. Check Prices & Availability for Burg Hotel Restaurants near Buda Castle, Budapest on Tripadvisor: Find traveler reviews and candid photos of dining near Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. ✓ Budapest Castle ✓ Matthias Church ✓ Fisherman’s Bastion ✓ Hospital in the Rock ✓ Other Ideas. Keep a keen eye on your belongings, and keep phones, wallets and other valuables in a front pocket, a zippered pocket, or secured in a bag that can’t easily be grabbed off your body. Enjoying Fisherman’s Bastion from the street level is free, but to visit the top balconies you need to pay an entrance fee. Our Hungary Home Page will show you all the articles we’ve written about Hungary. What the latter lacks in sights it makes up for in excellent restaurants, many of them around Széll Kálmán tér, a major transport hub and the centre of urban Buda. In all honesty, the Castle is best admired from the outside, rather than the inside, which reflects a 20th-century communist aesthetic. If you find yourself here late at night, stick to main, well-lit streets. And if you need more help planning your trip, be sure to check out our Budapest neighborhood guide, too. : The Budapest Castle District is one of the most touristed areas of the city, making it an attractive target for pickpockets and petty theft. Castle District is free This is the area where most of the tourist attractions are located! But seriously…the view over Pest is spectacular. Reservations are a good idea. Matthias Church is beautiful from the outside, but you can also go inside and – if you time it right – up the 197 steps to the tower (groups leave at the top of the hour between 10am and 5pm). Budapest Castle has been built and destroyed many, many times over its multi-century existence. A good option for coffee, sandwiches, and cakes, this is another spot with a homey and cozy feel to it. There are coach kids of tourists here! About Us. If you combine it with a walk over the Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd), continue towards the tunnel when you’ve reached the Buda side of the bridge and take a hard right, walking up the hill. While it’s a bit outdated looking, past guests seem to appreciate the value for money. Architect Alajos Hauszmann said about the royal apartments: "I created a 200 m [660 ft] … Booking.com I Hotels.com, Check Prices & Availability for The Hilton We’ve tried their tours in Rome and Budapest (we even made an adult coloring book with them), and have nothing but good things to say. A Local’s Guide to The Budapest Castle District – Where to Stay, Eat and Explore in Budapest I. That means if you take the metro and then switch to a bus, you’ll need to use two single tickets. The Castle District is easy enough to wander around on your own, and you can see everything you need to within a half-day to a day, depending on whether you stop for meals and museums. Despite the name, it’s more like a nice outdoor patio bar (it’s only open middle of April to middle of October). If you want a bit of a higher-end dining option in the Budapest Castle District, Pierrot is a good bet. Below are the best things to do in Budapest Castle District. From Széll Kálmán tér, you need to walk a bit: once you’ve exited the metro station and you’re at street-level, look for the stairs and escalators up to a second, higher street level. That makes it great for strolling down the cobbled streets, which are lined with well-preserved and colorful old buildings. While it’s a bit outdated looking, past guests seem to appreciate the value for money. It contains some of Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and museums and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. That said, as with any large, touristy city, there are a few things to watch out for: ✓ Boutique Hotels ✓ Luxury Hotels ✓ Affordable Hotels. The bastion, a neo-Gothic masquerade that looks medieval and offers some of the best views in Budapest, was built as a viewing platform in 1905 by Frigyes Schulek, the architect behind Matthias Church. With great ambience in a 13th-century bakery building, and a lovely garden for summer dining al fresco, they focus on Hungarian food and wine in an upscale setting. – We ended up here on a cold February day, in need of a break from the winter temperatures for a bit. You can only visit on a guided tour, which lasts one hour and departs at the top of every hour from 10am to 7pm, 7 days a week (in high season, tours run every 30 minutes between noon and 5pm). My father will be staying with family; husband and I in a hotel. There are no opening and closing times of the Buda Castle district, which is like a hilltop town, meaning that you can wander about the Castle District, plus you can visit the Buda Castle building courtyards at 3 am if you feel like. A bit of a niche attraction, this one is still worth mentioning due to its unique and pretty cool history. Buda Castle as seen from Gellert Hill. But, it’s still a nice spot for a cold one, and they offer a few Hungarian craft beers by the bottle to get your research started,  as well as a few draft beers and a short wine list. It is also the first stop of every sightseeing tour in Budapest, one of the main attractions of the city. King Bela IV staked his claim here so that he could ward off the attacks of the Mongols on his people. We’ve included our favorite things and places to eat, do, see, and stay around Buda Castle, and hope it helps with your trip to Budapest! Finally, for something in the affordable category. The bus leaves from outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and crosses the Chain Bridge, stopping at Clark Ádám tér (from which you can catch the funicular, if you’d prefer) before driving up Castle Hill. And if that’s important, it’s worth joining a group tour or hiring a private guide to lead the way. Most of the tours listed are available through Get Your Guide, a tour aggregator (much like Booking.com or Hotels.com is an aggregator of hotels, Get Your Guide is an aggregator of tours). About the tour. Also note, you need to validate the tickets on board, or else you could be fined. Perched on a hill overlooking the Danube, the Castle District of Budapest dates back more than 700 years. We’ve outlined a smattering of the many, many tours that are available for the Budapest Castle District below. No need to register, buy now! We also recommend Context Travel for tours. Book your tickets online for Castle District Townhall, Budapest: See 8 reviews, articles, and 4 photos of Castle District Townhall, ranked No.301 on Tripadvisor among 617 attractions in Budapest. Restored palace rooms dating from the 15th century can be entered from the two-level basement, where there are three vaulted halls. When taking public transit in Budapest, be aware that you need to use one single ticket per ride (unless you’re switching metro lines). Compared to Buda Castle and Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion is a new structure, dating back to the Millenium building frenzy that took place in Budapest at the end of the 19th century, and beginning of the 20th century, to mark and celebrate 1000 years of the Hungarian state. Admittedly, this is our favorite way to explore this area: with a loose plan, while also keeping things flexible. A few of the tours listed don’t have reviews on GetYourGuide. The museum also has an important collection of Hungarian paintings and sculpture from the 19th and 20th centuries. Little information exists about the interiors from the medieval and Baroque eras, but the palace built at the turn of the 20th century was meticulously recorded, using detailed descriptions, photographic documentation and grounds plans. This district offers you cobbled streets, grand monuments and medieval architecture. , they focus on Hungarian food and wine in an upscale setting. From there, you can take the stairs up, and you’ll find yourself at Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matthias Church. If you want to dig into Budapest’s burgeoning craft beer scene, the Buda Castle District isn’t the place to do it (head to Budapest VII or IX instead). There are beautiful medieval houses and streets! Opening Hours at the Buda Castle, Budapest. 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