Explore Budapest

Enjoy the very best of this city

Sightseeing tours

Gold Hotel Budapest’s staff offers sightseeing tours, programs and activities in Budapest.

Mátyás Templom Budapest

You may also choose from our preplanned tours. Click on the tour name and find famous Budapest attactions to visit.

  • South walking tour

    Walk starts from Gold Hotel Budapest

    1. Walk south to the top of the Gellert Hill. The first stop is the most beautiful view of Budapest on the left hand side.

    2. The Citadel and the Liberty statue are the next stop.
    There is a small history museum inside the Citadel.

    3. Walking down the other side of the hill, you will find an interesting Cave Church.

    4. Next stop is the famous Gellert Thermal Spa at the bottom of the Gellert Hill. Medical treatments, relaxing massage are available here.

    5. Walk through the green Liberty bridge and find the Market Hall on the right. It’s a typical market, but Hungarian souveniers can be bought too.

    6. Walk east towards and find the Hungarian National Museum building.

    7. Walk north to reach the final stop, the Synagogue building.

  • North walking tour

    Walk starts from Gold Hotel Budapest

    1. Walk north and cross the Taban park to reach the Buda Castle area, part of the World Heritage sites.

    2. The Rock Hospital is on the left, the National Széchenyi Library’s elevator on the right. Take the lift to get to the Royal Castle area.

    3. Here you can visit the Hungarian National Gallery and the Hungarian History Museum. There is a beautiful view of the Danube from the terrace.

    4. Walking north from the Royal Castle, the national crowning temple will appear called Matthias Church.

    5. Don’t miss the Fishermen’s Bastion on the right with the statue of King Stephen – first King of Hungary.

    6. It’s time to walk back to the funicular to get down to the Clark Ádám Square, where the 0 kilometer stone stands.

    7. Don’t cross the old Tunnel. Walk the other way accross the Chain Bridge with the 2 lions, the oldest bridge of Hungary.

    8. Turn left to see the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Behind the building you will see the most beautiful church in Budapest, the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

    9. Come back to the Danube, walk north to find the beautiful building of the Parliament.

  • Visit East by the Millennium underground

    Start from Gold Hotel Budapest

    1. Take bus nr. 8 or 112 to get across Elisabeth bridge. The third stop is Ferenciek tere, get off and walk north crossing the large road.

    2. The main shopping street is the Váci walking street leads to Vörösmarty square.

    3. Try the 100 years old Millennium underground, the first underground in the continent.

    4. You may get off at the famous National Opera House or the Terror House with Holocaust memorials.

    5. The underground takes you to Heroes’ square with the Millennium Memorial and 2 museums: the Museum of Fine Arts on the left, and Museum of Modern Art on the right.

    6. Crossing the Heroe’s square you reach the City Park. There are many things to do: Vajdahunyad Castle, Széchenyi Thermal Spa, Budapest Zoo, Museum of Transportation. Boating or ice skating are also available.

  • Visit West with children

    Start from Gold Hotel Budapest

    1. Walk west to Bach square, take busz nr 212, at Pethényi street change to bus nr 21A to the final stop. You arrive to the green Normafa, lungs of Budapest.

    2. There are several hiking trails to walk. There is the Elisabeth viewpoint with beautiful view of Budapest. The chairlift and the small railway managed by students are all exiting programs. This is a great place with children, several playgrounds are waiting for you in the fresh air.

Top 4 things to visit in Budapest

Gellert hill and the Citadel

Gellért Hill is a 140-m high dolomite rock rising above the Danube in Buda.

The Hill, the Citadel, the liberty statue are all part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.

Gellert Hill received its name after bishop Gellért, who came to Hungary from Italy around 1000 AD. King St. Stephen invited him to help converting the Hungarians into Christianity. Some resisting pagans rolled him down the hill in a barrel into the Danube in 1046.

The Citadel and the liberty statue of Hungary are must-see attractions of Budapest.

(tipp) From the hill top you can enjoy one of the most stunning view of Budapest!

Castle District

The Castle Hill with the Royal Palace and Matthias Church in Buda is featured among the most popular attractions in Budapest.

The district together with the Danube Bridges and the embankment is a World heritage site due to its importance played in Budapest’s history and development.

Buda Castle Hill gives home to several large-scale festivals, events and exhibitions throughout the year.

(tipp) Beer festival in June, concerts and firework on August 20, wine festival in September.

Chain Bridge

Another well-known Budapest attraction is the Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd) spanning the Danube at the foot of Castle Hill.

Built in the middle of the 19th century the stone bridge with the lion bridgeheads was the first permanent connection between Buda and Pest.

The Danube Promenade – also part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage program- runs along the river between Chain bridge and Elizabeth Bridge.

(tipp) Choose Gold Hotel Budapest and stay close to the most popular attractions of Budapest!

Thermal Baths

World-famous thermal baths offer relaxation and recruitment facilities in Budapest.

The thermal baths of Budapest can be divided into two categories:
– the older Turkish baths (the Király, the Rudas and the Veli Bej Bath), and
– the turn-of-the-19th-20th-centuries baths like the Gellért Bath, Széchenyi Bath.

Most baths have outdoor pools to enjoy in the hot summer months. Visiting night spa parties are a unique way to entertain in Budapest.

(tipp) Buy your Spa ticket at the reception desk of Gold Hotel Budapest!

General info

  • The City

    Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, and one of the largest cities in the European Union.

    It’s the country’s political, cultural, commercial, industrial and transportation centre. It has nearly two million inhabitants.

    Hungary’s most visited tourist destination is Budapest. It is situated on both banks of the Danube. Pest height of 100-150 meters above sea level, the highest point in the Buda hills 529 meters.

  • History of Budapest

    Budapest’s recorded history begins with the Roman town of Aquincum, founded around 89 AD.

    The area was occupied around the year 896 by the Magyars, the ancestors of today’s ethnic Hungarians, who a century later founded the kingdom of Hungary.

    Mongol invaders came in 1241 ruining all Hungary.
    The Ottoman Turks’ conquest of most of Hungary in the 16th century interrupted the cities’ growth for 150 years.

    It became a single city with the amalgamation in 1873 of right-bank Buda and Óbuda with Pest on the left bank.

    The Austro-Hungarian monarchy was over at the end of the World War I. Hungary lost more than two third of the former kingdom’s territory by the Trianon Peace Agreement, but kept Budapest as the capital of a smaller but sovereign state.

    Budapest was seriously damaged in World War II. during the Soviet siege.

  • Currency

    Currency: Hungarian Forint, HUF

    Hungarian forint remained in use even after Hungary’s accession to the European Union (2004).

    Coins: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200
    Banknotes: 500, 1 000, 2 000, 5 000, 10 000, 20 000

  • Weather

    Budapest has a continental climate.
    The hottest months: July and August. The temperature can reach 30-34 degrees Celsius.
    The coldest months: December and January, when thermometer may show minus degrees Celsius.

  • Time Zone

    Central European time zone: GMT + 1 hour.
    Between end of March and end of October time zone: GMT +2 hours.

  • Public holidays

    National holidays:
    1 January,
    15 March,
    1 May,
    20 August,
    23 October

    Christian holidays:
    Easter Friday, Monday,
    Whit Monday,
    All Saints Day (1 November),
    Christmas (25,26 December)

  • Electricity network

    Hungary’s electricity network operates at 230 volts, continental type connectors.

  • Telephone prefix

    Hungary’s prefix: +36
    Budapest prefix: 1