The Ultimate Travel Guide to Hungary: History & Attractions

Budapest — the Pearl of the Danube — stuns with its neo-Gothic Parliament, grand thermal bath culture, ruin bar nightlife, and the chain-bridge view that is Europe's most romantic river panorama.

A Glimpse into History

Hungary's history is that of a people who arrived from the Asian steppe and created one of Europe's great kingdoms in the heart of the continent. The Magyar tribes, led by Árpád, crossed the Carpathians around 895 AD, conquering the Pannonian plain that became Hungary. Stephen I, crowned on Christmas Day 1000 AD with a crown sent by Pope Sylvester II, Christianised the Magyars and founded the Kingdom of Hungary that endured for 900 years. Medieval Hungary was a major European power, reaching its peak under Matthias Corvinus (1458–90), whose Renaissance court in Buda rivalled the Medici's Florence in artistic patronage. The Ottoman Empire shattered Hungarian power at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, dividing the kingdom for 150 years between Ottoman, Transylvanian, and Habsburg rule. Habsburg liberation of Buda in 1686 was followed by repopulation with German and Serb settlers, transforming Hungary's ethnic composition. The 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule, led by Lajos Kossuth, was suppressed with Russian help, but the 1867 Compromise created the Austro-Hungarian Empire — in which Hungary had near-equal status with Austria. WWI's outcome was catastrophic: the 1920 Treaty of Trianon stripped Hungary of 72% of its territory and 64% of its population, a national trauma still bitterly remembered. WWII brought Nazi occupation, the deportation of 437,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in 56 days — the fastest mass murder in the Holocaust — and Soviet occupation until 1989. The 1956 Budapest Uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks but became a defining moment of Cold War resistance. EU member since 2004.

Top Attractions in Hungary

Buda Castle & Castle District

The medieval Castle District on Buda's Castle Hill — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — commands the most spectacular view of the Danube, the Parliament, and the Pest cityscape across the river. The Royal Palace (now housing the National Gallery and Budapest History Museum), Matthias Church (with its diamond-patterned roof tiles), and the Fisherman's Bastion (seven towers representing the seven Magyar tribes) are Central Europe's most dramatic urban ensemble.

Hungarian Parliament Building

The Gothic Revival parliament (1902) on the Danube bank — 268 metres long, 96 metres high, with 691 rooms, 19 km of stairs, and 40 kg of gold leaf — is one of Europe's most beautiful public buildings and Hungary's most iconic image. The guided tour includes the Crown Room where the Hungarian Holy Crown and coronation regalia (including Stephen I's millennium-old crown) are displayed under armed guard.

Széchenyi Thermal Baths

Budapest sits atop Europe's greatest concentration of thermal springs, and the Széchenyi — Europe's largest medicinal bath complex (1913) — is the most spectacular: a Neo-Baroque yellow palace in City Park with three outdoor pools (temperatures to 38°C), indoor swimming pools, saunas, steam rooms, and the surreal winter tradition of chess players floating on boards in the steaming outdoor pool while snow falls.

Ruin Bars — District VII Jewish Quarter

Budapest's unique innovation in nightlife — bars and clubs established in the abandoned buildings and courtyards of the former Jewish ghetto, filled with mismatched vintage furniture, pop art, and eclectic decoration. Szimpla Kert (Simple Garden), the original ruin bar (2001), is now a cultural landmark drawing Sunday farmers' markets, film screenings, and parties. The district also contains the Great Synagogue (Europe's largest), the Holocaust Memorial, and extraordinary Art Nouveau architecture.