Buda Castle Private Walking Tour: A Kingdom of Many Nations
Description
Embark on a 3-hour, private walking tour of Castle Hill; the oldest part of Budapest. In the company of a historian, take a personalized, tour of Buda Castle and the surrounding district filled with narrow, cobblestone streets and Baroque and Gothic facades. Learn about the fascinating stories behind Matthais Church, the Presidential Palace, the remains of a synagogue from the Middle Ages, and many more of Budapest's culturally and historically significant monuments.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Two buildings stand out on Castle Hill, the oldest part of Budapest, known for its narrow and cobbled streets and its baroque and Gothic facades: the massive and imposing palace on the southern tip of the hill and the colored roof of Matthias Church in the middle, with its rank steeple pointing towards the heavens.
We start our tour at the palace, the ancient seat of royal power. It was rebuilt, extended, changed, burned down and rebuilt again several times over and it got its current eclectic appearances only after World War II. The first to build on Castle Hill was King Béla IV. He erected a fortress on this spot around 1250 after a devastating invasion by Mongolian hordes. In the Renaissance period, King Matthias made it into the most famous court in Europe at the end of the 15th century. Then came the Turkish pashas who ruled the country for over 150 years, followed by a succession of Hapsburg emperors.
Discuss the changing function of the building throughout its history.
The Sándor Palace is the official residence of the President of Hungary, and the seat of the Office of the President. It has served as both since 2003. The original palace was build in Neoclassical style in 1806. It was commissioned by Count Vincent Sándor, an aristocrat and a philosopher of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
A highlight of the tour is Matthias Church with its abundantly decorated roof and amazing interior. The church is a very finely executed Neogothic reconstruction fantasy from the end of the 19th century and it is a strikingly beautiful building.
Fisherman's Bastion is an architectural fantasy in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque styles designed and built between 1895 and 1902. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin at the end of the 9th c. The terrace provides one of the most famous panoramic views of the Danube, Margaret Island, Pest and the Gellért Hill.
Our tour ends at the Vienna Gate, from where you can see all the way to Obuda (Old Buda), where the Romans founded the city then called Aquincum.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Unless hotel pick up has been arranged, please meet your guide 15 minutes before start time at the default meeting point, Bálthazár, a hotel with a café Országház utca 31, 1014 Budapest 50m from the first bus stop on Castle hill (which is on the Bécsi kapu tér).
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A maximum of 8 people per booking
Reviews(9)
Kata is such a talented tour guide! What an experience to explore Budapest with her on our second day . She was full of energy and truly excited to show us everything she could and to explain what it all meant. Her knowledge of the city and the country’s history was broad and deep. It is hard to believe how much we crammed into just one day. Kata was so easy to listen to. We had questions not only about what we were seeing in Budapest, but how people were living and what life was really like. She had fantastic insights into life in Budapest. She knew every herb that was growing wild, as well as the intricacies of Budapest’s architecture. We hope that when we return to Budapest, she will be available to show us even more. We will never forget her smile. A+ for Kata.
Thank you, again, for reviewing your tour with Kata as well as Endre. We're lucky to have them on our team! Glad you have such great memories from both tours to bring home. Insight Cities
Very competent, very knowledgeable, very profound, very personal. Open communication was very possible, many questions could be asked, all of which were answered comprehensively. 👍🏻 Thank you very much, highly recommended.
Thank you for the review, Ute! Vielen Dank! Insight Cities
We have used InsightCities for several tours in Vienna and they were truly fabulous and we did not hesitate to reach out for our quick overnight trip to Budapest. Bonita and her awesome team paired my husband, young adult son and I with another amazing guide Andras! Andras was so lovely, friendly and knowledgable about Budapest and Hungary and we learned so much from him about the rich history and current place in the world. We loved Budacastle and surrounding palaces and churches. He had great insights and knew secret places to go to the learn more about every place we visited.,He even altered our tour to combine it with the Jewish history of Budapest and took us to Dohany Street Synagogue and surrounding area. His love of learning and expertise on all of Budapest was so delightful and we do loved our amazing 3 hour your with Andras! Thank you all for another day!
Kata was an amazing guide. Very knowledgeable, generous with her time, patient with our questions and so passionate about her country and its history. We learned so much with her and strongly recommend her !!!
What a lovely review. You makes us proud of our guide team. Thanks for booking with us and for taking the time to give feedback!
Our guide Andras took us by bus to the far part of the hill to gives us content to the history of the Castle. Could not have been better
Thanks for the lovely review. We're so pleased that you enjoyed our tour! Safe travels.
The entire tour of Pest and Castle Hill was quite informative and very engaging. Our tour guide, Kata, was quite well versed in the history of the area and she had a number of "stories" about the history and the persons in that history that made the entire tour very entertaining. In fact, her stories made the tour the high point of our brief stay in Budapest before boarding our river cruise ship. Kata offered much behind the scenes information about the culture, architecture and events surrounding Buda Castle that was engaging for everyone and even for our teenage granddaughters who were with us. The entire family enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone.
Tour guide made the whole experience real and historically relevant. Would recommend Kata for anyone who wants an in depth glimpse of Budapest and Castle Hill.
Excellent guides who provided all of us with a deep knowledge and appreciation for the site’s visited
Thanks for the warm words. It's especially encouraging to our whole team of historian guides as we wait for travel to recover from the pandemic so we can get back to a job we all love.
<p>Julia was our Guide , she was amazing, but the buda castle not exist, Im very dessapoiment with that</p>
