Budapest Grand City Bus Tour with Parliament Visit

The Hungarian Parliament

Designed by Imre Steindl and built between 1885 and 1904, the Hungarian Parliament is one of the largest parliament buildings in the world: 268 metres long, with 691 rooms and a central dome rising 96 metres, a number that recalls the arrival of the Magyars in 896. Its Gothic Revival spires on the Danube were partly inspired by the Palace of Westminster in London.

The Hungarian Parliament tour takes you up the gilded main staircase with ceiling frescoes by Károly Lotz, into the Dome Hall, where the Holy Crown of Hungary is displayed under guard with the sceptre, orb and sword, and into the former Upper House chamber and its lobby. Parliament tickets are sold separately for EU and non-EU visitors, so choose the right option when booking.

The Buda Castle District

The tour begins with a short walk on Castle Hill, the medieval heart of Buda. Here stand Matthias Church, with its colourful tiled roof and the coronation history of Hungarian kings, and the Fisherman's Bastion, whose seven white towers represent the seven Magyar tribes and frame one of the finest views across the Danube to the Parliament.

The whole district is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the lanes of Baroque houses make it one of the most pleasant places to explore in Budapest. On the way the bus crosses the Elisabeth Bridge and the Margaret Bridge while your guide explains how Buda, Óbuda and Pest were united into one city in 1873.

Heroes' Square and City Park

At the end of Andrássy Avenue lies Heroes' Square, dominated by the Millennium Monument, built for the 1896 celebrations of a thousand years of Hungary. A 36-metre column carries the Archangel Gabriel, the seven Magyar chieftains ride at its base, and two curved colonnades hold statues of kings and national heroes. The square is flanked by the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hall of Art.

Behind it spreads City Park, where you pass the grand Széchenyi Thermal Bath, one of the largest spa complexes in Europe, and the Budapest Zoo. How to get to Heroes' Square on your own later: the M1 metro, the oldest underground line in continental Europe, runs right beneath Andrássy Avenue to the square.

Andrássy Avenue, the Opera and St Stephen's Basilica

Andrássy Avenue, a UNESCO-listed boulevard of elegant 19th-century mansions, leads the bus back into the heart of Pest past the Hungarian State Opera House, designed by Miklós Ybl and opened in 1884. On the way your guide also points out the Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe, which you see from the outside.

St Stephen's Basilica rises to exactly 96 metres, the same height as the Parliament dome, so that neither church nor state stands higher. It holds the relic of Hungary's first king. Is the Budapest city tour with Parliament worth it? For first-time visitors who want both the city overview and the Parliament interior without organising tickets, it is an efficient choice.