Hungarian Parliament Guided Tour in Spanish Budapest

Jászai Mari tér and the Margaret Bridge viewpoint

The tour starts at Jászai Mari tér, the busy square at the Pest end of Margaret Bridge, served by trams 2, 4 and 6. From here your guide leads you a few steps onto the bridge, where the whole length of the Parliament appears along the river, its spires and dome reflected in the Danube. It is the best angle for photos of the building and a perfect place to start the story.

Margaret Bridge itself was opened in 1876 as the second permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. It has an unusual bend in the middle, where a short branch leads down to Margaret Island, the green park island between Buda and Pest. Your guide explains how the city grew around its bridges and points out Castle Hill and the Buda hills on the opposite bank before you walk south along the river.

The Parliament facade on the Danube and the square

The walk continues along the river facade of the Hungarian Parliament, the largest building in Hungary. Built between 1885 and 1904 after an international design competition, it stretches 268 metres along the bank and was inspired by the Houses of Parliament in London, mixing a Gothic Revival exterior with a Renaissance-style dome. Statues of Hungarian rulers and military leaders stand along the walls, and the central dome rises to 96 metres, a number linked to the year 896, when the Hungarian tribes arrived in the Carpathian Basin.

Your guide also presents the monuments on the square in front of the main entrance, including the newer memorial facing the building, and explains what each one means for Hungarians today. A few minutes south along the embankment lies the moving memorial of iron shoes on the Danube bank, dedicated to the victims of 1944 and 1945. The outdoor part lasts around an hour before you enter the visitor centre.

The Main Staircase and the Hall of the Dome

Once your guide has collected the tickets, you pass security and continue with the Spanish audio guide. The Hungarian Parliament tour inside begins on the Main Staircase, a ceremonial ascent of 96 steps lined with red carpets, granite columns, stained-glass windows and ceiling frescoes, with gold leaf on almost every surface. Around 40 kilograms of gold were used to decorate the building, and the staircase is where you feel it most.

At the top you reach the Hall of the Dome, a sixteen-sided hall with statues of Hungarian kings on its pillars. In its centre, protected by ceremonial guards, lies the Holy Crown of Hungary together with the sceptre, the orb and the coronation sword. The crown, with its famous bent cross, has been kept here since 2000 and is the most important national symbol: for centuries no king was legitimate without being crowned with it.

The Old Upper House and the lobbies

The interior route continues to the Old Upper House, the chamber of the former House of Magnates. Its horseshoe-shaped seating, carved wooden benches and richly painted ceiling show how the building was designed as a two-chamber parliament. Since 1945 Hungary has had a single chamber, and the old hall is now used for conferences and ceremonies, while the twin chamber on the other side of the dome hosts the National Assembly.

In the long lobby outside the chamber, look for the numbered brass holders on the window sills: members once left their cigars here during debates, and the audio guide tells the story behind them. The interior visit lasts about 45 minutes. If you are wondering whether the Hungarian Parliament is worth visiting inside, the combination of stairs, dome and crown makes it one of the essential experiences of Budapest.