Buda’s Castle District: A Walking Tour Through Budapest’s Bastion of Folklore

(189 reviews)

Budapest audio tour: Buda’s Castle District: A Walking Tour Through Budapest’s Bastion of Folklore

This is a 1.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 120 mins to complete.

Budapest

Hungary

$14.99

Access all 52 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

The Buda Castle District is the oldest and most picturesque part of Budapest. On this walking tour, you’ll find it all: amazing architecture, breathtaking views, and pastry stores with tantalizing local sweets. Most importantly, you’ll hear countless fascinating stories spanning Hungary’s 1000-year-long history.

The tour starts at the Museum of Music History. As you walk, you’ll learn where Dracula was imprisoned, why there’s a House of Houdini in Budapest, and what it was like to survive the Second World War inside the Hospital in the Rock, the medical facility located in a network of caves under Buda Castle.

You’ll discover the origins of the Fisherman’s Bastion, and why Matthias Church has a small, black tower. You’ll find out how Archduke Joseph’s Palace is being rebuilt from scratch and, at the Memorial to Abdi Abdurrahman (or Abdurrahman Pasa Síremléke), you’ll learn how the last Ottoman Pasha of Buda Castle died. Our tour ends at the Hungarian National Gallery, formerly the Royal Palace.

Along the way, you’ll also have a chance to:

Climb up the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene’s last remaining tower
See Budapest’s little Trevi Fountain, the Fountain of King Matthias
Walk around the magnificent Statue of St. Stephen, the founding father of Hungary
Enjoy the breathtaking views of Budapest on the terrace behind the statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy
Learn how deep the Labyrinth of Buda Castle’s caves truly are
Find out how an Italian princess murdered the country’s greatest medieval king
See where Jewish children hid during the Second World War, at the National Archive

From the main sights to the hidden corners, this Budapest walking tour will take you around the whole Castle District and tell you the stories and fun facts that lie behind its historic facades. Whether you’re a history geek, a foodie, or simply a curious traveler, this 120-minute Castle Hill tour will certainly level up your Budapest experience!

Tour Producer

Vince Bur

4 tours

Hello there! I'm Vince - born and raised in Budapest, I'm dividing my time now between my university studies and tour guiding in my hometown. I'm a history freak and a wine lover - you can also find my wine blog on instagram under the name @hungarianwineguy. On my VoiceMap tours I try to give you the same experience as on my actual private tours for luxury hotel clients: focusing on fun facts, stories and tales with a bit (actually quite a lot) of history, but also mentioning architecture, cuisine, everyday life and some politics. It takes time to discover Budapest, so let's start!

Preview Location

Location 29

The Fisherman's Bastion

You arrived at the famous Fisherman's Bastion, one of the main symbols of Budapest. Stop here for a moment.

I'll just explain quickly the story of this interesting building and then feel free to roam around to enjoy the view and take pictures. You usually have to wait until... You arrived at the famous Fisherman's Bastion, one of the main symbols of Budapest. Stop here for a moment.

I'll just explain quickly the story of this interesting building and then feel free to roam around to enjoy the view and take pictures. You usually have to wait until you can find a free spot for taking good pictures, but I recommend you try your luck with the terrace on the left side of the bastion. You have a picture on your screen to help you find it.

The Fisherman's Bastion is basically nothing else but a decoration of the city, at least it doesn't serve any other purpose but that of looking like a miniature Disneyland in the middle of Budapest. Just like the vast majority of the main sights of our capital, this was also built at the turning point of the 19th and 20th centuries. Those roughly 50 years between the 1860s and the 1910s were the most prosperous in the history of Hungary, our true Golden Age. These ornate, limestone walls, towers, arches and staircases were built on top of the Medieval fortress walls, and that's the key to understand why the place is called Fisherman's Bastion. Back in the Middle Ages every guild - every community of the different workers - was responsible for the defense of a part of the fortress walls. Since you're now standing on an actual Medieval bastion, that the guild of the fishermen had to defend in the Middle Ages, it's quite self explanatory, why the place was eventually named after those fishermen.

Until the 1960s fishing was a quite thriving business in Budapest, but the main catch was not the carp, the catfish or any other, typical fresh water fish. The most precious catch was the Black Sea sturgeon. These huge fish came all the way up from the Black Sea to this section of the Danube to mate here. They can grow up to 5-6 meters and their meat was a very popular delicacy in Budapest. Unfortunately, in the 1960s the Romanian Communist dictator, Nicolai Ceacucescu ordered the construction of a huge hydroelectric power plant with a huge dam and ever since the sturgeons can't make it up here to Budapest.

Now, continue walking along the church with the Bastion on your left. I will meet you by the bronze equestrian statue. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

Museum of Music History
Mediaeval Jewish Chapel
Budavári Evangélikus Templom és Gyülekezet
Vienna Gate
National Archives of Hungary Building
Abdurrahman pasa síremléke
Hungarian National Gallery
Church of Saint Mary Magdalene
Hospital in the Rock
The Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle
Castle District
Fisherman's Bastion
Statue of St. Stephen I
Holy Trinity Park
Labyrinth
The House of Houdini
Archduke Joseph's Palace
Sándor Palace
Buda Castle Funicular
Hunyadi Courtyard
Main Guardhouse
Fountain of King Matthias
Statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Budapest, Táncsics Mihály u. 7, 1014 Hungary
Total distance

3km
Final location
Budapest, Széchenyi Lánchíd, 1051 Hungary
Distance back to start location

1km

Directions to Starting Point

Start: Museum of Music History, Budapest, Táncsics Mihály u. 7, 1014

To get to the Castle District you can either take the bus number 16 or 16A from the Széll Kálmán tér subway station or the bus number 16 from the Deák Ferenc tér subway station. You can also climb up the hill on on foot following the instructions of google maps, using the staircases and small pathways leading up to the hill from the Chain bridge or from the Batthyány tér subway station.

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

During the tour we will pass by the Budavári Rétesvár, a small bakery serving traditional Hungarian strudel. I highly recommend giving a try to the sweet cottage cheese, the plum and the apple-walnut filled strudels.

We will also pass by the Ruszwurm Cukrászda café, where the cream cake is excellent and they serve good ice cream as well. It's usually hard to get a table, as it tends to be very busy, but if you wait 5-10 minutes, then eventually you will get one.

The Korona Cukrászda café will also be on the way. It's quite touristy and the strudel is definitely not as good as the Budavári Rétesvár, but if you just want to sit down to have a rest and a lemonade or a coffee and use the restroom, then feel free to do so.

At the end of the tour you can also sit down for a coffee or a lemonade in the Pasha Café, right behind the royal palace. A newly opened place with a lovely view over the Buda hills.

In case if you want to have lunch after the tour somewhere in the Castle District, then I recommend the following restaurant:

Pest-Buda Hungarian Bistro ( tel: +3612250377)

21 Hungarian Restaurant (tel: +3612022113)

Déryné Bistro (tel: +3612251407)

Among the museum I recommend to visit the National Gallery as well as the Budapest History Museum inside the Royal Palace. I also highly recommend climbing up to the tower of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. A visit inside the Matthias Church is also worth it as well as climbing up to its tower to enjoy the magnificent view.

Best time of day

You can do this tour pretty much anytime during the day, but keep in mind that the museums and the Matthias Church are open only until 5pm and 6pm.

Precautions

Some parts of the Castle District are very busy and touristy. We will also walk around in more remote, quiet parts of it, but the entire area is very safe. During the warmer months make sure to have sunblock and water with you.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”