Budapest‘s Sites and Stories: From Bridges and Baths to Central Market Hall

(32 reviews)

Budapest audio tour: Budapest‘s Sites and Stories: From Bridges and Baths to Central Market Hall

This is a 1.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Budapest

Hungary

$9.99

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About the Tour

Budapest might have only been Hungary‘s capital for the last two centuries, but its history goes back thousands of years. On this walking tour, you‘ll hear its long and fascinating story, find out about the cultures that shaped it, and the people who have left their mark on the city.

Starting from Danubius Hotel Astoria in downtown Pest, you‘ll wander down lesser-known streets and through Károlyi Garden before crossing the Danube River via Erzsébet Bridge to the Buda side. Along the way, you‘ll see some awesome architecture including the honeybee motifs at Párisi Passage (a bank turned restaurant) and the almost 1,000-year-old Budapest Inner-City Mother Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. While you‘re enjoying a view of Pest and Buda from Erzsébet and, later, Liberty Bridge, I‘ll tell you about some of the city‘s hated and beloved historical figures, and share some personal experiences from the communist era that you won‘t find in guidebooks. By the time we get to Central Market Hall where our tour ends, you‘ll have an overview of the historical ups and downs that have transformed Budapest into the captivating city you see today.

Along the way, you‘ll have a chance to:

Take in the calming atmosphere of Károlyi Kert, the public garden which two centuries ago was at the edge of the town
See a reconstructed piece of the medieval town wall
Pass by Centrál Grand Cafe & Bar, one of the few remaining coffee houses dating back to Budapest‘s golden era, before WWI
Gaze upon Buda Castle and the St Gerard Sagredo statue which honours Saint Gellert, Hungary‘s first Christian martyr
Hear how Gellért Hill was used as a secret meeting spot for witches, and as the location of the monastery for the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit
Discover two famous hot pools, Rudas Baths and Gellért Thermal Bath
Find out why Franz Joseph Bridge, named after the Hungarian King, was later renamed Liberty Bridge in the mid-1900s
Spot Gellért Hill, once home to Ivan the hermit before it was transformed into a place of worship known as the Rock Chapel

By the end of this 40-minute tour, you‘ll have a greater appreciation for Budapest‘s long history, its quirky stories, and the people who shaped it.

Tour Producer

Magdi Pelech

4 tours

I am a professional Budapest/Hungary tour guide with over a decade of experience turning the city’s history, hidden corners, and vibrant culture into unforgettable journeys. Since 2015 I’ve shared Budapest with curious travellers from around the world, earning top-rated reviews on TripAdvisor for my engaging, personalised tours. Outside the city, I’m a passionate traveller and part-time digital nomad — exploring Italy and Spain while teaching English online and soaking up local life.
My voice brings places to life: from the grand boulevards of Budapest to the sun-washed streets of Málaga. On VoiceMap I’ve created two immersive tours in English and one in Spanish for Budapest, plus a guided walk through Málaga that captures the city’s soul for English speakers.
With every tour I aim to surprise you with stories you won’t find in guidebooks and inspire you to see each destination as I do — with curiosity, context, and joy.

Preview Location

Location 14

Gellert Statue

Continue straight.

Look in front of you to the side of the hill. Where the bridge you are walking on reaches Buda, on the hillside, there is a colonnade with a huge statue raising a cross to the sky in his right hand. In summer you can also see a cascade refreshing the gre... Continue straight.

Look in front of you to the side of the hill. Where the bridge you are walking on reaches Buda, on the hillside, there is a colonnade with a huge statue raising a cross to the sky in his right hand. In summer you can also see a cascade refreshing the greenery of the hill with its water.

The statue depicts Saint Gellert, an evangelist, bishop and the first Christian martyr in Hungary. To understand his role in Hungarian history we have to go back more than a thousand years. The ancestors of Hungarians arrived from the east to Europe at the end of the 9th century as pagan, nomadic people. It was our first king Stephen, who converted the nation into Christianity with the help of a Benedictine monk from Venice.

In 1012, Gerardo (known as Gellert in Hungarian) was elected abbot of his monastery but three years later he abandoned his mantle as abbot and with two companions embarked on a voyage destined for the Holy Land to devote his life to explaining the Bible. Yet fate conspired. In the stormy Adriatic, they nearly got shipwrecked. After docking at the Croatian coast, Gerardo met a Hungarian Benedictine abbot, who persuaded him to take a "little detour". Come to Hungary first. When King Stephen met Gerardo, he realised what a treasure God sent him in the person of the monk and entrusted the education of his son, Imre to him and later appointed him bishop. Tragedy's shadow loomed, however, when Imre died, leaving the king without an heir. After the death of Stephen, during the religious and throne disputes, Gellért and his companions fell into the hands of the rebels. In September 1046, during a mass at St. Sabina's Church, he had a vision of their impending martyrdom. As they approached the so-called Pest port, the pagan rebels attacked them with a shower of stones, and the bishop was put in a barrel and pushed into the depths from the rocks of Kelen-hegy, which was later named after him and today it's called Gellert Hill.

After reaching the end of the bridge, turn left and walk down to the river. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Gellert Hill Waterfall
Matild Palace
Váci Street
Danubius Hotel Astoria
Károlyi Garden
Centrál Grand Cafe & Bar
Párisi Passage Restaurant
Budapest Inner-City Mother Church of Our Lady of the Assumption
Gellért Thermal Bath
Rudas Thermal Bath
Erzsébet Bridge
St Gellert Statue
Gellért Hill
Gellért Hill Cave
Liberty Bridge
Fővám Square
Central Market Hall

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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, Kossuth Lajos u. 19, 1053 Hungary
Total distance

3km
Final location
Budapest, 1093 Hungary
Distance back to start location

751.87m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts in front of the Danubius Hotel Astoria. You can get there by Metro No.2 (red line, stop: Astoria) or tram 47 or 49.
It's near the very central Deak Ferenc square, from where you can reach the starting point by walking.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

To marvel the inside of the Parisi Passage stop for a coffee or cake at Párisi Passage Restaurant.
Bring towels, slippers and a swimming costume, if you want to visit Rudas or Gellert Bath which we will pass by. In Rudas the Turkish section is not every day available for both genders, so check it on their website before you take the tour.
At the end of the tour visit the Central Market, one of the most popular tourist attractions of Budapest, if it's open. Around midday the gallery with food stalls might be very crowded and few places to sit down. Opposite the market is Vaci street, a pedestrian area with plenty of restaurants to choose from.

Best time of day

You can do the tour any time but on hot summer days take into consideration that along the Danube and on the bridges you can find little or no shade.
If you want to visit the Great Market (where this tour ends) after the tour, start the tour at least two hours before the Market closes. (It closes at 5 pm on Monday, 6 pm from Tuesday to Friday and 3 pm on Saturday. On Sundays and national holidays most shops in the market are closed)

Precautions

Bring sunblock and a bottle of water with you, especially on hot summer days.
Be very careful and pay attention to cyclists and electric scooters when you are walking along the river as the pavement is shared by these vehicles and pedestrians.

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“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.”