Free entry 12
Museums and sights that are free, always or on certain days. From each place’s official page.
Always free
- ViewpointFisherman's Bastion
Upper lookout terrace free before 9:00 and after the paid hours (after 19:00; after 21:00 June-September); free all day on 1 Jan, 15 Mar, 20 Aug, 23 Oct and 24-31 Dec
Source: budavar.hu - MuseumHungarian National Museum
Free for all visitors on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (Hungarian national holidays)
Source: mnm.hu - MuseumMuseum of Fine Arts
Free for everyone on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (Hungarian national holidays)
Source: budapest.net - MuseumHungarian National Gallery
Free admission on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (Hungarian national holidays)
Source: budacastlebudapest.com - MonumentVajdahunyad Castle
Museum of Hungarian Agriculture (inside the castle) free for all visitors on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October
Source: mezogazdasagimuzeum.hu - Ancient siteAquincum Museum and Archaeological Park
Free for all visitors on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (Hungarian national holidays)
Source: aquincum.hu - MuseumMuseum of Ethnography
Free for everyone on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October (Hungarian national holidays)
Source: neprajz.hu - MuseumHolocaust Memorial Center
Free for all visitors on Hungarian national holidays (15 March, 20 August, 23 October)
Source: hdke.hu - Place of worshipInner City Parish Church
Sundays: the upper (main) church can be visited free
Source: visitesztergom-budapest.hu
Tax-free shopping
Visitors can get the VAT back here.
Only for people who live outside the EU; nationality does not matter. If you live in Türkiye you qualify. A Turkish citizen living in the EU does not.
- VAT rate
- 27%
- Minimum purchase
- More than EUR 175 per purchase (HUF 68,000 in 2026).
- Time limit
- Take the goods out of the EU, new and unused, within 90 days. Exit cannot be certified afterwards.
- Where to get it approved
- Customs where you leave the EU. Budapest airport: CAS self-service kiosks for digital certification (for CAS partner shops).
Step by step
- Show your passport when you pay. The shop gives you the invoice and two copies of the tax refund form (unless it uses the digital CAS system).
- When you leave the EU, show your passport, the goods, both form copies and the original invoice to customs, or use the CAS kiosk at Budapest airport.
- The names on the invoice and form must match your passport; nobody else can claim for you.
Official sources: nav.gov.hu, en.wikipedia.org
Lost passport
If your passport is lost or stolen, here is what to do.
If you are a citizen of another country
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in this city. Your foreign ministry’s website lists its address.
If you are a Turkish citizen
- Book an appointment with the Turkish mission in this city at konsolosluk.gov.tr and go in person.
- If you need to get home, ask for a temporary passport. It is free, valid for one trip to Türkiye or to the country you live in, and usually valid for one month.
- Bring your Turkish ID card (if it is lost too, a photo document such as a driving licence), a biometric photo 50 x 60 mm taken in the last six months, and your ticket home.
- For a lost passport you do not need a police report.
- The temporary passport ends with that trip. Apply for a new passport in Türkiye or at the mission in the country you live in.
Turkish mission here
Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Budapest
Andrássy út 123, 1062 Budapest, Hungary
Call: +36 1 478 91 00
Out of hours: +36 70 355 72 33
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, konsolosluk.gov.tr (Passport: lost passport, temporary passport).
Show the waiter
Sentences in Hungarian to show the waiter or the driver.
A számlát kérem.
Két személyre asztalt kérek.
Van vegetáriánus étel?
Allergiás vagyok a diófélékre és a földimogyoróra.
Van gluténmentes étel az étlapon?
Kaphatok egy pohár csapvizet, kérem?
Elnézést, hol van a mosdó?
Kérem, vigyen el erre a címre.
Checked against phrasebooks. Tell us if a sentence sounds wrong.