A short, quiet loop through District VIII's 'Palace Quarter': after 1849 Hungary's country aristocrats built their Pest town houses on the streets behind the National Museum, many designed by Miklós Ybl. You see the old House of Representatives, three palaces round one small square, a whole street of palaces and finish inside a palace that is now a public library. No overlap with the existing routes.
Best time: Weekday late morning or afternoon, when the Szabó Ervin library is open (Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00, Sat 10:00-16:00) and you can go in for the ballroom
The route, stop by stop
- 1Hungarian National Museum
Pollack's Neoclassical museum (1837-47); the 1848 revolution began on its steps. Walk round the back through the museum garden: the streets behind it are the Palace Quarter, where country aristocrats built town palaces after 1849, most between about 1860 and 1900. 15 min outside.
- 2Bródy Sándor utca 8: the Old House of Representatives
Ybl's 1865 building where Hungary's lower house sat before the Parliament was built; today the Italian Cultural Institute. Look also at the Keszlerffy palace next door at No. 6 (1897). 5 min.
- 3Pollack Mihály tér: three palaces on one square
The square behind the museum is ringed by palaces: No. 3 the Festetics palace (Ybl, 1862, now the Andrássy German-language university), No. 8 the Esterházy palace (1865, the president's residence in 1946-48 and later home of Hungarian Radio's Marble Hall until 2022) and No. 10 the Károlyi palace by Ybl, for decades a store room of Hungarian Radio and Television (PestBuda, 2017). 15 min.
- 4Reviczky utca palace row
Reviczky utca packs four palaces: No. 2 Pálffy (Ybl, 1867), No. 3 Berczik (1893-96), No. 4 Wenckheim (1889, now Károli University humanities faculty) and No. 5 Bánffy (1873). 10 min.
- 5Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library
The Wenckheim palace (1887-90, József Pucher) has been the central public library since 1931. Ask for a visitor pass at the entrance (bring ID) and climb to the 4th-floor ballroom and smoking room, where students now read. Mon-Fri 10:00-20:00, Sat 10:00-16:00. 30 min.
More walks in Budapest
- Castle Hill loop: funicular to Vienna Gate
- Danube promenade, Pest side: Parliament to the Great Market Hall
- Andrássy Avenue to Heroes' Square and City Park
- Jewish Quarter: three synagogues
- Gellért Hill climb: Cave Church to the Citadella and Rudas
- Margaret Island loop
- Wekerletelep: the garden-city estate of Kispest
- Óbuda: baroque square, synagogue, Roman arena and Kiscell
- Felhévíz: rose hill, Gül Baba's tomb and the Ottoman baths
- Buda Hills: Normafa to János-hegy and down by chairlift
- Lipótváros Art Nouveau: Bedő House to Lechner's Postal Savings Bank