Danube Bridges & Promenade

Points of Interest

1. 

   © Wanderyarns

   Danube Bridges & Promenade · Stop 1

   Margit híd (Margaret Bridge)

   The bridge bends in the middle so that each half meets its branch of the river straight on; opened in 1876.

   The story

   Margit híd, or Margaret Bridge, is Budapest's second permanent bridge over the Danube, opened in 1876. Designed by Ernest Goüin, it's famous for its distinctive angled shape and a unique branch that gracefully curves directly to Margaret Island. It offers stunning panoramic views connecting the Buda Hills with the bustling Pest embankment, serving as a historic landmark and a path to tranquil urban nature.

   Step away from the usual tourist trails and discover a true "Budapest hidden gem": Margit híd, or Margaret Bridge. This architectural marvel, the second permanent bridge to grace the majestic Danube, opened its grand arches in 1876. As you approach, you'll immediately notice its unique, almost playful angled shape – a distinctive design by the brilliant French engineer Ernest Goüin that sets it apart from other crossings over the Danube River in the heart of Budapest.

   Imagine the gentle hum of the city fading as you step onto its historic pathway. The air fills with a fresh breeze carrying whispers from the river, and panoramic vistas unfold before your eyes, stretching from the Buda Hills to the bustling Pest embankment. But the true magic lies in its ingenious branch, a graceful curve that leads directly to the serene oasis of Margaret Island. This makes it a perfect starting point for those seeking "off the beaten path Budapest" adventures, inviting you to uncover "secret spots Budapest" away from the main tourist crowds.

   Stroll leisurely, perhaps at sunset when the sky ignites in fiery hues, casting a golden glow upon the water and the intricate ironwork of the bridge. It’s not just a crossing; it’s an experience, a tranquil escape that connects you deeply with the city's pulse and leads to verdant parks and thermal wonders. Margit híd isn't just steel and stone; it’s a gateway to "hidden Budapest", promising moments of wonder and a unique perspective on this enchanting city.

   What do you want here?

   🎟 Visit🍽 Eat & drink

   • Free to see from outside

   Next stop · 2 of 10

   Hungarian Parliament

   770 m · about 10 min on foot

   On the way to Hungarian Parliament

   The house that ran the one-party state

   From the Pest end of the bridge you walk south past Jászai Mari tér. The large pale building on the riverside, Széchenyi rakpart 19, is known simply as the "White House". It began in the early 1900s as a luxury apartment block with lifts, central heating and a built-in vacuum system. After war damage it became the Interior Ministry and the state security service used it; from 1961 until the change of system it was the headquarters of the ruling communist party. Today it holds the offices of the members of Parliament — the building that ran the one-party state now houses the elected one. Keep the river on your right: the Parliament's turrets appear ahead long before you reach it.

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2. 

   © Wanderyarns

   Danube Bridges & Promenade · Stop 2

   Hungarian Parliament

   A neo-Gothic parliament on the Danube, with turrets and stone tracery best seen from the Buda bank.

   • 🚶10 min from stop 1
   • 🎟Separate ticket

   The storyswipe · 10 cards

   Hungary's Parliament, a neo-Gothic building on the Pest bank of the Danube, designed by Imre Steindl and in use since 1902. Its turrets, arches and stone tracery shape the city's river front.

   Before

   From rubbish pit to the nation's square

   The square in front of you began as a plan by János Hild in 1804: the north half for houses, the south half for a market. Neither happened. The ground sank into a large pit and rubbish dump, and from 1844 it was filled in — probably why it was called Tömő tér, 'Fill Square'. The army used it for a small harbour and vehicle storage.

   When the Parliament began to rise here in 1885, the old name no longer fitted. On 12 May 1898 the 'less elegant' Tömő tér became Országház tér, Parliament Square. After the 1918 revolution the writer Gyula Krúdy had it renamed Republic Square for a few months; in 1927, on the 125th anniversary of Lajos Kossuth's birth, it got the name it still has: Kossuth Lajos tér.

   Why it was built

   A country without a parliament house

   For centuries Hungary's Diet met in Pozsony, today's Bratislava. When it moved to Pest in 1848 it sat in the old Vigadó, and from 1861 in the National Museum. In 1865 the House of Representatives got a stop-gap: Miklós Ybl's building in Sándor utca, put up by 800 workers in about three months. The 1867 Compromise was born there, while the upper house still met in the Museum.

   A permanent home was decided by law on 14 December 1880. It had to be grand — and soon: Parliament wanted to hold its 1896 millennium session, a thousand years after the Hungarian conquest, in the new building, so plans and schedule were bent to make it.

   How it was built

   Two domes, one Gothic winner

   Prime Minister Kálmán Tisza set up a committee with the architects Antal Weber and Miklós Ybl. Ybl's sketch placed the building end-on to the Danube, behind a garden. Count Gyula Andrássy wanted the opposite: right on the riverbank, its long front facing the water. The 1882 competition allowed both.

   Some twenty designs came in. Alajos Hauszmann's was the only one set at right angles to the river, in neo-Renaissance style, with two equal domes one behind the other — the jury did not like that, though it still won a prize. On 27 May 1883 the committee decided the building must be neo-Gothic, probably on Andrássy's advice with London's Houses of Parliament in mind. Only one entrant had used that style: Imre Steindl.

   How it was built

   Twenty years on Tömő tér

   The first spade went into Tömő tér on 12 October 1885, after a law of 1884 had approved Steindl's plan amid hot debate about cost and style. The topping-out was on 5 May 1894. To make the millennium, the central wing with the main entrance was finished first, in the summer of 1896.

   Imre Steindl, who had designed the building and run the site, did not see it finished: he died on 31 August 1902, a few weeks before the handover. On 8 October 1902 the House of Representatives held its first session here.

   Big moments

   Republics, war and a red star

   On 16 November 1918 the old parliament held its last session and dissolved itself, and the same day the Hungarian Republic was proclaimed on the square.

   In the siege of 1944–45 the building was a target. When the Soviet attack on Pest began on 1 January 1945, Major General Lazko's 30th Rifle Corps, on the northern flank, was ordered to fight its way through to the Danube at the Parliament. The building was badly damaged.

   Rebuilding started almost at once. On 1 February 1946 a republic was proclaimed again here, in front of several hundred thousand people. On 30 January 1948 five new Tr 5 buses, the first new public-transport vehicles in Budapest since the war, drove up from Alkotmány utca to the Parliament's main entrance, where Minister Antal Bán called it 'a new milestone of Hungary's reconstruction'.

   From 20 August 1950 a red star stood on top of the dome. It stayed for forty years.

   Big moments

   October 1956

   On the evening of 23 October 1956 about 200,000 people filled the square to hear Imre Nagy speak from the Parliament. Two days later, on 25 October, border-guard units and Soviet tanks opened fire on the unarmed crowd in front of the building — 'Bloody Thursday'.

   Big moments

   The same balcony, 33 years later

   At noon on 23 October 1989 — the anniversary of the 1956 revolution — Mátyás Szűrös, Speaker of Parliament and interim President, proclaimed the Republic of Hungary from the Parliament's balcony, the one Imre Nagy had spoken from in 1956. Tens of thousands stood on the square. On 31 January 1990 the red star came off the dome and a copy of the original finial went back up.

   Inside

   The Crown under the dome

   The Holy Crown came back from the United States in 1978: on 6 January the US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance handed it over in the Dome Hall. Since 1 January 2000 the Crown, the orb, the sceptre and the sword have been kept there.

   The Dome Hall is also where the nation says goodbye: Prime Minister Pál Teleki lay in state here in 1941, and in 1993 nearly a quarter of a million people filed past József Antall. The old Upper House chamber is a mirror image of the Lower House chamber and is now used for receptions. The world's first parliamentary museum opened in the north wing in 1929, and reopened in the Visitor Centre in 2015.

   Did you knowFREE

   The country's protest square

   Within months of the MPs moving in, the square saw its first demonstrations, in February 1903. In March 1903 a party rally marched here; on 15 September 1905 about 100,000 workers came to demand the vote. Republics were proclaimed here in 1918, 1946 and 1989, crowds came to hear Imre Nagy in 1956 — when you want to be heard in Hungary, you still come here.

   Did you know

   Short facts (one per swipe)

   • The stone decoration was already crumbling by the 1920s; façade restoration began in 1924, two decades after completion.
   • The Parliament was first lit at night in 1935; its fullest illumination was switched on on 2 August 2014.
   • Since 2014 the museum ship Lajta Monitor has been moored next to the Parliament.
   • On 11 June 1994 a bomb went off at gate XIX at dawn and caused serious damage.

   People heretap for more

   • AAlajos HauszmannArchitect
   • IImre SteindlArchitect
   • IImre NagyPrime Minister
   • MMátyás SzűrösSpeaker, interim President
   • PPál TelekiPrime Minister
   • JJózsef AntallPrime Minister

   Words at this stop

   Kossuth Lajos▾

   Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894) led Hungary's 1848–49 revolution and war of independence and spent the rest of his life in exile.

   Background

   What do you want here?

   🎟 Visit🍽 Eat & drink

   • Free to see from outside, and you can go inside
   • Tickets from HUF 14,000

   All hours & prices

   • Guided tour

     Guided tour of the Parliament building

     Opening hours

     Mon–Sun	08:00–18:00

     Winter (Jan-Mar) (Jan 1 – Mar 31)

     Mon–Sun	08:00–16:00

     Summer (Apr-Oct) (Apr 1 – Oct 31)

     Mon–Sun	08:00–18:00

     Winter (Nov-Dec) (Nov 1 – Dec 31)

     Mon–Sun	08:00–16:00

     Visitor Centre opening hours. Tours are 45 minutes at timed slots sold on Jegymester; visits can be cancelled at short notice for parliamentary or state events.

     Tickets

     EU citizen · Ticket for EEA citizensEEA nationals or residence-card holders	HUF 7,000
     Student · Student ticket for EEA citizens (ages 6–24)EEA nationals or residence-card holders; proof of eligibility required	HUF 3,500
     Adult · Ticket for non-EEA citizens	HUF 14,000
     Student · Student ticket for non-EEA citizens (ages 6–24)Proof of eligibility required	HUF 7,000
     Free · Visitors under the age of 6 (ages 0–5)	HUF 0
     Family · Family ticket for EEA citizens (adults)EEA. Per person. Family tickets need at least one child (0-14) and one or two accompanying adults; max 2 adult and 3 child tickets.	HUF 4,900
     Family · Family ticket for EEA citizens (students) (ages 6–14)EEA. Per person. Family tickets need at least one child (0-14) and one or two accompanying adults; max 2 adult and 3 child tickets.	HUF 2,450
     Family · Family ticket for non-EEA citizens (adults)Per person. Family tickets need at least one child (0-14) and one or two accompanying adults; max 2 adult and 3 child tickets.	HUF 11,200
     Family · Family ticket for non-EEA citizens (students) (ages 6–14)Per person. Family tickets need at least one child (0-14) and one or two accompanying adults; max 2 adult and 3 child tickets.	HUF 5,600

     No booking needed

     Official websiteChecked Oct 1, 2026

   Next stop · 3 of 10

   Shoes on the Danube Bank

   440 m · about 6 min on foot

   On the way to Shoes on the Danube Bank

   The Buda skyline in one frame

   Walk along the embankment with the water on your right. Across the river the whole Buda skyline lines up in one frame: the Castle Hill, the spire of Matthias Church and the white towers of Fisherman's Bastion. In the evening, when both banks are lit, this short stretch is one of the best free views in the city. The yellow tram running beside you is line 2, which follows the Pest embankment for most of the route of this tour. Slow down as you come to the next stop: it is a memorial, and people often stand there in silence.

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3. 

   © Wanderyarns

   Danube Bridges & Promenade · Stop 3

   Shoes on the Danube Bank

   Sixty pairs of iron shoes on the Pest bank, where Arrow Cross militiamen shot Jews into the Danube in 1944–45.

   • 🚶6 min from stop 2

   The story

   A Holocaust memorial on the Pest bank in front of the Parliament: sixty pairs of cast-iron shoes by Can Togay and Gyula Pauer (2005), remembering the victims shot into the river in 1944–45.

   In the winter of 1944–45 Arrow Cross militiamen brought Jewish victims to the river here. They ordered them to take off their shoes and shot them at the water's edge, so the current carried the bodies away. The usual explanation for the shoes is that they were valuable and could be sold.

   The memorial was conceived in 2005 by the film director Can Togay, who made it with the sculptor Gyula Pauer. The shoes are cast in iron from period footwear, of various ages and professions, set in a line on the stone as if their owners had just stepped out of them.

   Cast-iron plaques along the 40-metre stretch of embankment carry the dedication: to the memory of those shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. Visitors leave flowers, candles and small tokens in and around the shoes.

   Words at this stop

   Arrow Cross▾

   The Arrow Cross Party was Hungary's fascist, antisemitic party; with German backing it seized power on 15–16 October 1944; its rule ended as Soviet forces took Hungary in spring 1945.

   Background

   SS▾

   The SS was Nazi Germany's party police and military force; it ran the concentration and extermination camps.

   Background

   Holocaust in Hungary▾

   After the German occupation in 1944, about 437,000 Jews were deported from Hungary's provinces, most to Auschwitz; thousands more were murdered in Budapest in 1944–45.

   Background

   What do you want here?

   🎟 Visit🍽 Eat & drink

   • Free to see from outside

   Report a problem with this stop

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