Buda Castle Buda Castle, Budapest
Buda Castle Opening Hours
The open air courts, courtyards of the Buda Castle are open day and night, 24/7. On special days, when festivals take place on the Buda Castle courts, the courts are fenced off, and you will need to buy a festival entry to be able to get access to the castle and its attractions.
Opening Hours of the Royal Palace
Daily Opening Times:
Monday: St Stephen’s Hall and History Museum are open, the rest of the museums inside the Buda Castle Royal Palace are closed. However, the Castle District remains open, as well as attractions like the Buda Castle Cave, the Matthias Church, the Funicular, etc.
Tuesday – Sunday: from 10 am to 6 pm (most Castle Hill attractions)
Please be advised that St. Stephen’s Hall, the recently refurbished wing of the Castle Museum, will undergo routine upkeep from March 16 to March 31, 2025, in preparation for its reopening on April 1. During this period, the rest of the Castle Museum, with its diverse halls and extensive exhibitions, will remain open as usual, welcoming visitors daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
The Castle Museum will be closed from March 24th to 26th, 2025.
Holiday Schedules
Holidays: depending on the holiday some attractions are closed while others are open in the Buda Castle District. For example, March 15, August 20, October 23 are national holidays but the major museums are open. Easter and Christmas holidays may differ from sight to sight, and Castle tour to tour. You can read more about Budapest Christmas and New Year Budapest on the festive city guides.
As the festivals are some of the best in Budapest, and well worth the entry fee, you will not be disappointed. Oftentimes the festival ticket includes free entrance to the buildings of the Buda Castle.
Opening Hours of the Castle Hill Attractions
Currently the Royal Palace (aka the Buda Castle) is the home of the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum, therefore, the opening hours of the buildings of the Buda Castle is identical with the opening hours of the Gallery and the Museum (as well as the less known Hungarian National Library, which also often features exhibitions).
- National Gallery (inside Castle): Tue-Sun 10 am – 6 pm (closed on Mondays, but often open on national holidays)
- History Museum (inside Castle): Monday – Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
- St Stephen’s Hall Museum (inside Castle): Monday – Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
- Buda Castle Cave/ Labyrinth (in Castle District): open all year round, every day (tour subject to availability)
- Fisherman’s Bastion (in Castle District): open all year round, every day. Walking Tour (value) available every day. From January 2 to May 31. 9:00 am to 7:00 pm// June 1 to September 30 9:00 am to 9:00 pm//
October 1 to December 23: 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. - Funicular uphill and downhill the Buda Castle Hill: available all year round (except for odd week maintenance hours on some Mondays). Private Castle Tours with Funicular, Cruise etc. available all year round.
- Matthias Church: open on most days (except for special occasions like weddings, etc.). Matthias Church Tours subject to availability.
- Alexander Presidential Palace: Changing of the Guards – hours seasonally changing, normally on display at weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Opening Hours of the Buda Castle District
Similarly to the Royal Palace, the Buda Castle district itself is open all day and night, at least regarding its streets, courts, and even some of its attractions, like the Fisherman’s Bastion, which is the finest lookout tower (a fairy tale tower complex) in the Buda Castle district. The Buda Castle hilltop, which is called the Buda Castle district makes a nice and romantic Budapest attraction for late night or early dawn walks too.
That being said, most of the castle attractions close at 6 or 8 pm, some of the restaurants and bars stay open until around 11 pm or midnight, and then the castle goes calm and quiet. Indeed, the parties and noisy nightlife of the city of Budapest takes place on the Pest side, while the Buda side, including the Buda Castle district, gets quiet and peaceful.
Last updated, Feb 2025
GOOD DAY,
PLEASE I AM GOING TO VISIT BUDAPEST BETWEEN 22 AUG AND 24 AUG 2016, AND MY PLAN TO VISIT THE BUDA CASTLE ON TUE 23 AUG ( AS I UNDERSTAND ALL THE FACILITIES WILL BE OPEN FOR VISITORS) , AND I BOOK FOR BUDAPEST CARD ALSO , MY QUESTION IS : IS THERE ANY FEE I HAVE TO PAY FOR VISITING IN MY SITUATION ?
AND WHAT ABOUT THE SEGWAY TOUR IS IT IN CHARGE OF FEE ?
APOLOGIZED FOR PROLONGATION.
REGAREDS
TALAL GHARIB
Dear Talal,
with Budapest Card, you can get free entry to the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. The Segway tour is not included, it is €40 per person for adults and €35 per person for students. Booking: https://budacastlebudapest.com/buda-castle-district-segway-tour/
Hi ,
I’m going to visit Budapest from 16th to 19st August. I whant to by the City Tourism Card . The Buda walking tours with this card include Fisherman’s Bastion ( inside ) and Matthias Church ( inside ) ? Thanks in advance.
Hi Octavian,
The Budapest Card provides a 10% discount of the entry to the Fisherman’s Bastion.
If you wish to visit the Matthias Church inside, I would recommend you to book the following walking tour: https://budacastlebudapest.com/buda-castle-matthias-church-tour/
Good afternoon,
I’m going to visit Budapest from 28th to 31st August.I know that on Mondays museums are closed but I have read in other websites that the castle district is going to be closed during all August.Is this true?
Or can we visit castle district and all the buildings without problem?
Thank you very much
Dear Laura,
there are some restrictions regarding parking in the Buda Castle District, but this does not affect the opening hours of the attractions.
To whom it might concern,
Please let me introduce myself, I’m Claudia, from F1 Latin America TV channel and I’m writing you because we would like to film in the Buda Castle on Thursday 21st of July due to the F1 Grand Prix taken place in your city.
We are a 24h cannel with Formula1, Gp2, Gp3 and Porsche Super Cup and we also have our own programmes and every time we travel to a GP we prepare a 2-3 min length report in which we explain the main landmarks and points of interest of the area where the GP takes places, their significant museums, streets, restaurants, etc.
We will just bring one camera with us, the reporter will be Jessika Fortunato and the cameraman Ignasi Martin.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information.
Looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
Thank you in advance,
Dear Claudia,
thank you for your inquiry.
Regarding media inquiries (Video / film shooting) please contact the Buda Castle Municipality, District I. Customer Service: ugyfelszolgalat [at] budavar [dot] hu
Hello,
Do you have any discount for journalists ?
Dear Armen,
unfortunately we cannot offer discount for media representatives. Thank you for your understanding.
I am sorry if I am using this space for questioning this but I did not find a ‘Contact us’ tab to do so. I’m trying to book a tour but the mensage “Payment page is downloading. Please wait” keep displaying on my screen, not completing the transaction. What other alternative do I have for booking? Thank you in advance.
Dear Ian,
we are sorry to hear that the booking function was temporarily not available. Could you please try it again? I think it is working properly now. Thank you for your patience.
hi, i would like to confirm the question that you ask me and the answer is yes, i would like to change the date of the tour to Sunday. it was a mistake the date that i wanted for the the tour is june 26 not 27
Dear Buda Castle,
between june 24 or 25 I will attend a blind person to visit the Buda Castle of Budapest. I would like to know if he has any reduction in prices and what documents must show to have them.
I look forward to your information.
Thank you
Dear Aldo, thank you for visiting the Buda Castle Hill and its attractions.
The wings of the Buda Castle building are currently the home of the Budapest History Museum and the Hungarian National Gallery.
People with disabilities and their companions (max 1 companion) are free to visit the Budapest History Museum. The History Museum has audio guides which blind visitors can listen to. Any photo ID proving the disability is accepted regardless of which country you are from.
People with disabilities and their companions (max 1 companion) are free to visit the Hungarian National Gallery if they come from a country which is member of the European Economic Area (EEA) with its 30 states. The Gallery currently does not have interactive tangible objects unfortunately. Any photo ID proving the disability is accepted regardless of which country from the EEA and EU you are from.
hi, i’m leticia canto and i would like to know what happened with the tickets that i bought because i didn’t receive the tickets in my email
Dear Leticia,
we have contacted you on your given email address regarding your booking. Now I have forwarded our message to your current address starting with let……, the original was sent to the email address starting with cbll….
We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Unfortunately you have chosen a date when no public tour is running, instead there are private tours.
Please contact us at info@budacastlebudapest.com asap, and also check your spam box for any communication we have recently sent to your email address
can you visit the castle without a guided tour? do you need to book for just walking round the castle? How much at all does this cost?
Hello Alexa,
the Castle courtyards (the open air courts) are not only open for tourists any day of the year (except for festival days), but are also free to enter. If you wish to take a visit inside the buildings of the Buda Castle, however, you will need to buy a ticket to one of the exhibitions featured in the museum / gallery within the buildings of the Castle (ticket prices €6 – €7 for the various exhibitions).
Budapest Card holders have free entry to almost all buildings in the Buda Castle including the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum (in the latter you can see some of the old furnishings which remained after WW2). Moreover, you will also get a free Castle District walking tour included in the price of the Budapest Card, which is a 2 hour tour in the Buda Castle district with major sights. Prices for the City Tourism Card (known as the Budapest Card) starting from €17 in 2016. The Card itself offers a range of other discounts, so well worth buying it if you wish to visit the Castle inside and get a tour, plus enjoy further benefits. Purchase of Budapest Card online on this website: http://budapestcards.com/