The royal palace of the Hungarian kings on the hill above the Danube, now home to the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. Here you’ll find how to visit Buda Castle, which tour or ticket to choose, the weather during opening hours and how to get up the hill.
Castle Hill is a city district, with streets, squares and terraces to explore on foot. Inside the palace there are museums, each with its own ticket. Tiqets doesn’t sell the castle.
Hungarian National Gallery – HUF 5,800 (reduced HUF 2,900), the permanent collection in the palace. The ticket also covers the panoramic dome. Audio guide HUF 2,000. Buy it on the official Hungarian National Gallery website.
Castle Hill tour on GetYourGuide – from €39. Palace, Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion with a guide.
Walk with St Stephen’s Hall on GetYourGuide – from €26. Includes entry to the hall.
Our pick: the €39 Castle Hill tour, refundable and covering the main sights and their history in under half a day. For a shorter visit with a palace interior, the €26 walk with St Stephen’s Hall is excellent value. Art lovers should add the National Gallery and its dome.
About prices: the museums charge in Hungarian forints (HUF); check the exchange rate before you go.
Our pick
Castle Hill tour: palace, Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church
Guided walk through the Castle District
Buda Castle, Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion
Guide in English (also Italian, French, Spanish, German)
Matthias Church entry only with the upgrade option
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Live guide in English
2.5–3.5 hours · free cancellation up to 24 hours before · 4.7 from 204 reviews
The easiest way to make sense of the hill with a guide; the palace museums are paid separately.
Today and tomorrow the forecast is accurate hour by hour; up to day seven it is reliable on the trend; the last days give a rough idea. Updated every hour.
Buda opening hours and best time to visit
Today, Friday, October 30: open 10:00–18:00.
Period
Hours
10:00–18:00
Closed every Monday.
Hours: the Castle District is a city space. The National Gallery in the palace is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm (last entry 5 pm); the dome 10 am to 5 pm.
Best time to visit: May, June and September. Warm but not scorching days, perfect for walking on the hill.
Summer: highs around 29 °C; go in the morning or evening.
Winter: highs of 4–5 °C, but the museums stay open.
Month by month
Month
Average high
Rainy days
Jan
5°
6
Feb
7°
6
Mar
12°
6
Apr
19°
6
MayRecommended
23°
8
JunRecommended
27°
7
Jul
29°
6
Aug
29°
6
SepRecommended
23°
6
Oct
17°
7
Nov
11°
7
Dec
5°
7
1991–2020 normals for the Budapest weather station: average high and rainy days. Source: HungaroMet, table published on Wikipedia (article “Budapest”).
Buda in the rain: what changes
The Castle District is all outdoors, but the palace museums are indoors.
Indoors: the National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum and St Stephen’s Hall.
Dome: in bad weather the dome balconies are closed.
Rain: Budapest has 6–8 rainy days a month, a few more in May.
Queues and crowds
National Gallery: closed Mondays, last entry 5 pm.
Dome: for safety, only a limited number of people are allowed on the terraces at once.
Annual visitor numbers for Castle Hill are not published.
An hour-by-hour crowd estimate is coming later, always marked as an estimate and with its source.
What to see inside Buda
Gardens and terraces below the palace
The royal palace: the long Baroque façade above the Danube, with panoramic terraces.
The Hungarian National Gallery: from medieval to modern art, plus the Habsburg Palatinal Crypt.
The dome: 54 steps up from the gallery’s top floor for a sweeping view of the city.
St Stephen’s Hall: one of the palace’s reconstructed halls.
The Castle District: Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion, a few minutes’ walk away.
The history of Buda
1247–1265: King Béla IV builds the first royal residence on the hill.
1541: the Ottomans occupy Buda; in 1686 the Holy League retakes it after a long siege.
1749–1769: the Baroque palace that now covers most of the hill is built.
1945: the Siege of Budapest badly damages it; it is rebuilt in a simplified Baroque style.
1987: the Buda Castle Quarter becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with the banks of the Danube.
Useful tips for your visit
Time: the tour takes 2.5–3.5 hours; the museum suggests 1.5–3 hours for the National Gallery.
Mondays: the National Gallery is closed, so pick another day if you want to go in.
Comfortable shoes: slopes, stairways and cobbles.
Accessibility: the walking tours aren’t suitable for people with limited mobility.
Getting to Buda
By funicular: the Budavári Sikló climbs from the Chain Bridge (Adam Clark Square) to the castle. It has run since 1870 and was rebuilt in 1986 after the war.
On foot: from the Chain Bridge, stairways and paths lead up the hill.
What will the weather be like at Buda this weekend?
Saturday, October 31: Perfect day: partly cloudy, 9 to 12 degrees, no rain. Sunday, November 1: Good: cloudy, 8 to 11 degrees, no rain.
Is Buda Castle free to visit?
The hill with its streets and terraces is a city space. The museums in the palace, such as the Hungarian National Gallery (HUF 5,800), and guided tours are paid.
What are the National Gallery opening hours at Buda Castle?
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm, last entry 5 pm; closed Mondays. The dome is open 10 am to 5 pm.
Are there guided tours of Buda Castle?
Yes: GetYourGuide sells a Castle Hill tour with the palace, Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion from €39, and a walk including St Stephen’s Hall from €26. Both can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.
How do you get up to Buda Castle?
By the Budavári Sikló funicular from the Chain Bridge, or on foot via stairways and paths.
How long do you need for Buda Castle?
Half a day for the hill and one museum; the guided tour takes 2.5–3.5 hours and the National Gallery 1.5–3 hours.
Is there a 15-day forecast for Buda?
Reliable forecasts reach about 10 days: here you get the next 10, hour by hour for today and tomorrow and as a trend after that. To pick a month, check the climate month by month.
Where does this data come from?
Forecasts come from MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the castle’s coordinates and updated every hour during the day and every 3 hours at night. Crowd figures are labelled as estimates, with their source.
Buda tickets
Castle Hill tour: palace, Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church · from €39
Forecast by MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the castle’s coordinates. Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), updated every hour. Updated: October 30, 2026.
Castle Hill tour: palace, Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Churchfrom €39 · Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
