Buda Castle (Budavar), Budapest

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Buda Palace is a complex of buildings on the castle hill and the feature which dominates any view from the banks of the Danube with it's famous green dome.

It's home to the Hungarian National Gallery and Budapest History Museum as well as being quite pleasant to walk around in it's own right.

We entered via the Habsburg steps which follow an ornamental gateway (dating from 1903) from near the Sikló funicular and lead down into the gardens of the palace where there are several fountains and statues including that of Prince Eugene of Savoy astride his horse. The statue commemorates the 1697 battle of Zenta which was seen as important in the war with the Turks. At this point you will be near the entrance to the Hungarian National Gallery which is well worth seeing. Nearby there is a small passage which leads throughto a courtyyard where you will find the Mátyás Fountain which depicts the Hungarian king Mátyás Corvinus and was designed by Alajos Stróbl in 1904.

A much larger archway here is the Lion Gate, so named because it is guarded on each side by two stone lions, and this leads through to a completely encircled courtyard known as the Lions courtyard where you will find the Budapest History Museum

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The Budapest History Museum is located deep inside Buda Palace with it's entrance off the Lions Courtyard. It's free entry if you have a Budapest card and one of those places with a compulsory cloakroom where you must leave your bags. If you want to take pictures then you must buy an additional photography ticket.

I'm afraid I was a little disappointed with this museum. The captioning seems to be almost not existant in English (and scarce in Hungarian actually!). The exhibition of gothic statues (which I have since found out were discovered by chance on the site during excavations of the medieval palace in 1974) is almost completely without anything to explain what the exhibits are at all in any language. The basement level which includes the excavations of parts of the medieval royal palace is slightly more engaging, but not much.

It seems such a shame that in a location where they are gifted with so many tourists of all nationalities who are ready to visit such places that they haven't made more of an effort to update the museum and make it more engaging.

The museum cafe is however good value and has some excellent cakes on sale.

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The Hungarian National Gallery is housed within one of the buildings of Buda Palace on Castle Hill. If you have a Budapest Card then your entry is free here. As we found with pretty much all museums and galleries in Budapest it is compulsory to leave you bag at the cloakroom (but this is free). You have to buy an extra ticket to take photographs inside.

The building is quite impressive in it's own right but I think this will be best seen once you reach the 3rd floor landing and can appreciate the roof and look down accross all the other floors.

The 1st floor is occupied by pre- 20th century works and as is usually the case almost all of them are on a religious or semi-religious theme. If this is what you enjoy then they do have a good collection so enjoy. Personally it's not really my thing although the exhibition of alterpieces they have rescued from around Hungary (and it's former conquests) is quite pleasant on the eye.

On the 2nd floor they have early 20th century works which are in my opinion a little more interesting.

For me the highlight was however (and this will be very controversial) the 3rd floor with it's exhibition of art since the second world war - a great deal of it very abstract and very very modern. Being a philistine I don't claim to understand any of it but I did find it to be a collection which I enjoyed looking at. It was interesting (if bizarre in places) and colourful. The sculptures on the 3rd floor landing are fantastic.

The toliets are not in great condition but are servicable if absolutely needed.

This is the bus stop in front of the entry at the Fishermans bastion and the Matthias church.
Of course, you can reach it also by foot. When passing The Chain Bridge you'll arrive at Clark Adam ter, turn on the right into Hunyadi Janos street and that's it.
On this picture you can see the Jesuits Stars which lead up through the Fishermen's Bastion to the Matthias Church. The edges of the stairs and walkways are decorated by neo-Romanesque ornamentation.

When we entered the premises of the Royal Palace we were welcomed by a statue of a mighty bird with an impressive wingspan holding a sword.
This was the Turul, a mythological bird which has become the symbol of power of the Hungarian people. It features more than once in ancient Hungarian mythology.

In one legend the Turul impregnated a woman and a stream emerged from her womb, giving rise to the whole Hungarian nation. In another legend the Turul was carrying Attila's sword and showed the way to the Magyar tribes during their migration, and when it dropped the sword near the Danube river this was the sign for the right spot to stop wandering, settle down and build their capital.

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Besides the annual wine festival, Buda Castle also started hosting the annual beer festival this year between 25-28 August 2011. We enjoyed the local and international beers with my wife and friends. There were many food stalls to find the right snack to accompany your beer. Also many music bands took stage during the festival to let everybody have more fun. The attendance was really high and there were queues in most beer stalls. In overall, we enjoyed it so much.

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The annual wine festival in Buda Castle celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. You can find many local and international examples of fine wines in this festival. Of course, there are food stalls, music and dance shows to fill your day. Don't be surprised with the crowd and the queues in front of wine stalls.

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Buda Castle has a fantastic panaromic view over Danube. You can reach to the top by funicular, by bus, by bike or by walking. National Gallery is located inside the castle as well as a very nice fountain, eagle statue and lion statues. There are annual wine and beer festivals organized at Buda castle and it is incredible to see how many people can fit into that area. You can find more details about wine and beer festivals in dedicated tips.