What to see in Pest?

Pest Industrialisation allowed Budapest to develop rapidly during the late 19^th century, and one of the nicest places to get a feel for this period is in City Park, north-east of the centre. Take metro No 1 (the yellow line) to Széchenyi Fürdõ.

This line, the oldest underground railway on the continent, opened in 18% and was renovated for its centenary. You’ll come out of the ; station right in the middle of the park beside the Széchenyi Baths (1913), behind which is the Vidám Park, with amusement rides, the Grand Circus and the Budapest Zoo.

A popular resort for Pest dwellers even today is the Városliget-City Park. Standing on an island in the boating lake is Vajdahunyad Castle (1896), partly modelled after a fortress in Transylvania but with Gothic, Romanesque and baroque wings and additions to reflect architectural styles from all over Hungary. The Agricultural Museum is housed in the castle. Opposite the main entrance is a statue of Anonymus, the first medieval Hungarian chronicler. The entrance to the Agricultural Museum is found in the baroque wing of the castle. During the winter there is an openair skating rink open to the public.
Other places to visit: The zoo, open daily 09:00-18:00 hrs, until 16:00 during winter.
The circus and the amusement park, open daily 10:00-20:00 hrs
The Széchenyi baths found opposite the circus
The Transport Museum at Városligeti körút 11

The City Park’s dominant feature is the entrance at Hõsök tere with a great monument erected in 1896 for the millennium of the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also here. On the south-east side of the square is the Mûcsarnok, an exhibition hall built for the Millenary Exhibition in 1896, now fully restored and used for art exhibits. On the other side of the square is the Museum of Fine Arts (1906), housing Hungary’s richest collection of foreign art, with prints and ancient sculpture on the ground floor, and European paintings on the 1st floor. The collection of Spanish paintings is one of the best outside Madrid.

From Hõsök tere, stately Andrássy út runs straight into the heart of Pest. To save yourself a long walk, take the metro to Opera. The State Opera House was built in 1884 in the neo-Renaissance style and the daily tours at 3 and 4 p.m. are worth taking, especially if you can’t catch a performance. Many of the other great buildings along this section of Andrássy út date from this time, including Drechsler House opposite, which now houses the State Ballet Institute. Proceed south-west on this fashionable avenue and round the corner onto Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út. You’ll see the 96-metre-high neo-Renaissance dome of St Stephen’s Basilica (1906) looming before you. The right hand - the so-called Holy Right or Holy Dexter - of St Stephen is kept in the chapel at the rear of the church behind the altar. The ticket office just inside the basilica charges admission to the treasury, not to the basilica itself.

Cross the square in front of the basilica and continue straight ahead for a block on Zrínyi utca, then right on Október 6 utca. Proceed straight ahead onto Szabadság tér with the Art Nouveau National Bank (1900) to the right and the Hungarian Television(MTV) Building (1906), formerly the Budapest Stock Exchange, to the left. At the end of the square in front of the US Embassy at No 12 is the Soviet Army Memorial (1945), one of the few such monuments left in the city.

As you look up Vécsey utca from the memorial you see the great neo-Gothic silhouette of the Parliament building (1904) on Kossuth Lajos tér. Tours in English (400/100 Ft adult/concession) are available but leave at different times depending on whether Parliament is sitting. Ask Tourinform for details. The Ethnography Museum (1896) also faces Kossuth Lajos tér at No 12.

There’s a metro station on the south side of Kossuth Lajos tér and for a more dramatic view of the Parliament building, take the metro for one stop over to Batthyány tér on the Buda side, where you’ll also find a large public market hall and some old churches.