Unofficial visitor guide · Budapest
Magyar Nemzeti Galéria · Google Maps
Official audio guide · English Yes · 6 languages · HUF 1,200
The Hungarian National Gallery fills the former Royal Palace in Buda Castle with Hungarian art from medieval altarpieces to the present. Its audio guide is a rented device in six languages: Hungarian, English, Italian, French, German and Chinese. If yours isn't one of them, here is what helps.
Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the Hungarian National Gallery.
Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official National Gallery website before you go.
Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official National Gallery website before you go.
Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.
Mary and a pregnant Elizabeth meet in a gentle landscape, but the bare trees and rocks hint at the Passion to come. The panel comes from a high altar in today's Slovakia whose other parts are scattered between Lille, Esztergom and a village church. First floor, Late Gothic Winged Altarpieces.
One of the first Hungarian open-air paintings, made at almost the same time as the Impressionists but independently of them. The figure at the centre is the painter himself, turning his back on the critics of his day.
Munkácsy's Paris home was a famous society salon, and some of the props in this lavish scene were objects from his own house. Look for the child playing with a puppy on the carpet. First floor, Variations on Realism.
At twenty square metres it is literally Csontváry's greatest painting. He wanted it to be "the most colourful sunset painting in the world". Second floor, Csontváry Cabinet.
The emblem of Hungarian Art Nouveau: two lovers like Adam and Eve make an offering to Venus in a dreamlike garden. Vaszary designed the ornate frame himself, so picture and frame merge. Second floor, Modern Times.
Berény, also a composer, painted his wife Eta deep in her music. The scene was wishful thinking: she had not played for years when he painted it. Second floor, Modern Times, South Corridor.
Painted at L'Estaque near Marseille, this still life balances fragile porcelain cups, a glass and a light sponge cake around one solid wine bottle. It hangs in the gallery's international collection after 1800. First floor, From Courbet to Baselitz.
Under the palace lies the tomb of Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary, and his family. Thieves broke in and ransacked it in 1973; it was walled up, restored and reconsecrated in 1987. You can visit it only on a booked guided tour.
The terraces around the palace dome, 54 steps above the top floor, have a view the gallery says no other place in the city can match. The Dome is temporarily closed; when it reopens, any exhibition ticket gets you up there, weather permitting, with up to 15 people at a time.
Tales of Museums reads the label in front of you aloud in your language, for any label you can photograph. The gallery asks you to mute your phone and not to talk loudly, so bring headphones and mobile data.
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The adult audio guide (HUF 1,200, rented device) is in Hungarian, English, Italian, French, German and Chinese. It is not offered in Spanish, Russian, Japanese or Korean. The ticket office and shop also sell a printed Masterpieces walk through 14 works for HUF 300. en.mng.hu: audio guide · en.mng.hu: Masterpieces guide
No. The Royal Palace was badly damaged in the Second World War and rebuilt as a museum, so no royal interiors survive. The one place that keeps something of the palace's 19th-century look is the Habsburg Palatine Crypt, open only on a booked guided tour. en.mng.hu: FAQ · en.mng.hu: Palatine Crypt
Yes, for personal use with any ticket, without flash, monopods, tripods or selfie sticks. Some temporary exhibitions restrict photos, which is signed at the entrance. en.mng.hu: museum rules
Yes. The rules ask you to mute your phone, avoid calls in the exhibitions and not disturb others with loud talking. You can charge your phone in a lockable cabinet in the first-floor family lounge or from USB ports on the third floor, with your own cable. en.mng.hu: museum rules · en.mng.hu: comfort services
Buy a ticket for your date online in advance; the gallery points to its official sellers on its tickets and FAQ pages. Tickets are valid for one entry on the day shown, and entry ends at 5 pm even with a pre-bought ticket. en.mng.hu: FAQ · en.mng.hu: tickets
Buses 16, 16A and 116 from Széll Kálmán tér, or 16 and 216 from Deák tér, run up to Dísz tér. For step-free access take bus 16 or 216 to Palota út, ride the Tabán lifts to Csikós Court, then use the ramp or lift to Hunyadi Court and the entrance in Building B. Wheelchairs are free to borrow. en.mng.hu: getting here
Not at the moment: the gallery's Dome page says the Dome is temporarily closed. When it is open, any exhibition ticket gets you up there from 10 am to 5 pm, by climbing 54 steps from the top floor. Up to 15 people can be on the terraces at once, and the Dome closes in bad weather. en.mng.hu: the Dome
There is a children's audio guide with an illustrated map, in which King Matthias leads children past 16 works in 60–80 minutes (HUF 500, Hungarian and Italian). Strollers for children up to 15 kg can be borrowed free, and there is a family room on the first floor. en.mng.hu: audio guide · en.mng.hu: comfort services
The Hungarian National Gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, and closed on Mondays, with last entry at 5 pm. Around some holidays the closing day moves: it opens on Easter Monday and Whit Monday and closes on the Tuesday after each, and it is closed on 24 and 25 December; on 31 December it closes at 4 pm. mng.hu: opening hours during holidays · mng.hu: FAQ
Entry to all exhibitions is free on Hungary's national holidays, 15 March, 20 August and 23 October, first come first served, but the gallery warns of waits of up to 1-2 hours at the entrance. Audio guides and guided tours are not available on those days, so pick another day if you want a calm visit. mng.hu: opening hours during holidays
Yes: the Hungarian National Gallery's café, on the ground floor of Building C, at the main entrance, serves hot and cold drinks, cakes, pastries and sandwiches. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5.45 pm. mng.hu: comfort services · mng.hu: FAQ
At the Hungarian National Gallery the free cloakroom is compulsory for umbrellas and for bags over 30 × 25 × 15 cm, and each visitor can leave one package of up to 40 × 50 × 80 cm; valuables can go in a free locker or in a free loan tote bag from the cloakroom. No bag may be carried on your back in the exhibitions, so hold a small backpack in your hand or wear it on your front, and the only drink allowed in is one clear bottle of still water of up to 0.5 litres. en.mng.hu: museum rules (visiting the museum, cloakroom)
Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Hungarian National Gallery. Translations, narration and the extra facts use AI and can contain mistakes, so for anything important, check the museum's official information and the linked sources. Please follow the museum's photography rules.