Labels at the Hungarian National Museum are in Hungarian, with English on many but not all of them, and the museum has no audio guide. Here is what helps if you don't read Hungarian.
Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the Hungarian National Museum.
The museum has no audio guide. English-language guided tours can be booked for groups of up to 30 at 25,000 HUF per group plus admission. mnm.hu: tickets
Allowed for private use without flash, tripods or selfie sticks. Photography is banned in the Coronation Mantle room, which has been closed to visitors for renovation since 2 December 2025 and was still closed on 21 October 2026. mnm.hu: house rules · mnm.hu: Coronation Mantle
Wi-Fi
Bring mobile data: visitor Wi-Fi is not among the services the museum lists. mnm.hu: services
Checked on 14 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Hungarian National Museum website before you go.
Plan your visit
Opening hours
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays. The ticket office closes at 17:00 and exhibitions start closing at 17:30. The museum is also closed on 24, 25 and 26 December 2026 and 1 January 2027, and closes at 14:00 on 31 December. Since 2 December 2025 the Coronation Mantle, Seuso Treasure, Széchényi Hall and Open Storage spaces have been closed for renovation; they were still closed on 21 October 2026. mnm.hu: opening hours · mnm.hu: nyitvatartás (2026 holiday hours) · mnm.hu: halls closed for renovation · mnm.hu: exhibitions
Tickets
Full price is 3,500 HUF. EEA citizens (Hungary included) pay 1,750 HUF if aged 6 to 26, aged 62 to 70 or on a full old-age pension, and go free if under 6 or aged 70 and over, or if under 26 on the third Saturday of each month; discounts need proof of eligibility and photo ID. Entry is free for all visitors on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October, and tickets are sold online at jegy.mnm.hu or at the ticket office. mnm.hu: tickets · mnm.hu: belépőjegy (Hungarian tickets page)
Getting there
The museum is at Múzeum körút 14-16. Take metro M3 or M4 to Kálvin tér, or metro M2 to Astoria; trams 47, 48 and 49, trolleybus 83 and buses 9, 15 and 115 stop at Kálvin tér, and buses 5, 7, 8, 107, 110, 112, 133, 178, 233 and 239 stop at Astoria. There is no visitor car park. mnm.hu: getting here
Tips for your visit
Arrive by mid-afternoon: the ticket office closes at 5 pm and exhibitions start closing at 5:30 pm.
Don't plan a Monday: the museum is closed.
Carry only a small handbag (up to 30 × 25 × 15 cm) into the galleries; leave the rest in the cloakroom or a free locker, which takes a refundable coin.
Bring mobile data, headphones and a charged phone: visitor Wi-Fi is not among the services the museum lists.
Take photos without flash, tripods or selfie sticks; they are for private use only.
Checked on 14 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Hungarian National Museum website before you go.
Highlights and stories
Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.
The Seuso Treasure, late Roman silver
In 1980 a young soldier was found dead in a wine cellar, and police noticed a filled-in pit there; the museum says the hoard's copper cauldron fits it exactly. In 1984, as the silver was offered to the Getty, János György Szilágyi spotted 'Pelso', the Roman name for Lake Balaton, on one piece. Its exhibition has been closed for renovation since 2 December 2025.
The Monomachus Crown plates, Byzantine, 11th century
Around 1860 a plough near Nyitraivánka (now Ivanka pri Nitre, Slovakia) turned up seven gold plates of Byzantine cloisonné enamel, hidden during 11th-century power struggles. They show Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus, Empress Zoë and her sister Theodora, two dancing women, and the Virtues Truth and Humility.
Tradition has Sándor Petőfi reciting his National Song on these steps on 15 March 1848. The museum's own history says he addressed the crowd here but did not recite it; according to Pestbuda, he read it at the Pilvax Café. Hungary's central 15 March ceremony is still held in front of the building.
Thomas Broadwood sent this grand piano to Beethoven in Vienna in 1817. Franz Liszt acquired it in 1846 and kept it as a relic, then in 1873, after marking 50 years as an artist, gave his most treasured objects to this museum, with the piano the star of the gift. Find it in Room 13.
Mozart's travelling clavichord, Johann Andreas Stein, 1762
The small travelling clavichord in Room 13 was the young Mozart's portable instrument. Built in 1762, it is the only surviving clavichord by the Augsburg organ builder Johann Andreas Stein, and the museum bought it together with all its documents in 1965.
Look among the carvings on this saddle for Saint George and the dragon and the badge of King Sigismund's Order of the Dragon. Collector Miklós Jankovich bought it in Bucharest, and the museum says the badge lends weight to the legend that it belonged to Vlad Tepes, who got the name Dracula from that order.
A late 17th-century inscription on its base links this goblet to King Matthias, who died in 1490, yet its glass technique, vetro a retortoli, was only patented in Murano in 1527. The museum thinks it came from Habsburg use and was relabelled during the 17th-century cult of Matthias.
The museum is frank about it: this double cross of King Louis I (the Great) is a 19th-century Viennese forgery. Only the enamel pieces on its base are genuine medieval work, so look closely at the foot rather than the cross.
Between 1927 and 1930 a reinforced concrete slab was slipped into the very tall second floor, creating a hidden extra level lit by skylights. According to Pestbuda, the Louvre's director admired it, though architect Jenő Lechner also destroyed painted rooms he took for later additions: they were the young Miklós Ybl's work.
When the exhibitions opened on 24 January 1848, visitors left parasols, umbrellas, sticks and swords with the gatekeeper, and children under 10 could not come in alone. Each collection had its days, coins and antiquities on Mondays and Thursdays, and a bell in the courtyard rang for opening and closing.
Tales of Museums reads the Hungarian label in front of you aloud in your language. Bring mobile data for the app.
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Listen in your language. The label is translated and read aloud in a natural voice, in any of twelve languages, and each sentence lights up as it is read.
Learn more. Key terms explained in plain words, and a few interesting facts with their sources.
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Questions visitors ask
Which parts of the museum are closed?
The Coronation Mantle, the Seuso Treasure, the Széchényi Hall and Open Storage have been closed for renovation since 2 December 2025, and were still closed on 21 October 2026. mnm.hu: halls closed for renovation · mnm.hu: exhibitions
Is the Holy Crown of Hungary here?
No. It was kept at the museum from 1978 until 1 January 2000, when it moved to the Parliament building. The museum still holds the medieval Coronation Mantle, but its room has been closed for renovation since 2 December 2025 and was still closed on 21 October 2026. Wikipedia · mnm.hu: Coronation Mantle
Can I take photos?
Yes for private use, without flash, tripods or selfie sticks. Photography is banned in the Coronation Mantle room, which is closed for renovation for now. mnm.hu · mnm.hu: Coronation Mantle
Can I join a guided tour in English?
Yes, as a booked group of up to 30 people, at 25,000 HUF per group plus admission. mnm.hu
When is the Hungarian National Museum open?
Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm; it is closed on Mondays. The ticket office closes at 5 pm and the galleries start closing at 5:30 pm, so arrive by mid-afternoon. mnm.hu: admission information
How much is a ticket, and are there free days?
The permanent exhibition costs 3,500 HUF, and everyone gets in free on 15 March, 20 August and 23 October. Citizens of Hungary and other EEA countries enter free under 6 or aged 70 and over, and pay half price aged 6 to 26, with ID. mnm.hu: tickets
How do I get to the Hungarian National Museum?
Take metro M3 or M4 to Kálvin tér, or trams 47, 48 or 49 to the Kálvin tér stop. Metro M2 stops at Astoria, also close by. The address is Múzeum körút 14-16; the museum has no car park. mnm.hu: getting here
Do I have to leave my bag at the cloakroom?
Yes: for security, using the cloakroom or lockers is compulsory, and only handbags up to 30 × 25 × 15 cm may go into the galleries. Lockers are free with a refundable coin deposit. Umbrellas and food are not allowed in the galleries, and children under two must be in a stroller or a front-mounted baby carrier. mnm.hu: house rules
Is there a café at the Hungarian National Museum?
Yes, the Hungarian National Museum has a café on the ground floor, near the toilets. Visitors may eat their own food there without buying anything, but food and drinks are not allowed in the exhibition rooms. mnm.hu: useful information for families · mnm.hu: house rules
Is the Hungarian National Museum good for children?
Families from the EEA can buy a family ticket for 2 adults and 1-3 children (7,200 HUF). On the third Saturday of each month the permanent exhibitions are free for EEA citizens under 26, and for one or two parents or close relatives with at least two children under 18. With a stroller, use the step-free gate on Bródy Sándor utca (ring the bell at weekends) and staff will take you in; changing tables are on the ground floor next to the café and on the mezzanine. mnm.hu: useful information for families · mnm.hu: tickets · mnm.hu: house rules
Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Hungarian National Museum. 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.