Synagogue in Budapest
Also known as Dohány utcai zsinagóga
Paid entryThere is an entry charge.
The Dohany Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world, a Moorish Revival building with twin onion-domed towers in the heart of Budapest’s Jewish Quarter. Entry is paid. The complex includes the Jewish Museum, the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park, and the Tree of Life memorial. Free walking tours of the Jewish Quarter start nearby and use the synagogue as a reference point. Budget travelers who pay the ticket see one of the most architecturally striking religious buildings on the continent.
Practical
On foot
Free and low-cost routes that stop at Dohany Street Synagogue.
The TriptoBudapest General Walk is a free walking tour covering both sides of the Danube in 2.5 hours, running since 2008 and one of the most established free tours in Central Europe. Budget travelers book the morning slot and pair it with a thermal bath visit in the afternoon.
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Continental Europe's oldest metro line, built in 1896, runs directly under Andrassy Avenue from the city center to Heroes' Square. Above it, the boulevard was laid out simultaneously as Budapest's answer to the Champs-Elysees: Neo-Renaissance palaces and mansions, the Hungarian State Opera House, luxury shops, and 2.5 kilometers of plane trees.
Buda Castle has been destroyed and rebuilt at least six times, which makes the Baroque (meaning the ornate 17th-18th century style of the Habsburg empire) palace visible today something of an illusion: it was shelled in 1686 when the Habsburgs retook it from the Ottomans, nearly obliterated in the 1944-1945 siege, and then gutted by the Communist government
Tram 2 runs along the Pest side of the Danube from Jaszai Mari Square to the National Theatre, passing the Parliament, the Chain Bridge, the Vigado Concert Hall, and the Central Market Hall. A standard transit ticket covers the ride.
The Chain Bridge (Szechenyi Lanchid) was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest, connecting Clark Adam Square on the Buda side to Roosevelt Square on the Pest side. Free to cross.
City Park (Varosliget) is the green space behind Heroes' Square, home to the Szechenyi Baths, Vajdahunyad Castle (a whimsical mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, free to walk the grounds), and a boating lake that becomes an ice rink in winter. Free.
Elisabeth Square (Erzsebet ter) is a public square on the Pest side near the Deak Ferenc transport hub, with a park, a Ferris Wheel, and open-air cafes. Free.
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The whole of Budapest