The museum sits at the far southern end of Buda Castle, which is the part of the hill most visitors never walk to, and the three ways in arrive on three different levels. Get the door right and the rest is easy.
From Pest, take bus 16 to Dísz tér and walk about 8 minutes south. From the Buda side, bus 16A from Széll Kálmán tér runs to the same stop every few minutes. The nearest stop of all is the lift stop on Palota út, about 3 minutes from the entrance, but buses only call there coming down the hill. Driving is the one arrival to rule out, because there is nowhere to park.
Location and address
The three entrances
All three have a ticket office, and which one suits you depends on which side of the hill you arrive from. Only the first is step-free.
The Lion Courtyard, the main entrance
The door everybody should use unless they are coming up from the river. It is on the Lion Courtyard, the cobbled yard inside the palace, with a bronze sculpture group on either side of the arch and the museum’s name on banners above them. The Hungarian National Gallery has the opposite side of the same courtyard.
Reach it on foot from Dísz tér or up by lift from Palota út, both described below. It is the accessible entrance, and the ticket office for St Stephen’s Hall is here too.
The King's Cellar, from the eastern castle wall
The river-side way in, reached from the Castle Garden Bazaar by the open-air escalator and lift on its right-hand side, or by the steps if you would rather climb. It brings you straight into the medieval palace level at the bottom of the museum, which is a good way to see the building and a poor way to pace a visit, because you then work upwards against the museum’s own numbering.
It has a ticket office and it is where the museum sells its publications. It is not accessible, because the medieval palace it opens into cannot be made barrier free.
The Castle Garden Bazaar
The third ticket office is down at the Castle Garden Bazaar itself, at the foot of the hill by the river. On an ordinary day, buying here won’t save you any queueing, but it is useful if you are already at the Bazaar and want the ticket in hand before the climb.
Trams 19 and 41 stop at Várkert Bazár on the embankment, and it is about 11 minutes from there to the museum by the escalator and lift.
By public transport
Castle Hill has no metro of its own. Everything arrives by bus up the hill, by tram along the river below it, or by the funicular from Clark Ádám tér, and the walk at the end is part of every route.
By bus
Four routes serve the hill and they behave differently.
- Bus 16A runs between Széll Kálmán tér, where the M2 metro stops, and Dísz tér. It is the workhorse: 5 to 6 minutes for the ride and roughly one every four minutes through the day. From Dísz tér it is about 8 minutes on foot south to the Lion Courtyard
- Bus 16 runs the long way, from Deák Ferenc tér in Pest over the Chain Bridge, up the hill and round to Széll Kálmán tér, roughly every nine minutes. Deák Ferenc tér to Dísz tér takes 8 to 10 minutes
- Buses 116 and 216 are the extras. The 216 is about as frequent as the 16, and the 116 runs only about fifteen journeys a day, so it is not a route to plan around
Palota út, gyorslift, the stop right below the museum, is only served going down the hill, from Széll Kálmán tér towards Deák Ferenc tér. Coming up from Pest on the 16 you will not stop there, so get off at Dísz tér and walk.
From the Palota út stop, two lifts take you up the hillside and a second pair take you up to the Lion Courtyard level, about 3 minutes in all. The bus stop itself is not flagged as wheelchair accessible; Dísz tér, Clark Ádám tér and Várkert Bazár all are.
By tram
Trams 19 and 41 run along the Buda bank of the Danube below the castle, and two of their stops work for the museum.
- Clark Ádám tér, at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge, is about 10 minutes on foot and all of it uphill. The 19 comes about every nine or ten minutes and the 41 about every fifteen. Buses 16, 105, 178, 210, 216 and 910 also stop at Clark Ádám tér, on the bus stops rather than the tram ones
- Várkert Bazár, one stop south, is about 11 minutes, and the climb is done for you by the Castle Garden Bazaar’s escalator and lift
Buy and validate a BKK ticket before you travel, or use a travelcard or a Budapest Card, which covers the buses and trams as well as getting you into the museum free.
By funicular
The funicular climbs from Clark Ádám tér to Szent György tér, and it is a lovely ride, but it is not much help getting to the museum. It lands at the northern end of the palace, about 6 minutes’ walk from the museum at the opposite end, and it is not a BKK service, so a Budapest travelcard is not valid on it and nor is an ordinary Budapest Card. Only the 72 hours Plus version includes it.
Treat it as a thing to do rather than a way to arrive. If you want it, ride up, walk the terraces, and come to the museum last.
On foot
Every route to the museum finishes on foot, and most of them finish going downhill, because the museum is at the low southern end of a palace that climbs northwards.
From Dísz tér (about 8 minutes)
The standard arrival. From the bus stop it is south past Szent György tér and the Sándor Palace and on into the palace, about 570 m on paving and cobbles, with a gentle descent for the last part.
The guard change at the Sándor Palace is about 4 minutes from the museum, on the same walk, if the timing happens to suit.
From the Buda end of the Chain Bridge (about 11 minutes)
Cross to the Buda side and climb either by the steps or by the road that winds up from Clark Ádám tér. It is about 815 m and all of it is uphill, so take the funicular or the 16 instead if you have a long day planned.
From Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church (about 13 to 14 minutes)
The classic Castle Hill walk, and it is how most people reach the museum, because they have already done the north end of the hill. Head south through the Castle District to Dísz tér and keep going to the palace. The Bastion is about 13 minutes, Matthias Church about 14, and the Medieval Jewish House of Prayer on Táncsics Mihály utca is about 15 minutes from the museum in the same direction.
From the Castle Garden Bazaar (about 10 minutes)
From the gardens at the foot of the hill, the escalator and lift on the right-hand side carry you most of the way up to the King’s Cellar entrance on the eastern castle wall. It is the least known of the three ways in and the most enjoyable, because you arrive at the bottom of the medieval palace rather than at the top of the museum.
By car and taxi
A taxi or a ride-hailing car can get close. Ask for Dísz tér, which leaves about 8 minutes on foot south, or for the lift station on Palota út, which is about 3 minutes from the door and the better choice with children or a heavy bag. Bolt works in Budapest if you would rather book a car on an app.
Accessibility
There is barrier-free access through the main entrance in the Lion Courtyard, and the routes inside are partially accessible. In practice that means one door, so plan the whole arrival around it.
- Use the Lion Courtyard entrance. The King’s Cellar entrance from the castle wall is not accessible, because the medieval palace it opens into cannot be made barrier free, so the step-free way up from the river does not lead to a step-free way in
- Arrive by bus 16A to Dísz tér, which is flagged as a wheelchair-accessible stop, and take the flat route south through the Castle District. Clark Ádám tér and Várkert Bazár are accessible stops too; Palota út, gyorslift is not, although the lifts beside it are the museum’s own suggested route up
- Inside, a passenger lift serves the first and second floors, where all the exhibitions are accessible. There is a lift down to the medieval palace level as well, but the museum says wheelchair access is not possible there
- If you have a disability, contact the museum in advance at info@btm.hu. Disabled visitors and one companion each are admitted free