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Pedal boats moored at a jetty on the City Park boating lake in Budapest in summer, with Vajdahunyad Castle rising above the trees on the far bank
Városliget, District XIV

How to Get to City Park

Take the M1 and get off at the right end. The little yellow underground line runs the length of Andrássy Avenue and has two stations at this park, and because the park is about 100 hectares the choice between them decides a fair walk. Hősök tere puts you at the western end by the Museum of Ethnography and the ice rink. Széchenyi fürdő puts you in the middle, by the castle, the thermal bath and the balloon.

The nicer way in is on foot down Andrássy Avenue, which runs straight into Heroes’ Square with the M1 underneath it the whole way, so you can walk as far as you feel like and ride the rest.

Driving is the one to think about. The park is being deliberately emptied of traffic and there is next to nothing to park on at street level, but there is an 800-space car park underneath it that never closes. This page has every stop and what each is for, the bike stations, the walks in, the parking and the step-free routes.

Location and address

Városliget
1146 Budapest
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By public transport

The park’s operator publishes a stop for each attraction rather than one stop for the park, which tells you something about the size of it. Match the stop to what you are going to.

By metro

M1, the Millennium Underground, is the line, and it stops twice at the park.

Hősök tere is the western end. It is the station for the Museum of Ethnography, the City Park Visitor Centre, the Kunsthalle, the Museum of Fine Arts and the ice rink, and it is about 4 minutes from the Millennium Monument itself.

Széchenyi fürdő is the middle of the park, for Vajdahunyad Castle, Széchenyi Thermal Bath and the BalloonFly. The House of Music is a signposted 15-minute walk from this station, and a pleasant one through the park rather than a trudge along a road.

Neither station is step-free, which is the catch with this line. The trains are short and frequent, and the ride from Deák Ferenc tér takes a few minutes.

By bus and trolleybus

A wide tree-lined path leading into Budapest's City Park from the Dembinszky street entrance, with autumn leaves on the trees and a pavilion among them
Photo: Globetrotter19 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

At the Heroes’ Square end, on Dózsa György út: buses 20E, 30, 30A, 105, 210, 210B and 230 at Hősök tere M, and trolleybuses 75 and 79 at Hősök tere.

For the Museum of Ethnography and the Visitor Centre, get off at Benczúr utca, served by buses 30, 30A and 230 and trolleybuses 75 and 79.

Trolleybus 70 crosses the park from Dózsa György út: Dvořák sétány for the Main Playground and the Sports Centre, Olof Palme sétány for the House of the Hungarian Millennium and the House of Music.

Trolleybus 74 stops at Bethesda utca, on Hermina út, for the BalloonFly. Trolleybuses 74 and 75 both stop at Zichy Géza utca, on Ajtósi Dürer sor, which is the House of Music’s stop on the eastern side.

No tram is a sensible way in. Tram 1 runs along Hungária körút, a few hundred metres east of the park, and leaves a walk of a kilometre or more to the castle, the bath or the museums.

By bike

Cycling is on the marked lanes, and the park asks riders to keep to a speed at which they can always stop, because the paths are shared with walkers, children and dogs. Bike racks stand in front of the new buildings.

Three MOL Bubi bike-share stations sit inside the park: at the Ajtósi Dürer sor and Stefánia út crossing, at the Olof Palme sétány and Zichy Mihály út crossing, and at the City Park Ice Rink.

Seven more stand around it, at Hősök tere M1, Dembinszky utca at Dózsa György út, Városligeti fasor at Dózsa György út, Állatkerti körút at Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Zichy Géza utca at Ajtósi Dürer sor, Vágány utca at Róbert Károly körút, and Kacsóh Pongrác út. With the park closed to cars, a bike is the quickest way to cross it.

On foot

Everything inside the park is a short walk from everything else, and the walk in from central Pest is a straight line.

From Heroes' Square (the park begins behind it)

There is no boundary to cross. The square is the park’s western end, and Heroes’ Square runs straight into it at the top of Andrássy Avenue.

Vajdahunyad Castle is about 8 minutes east of the square, on park paths the whole way. The ice rink and the boating lake are in front of the castle, so the same walk serves both.

From Széchenyi Thermal Bath (about 7 minutes to the square)

The bath is inside the park, about 7 minutes north-east of Heroes’ Square past the Zoo, and the balloon is on Mimosa Hill beside it. Walking between the bath and the castle keeps you on park paths throughout.

From the Budapest Zoo (about 6 minutes to the square)

The Zoo stands where Állatkerti körút meets the park, about 6 minutes north of Heroes’ Square, with the Capital Circus next door on the same road.

From central Pest, down Andrássy Avenue

Andrássy Avenue runs from the middle of Pest to Heroes’ Square, with the park opening out behind it, and the M1 runs underneath the whole way, so you can walk part of it and ride the rest.

It is about 19 minutes from the House of Terror and about 35 from Deák Ferenc tér. Both are pleasant walks rather than endurance, and every few hundred metres there is a station if you change your mind.

By car and taxi

Buy House of Music tickets online and you get two hours in that car park on the day of your visit, validated at the building’s information desk before you leave. If you are there for an evening concert, validate it before the concert, by 8pm.

The ice rink runs no car park of its own and sends skaters to the same garage, which it puts at 5 to 10 minutes’ walk away. A taxi can set you down on the roads around the park, which is as close as anything gets.

By hop-on hop-off bus

Accessibility

  • The park is being cleared of traffic, and the paved routes that remain are kept for wheels rather than cars
  • The M1 is the weak point. Neither of its stations at the park is step-free, so take a bus or trolleybus to the Hősök tere M or Benczúr utca stops on Dózsa György út instead, which are both wheelchair accessible
  • The park’s own guided walks run on accessible routes, which is a fair guide to which paths are the easy ones
  • The Museum of Ethnography’s roof garden is reached by steps along the sides of the building. For the exhibitions, use the Damjanich utca entrance, which has a lift; the Heroes’ Square entrance has none, and staff help there instead
  • The Apostles’ Tower at Vajdahunyad Castle is 150 steps up
  • The Main Playground is designed to be used by disabled and non-disabled children together, and some of its equipment takes an adult’s weight
  • The Museum Underground Car Park is under the Promenade, on the park’s Dózsa György út side, a few minutes’ walk from the House of Music for anyone who drives

Frequently asked questions

How do you get to City Park in Budapest?

Metro M1, the little yellow line under Andrássy Avenue, is the answer from almost anywhere in Pest, and it has two stations at the park. Hősök tere serves the western end, Széchenyi fürdő the middle. Buses 20E, 30, 30A, 105, 210, 210B and 230 and trolleybuses 75 and 79 stop on Dózsa György út beside Heroes' Square. Trolleybus 70 crosses the park, and trolleybuses 74 and 75 run along its eastern side.

Which metro stop is City Park?

Two of them: Hősök tere and Széchenyi fürdő, the last stops before the end of the M1 at Mexikói út. Get off at Hősök tere for the Museum of Ethnography, the Visitor Centre, the Kunsthalle, the Museum of Fine Arts and the ice rink. Get off at Széchenyi fürdő for Vajdahunyad Castle, the thermal bath and the balloon. The park is long, so the wrong one adds a fair walk.

Is there parking at City Park?

Yes, under it. The Museum Underground Car Park has 800 spaces over three storeys, is open at every hour of every day, and is entered from Dózsa György út between Damjanich utca and Dembinszky utca. Twenty-four of the spaces have electric vehicle chargers on the first floor. The park above is being cleared of cars, so there is little street parking to look for.

Can you cycle in City Park?

Yes, on the marked lanes, and the park asks riders to keep to a speed at which they can always stop, because the paths are shared with walkers, children and dogs. Three MOL Bubi bike-share stations are inside the park and seven more sit around its edges, and there are racks in front of the new buildings.

Does a tram go to City Park?

Not usefully. No tram runs to the main entrances or along Dózsa György út. Tram 1 runs along Hungária körút, a few hundred metres east of the park, and from its stops it is a kilometre or more on foot to the castle, the bath or the museums. Take the M1, a bus or a trolleybus instead.

Is City Park wheelchair accessible?

The park itself is among the easier places in central Budapest to get around, because cars are being removed and the remaining paved routes are kept for cyclists, prams and wheelchairs. The weak point is the M1: neither of its stations at the park is step-free, so the buses and trolleybuses on Dózsa György út are the better way in. The Apostles' Tower at the castle is 150 steps up, and the Museum of Ethnography's roof garden is reached by steps.