No tour we sell is a guided walk through the museum’s rooms. The museum runs those only for groups of 10 to 30, booked ten days ahead, so for a single visitor the way to have the place explained is the audio guide, or a city tour that puts the building in the story of the years it belongs to.
That is what these two do, in different ways. One is a three-hour group walk through communist-era Budapest that includes your entry to the museum. The other is a private tour built around the museum, in six languages, with a walk to communist-era landmarks as an option. This page compares them and says who each suits.
Tours
House of Terror Museum: Born Under the Red Star Tour
Best for: The communist past on the streets and in the museum, in one half day
- 3 hours
- Live guide in English
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- A 3-hour walk through communist-era Budapest
- Entry to the House of Terror
- A retro soda in a communist-themed bar
- Public transport during the tour
- Also
- Maps and tips for the rest of your stay
- Arrive
- On time for your slot
- Changes
- You can move the date up to 24 hours before
House of Terror Tour of Nazi and Soviet History
Best for: A private tour at your own pace, in your own language
- 3 hours, with 4, 5 and 6-hour options
- Live guide in English, Hungarian, German, French, Italian or Spanish
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- A private tour with a licensed guide
- Entry to the House of Terror
- Choose
- 3 hours at the museum, 5 hours adding a walk to communist-era landmarks, or 4 and 6-hour versions with a private car from your accommodation
- Queue
- Museum tickets are bought on the day, and the wait can be up to an hour
- Before
- The operator emails details the day before
- Also
- Reserve now and pay later
How they compare
| Born Under the Red Star | Tour of Nazi and Soviet History | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Guide | Live guide, English | Live guide, English, Hungarian, French, Italian, Spanish or German |
| Group | Public group | Private, your own party |
| Museum entry | Included | See the booking page |
| Also included | A retro soda in a communist-themed bar, public transport, maps and recommendations | Optional extended walk to communist-era landmarks |
| Meeting point | The guide holds a Tiqets sign; the product page gives the museum’s address and the front of the State Opera House, so check your ticket | On the booking page |
| Accessibility | Sold as wheelchair accessible | Not stated |
| Sold by | Tiqets | GetYourGuide |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead | On the booking page |
| Best for | Most visitors, and anyone who wants the museum paid for in advance | A guide in your own language, or a party that wants the museum to itself |
Types of tour
Born Under the Red Star walking tour
Three hours on foot through the Budapest that lived under hammer and sickle, with a local, English-speaking guide. The route takes in surviving monuments of the period, communist-era cafés and thrift shops selling the objects of everyday life then, and it stops for a retro soda in a communist-themed bar.
Your entry to the House of Terror is part of the ticket, so the building’s history comes with the context of what was happening outside it.
Groups are small, and on a quiet day you may have the guide to yourself.
- Live guide in English
- Entry to the museum, the soda, public transport on the day and maps included
- The guide holds a Tiqets sign. Check the meeting point on your ticket, because the product page names both the museum and the State Opera House
- Sold as wheelchair accessible
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Tour of Nazi and Soviet History, private
A three-hour private tour that puts the House of Terror at the centre of the day, covering the German occupation, the Arrow Cross and the Soviet-backed decades that followed, with an optional extended walk to communist-era landmarks afterwards. It is the one way to have the museum explained in Hungarian, French, Italian, Spanish or German as well as English.
Private means the guide is yours, the pace is yours and questions get answered. It also means the whole price falls on your party, so it suits a family or a group of friends better than a solo traveller.
- Three hours, one price per person for all ages
- Six languages
- Inclusions, meeting point and cancellation terms are on the booking page. Read them before you pay
- When we checked in mid-September, the first date on sale was 1 December
Self-guided with the audio guide
Not a tour, but the choice most visitors make. Pay at the desk, hire the audio guide in one of six languages, and go round at your own pace over 2 to 3 hours. Every room also has a printed English sheet. The museum’s free phone app adds more on the victims and the resistance.
Best for anyone who wants the museum on its own terms, in silence, without a schedule.
How to choose
Consider what you want the museum to be
If the museum is the day’s main event, go on your own with the audio guide, or take the private tour and have it explained. If you want it as one chapter in the story of communist Budapest, the walking tour gives you three hours of that story and drops you at the door with entry paid.
Decide on group size
The walking tour runs as a public group and can be very small. The private tour is your party only, which is the better choice for anyone who wants to slow down in the rooms that matter to them, and the more expensive one.
Think about language
The walking tour is in English. If you or anyone in your party would rather hear the history in Hungarian, French, Italian, Spanish or German, the private tour is the only guided option in those languages. The audio guide covers all six languages too, hired at the desk without booking.
Think about who is coming
Neither tour is sold with an age limit, and the museum sets none, but under-14s must be with an adult and the cellar is hard going for young children. The walking tour is sold as wheelchair accessible; the private tour does not say.
How to book
When to book
The walking tour can be cancelled free up to 24 hours ahead, so book it as soon as you know your day, and remember that the museum is closed on Mondays. The private tour showed no dates before December when we checked in mid-September.
Where to book
The walking tour is sold through Tiqets and the private tour through GetYourGuide. Both send a ticket to your phone.
What you will need
- Your mobile ticket
- Comfortable shoes, because three hours of either tour is mostly on your feet
- A small bag or none. Backpacks go in the museum’s cloakroom, and phones stay in pockets inside, where only the tank may be photographed
Where to meet
For the walking tour, check the meeting point on your ticket, because the product page names both the museum’s address and the front of the State Opera House. The guide holds a Tiqets sign. For the private tour, the meeting point is on the booking page.