There are three ways to see Memento Park with a guide, and they differ in how you get there as much as in what you hear. The park’s own tour meets you at the cash desk at 11:15 and walks you round for 70 minutes.
The Trabant transfer collects you from your accommodation in the car the statues were built for. And a local operator drives you out from Batthyány tér and back with a guide of its own.
All three include entry. What differs is the journey, the length, the group size and who can come.
Tours
Memento Park Guided Tour in English
Best for: Hearing the stories behind the statues from the park's own guide
- 70 minutes, starting at 11:15
- Live guide in English
- Free cancellation up to 3 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Admission to Memento Park
- Guided tour of the park
- Meeting point
- The guide waits at the cash desk
- Group size
- Up to 15
Memento Park: Private Trabant Transfer
Best for: Arriving in a Trabant, with a private guide from your door and back
- 3 hours, with pick-up at 09:30
- Live driver-guide in English
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Pick-up and drop-off in Budapest in a retro Trabant
- Skip-the-line entry and a guided tour
- A drink at the Red Star Store
- A drink and a snack at a retro bistro
- Pick-up
- From your accommodation. Choose the address at checkout
- Group size
- Up to 3
- Age
- No children under 12 in the Trabant
Memento Park and Icons of Communism Guided Tour
Best for: A small group, with the drive there and back sorted
- 3 hours
- Live guide in English or German
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
What’s included and more details
What’s included
- Car transport there and back
- Entry to Memento Park
- A licensed guide at the park
- A bottle of water
- Group size
- Up to 7
- Meeting point
- Depends on the option you book
- Also
- Reserve now and pay later
How they compare
| Guided tour in English | Trabant transfer | Car tour from Batthyány tér | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | About 70 minutes, then stay as long as you like | 3 hours door to door | 3 hours, around 90 minutes of it in the park |
| Guide | Memento Park guide, English | English-speaking driver-guide | Live guide, English or German |
| Getting there | Your own way; the metro and bus | Picked up from your accommodation at 09:30 | Meet at Batthyány tér, driven by private car |
| Also included | Entry | Entry, a drink at the Red Star Store, a drink and a snack at a retro bistro | Entry, a bottle of water |
| Group | Up to 15 | Up to 3, nobody under 12 | Up to 7 adults on a booking |
| Sold by | Tiqets | Tiqets | GetYourGuide |
| Cancellation | Free until 3 hours before | Free up to 24 hours ahead | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
| Best for | Most visitors | Two or three people who want the journey to be part of the visit | Anyone who would rather not work out the buses |
Types of tour
The park’s guided tour in English
Show your voucher at the cash desk and the guide is waiting there at 11:15. The walk starts on Witness Square with Stalin’s grandstand and the rooms hidden inside it, then goes through the gate into the statue park, where the guide reads the statues for you: who the figures were, what the poses were meant to say, and what daily life was like under the regime that put them up.
It takes about 70 minutes and the group is capped at 15. On a quiet day you may have the guide to yourself. Your ticket covers the rest of the day, so go back to the barracks for the film afterwards.
- Entry and the guided walk included
- Days on the booking calendar; 11:15 start
- Free cancellation and rescheduling until 3 hours before
The Trabant transfer
The park’s own programme, and the one with the Trabant in it. A restored car arrives at your accommodation in Budapest at 09:30 and the driver-guide, who speaks English, drives you out to the park.
There is a drink at the Red Star Store on arrival, then a guided visit, then a drink and a snack at a retro bistro before you are dropped back where you started. Three hours in all.
The car takes 3 passengers at most, and for safety reasons nobody under 12. The engine drones and clinks and the exhaust smells, and that is the point. The Trabant was the dream car of families across the Eastern Bloc, and arriving in one at a museum of the Eastern Bloc closes the loop.
- One booking per car, up to 3 people
- Skip-the-line admission, the guided visit, the drink and the snack included; further food and drink is not
- Show the e-ticket to the driver-guide
- Free cancellation and rescheduling up to 24 hours ahead
The car tour from Batthyány tér
You meet the guide on Batthyány tér, on the Buda bank of the Danube, by the twin-towered St Anne’s church; it is on metro M2 and trams 19 and 41. A private car takes you out to the park in about 30 minutes, the guide gives you around 90 minutes among the statues, and the car brings you back to the centre. Three hours all told.
It is the one to pick if you want a guide and want the journey done for you, and the only one of the three in German as well as English.
- Live guide in English or German
- Entry, the drive out and back, and a bottle of water included
- Up to 7 adults on one booking; child rate for under-18s
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
How to choose
Consider your time
If the park is one stop in a full day, the 11:15 tour is 70 minutes plus the journey, and you leave when you like. The Trabant and the car tour both take 3 hours out of the middle of a day, which is fine if the park is the day’s main event.
Decide who is coming
The guided walk and the car tour take children. The Trabant does not take anyone under 12, and it seats 3, so a family of four needs two cars or a different option.
Think about the journey
The park is a metro ride and a 9-minute bus ride from the centre, which is easy once you know it. If you would rather not know it, the car tour and the Trabant both do the journey for you, and the Trabant starts at your door.
Self-guided vs guided
The plaques tell you what each statue is called and where it stood. They do not tell you why a running man with a flag was put up in 1969, or what people thought when they walked past Lenin on the way to work. That is what the guide is for, and it is why a guided visit here is worth more than at most Budapest sights.
How to book
When to book
The guided walk can be cancelled free until 3 hours before, so book it as soon as you know your morning. The Trabant has 3 seats and a fixed 09:30 pickup, so book it first and build the day around it.
Where to book
The park’s tour and the Trabant are sold through Tiqets, the car tour through GetYourGuide. All three include entry, so do not buy an entry ticket as well.
What you will need
- Your voucher on your phone
- Sun cover and water in summer; there is no shade among the statues
- For the Trabant, your accommodation’s address, given when you book
Where to meet
The guided walk meets at the cash desk in the barracks on Witness Square. The Trabant comes to you. The car tour meets on Batthyány tér, with the exact spot in your booking.