Free things to do in Budapest this week
Monday 19 to Sunday 25 October
Great things happening in Budapest this week that won’t cost you a forint, plus places that are free on any day.
Photo: B32 Galéria és Kultúrtér 1. Idő-Állomás, Bálint Szajki's railway photographs
30 September to 29 October, opening 30 September at 19:00, then on show to 29 October, with a curator's tour on 20 October at 17:00
B32 Galéria és Kultúrtér, District XI
A press photographer spent months on the Hungarian railways, and these are the pictures. Free to see, in the gallery on Bartók Béla út.
Photo: Kult7 2. Kék Pelikán exhibition at the KULT7 Labor
2 to 29 October, opens at 18:00 on 2 October, with a guided tour and a screening at 18:00 on 13 October
KULT7 Labor, District VII
The small upstairs gallery on Király utca gives October to Kék Pelikán, the Hungarian animated documentary, and shows the material the film was built out of. Nothing to pay to walk in.
Photo: Mária Óvári / Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár 3. Fényrétegek, photographs by Mária Óvári
2 to 30 October, Monday, Wednesday and Friday 13:00 to 19:00, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 to 16:00, closed at weekends and on 14 and 23 October
Karinthy Frigyes Könyvtár, District XI
A set of photographs hung among the shelves of the Karinthy Frigyes library in Újbuda. Free, and you see it whenever the library is open.
Photo: KMO Művelődési Központ és Könyvtár 4. Edit Szalma: Képjegyzetek
22 September to 8 November, Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 16:00, Friday usually the same, weekends depending on what else is on
Előtér Galéria, KMO Művelődési Központ, District XIX
Edit Szalma draws for books and poems, and this free show in the KMO’s foyer gallery hangs the results as art in their own right rather than as illustrations.
Photo: MáraiKult 5. Napfivér: three painters in the Mária Magdolna tower
8 October to 9 November, opening 8 October at 18:00, then open to visitors from 9 October to 9 November
Mária Magdolna Tower, Kapisztrán tér, District I
Three painters hang new work inside the medieval bell tower that is all that survives of the church of St Mary Magdalene, high in the Castle District. Entry costs nothing.
Photo: Angyalföldi József Attila Művelődési Központ 6. Alkotás Öröme, a handicraft exhibition
7 October to 15 November, opens at 15:00 on 7 October, then weekdays 08:00 to 20:00 and at weekends when the centre has something on
Angyalföldi József Attila Művelődési Központ, District XIII
Members of the District XIII club of the Budapest association for people with motor disabilities show what they have been making, under a title that means the joy of making. Tablecloths, sewing boxes, jewellery, dolls and pieces for the home, and nothing to pay.
Photo: Deák17 Galéria 7. LAK|HATÁS, housing seen by young artists
25 September to 8 January
Városháza Park, District V
An open-air show in the park behind City Hall, on what home means to people starting out. The Deák17 gallery picked the work from an open call and hung it outdoors, so you can take it in on the way past.
Photo: Maksymilian Paczkowski / Csokonai15 8. Birdo, the year's best bird photographs
2 October to 22 March, in the open air, visiting hours not published
Polgármesteri Hivatal visitor car park, District XV
Winning pictures from Birdo's Az év madárfotósa award, hung along a fence in Rákospalota. Free, outdoors and up all winter.
Free in Budapest any day
Fisherman’s Bastion
The lower arcades are free at any hour, with the same Parliament view.
Gellért Hill and the Citadella
The park, wall-walk and lookouts inside the fortress are free in opening hours.
Margaret Island
Old trees, a ruined medieval convent and a running loop, open at any hour.
Walk the Chain Bridge
Free on foot at every hour of the day and night.
Heroes’ Square
The square and its colonnades are open to everyone, all day.
28 free things to do in Budapest
Our full guide to days out that cost nothing.