If you are in Budapest on the 15th of March it is good to know that this day is a national and bank holiday every year in Hungary. Let us provide you with some practical info and recommendations for this day!

First, let us mention that most of the shops and malls are closed and no one works on this day except for us 😊 All our free walking tours run as normal, do not hesitate to join us! Right now, until the 31st of March we offer the following free tours:

• 10:00 Communism, Jewish quarter and Street art tour (English 2-2.5 hrs)
• 10:30 General Budapest tour (English & Spanish 2.5-3 hrs)
• 14:30 General Budapest tour (English 2.5-3 hrs)

From the 1st of April we also have:

• the Communism, the Jewish quarter and the Street art tours at 15:30 (there is no 10:00 Street art tour, it moves to 15:30)
• the Evening walking tour at 18:30
• and the Pub tour at 20:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

There will be commemorations and programs all over the inner city. The official state commemoration will take place at 10:30 am in the newly renovated garden of the National Museum on the Pest side of the city, on the Múzeum boulevard. Before this there will be a march with horses and hussars from the Parliament where the celebration starts at 9:00 am.

On 15th March 2019 the Parliament building is not open for visitors, however, on the 16th there will be an open day in the House of Parliament. Visitors will have the chance to get a glimpse of the Grand Hall, the Dome Hall and the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen, the first king of our country, from 10 am to 5 pm. Previous registration is not required, the admission is free for everyone and a security check is required prior to entering the Parliament. Probably it will be a popular event, so you can expect long queues. During the open day, from 8 am to 4 pm, regular visits led by trained guides are also available. You can also visit the “One thousand years of Hungarian legislation” exhibition from 9 am to 5 pm.

But what do we celebrate on this day? – you might ask. On the 15th of March we celebrate the anniversary of the 1848-49 revolution against the Habsburg Austrian Empire. From the 1680s Hungary was part of it and for a long time we were not an equal partner to them at all. We organized many uprisings to be free, and the most important of these freedom fights was the one in 1848-49. It was lost, but finally in 1867 the Austrian Empire made a Compromise and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was born and a better period started for the Hungarians. You can learn about this and the rest of Hungarian history more on our free tours daily! 😊