Many of the city’s stately buildings that tower above the Danube riverfront will be open to the public to visit for free on April 22-23 during Budapest100, an annual program series that highlights the architecture and history of several often-overlooked edifices in a specific neighborhood. This edifying event was brought about to provide insight to urban dwellers in multiple languages about the city’s century-old structures, but this year’s program also includes many modern monuments that gracefully crown the Buda and Pest waterfronts between Rákóczi Bridge and Árpád Bridge.

During this two-day celebration, visitors can view buildings of various functions – including architecturally intriguing apartment complexes, historic schools, offices, and even churches – while thematic guided tours are organized at many of the participating edifices, which welcome people for free on the spot or after preliminary registration. Even though many of the tours are offered in Hungarian, Budapest100 presents multiple events that are suitable for those who don’t speak the local language, with some programs available in English, German, or Italian.

English-friendly events include guided walks inside Budapest’s Downtown Assumption Main Parish Church on March 15th Square (Saturday at 10am and 2pm; registration required on the establishment’s official Facebook page), where the building’s 2,000-year-old foundation is now on view through a glass floor, while visitors can join masses at the church in English (Sunday at 6pm) and even in Italian (Sunday at 4pm) without signing up for the holy ceremonies in advance. Those who want to acquire in-depth information about the Várkert Bazaar
Castle Garden – stretching between the Buda waterfront and the Royal Palace – can join English-language tours that take groups around the neo-Renaissance monument (Saturday at 11:30am and Sunday at 3pm; registration required via bp100@varkertbazar.hu).

Besides the city’s monumental sights, plenty of historic apartment buildings welcome visitors during the weekend: in District V at Belgrád rakpart 27, visitors can learn stories and see photos from the past of a grand 100-year-old building and meet its renowned residents (Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm); over the weekend, English-language guided tours reveal the history of several attractions found on District IX’s Közraktár Street, including an excursion at the classic five-story building on Közraktár utca 10 (Saturday at 10am, 12pm, 1pm, and 3pm; Sunday at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm), while at Közraktár utca 24, tours run from the cellar to the loft in English and in Italian (Saturday at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm). In most locations, the thematic walks are complete with various exhibitions, concert programs, theater shows, quiz games, and many other exciting events.

Several venues offer programs that are not restricted to any languages, including a nautical exhibition aboard the Kossuth Museum Ship (open on Saturday and Sunday between 9am and 3pm; the boat is anchored at Vigadó Square), live-music performances inside a fascinating apartment complex that’s complete with a built-in synagogue functioning at the building’s courtyard (Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 4pm; District II, Frankel Leó utca 49), or intriguing creative and interactive programs organized at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (Saturday 2pm-9pm; District XI, Bertalan Lajos utca 2).

The detailed schedule of the event can be downloaded from the official website of Budapest100, while printed guidebooks are available at the following city sites:


  • KÉK (Budapest 1111, Bartók Béla út 10-12)
  • Blinken OSA building (Budapest 1051, Arany János u. 32)
  • Tourinform main office (Budapest 1052, Sütő u. 2)
  • FUGA (Budapest 1052, Petőfi Sándor u. 5)