Guided Tours of Budapest with Attila
Lives in: Budapest
Experience: 8 years guiding
Languages: English, Hungarian
Attila's specialties: Contemporary culture, alternative sightseeing, hidden gems
A Budapest resident for the past 23 years, Attila is still in love with his city and whether on his own or out with visitors, he takes every opportunity to explore new corners. His tours are always evolving, which is part of what makes them so unique and interesting.
On every tour that he leads, Attila focuses on showing travelers an authentic, local side of Budapest, which goes beyond the sights in the guidebooks and takes you far from the crowds.
With a focus on alternative sightseeing, Attila leads tours that focus on street art, off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods, and Budapest beyond the highlights. But this doesn't mean that he won't also take you past the most famous and popular places; he will, but likes to do it differently.
If you want to explore a local side of Budapest - culture, history, street art, and the city’s secret places - then Attila's your man!
You have the option of half-day and full-day tours
Attila's tours are unique, insightful, quirky, and designed to give you an authentic view of modern Budapest
All tours are private and fully customizable
Meet Attila
“Hey guys and thanks for your interest in touring Budapest with me! I’ve been living here in our capital city for more than two decades now, but I’m actually originally from the western Part of Hungary. And despite having spent well over half my life here, I often have the feeling that I’m still a tourist in some ways.
That’s party because I’m genuinely fascinated by this dynamic and ever-changing city - the history, culture, art, politics, cuisine, and so much more - , and despite my best efforts to “conquer” it, I constantly find that there’s still more to discover.
For as long as I’ve been here, one of my favorite free time activities has been to just set off on foot and wander through Budapest’s neighborhoods, always stumbling across some new artwork, a recently opened shop, a hot new restaurant, or unexpected events. Around 8 years ago I realized that this passion translated perfectly into being a tour guide, so I decided to switch careers and become a guide. I’ve been showing off my hometown to visitors ever since.
In all my tours, even those that cover the highlights, I really try to show a local’s perspective of Budapest, because personally, my best vacations abroad have always been those when I could meet and spend time with the locals and learn about their daily lives. So, if you want to explore the local side of Budapest - culture, history, street art, and the hidden gems of the city - you've come to the right person!
I'm always on the hunt for under-the-radar places and my aim as a guide is to help visitors go beyond the typical touristic places. There’s no question that Budapest’s iconic sights are worth visiting (more than that, they’re simply unmissable), but after you’ve toured the monuments and palaces, I think the real pleasure of being here is mixing it up with the locals and learning about our contemporary culture and society.
I'm thrilled that you're coming to Budapest and I'm excited to help you plan an unforgettable visit."
Highlights and Hidden Gems of Budapest
Duration: 3 hours
Cost: $250 USD
Price includes: Your guide (Attila), one drink (coffee, wine, beer) per person
Max participants: 8
Note: All tours are private (only you and your group)
Cancellation Policy: Read our full terms here
The perfect introduction to Budapest for any first time visitor, this tour combines a mix of the city’s most iconic sights and landmarks with lesser-known spots that only the locals know about.
While exploring the city center, we’ll discuss Budapest’s history from the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (and before!) through to the modern day, we’ll admire its fabulous architecture and grand squares and boulevards, and will venture a bit off the beaten path to get a taste for what makes this one of the cultural hubs of central Europe.
We’ll meet in the heart of downtown Budapest, undoubtedly the liveliest district in the city, and will make our way over to the iconic St. Stephen's Basilica before heading to the city’s most iconic sight: the ornate and breathtaking neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament.
From there, we’ll move on to the monumental Liberty Square, which has its own significant history and is lined by grand buildings in a variety of architectural styles.
Next up is the dynamic Jewish Quarter, where we’ll see the Dohány Street Synagogue (the largest in Europe), a mix of well-preserved and crumbling Austro-Hungarian era buildings, and more trendy ruin bars than you can count. Here, we’ll delve into Budapest’s WWII and communist history, some of which is quite dark, and will learn how the neighborhood has evolved and the heavy gentrification that it’s experiencing today.
Now, having just seen some of the city’s main sights, it’s time to experience a more local side of Budapest. To that end, we’ll stop by a downtown courtyard that has some great local art to check out and a really interesting design collective, and will explore boutiques and workshops run by local designers.
We’ll also hunt down a collection of really interesting mini statues that were designed by a guerilla sculptor and which are hidden in plain sight all around the downtown.
We’re going to be walking a fair deal on this tour, so along the way we’ll pop in to one of my favorite local coffeehouses to grab a coffee and refuel our energy.
Alternative Budapest - Beyond the Highlights
Duration: 3 hours
Cost: $250 USD
Price includes: Your guide (Attila), one drink (coffee, wine, beer) per person
Max participants: 8
Note: All tours are private (only you and your group)
Cancellation Policy: Read our full terms here
If you’ve already seen the main highlights of the city - like the ones that I cover in my “Highlights and Hidden Gems” tour -, and are wondering what else there is to see and do here, just know that there’s much more to Budapest than those famous palaces, monuments, and squares.
When you only have a couple of days in a city, it’s very easy to tick off the top sights and cross them off your list, but it’s far more difficult to actually delve under the surface and discover what actually makes the city beat. But that’s what I’m here to help you do! If you want to dig deeper and get to know Budapest beyond the Parliament building, thermal baths, and the Castle District, this is the tour for you.
Contemporary Budapest is a buzzing city that overflows with creativity, art, and culture, and it’s through all of this that we’ll explore the “real Budapest”. I’ve designed this tour to show you places and stories that you’d never see or hear about on a typical walking tour, and our local street art is the perfect medium by which to do that.
While exploring some of Budapest’s most interesting neighborhoods, we’ll seek out street art by local artists and discuss how their art reflects our current culture, societal trends, and politics.
We’ll make a stop to fuel up on an excellent coffee at a neat local cafe/bookstore along the way, and will then move on to an artists collective that’s housed in a gorgeous 100-year old building. Here, we’ll check out a number of locally owned design shops, concept stores, and galleries, getting a look at a very different side of the city’s creative scene.
From here, we’ll finish the tour by making our way to District VIII, one of the most eclectic/diverse but least explored (by tourists) neighborhoods of the city.
A place of contrasts, this was once a posh quarter filled with beautiful palatial buildings, but fell on hard times during the communist era. While parts of the neighborhood are still distinctly “rough”, much of it has seen a rebirth these days, coming alive again with quirky arts venues, cultural centers, and attractive cafes and restaurants. It’s a great area in which to wrap up our tour.
The Jewish Quarter - Past and Present
Duration: 3 hours
Cost: $250 USD
Price includes: Your guide (Attila), one drink (coffee, wine, beer) per person
Max participants: 8
Note: All tours are private (only you and your group)
Cancellation Policy: Read our full terms here
The Jewish Quarter (District VII) is the place that everyone talks about when they visit Budapest, and that’s with good reason: this is probably the city’s most intriguing district, an area with a dark history but a lively, vibrant, and energetic present.
This was the center of Jewish life in Budapest for centuries, and it was a thriving community until World War II, when the area was turned into a ghetto, hollowing out the neighborhood and an entire community. Following the war, the neighborhood was heavily neglected and it fell into serious disrepair.
But then, in the 2000’s, something changed: underground bars, now called “ruin bars”, started popping up, repurposing abandoned old buildings and turning them into eclectic bars, often spanning multiple floors. From this point on, the area rapidly evolved into the nightlife hub and center for alternative arts and culture that it is today.
During our tour, we’ll discuss all of this as we wander the neighborhood’s streets, touring its most important landmarks, buildings, and sights, hunting down its coolest street art, and visiting unique local businesses. Of course, any visit to the Jewish Quarter must include a stop in at one of its iconic ruin bars, as these are the places that turned the district into the hotspot it is today.
By the end of the tour, you’ll have a much better understanding of the neighborhood’s history, the impacts of gentrification, and Budapest’s unique underground culture and how the party got started here.
Build Your Own Walking Tour
Duration: 3-8 hours (3-hour minimum)
Cost: $85 USD per hour
Price includes: Your guide (Attila)
Max participants: 8
Note: All tours are private (only you and your group)
Cancellation Policy: Read our full terms here
Looking for something a bit different? No problem!
All of Attila’s tours can be fully customized to you, your interests, and travel style. If you’d like something totally unique, you can work one-on-one with Attila to co-create a totally personalized tour.
Attila is licensed to guide anywhere and everywhere in Budapest, so if you’d like to visit any of the city’s monuments, palaces, museums, etc., during the tour, he can guide you through them.
To get started, request a custom tour below and provide us some initial ideas about what you’re looking for. Attila will then reach out to you directly to start planning your tour together.
These “build your own” tours are priced based on a fixed hourly rate of $85 USD per hour, so when you go to make the reservation, we’ll ask you how long you’d like to tour with Attila, and the price for the tour will be based on whatever tour duration you select.