District XIV · Pest
City Park & Heroes' Square
The green end of Andrássy Avenue: Heroes' Square, Vajdahunyad Castle, the zoo, the new museum quarter — and Széchenyi, the largest thermal bath in Europe.
What it is
District XIV, and in practice the area around Városliget — the City Park at the far end of Andrássy Avenue. One of the oldest public parks in the world and, since the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, the place where a large share of Budapest's cultural institutions ended up.
What is here
Heroes' Square at the entrance. Vajdahunyad Castle on its island in the boating lake. The Széchenyi Baths. The Zoo and Botanical Garden. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Kunsthalle facing each other across the square, with the Museum of Ethnography and the House of Music added by a recent redevelopment.
In winter the boating lake becomes the largest outdoor ice rink in Europe, in front of the castle.
What it is like
Green and spread out. This is not a quarter you walk through on the way somewhere; it is a destination in itself, and a full day is easy to spend without leaving it.
The redevelopment that added the newer museums has been continuously argued over — more cultural buildings against less green space — and that dispute is live rather than settled.
Practical
The M1 metro runs from the city centre to Hősök tere and Széchenyi fürdő stations, which puts the whole park about ten minutes from Deák Ferenc tér.
Staying out here means green space and the baths on your doorstep, at the cost of a metro ride rather than a walk into the centre. It suits a longer or slower trip better than a two-day first visit.
🏛️ Attractions
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♨️ Thermal baths
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BVSC Laky Karoly Swimming Pool
City Park & Heroes' Square4.5(1,927)out of 5 on Google
Open · until 21:00
SPARTY - Széchenyi Bath Party
City Park & Heroes' Square4.5(1,842)out of 5 on Google
Closed · Saturday from 21:30
🍽️ Restaurants
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Gundel Cafe Patisserie Restaurant
City Park & Heroes' Square4.7(5,251)out of 5 on Google€€€€
Open · until 22:00
☕ Coffee houses
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🛏️ Where to stay
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Lion's Garden Hotel
City Park & Heroes' Square4.3(1,774)out of 5 on Google
🍸 Ruin bars & nightlife
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S8 Underground Club
City Park & Heroes' Square4.5(587)out of 5 on Google€€€€
Where to stay in City Park & Heroes' Square
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, apartments and hostels, so you can judge the walk from here rather than guess from an address.
Bookings made through this map earn us a commission. Your price is unaffected.
Tours & tickets nearby
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Frequently asked
Which district of Budapest is the City Park in?
the City Park is District XIV, on the Pest side, east of the Danube. It is easy to verify from the postcode: the four digits start with 1 and the next two give the district, so any address here begins 114. That is the quickest way to find out where a listing actually is before you book it.
What is worth seeing in the City Park?
The best-known sights here are House of Music Hungary, Statue of Anonymous and Heroes' Square. The full list, with opening hours and a map, is further up this page.
Where should I eat in the City Park?
Among the best-rated restaurants in the district are Városliget Café, Gundel Cafe Patisserie Restaurant and Szaletly. The ratings come from Google and are refreshed periodically — they are not paid placements.
Is the City Park a good area to stay in?
It depends what you want from it. The accommodation section above lists a few options in the district, and the write-up at the top of this page says plainly who the area suits and who it does not. The map at the foot of the page is centred on the City Park itself.
Are there thermal baths in the City Park?
Yes — Thermal Beer Spa and BVSC Laky Karoly Swimming Pool. Budapest sits on an active geological fault line, which is why thermal springs surface in districts all over the city rather than in one spa quarter.
Districts next door
Budapest is compact and its districts run into one another — these are the closest, by walking distance from the centre of this one.
Before you go
Skip-the-line ticketsEntry booked ahead for museums, baths and towers — which on a winter Saturday at Széchenyi is a genuinely long queue avoided.Check tickets →City passOne pass covering a set of attractions. It pays off only above roughly three paid sights a day — worth the arithmetic before you buy.See what it covers →Self-guided audio toursA guided route on your own phone, at your own pace, for a fraction of a walking tour. Good in the Castle District and the Jewish Quarter, where the story is not written on the buildings.Browse audio tours →Experiences & day tripsDanube cruises, bath entries, Szentendre and the Danube Bend, and the ruin-bar crawls — booked ahead.Browse experiences →
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