Budapest Parliament tickets

What this ticket is

This is an entry ticket with an audio guide, sold by the activity provider Magic Tourways. It covers admission to the Parliament Building, a 45-minute tour of the interior with a multilingual audio guide, and a mapped audio walk around Kossuth Square. You choose a date and an entry time in the booking calendar. It is not a live-guided tour, and it does not include hotel pickup. The tour starts at the Visitor Centre, and the whole visit takes about an hour, including 15 minutes for check-in.

Audio guide, live guide or the Parliament's own ticket?

You have three ways in. The ticket here gives you an audio guide and your own pace. The Parliament's own tickets cover its 45-minute guided tour, which it offers with an audio guide or with a professional guide in Hungarian, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. And the Visitor Centre ticket office sells same-day tickets in limited numbers. A live guide suits you if you like to ask questions. An audio guide suits you if you prefer to listen in your own language and take the route at your own pace.

• This ticket: entry, audio guide, Kossuth Square audio walk
• The Parliament's own site: guided tours, with audio guide or live guide
• Visitor Centre ticket office: same-day, limited numbers

Who sells what, and what that means

The Parliament names its own ticket site as the official one for ticket sales, and says it assumes no liability for damages from tickets bought on other websites. This site is an independent booking guide. The ticket here is sold by a provider through GetYourGuide, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start and the option to reserve now and pay later. The Parliament's own tickets follow its terms, so read them before you pay. Whichever route you take, check the date, the entry time and the language before you confirm.

Which language to choose

Languages split in two. The Parliament's live guided tours run in Hungarian, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Audio guides cover many more languages. The audio-guide device on this ticket is multilingual, with languages including English, German, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, and you collect it after the security check. The mapped audio walk around Kossuth Square, which you do before you go in, is available in at least English, Italian and Spanish.

What's included, and what isn't

The ticket includes Parliament entry, the 45-minute interior tour with a multilingual audio guide, the mapped audio walk around Kossuth Square, and email and WhatsApp support. After the interior route, the visit also takes in the History of the House exhibition. The provider sends the practical details by email or WhatsApp 24 hours before your start. Hotel pickup and drop-off are not included, and neither is a live guide. No boat trip is part of this ticket.

• Included: entry, audio-guided tour, Kossuth Square audio walk
• Included: email and WhatsApp support
• Not included: hotel pickup, a live guide, a boat trip

What you see inside

The Parliament's own route description names the rooms: the City Side Staircase, the Grand Stairway with its red carpet and ceiling frescoes, the sixteen-sided Dome Hall where the Holy Crown is kept, the Lounge of the Chamber of Peers and the former Chamber of Peers. The order can differ from the written one, and the tour takes about 45 minutes. The route description ends with an exhibition that includes the red star once set in the dome, a copper statue that doubled as a lightning rod and a 1:100 scale model of the building. Photography is allowed in most of the building. It is strictly forbidden in the Dome Hall, to protect the Holy Crown.

Read next: The Holy Crown of Hungary & What the Tour Shows

How to choose

Choose by what matters most to you. If you want a live guide in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish, go to the Parliament's own tickets. If you want a language outside those six, such as Dutch or Portuguese, an audio guide is the route, because the live tours do not run in those languages. If you want one booking that also includes the Kossuth Square audio walk, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before and the option to pay later, the ticket on this page fits. If you qualify for a reduced ticket, compare before you pay.

Booking ahead or buying at the Visitor Centre

The Parliament's advance tickets are sold online only, not at the Visitor Centre ticket office. The office sells same-day tickets in limited numbers, and the Parliament warns that buying on the spot might take a considerable amount of time. If your dates are fixed, book ahead. If your plans are flexible, a same-day ticket is possible but not guaranteed. A booking here shows your entry time in advance and can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before the start.

Choosing the date and time, and arriving

The booking calendar shows the start times for each date, and your confirmation shows yours. Visiting hours are shorter from November to March than from April to October. The Parliament says visits may be cancelled, even just before admission, because of parliamentary or state events, so keep the rest of your day flexible. It also says that if you arrive late, entry may be denied without the ticket being replaced or refunded. Take your passport or ID card.

Read next: Getting to Budapest Parliament

Reduced tickets, children and ID

The Parliament sets its own ticket categories. In the past these have differed for EU and non-EU adults and for students, and it asks for proof of eligibility for any discount, so check its ticket-price page if you may qualify. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. The Parliament welcomes groups who book their tickets in advance. Keep your ID with you whichever ticket you hold.

Who this isn't for

If you want a live guide to answer questions, book the Parliament's own guided tour instead, because this ticket has an audio guide only. If you hope to see where laws are passed, note that the route shows the former Chamber of Peers, which now hosts conferences and meetings. If your day cannot absorb a cancellation, remember that parliamentary or state events can cancel visits at short notice. And if you only want the view, the outside of the building can be seen from the square and the riverside without a ticket.