All posts in Opening Hours

The House of Terror Museum in Budapest is really special museum, one of the very few places in the world where you can get a spine chilling feel for what it may have been living under a totalitarian dictatorship behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War era, and what it was like to endure the cold-blooded cruelty of the Communist secret police, and the Nazi regime.

House of Terror, Budapest – Anthony Citrano Photography

Opening Times of the House of Terror, Budapest (Terror Háza) during the Christmas Holidays

December 24: not finalized yet, but probably closed

December 25: Closed

The Hungarian National Gallery, which takes up most of the space of the Buda Castle in Budapest is a very nice place to visit to see some of the best Hungarian fine art pieces, especially the 19th century Hungarian paintings.

Hungarian National Gallery – redteam Photography

If you wonder what the Buda Castle might be from the inside, or what the views are from its windows, it is also worth visiting the National Gallery, even if you are not a museum fan or gallery goer. The entrance fee to the National Gallery in the Castle is very cheap, it has a nice cafe, and the exhibitions will not bore your for an hour.

Hungarian National Gallery (Nemzeti Galéria) opening hours during December (except for Xmas and NYE, see below):

the general opening times of the National Gallery are as follows (almost all days in December)

Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm

Christmas Opening Hours at the Gallery

Dec 27 – 30 as on regular days depending on which calendar day comes
Dec 31 Open from 10 am to 4 pm (most museums in Budapest are closed on New Year’s Eve)
January 1 Open from 12 pm to 6 pm

National Gallery Budapest – Jaime Silva Photography

Buda Castle is one of the most visited attractions in Budapest. The question is if you can visit it during the Christmas holidays, how are the opening hours in December, especially around Dec 24 – 26, when several attractions are closed during the Christmas public holidays.

Buda Castle in winter – Neil Howard Photography

The good news is that the courtyards of the Buda Castle are always open. Regardless of what season, what time of the hour, or what holidays we are in. The courtyards are not closed off with a fence, so you can take a stroll along the building, visit its courtyards, take a photo of the beautiful statues (don’t miss the Matthias Well, a fantastic statue composition), like the lions on the Lions’ Courtyard, the statue of Eugene Savoya on the Savoya Terrace, the Hunyadi Courtyard with its characteristic Hungarian wrangler statue, etc.

It is a nice romantic walk on the cobblestones of the courts, and on a sunny winter day, you can get beautiful sharp photos, while on cloudy, snowy days, your photos will seem more dramatic. Moreover, you can wander around the Castle District and the Buda Castle courts free of charge, as only the entrance into the buildings is fee paying.

The building of the Buda Castle is the home of a the Budapest History Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, and the National Library. These institutions have their own independent opening hours, and are closed at Christmas.

You can find the Xmas opening times of the Buda Castle institutes here:

National Gallery Budapest at Xmas (Magyar Nemzeti Galeria)

Budapest History Museum (Budapesti Torteneti Muzeum)

Szechenyi National Library at Xmas (Orszagos Szechenyi Konyvtar)

To get an idea of how the inner courts and buildings are arranged in the Buda Castle take a look at this simplified map of the Buda Royal Palace (green lawns, rectangular buildings and sand colored courts):

Buda Castle Courtyards