The gorgeous neo-Renaissance opera house is worth a visit as much to admire the incredibly rich decoration inside as to view a performance and hear the perfect acoustics. Tours are still departing while the opera house undergoes massive renovations (due to be completed in 2020) but most of the operas and musicals are being staged in the Erkel Theatre, Budapest's 'other' opera house.
Hungarian State Opera House
Top choice in Budapest
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.24 MILES
Castle Hill is a kilometre-long limestone plateau towering 170m above the Danube. It contains some of Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and…
25.4 MILES
The largest church in Hungary sits on Castle Hill, and its 72m-high central dome can be seen for many kilometres around. The building of the present…
0.47 MILES
Budapest's stunning Great Synagogue is the world's largest Jewish house of worship outside New York City. Built in 1859, the synagogue has both Romantic…
5.96 MILES
Home to more than 40 statues, busts and plaques of Lenin, Marx, Béla Kun and others whose likenesses have ended up on trash heaps elsewhere, Memento Park,…
0.25 MILES
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0.42 MILES
The headquarters of the dreaded ÁVH secret police houses the disturbing House of Terror, focusing on the crimes and atrocities of Hungary's fascist and…
0.68 MILES
The Eclectic-style Parliament, designed by Imre Steindl and completed in 1902, has 691 sumptuously decorated rooms. You’ll get to see several of these and…
0.81 MILES
The Hungarian National Museum houses the nation’s most important collection of historical relics in an impressive neoclassical building, purpose built in…
Nearby Budapest attractions
1. Hungarian State Opera House
The neo-Renaissance Hungarian State Opera House was designed by Miklós Ybl in 1884 and is among the most beautiful buildings in Budapest. Its facade is…
0.03 MILES
Andrássy út starts a short distance northeast of Deák Ferenc tér and stretches for 2.5km, ending at Heroes’ Sq (Hősök tere) and the sprawling City Park …
0.08 MILES
The New Theatre is a Secessionist gem – embellished with monkey faces above the entrance, globes and geometric designs – which opened as the Parisiana…
4. House of Hungarian Photographers
0.09 MILES
An extraordinary venue in the city’s theatre district, the House of Hungarian Photographers has top-class photo exhibitions. Located in Mai Manó Ház,…
5. Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center
0.14 MILES
Named after the Hungarian-born photographer and Magnum Photos cofounder Robert Capa (born Endre Friedmann; 1913–54) and housed in a renovated cultural…
6. Basilica of St Stephen Dome
0.25 MILES
The top of Basilica of St Stephen dome offers some of the best views in Budapest. It can be reached via a lift and 42 steps (or 302 steps if you want to…
0.25 MILES
Budapest’s neoclassical cathedral is the most sacred Catholic church in all of Hungary and contains its most revered relic: the mummified right hand of…
0.25 MILES
This chapel in the Basilica of St Stephen contains the Holy Right (also known as the Holy Dexter), the mummified right hand of King St Stephen and an…