The best museums Budapest

This museum pays tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Hungarians, Jews and Roma, who perished in the Holocaust. An excellent museography, all in light and sound, where multimedia tools and personal stories are mixed. An 8-meter high wall of remembrance displays the 180,000 names of known victims of the Holocaust in Hungary. Go up to the top floor to admire the beautiful synagogue on Páva Street: the second largest synagogue in the capital has been completely restored. Its regular temporary exhibitions are also worth a look.

Built between 1837 and 1846 to the plans of Mihály Pollack, this neoclassical palace owes much to the treasures amassed by Ferenc Széchenyi, a great collector. In 1848, the institution became a rallying point for the March 15 uprising against the Habsburgs. The young revolutionary Sándor Petőfi gave a speech there at the time. Visiting the National Museum is an excellent way to learn about Hungarian history. The museum's permanent exhibition features a rich Roman lapidary in the basement, revealing the nuggets of Pannonia. On the first floor, adoor opens onto the room reserved for the coronation robe. This Byzantine silk chasuble dates from 1031 and depicts the coronation of St. Stephen and his wife, Gisela. It was worn by all Hungarian rulers during their coronation from the 13th century onwards. On the mezzanine floor, one can navigate from prehistory to the arrival of the first Magyar tribes. Then on the second floor, 28 rooms allow to go back ten centuries of Hungarian history, from the Arpadian dynasty through the Middle Ages, then the Ottoman occupation (1541-1686) and the liberation by Ferenc Rákóczi, hero of the war against the Habsburgs (1703-1711). In 1867, Vienna gave in to Magyar demands. The period of prosperity that followed was ended by the First World War and the Treaty of Trianon. In 1989, after more than four decades of communist rule, Hungary regained its sovereignty and democracy.

This sublime building (1896) was built on the occasion of the Millennium celebrations of the creation of the Hungarian state, according to the plans of the master of the Hungarian Secession, Ödön Lechner. Elements of Hindu, Islamic, Moorish and Persian art, together with majolica tiles from the famous Zsolnay porcelain factory, make the building one of the finest examples of the Magyar Secession. A bright white Moorish-style patio covered by a huge glass roof leads to the collections.

On the second floor of the former site of the Academy of Music was the apartment of Franz (Ferenc) Liszt, its founder, who lived there between 1881 and 1886. The apartment now houses a fascinating little museum that provides an insight into the artist's daily life and social life through an exhibition of personal objects such as scores, portraits, rare musical instruments including his travel keyboard and glass piano. Regular concerts in the large hall of the former Academy of Music in the same building.

Around 90 AD, the Romans conquered part of present-day Hungary, which they called Pannonia. The city of Aquincum developed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries to become the capital of Lower Pannonia and had 14,000 inhabitants at its peak. The ruins of Aquincum reveal all its splendours. An exhibition evokes the cult of Mithra. The garden between the ruins has preserved the remains of the Roman forum, the public baths and the market.