A communist walking tour in Budapest

A communist walking tour in Budapest starts with a hard fact: the city lived through back-to-back dictatorships. Memento Park's history notes that Hungary ended the Second World War on the losing side in 1945, and that communist politicians, backed by the Soviet Red Army, then took power and built a Soviet-style state.⁷ That state lasted until the Eastern European dictatorships fell in 1989-90.⁸

Before the communists came the Arrow Cross, and both regimes even used the same building. The house at Andrássy út 60 was first the headquarters of the Arrow Cross terror and later of the communist political police.⁹ Today it is the House of Terror museum, and it is the natural first stop. From there, the story spreads across the city: to squares where statues once stood, to the hills of Buda and to tunnels cut into Castle Hill.

The regime left its mark in bronze as well as in fear. In the decades after the war, thousands of public statues celebrating the communist ideal went up across the country.¹⁰ After the regime change the question was what to do with them, and the answer now stands in a park on the southern edge of the city. The sections below follow the walk, from the museum to the statues and the shelters, with tickets, hours and tour options.

Monday is the museum's closing day; on the other days it is open 10.00 AM - 6.00 PM.² Buy your ticket before the desk shuts at 5.30 PM.³¹ A full-price ticket is 4000 HUF and a reduced ticket 2000 HUF.¹⁹ There is no online booking: tickets are sold only at the museum.³² Allow a long visit if you like to read every panel. Groups of 10 to 30 can book an English-speaking guided tour for 20000 HUF per group.³³

Getting there is simple. The museum is served by the Millennium underground, line M1, and by trams 4 and 6, a short walk from the Vörösmarty utca station or the Oktogon stop.³⁴ The M1 itself is a sight: it opened in 1896 as the first metro line on the European continent.³⁵ Ride it a few stops to feel how old the city's public transport is, then walk the rest of the avenue and look at how the buildings grow lower and greener toward the park.

Andrássy út was completed in 1896, and together with the Millennium Underground Railway and Heroes' Square it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^36,37 Walk north from the museum to Heroes' Square, where the last five statues of the colonnades were replaced after the Second World War for political reasons.²⁹ Ask yourself, as you look up, which faces were chosen and which were removed, and why a political system cared so much about statues of kings.

When communism fell, some people wanted the statues melted down. The Municipality of Budapest refused and ordered a theme park for them instead.³⁰ Architect Ákos Eleőd designed it, and it opened on 27th June 1993, two years after the last Soviet soldier left Hungary.^87,12 Today it displays 41 works from the communist era between 1945 and 1989.³ Any communist tour of Budapest that reaches it ends among giants.

The figures include Lenin, Marx, Engels, Dimitrov and Captain Ostapenko, alongside allegories of Hungarian-Soviet friendship.⁸⁸ The Grandstand is a 1:1 copy of the tribune that once held the 8-meter bronze Stalin.⁸⁹ An original Trabant waits at the entrance for photos.⁹⁰ A film made in 2004 from secret police training reels plays in the Barrack Cinema.⁹¹ Give the film half an hour; it shows how secret police agents were trained.⁹¹

The park is in District XXII, at the corner of Balatoni út and Szabadkai utca, with free parking.^23,92 It opens daily, 10 AM to 6 PM from May to October and 10 AM to 4 PM from November to April.^24,81 Adults pay 3000 HUF, students 1800 HUF and children under 14 pay 1200 HUF.^20,21,22 Entry is free with the Budapest Card, and cash is accepted in HUF and EUR.^6,93 The grounds are not barrier-free, so wear sturdy shoes.⁸²

You can see a lot on your own, but a guide brings the period to life. Our featured tour is a small-group walk of 2 hours, capped at 10 people, and has options that add a House of Terror ticket or a Retro Center ticket. It is listed from €52. For a free communist walking tour in Budapest, a 2-hour English walk meets by the Ferris wheel near Deák Ferenc tér and is listed from €2. Such low-cost walks suit travellers who want a guide on a small budget.

Memento Park is far from the centre, so most people go with transport arranged. A 3-hour van tour from Batthyány Square takes up to 7 people and is listed from €62. If you prefer to make your own way, the park's official 2-hour guided tour with entry is listed from €25. Arrive at the cash desk 15 minutes early for it. Public transport also reaches the park, but it takes planning, so check the route before you set off and leave enough time to return before dark in winter.

A good day runs like this: the House of Terror in the morning, a walk up Andrássy út to Heroes' Square, lunch, then Memento Park in the afternoon before closing. Avoid Mondays, when the House of Terror is shut.² Buda's bunkers make a second day, with the Hospital in the Rock and the Cave Church. Bring cash or a card, and a Budapest Card if you plan several museums.⁶ Pace yourself, because these are heavy subjects and the day is long.