Budapest Parliament tickets are the one booking that ruins more Budapest itineraries than any other. That’s not because they’re expensive. It’s because people assume they can buy them the week before. The building takes 45 minutes to see and weeks to get into, and the official site doesn’t make either part obvious.
This guide covers the 2026 prices, how to book, what the tour actually shows you, and what to do when the calendar is full. For everything else worth seeing in the city, see our guide to the best things to do in Budapest.
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How much are Budapest Parliament tickets in 2026?#
Budapest Parliament tickets cost 7,000 HUF (about €19) for EU/EEA adults and 14,000 HUF (about €38) for non-EEA adults in 2026. Prices rose about 8% on 1 January 2026, from 6,500 and 13,000 HUF. The full official list:
| Ticket (official, from 1 Jan 2026) | EU/EEA citizens | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | 7,000 HUF (€19) | 14,000 HUF (€38) |
| Student, aged 6–24 | 3,500 HUF (€10) | 7,000 HUF (€19) |
| Family: per adult (max 2) | 4,900 HUF (€13) | 11,200 HUF (€31) |
| Family: per child aged 6–14 (max 3) | 2,450 HUF (€7) | 5,600 HUF (€15) |
| Under 6 | Free | Free |
Prices checked September 2026 on the official Parliament ticket portal. Euro amounts are approximate. Jegymester adds a small online fee at checkout.
The rules that catch people out:
- “EEA” means the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Since Brexit, UK citizens pay the non-EEA price.
- Your nationality is checked at the door. Bring a passport or national ID card for EU/EEA tickets, and a student card or photo ID for student tickets. The official pages contradict each other on whether a residence card is enough, so residents should email tourist.office@parlament.hu before relying on one.
- A family ticket needs at least one child. It covers one or two adults with children up to 14. It’s the cheapest way in for families: a non-EEA couple with two children aged 8 and 10 pays 33,600 HUF instead of 42,000 HUF.
Where do you buy Budapest Parliament tickets?#
You buy advance Budapest Parliament tickets online only, at jegymester.hu/parlament, which is run for the Office of the National Assembly. There is a ticket office in the Visitor Centre, but it sells only a limited number of same-day tickets, in forints (cash or card), and the queue can be long.
| Where | Price (non-EEA adult) | Book ahead? | Change or cancel? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official site (jegymester.hu) | 14,000 HUF (€38) | Yes, weeks ahead | Change time up to 3 h before (fee); no refunds | Everyone with fixed dates |
| Visitor Centre ticket office | 14,000 HUF (€38) | Same day only | — | Gamblers with a free morning |
| GetYourGuide ticket + audio guide | from €43 | Often available when official is full | Free cancellation up to 24 h before | Sold-out dates, flexible plans |
| City tour including the Parliament | from €65 | Yes | Free cancellation up to 24 h before | A first morning in Budapest |
Prices checked September 2026.
Tickets are sold for a specific date, time and tour language. If you miss your slot, the official terms say you can be turned away without a refund. If the Parliament cancels your tour, you get your money back.
Beware of look-alike sites. Several ticket resellers use “parliament” and “Budapest” in their domain names. The Parliament’s own warning says it takes no responsibility for overpriced or fake tickets bought elsewhere. If the URL isn’t jegymester.hu or a marketplace you already know, close the tab.
How far in advance do Parliament tickets sell out?#
Budapest Parliament tickets sell out weeks in advance, especially in spring, summer and autumn. When we checked the official calendar on 26 September 2026, every slot was sold out from 27 September to 1 November. The first free seats were on 3 November, and most of mid-November onward was still open. Tickets were on sale up to 30 December, with no 2027 dates released yet.
Verdict: Book the moment your dates are fixed. In autumn, plan on at least five weeks. In May, June and September, book further ahead than that if you can.
What should you book if Parliament tickets are sold out?#
If official Parliament tickets are sold out, book a reseller ticket that includes entry. It costs more than the official price but guarantees your slot. The simplest is a timed entry ticket with an audio guide. The most useful is a city tour that ends inside the Parliament, which fills a first morning in one booking.
Parliament Building Entry Ticket and Audio Guide
The same 45-minute tour, with a multilingual audio guide and a separate audio tour of Kossuth Square outside. It has separate EU and non-EU options (pick the right one, because nationality is checked at the door), and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Book it when the official calendar is full, not instead of it.
It costs more than twice the official EEA price, and a few euros more than the non-EEA one. You’re paying for availability, not a better tour.
Grand City Tour with Parliament Visit
A 3-hour guided bus tour of both sides of the river, ending with a 1-hour visit inside the Parliament. It runs in English, German, Italian and Spanish, with EU and non-EU options. Picking the wrong ticket type costs a €30 surcharge on site, so check it.
View Tour →Guided Tour of the Parliament Building in Spanish
For Spanish speakers: a local guide outside, then the interior with a Spanish audio guide. The €35 starting price is for EU citizens; non-EU visitors pay more.
View Tour →Buy official if your dates are fixed and there are seats: it’s the cheapest way in. Book a reseller if your date is sold out, you might change days, or you want the city tour anyway. Skip combo tickets that bundle the Parliament with the Basilica for €89. The Basilica is easy to visit on your own.
What do you see on the Budapest Parliament tour?#
The Budapest Parliament tour is a 45-minute guided route through the building’s grandest rooms, ending with the Holy Crown of Hungary. The official route runs:
- The Grand Stairway: 96 steps under ceiling frescoes by Károly Lotz, and the moment everyone stops to look up.
- The Dome Hall: the Holy Crown and the coronation insignia, kept here since 1 January 2000 and watched over by a ceremonial guard. Photography is strictly forbidden in this hall.
- The lounge and the Chamber of Peers: the old Upper House, with the lounge’s huge hand-knotted carpet on the way in.
- An exhibition on the history of the building, with a 1:100 model.
Tours run with an audio guide or a live guide in Hungarian, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. The audio guide also covers 20 more languages. When we checked the September–December 2026 calendar, every slot on sale was an audio-guide tour. If a live guide matters to you, a reseller tour is currently the easier way to get one.
The Parliament is open 8:00–18:00 from April to October and 8:00–16:00 from November to March, every day. Tours can be cancelled at short notice for parliamentary business or state events. On 26 September 2026 the calendar had no tours at all on 23 October, 2 November or 25 December.
Is it worth it? Yes. It’s one of the finest interiors in Central Europe, and it’s cheap for EU citizens. If you have one indoor sight in Budapest, make it this one.
What are the rules for visiting the Parliament?#
Everyone goes through an airport-style security check before the tour. The rules that trip people up:
- No large bags or packages, and no knives or gas spray. Anything that won’t pass has to go to the cloakroom.
- Drinks: only a clear, non-alcoholic drink in an unbreakable plastic bottle of up to 0.5 litres.
- No photos in the Dome Hall. Photos and video are fine elsewhere on the route.
- Dress appropriately. There’s no written list, but it’s a working parliament, not a beach bar.
- Children under 14 must be with an adult.
- Arrive early. Late arrivals can be turned away without a refund. We would allow 20–30 minutes for security before your slot.
Where is the Parliament Visitor Centre?#
The Parliament Visitor Centre is underground, at the northern end of Kossuth Lajos tér, at the end of Balassi Bálint utca. That is where all tours start. The address is Kossuth Lajos tér 1–3, 1055 Budapest (District V (Belváros-Lipótváros)).
- Metro: M2 (red line) to Kossuth Lajos tér, then walk across the square to its north side.
- Tram: Tram 2 to the “Országház, látogatóközpont” stop on Balassi Bálint utca, right by the entrance.
For tickets and passes, see our Budapest public transport guide. The Visitor Centre also has a free exhibition on a thousand years of Hungarian law-making, open Tuesday to Sunday, which is worth ten minutes after the tour.
Can you visit the Budapest Parliament for free?#
You can’t tour the interior for free on a normal day. The Parliament has held free “Visiting the Holy Crown” open days on some national holidays, such as 20 August, but they come with long queues and dates are announced at short notice.
What is free every day is the building’s best angle: the outside. Walk the Pest embankment south to the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, then look back. For the classic postcard view, cross to Batthyány tér on the Buda side (M2 Batthyány tér).
The best view of all is from the river. See our comparison of Budapest river cruises. One caveat for 2026: the government switched off the Parliament’s decorative lighting on 31 July 2026 to save electricity. As of 26 September 2026 we found no official word that it’s back on, so check the night before if the lit-up view is the point.
Historical Cruise with Welcome Drink
A one-hour evening cruise on a replica paddle steamer that sails right past the Parliament, with a welcome drink and an audio guide on your phone. The cheapest well-reviewed way to see the building from the water.
View Tour →Who should skip the Parliament tour?#
Skip the interior if you only have one day and your date is sold out. The outside, from the embankment and from Batthyány tér, gives you most of the magic for free. Skip it, too, if you’re not keen on a fixed-time, one-way route with a security check: the tour moves at the group’s pace, not yours.
For everyone else, it’s the best 45 minutes of indoor sightseeing in Budapest. Build it into our 3-day Budapest itinerary, book it before your flights feel real, and see the best Budapest tours for what to do with the rest of the day.
FAQ#
How much are Budapest Parliament tickets?#
From 1 January 2026, an adult ticket costs 7,000 HUF (about €19) for EU and EEA citizens and 14,000 HUF (about €38) for everyone else. Students aged 6 to 24 pay 3,500 HUF (EEA) or 7,000 HUF (non-EEA), and children under 6 go free. UK citizens pay the non-EEA price.
How far in advance should I book Budapest Parliament tickets?#
Book at least five weeks ahead in autumn and as early as you can in spring and summer. On 26 September 2026, every official slot was sold out until 1 November, and the first free seats were on 3 November.
Can you buy Parliament tickets on the day?#
Sometimes. The Visitor Centre ticket office sells a limited number of same-day tickets, but they can sell out and the queue can take a long time. Advance tickets are only sold online, at jegymester.hu/parlament.
How long is the Budapest Parliament tour?#
The tour itself lasts about 45 minutes. Allow around an hour and a half in total, including the security check at the Visitor Centre and time in the free exhibition afterwards.
Is the Budapest Parliament tour worth it?#
Yes, for most first-time visitors. For 7,000 to 14,000 HUF you see the Grand Stairway, the Holy Crown in the Dome Hall and the old Upper House chamber, which are among the finest interiors in Central Europe. Skip it only if you prefer the building from outside, which is free and arguably its best angle.
Do you need a passport for the Budapest Parliament?#
You need proof of nationality if you bought an EU/EEA ticket, and proof of age for student tickets, so bring a passport or national ID card. Everyone also goes through a security check, and large bags are not allowed.
Can you take photos inside the Budapest Parliament?#
Yes, except in the Dome Hall, where photography is strictly forbidden. That is the room with the Holy Crown, so enjoy that part without a camera.
What if Budapest Parliament tickets are sold out?#
Check the official site again 24 to 48 hours before your date, because returned tickets reappear, and try the ticket office on the day. If your date is fixed, a reseller ticket or a city tour that includes the Parliament costs more but guarantees your slot.
Last verified: September 2026. Prices and timetables change — confirm with the operator before booking.
