The Hauszmann rebuild in 2026

What has the Hauszmann Program finished?

Five pieces on the palace side of the hill, all completed between 2019 and 2022, plus the restored wells and courtyards around them.

The early phase rebuilt what had vanished around the palace courtyards. The Riding Hall, a 1,500 m² Hauszmann building lost after the war, came back as an event venue. The Main Guard, a two-storey guardhouse from the turn of the century, opened in 2021 with a café and a terrace over the Tabán. The Stöckl Staircase, built in 1896 and torn down in the 1970s, again links the Csikós Courtyard with the Hunyadi Courtyard, now with lifts for step-free access, per Visit Hungary.

The Matthias Fountain in the Hunyadi Courtyard was fully restored in 2020, and the Fishing Children's Well went back to its original spot in 2021. The flagship was St Stephen's Hall, the palace's lost state room, reopened on 20 August 2021. Off the palace, the former Red Cross headquarters and the old Ministry of Finance on Szentháromság tér have their facades back, but both are ministries now and not open to visitors.

Can you go inside St Stephen's Hall?

Yes, daily 10:00 to 18:00 on timed tablet tours. Tickets cost HUF 4,900, or HUF 5,900 with the whole Castle Museum.

The hall is the most convincing result of the program: a richly carved room of the 1900 palace, rebuilt from photographs and surviving fragments. The official ticket page lists HUF 4,900 for adults and HUF 2,450 for children, students and seniors, both with a tablet guide. The combined ticket at HUF 5,900 adds every exhibition of the Budapest History Museum next door. Budapest Card holders get in free.

Entry is from the Lion Court, Szent György tér 2. The last tour leaves at 17:15, the cloakroom is compulsory, and latecomers are not let in. Our full walk-through of the hall, with what is original and what is new, is in the Royal Palace and St Stephen's Hall guide.

What is still under construction in 2026 and 2027?

The north wing of the Royal Palace, the Archduke Joseph Palace and the old Honvéd Headquarters on Dísz tér. None has an opening date.

The north wing (wing A) is the one you will notice. Its post-war shell was stripped back to restore the Hauszmann facade, its rooftop and its covered courtyard; in December 2025 the walls had reached the second-floor slab, per Economx. In September 2026 the transport and investment ministry confirmed the contractor would leave the site when its contract ran out on 30 September, and that a new public tender would follow, Economx reported. Until then the building is to be weatherproofed and left as it is. Expect hoardings and cranes on the Szent György tér side through 2027.

The Archduke Joseph Palace, blown up in 1968, has risen again on Szent György tér. Its north and west facades were due for completion in spring 2026, per Economx, but the interiors are not built. The previous plan put the Constitutional Court inside; the government said in June it will recommend that Parliament drop the move. On Dísz tér, the ruined Honvéd Headquarters has been rebuilt from its surviving shell; finishing the exterior needs another HUF 7.6 billion and the building still has no confirmed tenant.

What did the 2026 review change?

It froze new spending, questioned the plans for each building, and pushed for public access over government offices.

On 25 June 2026 minister Dávid Vitézy presented the review at a government press briefing, reported in detail by Telex. Five projects were then under way. The north wing had been contracted for HUF 36 billion covering only the exterior, with HUF 25 billion of it unfunded and no use decided. The Archduke Joseph Palace needed some HUF 20 billion more; its historicising staircase and ballroom were called out as having no historical precedent.

The visible change for visitors is the Karmelita, the former Carmelite monastery that served as the Prime Minister's office until 2026. It opened for free guided visits in 2026, booked online at szabadkarmelita.jegy.hu; the schedule has changed several times, with booking up to three weeks ahead over the summer. Check the booking page before you plan around it.

How do you see the rebuilt parts on a visit?

Walk a loop from Szent György tér through the courtyards: everything outdoors is free, and it takes about 45 minutes.

Start at the Main Guard and the terrace above the Tabán. Pass the Riding Hall into the Csikós Courtyard, take the Stöckl Staircase (or its lift) up to the Hunyadi Courtyard and the Matthias Fountain, then come out to the Lion Court for St Stephen's Hall. The Palota Info desk in the Hunyadi Courtyard has maps. Finish on Szent György tér, where the Archduke Joseph Palace and the hoardings of the north wing face each other.

We prefer the courtyards after 19:00, when the day-trip groups have left and the floodlights come on. To understand what is new and what is 1950s, a guide helps more than any panel: the official castle walk is run by the castle's own visitor service and ends inside St Stephen's Hall. Everything else that costs nothing on the hill is in our guide to what is free.

The castle's own guided walk through the palace courtyards, with timed entry to the rebuilt St Stephen's Hall at the end.

★ 4.6 · 1.5 hours · from $29

Check dates → Tour details

Frequently asked questions