Budapest’s Art Nouveau

Highlights of This Experience

By the early 20th century, Art Nouveau had become extremely popular in Budapest (and also in other parts of Hungary), and although many buildings got destroyed during WWII, the city still offers some of the finest examples of Art Nouveau and Secessionist architecture in Europe.

Depending on the day of your tour, you’ll visit the Palace of the Royal Post, designed by Ödön Lechner, the founding father of Hungarian Art Nouveau, the Gresham Palace, today the Four Seasons Hotel but at the time built by the founder of the London Stock Exchange Lord Gresham as an office space and a series of luxury apartments for Hungarian nobility. Luckily both buildings allow visitors into the entrance hall, so you’ll get to see not only the beautiful exterior of these buildings but also the stunning details of the interior, including stained glass windows by Miksa Róth, mosaics and furniture.

Other stops on this tour include a flower shop with its original Art Nouveau interior, a department store, several bank offices and a small but exquisite Art Nouveau museum and café. You’ll also get to see the famous Zsolnay ceramics from the Zsolnay factory in Pécs, made with the pioneering process of eosin glazing, and you’ll also learn about the use of Asian motifs that became a distinctive feature of Hungarian Art Nouveau.

The itinerary of this tour is flexible and you can also ask the guide to include certain buildings, such as the stunning Gellért Bath, the Museum of Applied Arts or the Geology Museum.