Let us travel back in time to the not too distant past when Hungary used to be called „The Happiest Barrack of the Communist block”. Let us examine the bloodstained twentieth century, especially concentrating on the time period between WWII and 1989 when the Iron Curtain finally fell.
What happened to Hungary after the Second World War? Who were the Corvin Boys during the 1956 Revolution? What is the significance of our “Liberation” Statue on Gellért Hill? How did an average Hungarian live under the shadow of the Russian Bear? We take you around the city and rediscover together monuments, places and buildings that still remind the inhabitants of the socialist times.
Highlights
- Family-friendly
- Pets are allowed
Duration
3.5 hours
Included
- Private licenced guide
- Pick-up from your accommodation in Budapest
- Insider tips and recommendations
- A drink
Not Included
- Entry fees to sights & museums
More details ...
Details
To start our tour, your private guide will pick you up from your accommodation or any other previously agreed location. All our tours are flexible and customized according to your requests so the itinerary and meeting point may vary according to your requests.
After the meet-up with your private tour guide and having a short introduction about Communist history of Hungary, this tour includes various places in various districts of Budapest that take us back into the “Damned Era” as Hungarians often call the period between WWII and 1989.
It is convenient to start the tour by Hotel Astoria, that has been used as headquarters by the communists as well as the nazis in the past, and move towards the National Museum, that has always been an important location for various revolutions, and even served as a house of parliament for a while. Behind the Museum we can find the Hungarian State Radio building where the first guns were fired in 1956 when the revolution against the Stalinist Regime actually broke out.
From here we reach the river and have a great view onto the Technical University, where the students practically started the revolution on 23 October 1956 with a peaceful demonstration, and our “Liberation” Statue on Gellért Hill.
Now we move a little bit further from the center of the city to remember many who have been deported to Siberia right after the war by the Soviets, visiting the “Malenkij Robot” (meaning:small work) monument, only erected in 2017, transformed from a former bomb shelter.
By taking Tram 2 we head back to the center, all the way to the Parliament, where Imre Nagy, leader of the revolution held his famous speech, and the massacre of many people by the secret police`s gunman took place.
We end the tour in Liberty Square where we find one of the two Soviet liberation monuments, that was not removed and taken to Memento Park, the open air statue park, where thecollection of some of the communist statues can be seen, that formerly “ornamented” the city. Since our tours are completely customized, we can also include a visit to the House of Terror, a museum of multi- media exhibitions mainly about communism. We will also see the original segment of the Berlin Wall and a modern piece of art representing the Iron Curtain.
With our passionate expert guide, you will learn about the hidden history of our city in your way! As our motto says ‘My City Your Way!'
