In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The upper terrace of Fisherman’s Bastion is 1,700 HUF (about £4), and free on 1 January, 15 March, 20 August, 23 October and 24 to 31 December. Matthias Church is 3,400 HUF, and its tower is 4,000 HUF in timed 30-minute slots bought online. The church’s hours change from day to day, so check its calendar before you go. Neither is on the Budapest Card, and neither is sold on GetYourGuide as a ticket. Or book a tour: the Castle Hill tour with the bastion and the churchad (from £33) is the guided way round.
The tickets, compared
Prices are from the operators, converted at about 434 HUF to the pound. The bastion’s ticket system is run by Budavári Városüzemeltetési Kft, the Buda Castle district’s company. Matthias Church sells its own tickets. Look-alike ticket sites turn up in search results.
| Ticket | Price | What it covers | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bastion terrace, full price | 1,700 HUF (about £4) | The upper lookout level | Most visitors |
| Bastion terrace, reduced | 850 HUF | The same, for under-14s, students and over-65s | Bought at the desk with proof |
| Bastion Panorama ticket, full price | 2,700 HUF | The terrace and the Mary Magdalene Tower | Visitors who want both |
| Bastion Panorama ticket, reduced | 1,350 HUF | The same | At the desk with proof |
| Church, adult | 3,400 HUF (about £8) | Matthias Church, valid all calendar year | Most visitors |
| Church with audio guide | 5,000 HUF | The church and the audio guide | Visitors going round alone |
| Church, student or senior | 2,700 HUF (4,300 HUF with audio) | The same | With proof |
| Church, family | 9,500 HUF (11,100 HUF with audio) | The same | Families |
| Tower, adult | 4,000 HUF (about £9) | The tower, for a chosen date and 30-minute slot | Visitors who want the view |
| Tower, student or senior | 3,300 HUF | The same | With proof |
- Bastion free days: 1 January, 15 March, 20 August, 23 October and 24 to 31 December. Children under 6 are always free. 23 October 2026 is the 70th anniversary of the 1956 revolution.
- The bastion’s paid hours in 2026: 9:00 to 19:00 from 2 January to 31 May, 9:00 to 21:00 from 1 June to 30 September, and 9:00 to 19:00 from 1 October to 23 December. Only the upper lookout level is ticketed.
- Reduced bastion tickets are sold only at the desk, and the online shop sells full-price tickets only.
- Prices rose in a year: the bastion terrace was 1,500 HUF, the church 3,100 HUF and the tower 3,700 HUF in June 2025.
- Church tickets are non-refundable. A church ticket can be used on any day in the calendar year, but a tower ticket only on its chosen date and slot.
- Children under 6 are free at the church.
How to buy
- Bastion online: ticket.budavar.hu sells full-price tickets.
- Bastion at the desk: the ticket desk sells every type, and reduced tickets are sold nowhere else.
- Church and tower online: matyas-templom.hu sells them. Choose the date, then Matthias Church or Tower, then the time slot for the tower. The page shows that day’s church hours before you pay.
- Audio guide: it runs on your own charged smartphone, which opens it from a QR code on the church’s free Wi-Fi. It is in Hungarian, English, Italian and Polish, and the first three chapters are free.
The cone-roofed towers of Fisherman’s Bastion. Photo: Perituss, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Tours worth paying for
Neither sight sells entry on GetYourGuide, so these are guided walks that pass them. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person. Check what each listing includes, because the tickets above are separate.
The daytime tour with both sights
From £33 · 4.7 stars from 157 reviews · 2.5 to 3.5 hours
Buda Castle Hill Tour: Fisherman’s Bastion & Matthias Churchad is the longer guided route round both. The bastion terrace and the church together cost 5,100 HUF (about £12) at the operators’ prices, so most of the tour’s price is the guide.
An evening tour
From £36 · 4.9 stars from 56 reviews · 2.5 hours
Budapest: Evening Castle Hill Tour with Fishermen’s Bastionad is an evening version of the Castle Hill walk, for visitors who spent the day elsewhere.
The cheaper walk
From £10 · 4.6 stars from 2,393 reviews · 2 hours
Budapest: Buda Castle District Walking Tourad covers the castle district and is the cheapest guided option. The Buda Castle guide compares it with the other walks.
What to see
Both sights are on Szentháromság tér, within a minute of each other. Allow time for whichever you pay for. Go in this order.
- Matthias Church, first, if you want the tower. The tower slots run 9:30 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:30, so book the one you want before you come. The church is the Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle. It is first mentioned in 1247, and Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned Hungarian king and queen in it on 8 June 1867.
- Fisherman’s Bastion’s upper terrace, paid from 9:00. The paid level is the lookout on the north side of Szentháromság tér, with the Danube and Pest below. Only this level has a ticket system.
- The Mary Magdalene Tower, if you bought the Panorama ticket. The district’s ticket shop calls it one of the oldest buildings in Budapest.
What to skip: the tower and the audio guide, unless you want them: the church and the terrace are the core. The terrace looks across the river to the Hungarian Parliament.
The patterned tile roof of Matthias Church. Photo: John Samuel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hours, rules and getting there
- Matthias Church: the hours change day by day. The church’s ticket page shows the day’s opening hours, and the church is a working church, so services can close it to visitors.
- Bastion: see the paid hours above. The free days have no ticket.
- Getting there: both are at Szentháromság tér on Castle Hill. The funicular is closed from 5 to 16 October 2026. Buses 16, 16A and 116 climb the hill on an ordinary BKK ticket. Budapest public transport has the fares.
- Next door: the Hospital in the Rock is a short walk from the church, down the stairs or the lift on Tóth Árpád sétány.
For the Gallery, the Castle Museum and the funicular, see Buda Castle and the Hungarian National Gallery. The Budapest Card covers the Gallery but not these two sights. For the rest of the city’s bookings, see what to book before you go to Budapest. 3 days in Budapest and Budapest in one day build the plan round the bookings. The Hungarian Parliament is the building you see across the river, St Stephen’s Basilica has its own terrace on the Pest side, Budapest’s thermal baths compared covers a bath for the afternoon, Danube river cruises show Castle Hill from the water, and where to stay in Budapest compares the areas. For lunch, where to eat in Budapest lists places to eat; best time to visit Budapest covers the seasons.
Common questions
How much is Fisherman's Bastion?
1,700 HUF (about £4) for the upper lookout terrace, or 850 HUF reduced for under-14s, students and over-65s, bought at the desk with proof. A Panorama ticket that adds the Mary Magdalene Tower is 2,700 HUF. Children under 6 are free. Full-price tickets can be bought online at ticket.budavar.hu.
When is Fisherman's Bastion free?
On 1 January, 15 March, 20 August and 23 October, and from 24 to 31 December. The free-entry days are named in the notice from Budavári Városüzemeltetési Kft, the district company that runs the ticket system.
What are the opening hours of Fisherman's Bastion in 2026?
The upper terrace is charged from 9:00 to 19:00 from 2 January to 31 May, 9:00 to 21:00 from 1 June to 30 September and 9:00 to 19:00 from 1 October to 23 December.
How much is Matthias Church?
3,400 HUF for the church, 5,000 HUF with an audio guide, and 4,000 HUF for the tower. Students and seniors pay 2,700 HUF for the church and 3,300 HUF for the tower. A church ticket is valid for the whole calendar year, and a tower ticket only for the date and time chosen.
What are the Matthias Church tower slots?
Timed 30-minute slots from 9:30 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 16:30. A tower ticket is valid only for the slot bought, and tickets are not refundable.
Is there an audio guide for Matthias Church?
Yes. It runs on your own smartphone by QR code, on the church's free Wi-Fi, in Hungarian, English, Italian and Polish. It costs 1,600 HUF, or 5,000 HUF as a bundle with the adult church ticket. The first three chapters are free.
Are Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church on the Budapest Card?
No. Neither is on the Budapest Card's list of free or discounted sights.
