The Buda Castle Funicular has been a link between the riverbank of the Danube and Buda Castle since 1870. The special railway runs on a 95-metre-long track surmounting a gradient of 50 metres while affording riders captivating views of the city below. The Funicular was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

History

The Buda Hill Incline was inaugurated on 2 March 1870 with the purpose of providing easy access to the government offices and the Castle Theatre situated in the Castle District.

Count Ödön Széchenyi, the son of István Széchenyi who was one of the greatest Hungarian statesmen, initiated the construction of the second such railway in the world, based on the one in Lyon, France. The construction site for the steam-powered cable railway was defined by traffic conditions of the time: the abutment area of the Chain Bridge on the right bank of the Danube was a major traffic hub of omnibuses crossing the bridge, the Tunnel completed in 1857 and the terminuses of horse-drawn trams. The engineering plans of the funicular were prepared by Ödön Jaruszek.

At the lower terminal at Clark Ádám tér, a bigger, more impressive station hall was erected to house the engineering equipment including the steam engine. At the upper terminal, a simpler reception building was set up.

During the Second World War, a bomb struck the Buda Castle Funicular on 20 December 1944. After the war, it was dismantled rather than reconstructed, and it was not until 1986 that the line was rebuilt with technical solutions meeting the requirements of the time, such as an electric drive. Glass buildings evoking the past were constructed in harmony with the historical, architectural surroundings. The traction equipment including the driving pulley with a diameter of three metres were relocated to the upper station.

The passenger cars named Gellért and Margit have three-tiered cabins each with a capacity of 24 passengers, and they are run parallel to each other while ascending and descending. The safety of operation is ensured by spring brakes which will stop the vehicle in the unlikely event a cable should break.
The journey time between Clark Ádám tér and the Castle is 95 seconds.

Operating hours

All year round, every day: 08:00-22:00 (ticket office closes at 21:50)
The Buda Castle Funicular departs every 5-10 minutes, on passenger demand.
Service suspended: On Mondays on odd weeks, the Buda Castle Funicular is not in service during maintenance works, except if these days fall on a nonworking day or public holiday. In such cases, maintenance works are carried out on the first working day after the nonworking day or public holiday.
Please make your inquires about the opening hours at the following phone number: 06-1/201-9128

How to reach the Funicular

1013 Budapest, District 1, Clark Ádám tér–Szent György tér
The lower station of the Funicular is located at Clark Ádám tér, on the Buda side of the Chain Bridge, next to the Tunnel.
The upper station is situated at Szent György tér, between Buda Castle and the Presidential Palace (Alexander Palace).
The lower station is accessible by buses 16 and 105 as well as by trams 19 and 41, while the upper station can be approached by buses 16, 16A and 116.

Tickets

The Buda Castle Funicular is to be used free-of-charge under the age of 3.
Please note that pensioner and other types of discounts are not accepted.

You can buy Funicular's tickets online here.

Discounts

Please note that in possession of the Budapest Card Plus, you are entitled to free travel in both directions.
You can get the free Funicular ticket for a round trip on the spot.

Travel terms

Please comply with the Terms and Conditions of Travel applicable on the whole operational area of the Funicular.

The Buda Castle Funicular can be used with Tickets available at the funicular ticket offices or at other designated locations of BKV Zrt sold by contracted ticket distributors of BKV Zrt. or with e-tickets available on-line at siklojegy.hu. No other tickets or passes can be used, no certificates, documents entitling to travel free of charge, nor the pensioners’ discount price applies to the Funicular. The service, however, can be used with the special permit signed and stamped by a competent senior employee of BKV Zrt., with the relevant conditions detailed on the permit.

Both the Full Price Return Ticket and the Discount Price Return Ticket are valid for an uphill and a downhill journey in the official opening hours. When crossing the boundary line of the platform area, tickets must be validated with the ticket validating machine. Once validated, the ticket is not transferable. Tickets shall be shown to the ticket inspector and shall be kept for the whole period of the journey, until leaving the station area.
Children under the age of 3 may travel free of charge, children from age 3 up to 15 are entitled to travel with a Discount Price Ticket. Children under the age of 6 have to be accompanied by an adult (aged 18+). An adult may take maximum 2 kids under the age of 3 years.

Invoices can be requested from the cashiers at the cash desks of Buda Castle Funicular during the personal purchase on the spot. Please, indicate your request for invoice before beginning the purchase. We can issue no invoices subsequently. While purchasing on-line tickets at www.siklojegy.hu, please, request an invoice during the purchasing process as we cannot issue it subsequently. In case of payment by bank transfer we can issue invoices only for our contracted partners or only if a preliminary order is placed; for this reason, please, contact us at e-mail address sikloszamlabkv.hu.

Tickets bought at the ticket offices of BKV Zrt. are refunded only in the case of service disruptions or cancellation due to a technical breakdown, power cut or other external reasons (such as weather condition not permitting safe operation). The Sándor Palace Guard may suspend passenger transport temporarily. In such cases after service breaks longer than 30 minutes BKV Zrt. will refund the full price of the ticket on the spot, if requested. The unused paper ticket along with the receipt and the terminal slip shall be handed over to the cashier otherwise the fare cannot be refunded. The ticket can be used within one year after the date of the purchase. Lost tickets unfortunately cannot be replaced.

E-tickets purchased at siklojegy.hu are provided by a contractual partner of BKV Zrt., therefore, for all further information or comments concerning purchase and repurchase, please, contact directly the distributor. E-tickets bought on-line provide the same travel rights as the service provider defined for paper tickets sold at the ticket offices. The distributor selling e-tickets is entitled to charge a convenience fee, which is indicated both on the e-ticket and on the invoice.
Unused e-tickets can be repurchased only in case of service disruptions or cancellations due to a technical breakdown, power failure or other cause (e.g. if bad weather conditions jeopardize safe operation). Besides the abovementioned cases, the guard of the Sándor Palace may stop the service temporarily. In these cases, if the shutdown lasts 30 minutes or longer – for request, the distributor of BKV refunds it (their contact details are in the ticket). In case of refunding, the convenience fee cannot be repaid.

Staying on the platform is only allowed when getting on and off. Passengers need to get off at both stations in every case even if they have return tickets because the specific order of the entry system requires it, and they need to join the queue to board again.
Small pets are allowed to be transported free of charge in a carrier bag, the size of which does not exceed the size of hand-luggage. Large dogs can be transported with a full price ticket purchased for them, they have to be muzzled, be on a leash and in clean condition. The vaccination certificate of the dog shall be shown for the request of the operator’s employee.

The following persons will be excluded from travel:

• children under the age of 6 without an accompanying adult
• persons under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• persons behaving inappropriately
• who wish to transport an object not qualified as hand-luggage
• who is not capable for transporting their hand-luggage according to the operator’s judgment
• who wish to board with ice-cream, an opened bottle or can or cup of drink
• who does not have a ticket or other travel permit.

While travelling it is forbidden to

• smoke, eat or drink in the cabin
• disturb fellow passengers with noise or other activities
• throw out litter or any object from the passenger cabin
• damage the tracks and equipment

Please, observe the Terms and Conditions of Travel and follow the instructions by the operator to ensure a safe travel experience. We reserve the right to exclude non-complying customers from travelling. Customers causing damage will be subject to prosecution with no exceptions. The operator shall not be liable for its consequences.

Security camera surveillance.

Pursuant to Section 5 (1) (b) of Act CXII of 2011 on Informational Self-Determination and Freedom of Information (Information Act), according to Act XLI of 2012 on Passenger Transport Services (Act on Passenger Transport Services), passengers' lives, persons, physical integrity and their property, and in order to protect vehicles and equipment located at stations and stops, BKV Zrt. performs monitoring and data recording with an electronic security technology system. The data is stored for the period specified in Section 8 (4) to (6) of the Act on Passenger Transport Services. The rights of data subjects and their enforcement are governed by Articles 14 to 19 Information.

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Contact

Postal address: 1980 Budapest, Pf. 11.
Address: 1980 Budapest, Akácfa u. 15.

Phone: + 36 1 461-65-00
E-mail address: [email protected]