Hungarian National Gallery

About the museum

Founded in 1957, the Hungarian National Gallery is the country’s principal public collection devoted to Hungarian fine art. Since 1975 it has occupied several wings of the former Royal Palace in Buda Castle.

The permanent displays run from Gothic panel painting and late-Gothic winged altarpieces through nineteenth-century painting and sculpture to Hungarian modernism and art after 1945, alongside a collection of international art after 1800.

A ticket to a temporary exhibition also admits you to the permanent and cabinet displays on the same day. The museum suggests allowing 1.5 to 3 hours for the permanent collection.

Opening hours

Tickets & prices

Full price

5,800 HUF

50% concession

2,900 HUF

HNG Annual Ticket

9,000 HUF

Free admission

Free

Group discounts

55% for groups of at least 15 eligible for the 50% concession, and 10% for groups of at least 15 full-price visitors, entering together and registered in advance.

Check official prices (opens in a new tab)

What to see

• Gothic Art and Late Gothic Winged Altarpieces

  The Gallery holds an exceptional collection of medieval Hungarian panel paintings, wooden sculpture and complete late-Gothic winged altarpieces from the historic Kingdom of Hungary.

• Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Art

  The nineteenth-century galleries trace major developments in Hungarian painting and sculpture, including works associated with artists such as Mihály Munkácsy and Pál Szinyei Merse.

• Modern and Post-War Hungarian Art

  The Gallery’s twentieth-century displays follow Hungarian art through modernism, the interwar period and the artistic movements that developed after 1945.

Current exhibitions

• 1896. Temporary Exhibitions in the 19th-Century Collection

  14 March 2026 – 8 November 2026 · Shown in the spaces of the permanent nineteenth-century display; included with permanent-collection admission.

  Two linked displays marking 130 years since Hungary’s Millennium year of 1896: Millennium 130 looks at Hungarian fine art shown at the Millennium Exhibition, while Nagybánya 130 examines the birth of the Nagybánya artists’ colony and the emergence of modern Hungarian plein-air painting.

• Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost

  20 June 2026 – 27 September 2026 · Within the permanent display Shifts – Updated!; included with permanent-collection admission.

  A site-specific installation of painting by Orsi Nyíri, created within the permanent display Shifts – Updated!. The four-part cycle traces an artwork’s conception, realisation and destruction, reflecting on memory, life stages and the temporary nature of the installation itself.

• Art and Spirituality. A Selection of Prints by Antoni Tàpies

  Upcoming · 15 September 2026 – 22 November 2026 · Cabinet exhibition; included with permanent-collection admission.

  A focused cabinet exhibition of prints by the Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies, examining the relationship between material, mark-making and spirituality.

Practical information

Accessibility

Step-free access available with a designated route.

Step-free entry is via the ramp to the staff entrance in Building B, reached from Hunyadi Court, where attendants show the way to the exhibition area. Arriving by public transport, take bus 16 or 216 to the Palota út stop and use the step-free Tabán lifts. Wheelchairs and rollators are available free of charge in limited numbers — ask the museum guards in the lobby. The building is a historic palace and not every area is step-free.

Photography

Allowed, no flash.

Visitors may take photographs and record videos with any admission ticket, but flash, monopods, tripods and selfie sticks are not permitted. Drones are prohibited in the museum.

Cloakroom

Cloakroom use required and free of charge.

For safety reasons the cloakroom must be used. Leave packages up to 40 × 50 × 80 cm, umbrellas and any bag exceeding 30 × 25 × 15 cm. Bags may not be carried on the back in the exhibition spaces. Wet coats must be left in the cloakroom. Tote bags for valuables are loaned free of charge and free lockers are available. Food and drink are not allowed beyond a 0.5 litre transparent bottle of still water, to be drunk outside the exhibition areas.

Food and drink

Museum café available.

A café on the ground floor of Building C, at the main entrance, serves hot and cold drinks, cakes, pastries and sandwiches, open 10:00–17:45.

Toilets

Available with an admission ticket.

The museum’s toilets can only be used with an admission ticket. Changing tables are in the family room on the first floor and in the women’s restroom of the ground-floor café.

Dome and panorama

Open with an exhibition ticket until 17:00, weather permitting.

The dome is reached by 54 steps from the top floor and can be visited with a ticket for the exhibitions on opening days between 10:00 and 17:00. A maximum of 15 people may be on the terraces at once, and the dome is closed in bad weather.

Contact

info@mng.hu · +36 1 201 9082

Main entrance for the permanent and temporary exhibitions is Building C.

Getting there

Address

1014 Budapest, Szent György tér 2.

Area

Buda Castle / Castle District

Nearest transport

Dísz tér / Clark Ádám tér / Palota út

• Dísz tér — Bus 16 / 16A / 116 / 216
• Clark Ádám tér — Buda Castle Funicular
• Palota út — Bus 16 / 216, then the step-free Tabán lifts

Parking spaces are available at Dózsa György tér, below the Castle.

Directions