7 Best Sights in Belvaros (Inner City), Budapest

The permanent collection here takes you on a stimulating journey into the everyday Hungarian experience, from the recent to the more distant past. Among the highlights are the 20th-century exhibit, including an early movie theater replete with films of the era, an old schoolroom, a 1960s apartment interior, and a host of historical posters—all of which brings you right up to the end of communism and the much-celebrated exodus of Russian troops. Older attractions including masterworks of cabinetmaking and woodcarving (e.g., church pews from Nyírbátor and Transylvania); a piano that belonged to both Beethoven and Liszt; and goldsmithing treasures. The museum often hosts interesting temporary installations as well, such as the World Press Photo exhibition housed here every fall.

Calvin Square takes its name from the neoclassical Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist) church that tries to dominate this busy traffic hub; this is a hard task, what with the dull-as-can-be glass facade of the Kálvin Center office building across the square. The Kecskeméti Kapu, a main gate of Pest, once stood here, as well as a cattle market that was a notorious den of thieves. At the beginning of the 19th century this was where Pest ended and the prairie began.

The neighborhood to the south of Széchenyi István tér has regained much of its past elegance—if not its architectural grandeur—with the erection of several luxury hotels. Traversing past and continuing well beyond them is the riverside korzó, a pedestrian promenade lined with park benches and appealing outdoor cafés from which one can enjoy postcard-perfect views of Gellért Hill and Castle Hill directly across the Danube. Try to take a stroll in the evening, when the views are lit up in shimmering gold lights.

Seating 3,000, Europe's largest synagogue was designed by Ludwig Förs and built between 1844 and 1859 in a Byzantine-Moorish style described as "consciously archaic Romantic-Eastern." Desecrated by German and Hungarian Nazis, it was painstakingly reconstructed with donations from all over the world; its doors reopened in the fall of 1996. While used for regular services during much of the year, it is generally not used in midwinter, as the space is too large to heat; between December and February, visiting hours are erratic (so call ahead).

In the courtyard behind the synagogue a weeping willow made of metal honors the victims of the Holocaust. Liszt and Saint-Saëns are among the great musicians who played the synagogue's grand organ. A museum upstairs displays items from Hungarian Jewish religious life.

Immediately north of Erzsébet híd (Elizabeth Bridge) is Budapest's best-known shopping street and most unabashed tourist zone, Váci utca, a pedestrian precinct with electric 19th-century lampposts and smart shops with credit-card emblems on ornate doorways. No bargain basement, Váci utca gets its special flavor from the mix of native furriers, tailors, designers, folk-craft shops, china shops, bookstores, and internationally known boutiques. On Régi Posta utca, just off Váci utca, you'll find Hungary's first McDonald's, which opened in 1988. Váci utca's second half, south of Kossuth Lajos utca, was transformed into another pedestrian-only zone in the 1990s. On both halves of Váci utca, beware of inflated prices and pickpockets. With it's high end retail shops, "Fashion Street," between Vörösmarty tér and Deák tér, now competes with Váci for shoppers' attention.

Downtown revitalization since the early 1990s has decentralized things somewhat, but this large, handsome square at the northern end of Váci utca is still the heart of Pest's tourist life in many respects. Street musicians, sidewalk cafés, and ice-cream-toting tourists make this one of the liveliest places in Budapest and a good spot to take it all in. At its center is a white-marble statue of the 19th-century poet and dramatist Mihály Vörösmarty, and nearby is an elegant former pissoir—today a lovely kiosk displaying gold-painted historic scenes of the square's golden days. Stores and businesses occupy the perimeter, and as of this writing a grand new "multifunctional" building was rising on the square' west side. In June the square plays host to Budapest's annual "Book Week" and in the run-up to Christmas it is awash with gift stands selling handmade, traditional crafts items.