Andrássy út

Completed in 1876, Andrássy Avenue has had many names. Initially named after Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy, as regimes came and went it changed its colours. During the Soviet occupation it was called Stalin Street; following the 1956 uprising it was renamed the Hungarian Youth Street; later, under the governing communists, it was known as the People’s Republic Street. A couple of decades ago it finally reverted to being plain old Andrássy Avenue, and, in many ways, little has changed since it was built. As of 2002 it was made a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The avenue starts a little to the northeast of Deák Ferenc tér and runs for 2.5km, finishing at Heroes Square and the City Park, Városliget. It’s a tree-lined parade, flanked by astounding neo-Renaissance architecture. There’s little better than a spring stroll from the Opera House all the way out to the park, taking in the New Theatre, Művész Kávéház, the House of Terror and Kodály körönd on your way.

House of Terror

Far from the haunted house attraction it sounds like, the House of Terror is a museum with exhibits relating to the fascist and communist dictatorial regimes which Hungary suffered during the 20th century. Although fascinating and frightening, some critics have suggested it paints the Hungarians too much as the victims of foreign occupiers, and that it focuses on the communist regime much more than the fascist one. Nonetheless, Hungary sat awkwardly between the warring ideologies of 20th century Europe, and it still bears the scars today.