Behind Baroque facades and steaming thermal baths, Budapest’s haunted history lingers in its castles, caves, and cobbled streets.
Budapest seems to be the perfect picture-postcard European city, with stunning architecture, grand boulevards, ruin bars, and thermal baths. But beneath the old-world charm lies another city: one haunted by legends, tragedies, and a shadowy past.
For travellers who like a touch of the uncanny with their culture, Hungary’s capital is a spellbinding surprise. Begin at Buda Castle, rising above the Danube like a stately guardian of history. Under its ancient walls sprawls a labyrinth that once served as a dungeon, wartime shelter, and even a prison for Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century ruler said to have inspired Dracula.
Guided tours lead visitors through dim corridors where myth and memory intertwine. “Once called the Queen of the Danube, Budapest straddles the Danube River. It comprises two parts, hilly Buda and relatively flat Pest, located on opposite sides of the river and united in 1873,” says Márton Nagy, who runs walking tours across the city.
The two sides of Budapest are now connected by a series of bridges, and stand tall as an outgrowth of the 19th-century empire of Austria-Hungary. The city, including the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, and Andrássy Avenue, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
It may be one of the world’s “most outstanding landscapes”, but the city also has a dark past. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Gellért Hill, both lookout and legend. Ancient pagans are once said to have held rituals on the slopes; witches and wartime spies congregated here decades later. At dusk, as mist curls around the hill, it’s easy to imagine ghosts keeping watch over the city below.
Even the Parliament building is said to harbour the spirits of revolutionaries who died fighting for freedom. Located on Kossuth Square in the Pest side of the city, the magnificent structure was designed by Hungarian architect Imre Steindl in neo-Gothic style in 1902. More than a century later, staff still speak of flickering lights and sudden chills in its echoing halls, Nagy says.
Across the river, Vajdahunyad Castle is located at the edge of City Park and was originally constructed in 1896 as part of the Millennial Exhibition. Erected in canvas originally and later built in stone, the castle was modelled after a fortress in Transylvania but designed to showcase various architectural styles through different periods of Hungarian history. The pointed towers and stone bridges seem straight out of a dark fairy tale.
The House of Terror Museum, once the headquarters of fascist and communist secret police, exposes Budapest’s darkest 20th-century chapters. Exhibits detail decades of persecution and fear. It stands as a stark reminder of Hungary’s years under fascist and communist rule, when the nation lost its freedom to two successive dictatorships. It honours those who suffered and celebrates Hungary’s hard-won return to independence.
“Hungarians have long memories — for both the good and the bad. The stories you see, hear, and read here will reach the very depth of your soul,” according to Dr Mária Schmidt, Director-General of the museum.
For a quieter reflection, Kerepesi Cemetery offers calm among the ghosts. Beneath arching trees lie poets, politicians, and scientists, their graves guarded by stone angels and marble effigies.
In the Jewish Quarter, history meets haunting. Nagy recommends a ghost tour that explores narrow alleys, crumbling courtyards, and abandoned synagogues, blending documented history with folklore. It’s vital to follow that up with a drink in a ruin bar that has brought alive an abandoned building, and where laughter in the present mingles with echoes of the past.
For those keen on an immersive brush with Budapest’s darker past, the Buda Castle District Night Tour offers a spine-tingling experience. Strolling past landmarks like Buda Castle and Matthias Church, it’s possible to uncover hidden tales. The tour explores Vlad Dracula’s links to the city, 19th-century scandals, and shadowed corner, with guides in period costume revealing eerie legends.
Beneath Budapest, a network of natural caves, wartime bunkers, and Cold War shelters stretches under the streets. Some are open for guided tours, and showcase stories of secrecy, survival, and resilience.
From my suite at the Anantara New York Palace, I reflect on my days in Budapest. Set in the city’s historic heart, the hotel is a Belle Époque masterpiece, with its marble façade, ornate carvings, and grand chandeliers evoking the elegance of another era.
I marvel at the city’s duality — beauty and darkness, glamour and grit. Steam rises from art nouveau spas, trams rattle across bridges, and cafés glow late into the night. Yet shadows linger, with Budapest’s Gothic architecture and misty riverbanks offering the perfect stage for this interplay. I realise the truth in Nagy’s words: “The most haunting thing about Budapest isn’t its legends; it’s how alive they still feel.”