Europe
Hungary
Central Hungary
Budapest
Things to Do in Budapest
Kiscelli Museum
See all things to do

Kiscelli Museum

See all things to do
See all things to do
Kiscelli Museum
4
38
#182 of 743 things to do in Budapest
History Museums
Read more
Write a review
About
The Kiscelli Museum is one of the hidden treasures of Obuda located in a former baroque monastery and church on the top of a hill. It manages a collection related to urban history and fine arts of Budapest. In its permanent exhibitions you can find fabulous furniture, trade signs, plans and silver artefacts, modern and contemporary paintings and sculpures. While in the temporary ones you can see a selection of history of photography, sports and fashion as well. The building ensemble is surrounded by a nice park and hiking trails, so it is a good destination for excursions as well.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view

Top ways to experience Kiscelli Museum and nearby attractions

The area
Address
Neighborhood: Óbuda-Békásmegyer
Best nearby
Restaurants
1,537 within 3 miles
Harapó Mókus Étterem
203
0.5 mi$$ - $$$ • European • Diner • Eastern European
Lashka Tesztamuhely
12
0.3 mi$$ - $$$
Don Bosco Cukraszda
6
0.2 miItalian • European • Hungarian
Zöld Kapu Vendéglő
159
0.5 mi$$ - $$$ • European • Eastern European • Central European
Gleda Vendeglo
20
0.4 mi$$ - $$$ • European • Eastern European • Central European
All In Delicates
2
0.3 mi$ • International • European • Healthy
Pesto Pizza
7
0.2 mi$ • Pizza
Édes Kuckó Óbuda
1
0.3 miDessert • European • Eastern European • Central European
Gigler Restaurant
3
0.3 miEuropean • Hungarian
Kehli
1,077
0.7 mi$$ - $$$ • European • Eastern European • Central European
See all
Attractions
667 within 6 miles
Ferenc Puskás Statue
22
0.2 miMonuments & Statues
Hungarian Parliament Building
42,125
2.3 miArchitectural Buildings • Government Buildings
Halászbástya
32,141
2.5 miHistoric Sites • Points of Interest & Landmarks
Shoes on the Danube Bank
21,346
2.5 miHistoric Sites • Points of Interest & Landmarks
Danube River
14,305
2.5 miBodies of Water
St. Stephen's Basilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika)
22,262
2.8 miReligious Sites • Churches & Cathedrals
Széchenyi Lánchíd
17,574
2.8 miBridges
Palvolgyi Caves
150
0.7 miCaverns & Caves
Heroes' Square
12,868
2.8 miHistoric Sites • Points of Interest & Landmarks
Budapest Pinball Museum
1,401
2 miSpeciality Museums
See all
See what other travelers are saying
  • Constantin
    Le Havre, France5 contributions
    Charming atmosphere and beautiful exhibitions
    I had a very nice experience at the Kiscelli Museum. It is a charming building constructed around the remnant of a church. I visited the exhibition "Design without borders", and everything was beautifully showcased. I saw another temporary exhibition on feminist artists, and the permanent collection of Hungarian artifacts and street signs. Consider it if you want a cultural day and a change of atmosphere
    Written December 8, 2020
  • Kitsou_23
    Lyon, France51 contributions
    Un musée perché
    Entre arts appliqués et beaux-arts, ce musée un peu excentré propose de jolies period rooms et un exceptionnel espace d’exposition temporaire dans une église baroque en ruine. Pour y accéder un petit escalier depuis les trams 17 19 ou 41. Très belle exposition temporaire lors de notre visite. Un espace permanent consacré aux enseignes de magasins.
    Written October 29, 2019
  • Cheslav S
    Baar, Switzerland99 contributions
    Nice exposition, but not good maintained building
    First - it is not easy to reach the museum. you need to have car or to use taxi. Building is not good maintained. Some expositions is interesting, but the general impression - could be much better.
    Traveled on business
    Written June 17, 2019
These reviews are the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor checks reviews for fraud.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
4.0
38 reviews
Excellent
15
Very good
17
Average
4
Poor
1
Terrible
1
Stephen P
Minneapolis, MN1,006 contributions
A lovely quiet wooded change of pace from the city--and good art besides!!
Aug 2015 • Friends
The Kiscelli Museum is an 18th century monastery and church converted into a museum, exhibition and performance space. I agree with another reviewer who felt the place was underfunded and when we looked into rental prices for an event we were surprised to find it very much on the high end. It does need more funding to get the price down; there would be more traffic. This is important because the museum is tucked away in a wooded part of Buda and it is a lovely, quiet wooded change of pace from the city.

The permanent exhibition is historical about Budapest. They preserve many of the old street signs of shops and pubs from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries as well as quite a few good examples of decorative statuary made of sandstone which was quite weathered, adding to the feel of antiquity..

This made the the absolutely perfect frame for the exhibition we came to see, of paintings and a video installation by Budapest artist and philosopher Attila Kondor. His subject is meditation and consciousness, very much following the ideas of yoga and the Hungarian philosopher Bela Hamvas. The show was stunning and exquisite. Kondor seldom puts his canvases in frames, preferring instead to frame his paintings with the building itself and the lighting. His sensibility in this regard is distinctly architectural and heavily influenced by Renaissance and Baroque forms, including staircases, doorways, fountains, collonades and reflecting pools. One of my favorites among recent works is "Uncreated Light," a doorway, slightly opened to reveal light on the other side of the door, with the architectural features of the doorway rendered not in color, but in the texture of the paint, so you can't see the doorframe looking straight on, only from the side, with light reflecting over the surface of the paint.

The paintings were reason enough to come (Can you tell I am a fan?), but in the former darkened sanctuary of the church he installed three video screens that run silent animations of some of his paintings to very minimalist music played by expert Indian musicians (although you wouldn't characterize the music as classically Indian). It was dark and silent and the installation explores the experience of consciousness unfolding in meditation. The space fit his work like a glove. I also had the pleasure of the artist's company for this showing which came near the end of the run. I was glad for this, because it made the experience more contemplative.

One of the other reviewers notes that the 165 bus that goes by this museum also goes by the Daubner Csukraszda, widely known as the best pastry shop and gelateria not only in Budapest, but in all of Hungary. All the gelato is made with absolutely fresh, natural and/or organic fruit and it is a must visit after this museum.
Written August 20, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
CaptainNicholas
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary24 contributions
A gem for history and architecture buffs
Other than the horrid modern art, Kiscelli Museim is host to a wide exhibit of the old Budapest. Models, photos and paintings of buildins long lost to fires, wars and city development. An amazing experience if you are into this sort of thing like me! Be sure to check out the interior of the bombed down cloister on your way out. It is breathtaking!
Written July 13, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
HealdGreenForever
Slovakia297 contributions
Worth the detour out of the city centre
Mar 2018 • Couples
Kiscelli Museum is set in a beautiful building in a leafy courtyard, a short distance from Budapest's city centre. We enjoyed getting out of the craziness and into a more normal, lived in part of the city as we journeyed on the tram.

What was particularly interesting for us were the old guild and shop signs, however the content of the museum is varied and, at some points, unexpected (as a few rooms also house art exhibitions and displays).
Written February 11, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
DerTamas
Budapest, Hungary62 contributions
Wrong open ours
Oct 2017
Today the management of the museum closed the building before the official closing time without any warning on the online forums. We planed our afternoon to view the exibition but this way we didnt have the chance...
Written October 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
happy_camper393
Berlin, Germany7 contributions
Beautiful location, interesting exhibitions
Aug 2016 • Family
Kiscelli Museum is an out of beaten track attraction: while not very central, it is located in a beautiful old monastery building, in an area full of natural beauty: forests and caves nearby. The Museum itself is focused on municipal treasures of Budapest, objects of arts, daily life, paintings of the city before its full glory. The museum has always some very interesting temporary exhibitions, which are housed in the old church, which by itself looks amazing. Highly recommended! (Can be combined with visiting nearby caves, and hilltop views)
Written August 15, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Pantelis M
Nea Epidavros, Greece17 contributions
Pretty good but no English
Jan 2016 • Couples
The overall experience was good, but that's about it. The access to the museum is not that easy, we had to change 2 rail lines and a bus in order to get there from the center of the city. And unfortunately non of the permanent exhibits had English descriptions, so we pretty much had to guess had we were looking at. Staff was also speaking from little to non English. Outstanding was a cinema hall downstairs inside an enormous stone room. Budapest card guaranteed us free entrance.
Written January 9, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Jacopo G
1 contribution
English translation needed
Really nice museum about the history and the lifestyle of the city in the last three centuries; a bit out of the abitual points of interest of the tourists. The old church inside the museum is wonderful and just this worths the visit. But a lot of stuff has no comments in english (the pharmacy and the entire collection of private fornitures). That's a bit annoying.
Written April 27, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
mike k
Oxford, UK57 contributions
Bach to the good old days
Dec 2013 • Couples
Two interesting floors of the history of Budapest pre the 1930's. On entry the corridor of shop, hotel and inn signs was a good lead in to a selection of rooms depicting life in Budapest in the past throuh its furniture and decorations. The art nouveau room was great. Finally the cloister was spectacular. There were no notes in English or other language apart from Hungarian in the upstair rooms which was a dissapointment.

Access from downtown is easy to Margit Hid and then by tram17, the climb up a steep hill to the Musuem is daunting.
Written January 14, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
sdlibra
Oakland, CA82 contributions
Amazing!
Jun 2019 • Business
Did a private event there, gorgeous and the museum staff were amazing! We had a group of 80 people. Reception in the cave and dinner in the ruins. Phantom of the opera performance!!!
Written July 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
wlamb123
Chicago, IL475 contributions
Well Worth Visiting
Nov 2016
An excellent musuem on the Buda side of the Danube, north of the hubbub. It is possible to walk to this musuem from the HEV train station. Great enclave from it's surroundings. Great artwork and museum pieces. Very enjoyable.
Written November 24, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
2
Showing results 1-10 of 16
Anything missing or inaccurate?
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing

Kiscelli Museum (Budapest) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Frequently Asked Questions about Kiscelli Museum
We recommend booking Kiscelli Museum tours ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel up to 24 hours before your tour starts for a full refund. See all 1 Kiscelli Museum tours on Tripadvisor