House of Terror Museum

Museum · Budapest District VI ·

House of Terror Museum

Museum · Budapest District VI ·

Intense museum on fascist & communist regimes, former secret police HQ

Information

Budapest, Andrássy út 60, 1062 Hungary Get directions

@ricksteves

706 Postcards · 220 Cities

Budapest Travel Guide Resources & Trip Planning Info by Rick Steves

"▲▲ Harrowing remembrance of Nazis and communist secret police in former headquarters/torture site." - Rick Steves' Europe

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/hungary/budapest

House of Terror Museum

@nomadicmatt

6,682 Postcards · 1,172 Cities

The 25 Best Things to Do in Budapest (Updated 2025)

"I found the House of Terror to be an intense, well-curated museum about life under Hungary’s fascist and communist regimes — the former ÁVH and Arrow Cross building houses multilayered permanent exhibits across four floors that do an excellent and moving job of conveying the brutality of those eras." - Matthew Kepnes

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/things-to-see-and-do-in-budapest/

House of Terror Museum

@nomadicmatt

6,682 Postcards · 1,172 Cities

Visiting Budapest: 3 - 4 Day Suggested Itinerary (Updated 2025)

"This museum, housed in the former headquarters of Hungary’s secret police and the Arrow Cross, delivers a harrowing look at life under fascist and Communist regimes with four floors of propaganda, weapons, multimedia displays, and sobering context about the tens of thousands killed or imprisoned." - Matthew Kepnes

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/budapest-itinerary/

House of Terror Museum

@kmart

11 Postcards · 1 City

great museum, take some time to go through it. budapest has a kind of wild history that you might not expect, and this place does a really good job of bringing it to life. definitely on the pricier side, but if you're going to only a few museums, put this one on the list.

budapest faves (circa 2018)

House of Terror

Brittany “Brì” Di G.

Google

The museum itself is beautiful and very interesting. They do offer a free coat check and REQUIRE YOU TO CHECK ALL BAGS. I would allot 3 hours to visit: to que to buy tickets (no online sales) then que again to check your bag/coat, then 2 hours to visit the museum at a comfortable pace. Followed by another Que at the coat check. Highly recommend the audio guide.

Nick W

Google

Get the audio guide! Especially if you dont speak Hungarian. The museum was great all around. Staff was attentive and helpful. The audio guide was great. The museum isnt big, and thus does not have any seating along the way, but is packed with information and exhibits. Some are pretty immersive as well. The basement cells and tank were especially well done. Worth a visit!

Frederic O.

Google

This is a very interesting point of view on the history of Hungary before and during WW2 but mostly after.. when the communism went over the nazism. It last longer and was much more terrifying from this point of view. Archives, photos, audios and the cave are very well preserved and give a thrilling view on those decades after WW2.

texasman77

Google

This museum is very interesting and deals with the post WWII Hungary till the fall of the iron curtain. I highly recommend the audio headsets. Each room has a separate audio explanation. It will only move forward till you move to the next roo.. another plus is bathroo s on each floor.

Michael S.

Google

It was fascinating to learn about the history of the Nazis and communists in Hungary. It must have been an incredibly tense time—no one could’ve felt safe when stepping out of line meant being reported to the authorities. Pretty chilling stuff. Spread across several floors, the exhibit walked through each era, showing how everything unfolded and evolved.

Wonder X.

Google

Luckily we were there on 23 October National Day so it was a free admission day, otherwise I don’t feel want to pay 10 💶for this😂 It was a loooooong line outside we waited like more than 1 hour. It was super full in the museum all rooms are packed with students and tourists. All displays are not in English so it’s hard to follow.

skull A.

Google

Rushed to the museum and started queuing at 430pm as they don’t open on Mondays and close at 6pm. Received ticket at 4.50pm BUT note ‼️ they do not accept “residence permit” as european citizen therefore charged the full instead the reduced price ticket. Other countries like France or Italy acknowledges RP to be citizenship but not Budapest! Staff told me to tell the Hungarian government. Advice: get the audio guide if you can because most of the items have no English signage, but there is both English and Hungarian printed paper in each section (which you can take home). ‼️There is also no concept of “last entry”, so people were allowed to buy tickets even after 5pm, but we were all required to leave before 6pm. The gift shop is closed BEFORE 550pm and the staff was rude about it when asked. Would have definitely spent more time if possible. The adult ticket is not worth for an hour’s visit.

Ivan N.

Google

I can’t recommend this museum. It’s overly pompous, yet surprisingly small, bad structured and without an (audio) guide it becomes almost entirely uninformative - at least for a foreigner. There are no labels on the exhibits, only some leaflets. Unlike in real museums, where you can learn from the objects themselves, here you can’t – everything feels random. There were many bored students and elderly visitors who seemed unsure why they had even come. In the end, the whole place feels to me more as propaganda than education. Definitely not recommended.