Saint Stephen’s basilica: Opening hours & all you need to know

St. Stephen's Basilica

St. Stephen’s Basilica is the biggest church in Budapest. And with its height of 314 feet it’s also the highest building in Budapest (next to the Hungarian Parliament Building). And lucky you: you can climb the basilica and enjoy a gorgeous view. Which is one of the reasons to pay a visit to this church.

On this page you will find all information you need to visit the St. Stephen’s Basilica.

Opening hours St. Stephen’s Basilica

You can visit the basilica at the following hours:

Day Opening Hours
Monday9.00 AM – 4.30 PM
Tuesday – Saturday9.00 AM – 5.45 PM
Sunday1.00 PM – 5.45 PM

If there are any religious ceremonies the opening times can be changed.

Opening hours tower & viewpoint

The opening hours of the tower of Saint Stephen’s Basilica are a bit different than the opening times of the church itself. Check out the hours of the table below. The hours go for all day off the week, Monday until Sunday.

MonthsOpening Hours
Mon - Sun9.00 AM - 7.00 PM

To visit the viewpoint of the church you need to climb quite some stairs. But the view is worth it. If you can’t walk the stairs, don’t worry. There is also an elevator to the top.

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Entrance fees

The entrance to Saint Stephen’s Basilica is not free. Here are the prices to enter the basilica:

TicketHUF
Adult2000
Group (over 15 people)1200 p.p.

For entering the dome with the viewpoint you do need to pay a small amount. With this ticket you can also visit the treasury of the basilica.

TicketGBP (£)EUR(€)HUF
Adult783200
Group ( over 15 people)5,56,52500
Adult all in one 1011,54500
Group all in one893500
Concert2529

Tip! With the Budapest Card you receive 20% discount on your ticket.


Buy your tickets now


Go to a concert

Do you want to enjoy the special surroundings in one of the most beautiful neo-classical buildings of Budapest? And meanwhile listen to a unique concert? Then maybe you would like to visit one of the organ concerts being held every Thursday night. The arias of the programme are performed by Kolos Kováts, one of the most famous and talented concert and oratorio singer in Hungary.

Going to a concert in St. Stephen’s Basilica will surely be a unique experience!


What’s there to see?

The church is named after Saint Stephen. The first king of Hungary. In the church you can find an important relic of Saint Stephen: his right hand. Apart from that there is a lot of nice paintings and artwork in the church. There is a beautifully painted dome.

St. Stephen's Basilica

What you didn’t know about Saint Stephen’s Basilica

So Saint Stephen’s Basilica is the biggest church of Budapest and – together with the Hungarian Parliament – the highest building in the city. These you probably already knew. But there is also some funny and interesting facts you probably didn’t know yet:

1. In 2014 this basilica was the 10th most photographed building in the world (!). The results were based on a “heatmap” technology which shows where in the world people are taking, uploading, and sharing the most photos via the Panaramio tool on Google Maps.

2. The most important relic in this church is probably the mummified hand of the name holder of this church. It makes sense to have the hand of the former king in the church, but there is a much more strange ‘relic’ in this church which doesn’t really seem to be logical. In the church you will find the tombs of some famous… soccer players. The most famous of them is Ferenc Puskás.

3. The building of the church took 54 years. That things didn’t always run smooth becomes clear when you know that nearly two decades into the project the entire dome collapsed. Rebuilding slowed down the process a lot. Due to this big delay both architects working on the St. Stephen’s Basilica never saw the finished building. They both died before all work was completed.

How to get there

Address St. Stephen’s Basilica: Szent István tér 1
Tram:
Take line 50 and get off at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út.
Metro: Take M1 (yellow line) and get off at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út.
Bus:
Takes one of the following lines: 171, 151, 236, 236A. And get off at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út.

Looking for a hotel?
Check out my two personal favourites: TG Design suites Aparthotel & Hotel Rum (which is Buda-side of the city). Other hotels which are popular, have good ratings and are located very well are Roombach Hotel and AnVa House.

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Do you have any questions? Please let me know in the comments below.

2 Comments

  • Reply
    Sandra Milner
    16 October 2022 at 03:03

    Do you have a Mass on Sunday 26.10.22 before 10.00am
    as I am on a travel Cruise from 12.00 noon.

    Thank you very much

    Sandra Milner

    • Reply
      maaikerijpstra
      16 October 2022 at 19:55

      Hi Sandra,

      The Holy Mass Schedule is as following on sundays and Holidays:

      Sundays and Holidays

      8:30 – Basilica
      10:00 – High Mass in Latin (from September to July) – Basilica
      12:00 – Basilica
      16:00 – Holy Mass in english – Basilica
      18:00 – Basilica

      Enjoy your stay in Budapest!
      Maaike

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