The Bee Hunt: Art Nouveau Lipótváros, From the Basilica and Back

This loop starts and ends at Cookie Beacon Basilica on Hercegprímás utca and links seven buildings in Lipótváros, Budapest’s District V (District 5): Lechner’s former Postal Savings Bank, the Hold utca market hall, Bedő House, two palaces on Szabadság tér, Gresham Palace and St. Stephen’s Basilica. The legs add up to about 2,060 m in straight lines, so the streets make it a little longer; for walking time, open the route in Google Maps in two parts: part 1 and part 2. Two things to know first. The Holy Right is no longer in its side chapel, whatever older guides say. And on Sundays the church interior opens to visitors only at 13:00.

The game on this walk is motif bingo: a checklist of details to spot. Tick each one off when you see it. There are six:

1. a ceramic bee
2. a beehive on a roof
3. a green glazed roof tile
4. the words “V. Vásárcsarnok” on the market hall
5. the words “Bedő-Ház” over a curved wooden frame
6. a peacock made of iron

Route at a glance

Distances are straight lines between OpenStreetMap coordinates, not walked metres. Walking time comes from Google Maps, split in two so that it works on a phone (mobile browsers handle only three stops between start and end): part 1, from the start to the National Bank and part 2, from the National Bank back to the start.

What is Budapest’s District 5 (District V, Lipótváros)?

District 5 (V) is officially called Belváros-Lipótváros: the Inner City and Leopold Town. Belváros is the old town of Pest, down by Ferenciek tere. Lipótváros is the northern half. It was named in 1790 after Leopold II, when he was crowned King of Hungary. The Parliament, the Basilica, the National Bank and Gresham Palace all stand here. It is a district of banks, ministries and offices. That is why its Art Nouveau banks and insurance palaces are so showy: they were built to impress.

Base camp

Base camp means the place where the walk starts and ends. Eat before you set off: the first stop is only 233 m from the door. The savoury picks are the Eggs Benedict on Cheddar-Scones or the Madrid Smashed Eggs; a flat white goes with either. The whole list is on the Basilica spot’s menu.

Clue to stop 1: walk north towards a building that looks like it is wearing lace.

1. The former Postal Savings Bank

Ödön Lechner’s bank on Hold utca opened in 1901. He wanted a Hungarian style, so he mixed folk-art patterns with ceramics from the Zsolnay factory in Pécs. The Wikipedia entry describes large ceramic beehives on top of the green, patterned roof. The bees are a symbol of saving: small, steady work that adds up. Today the building is used by the Hungarian State Treasury, which is why this walk calls it the former Postal Savings Bank.

The story goes that someone asked Lechner why he decorated parts of a roof that are hard to see from the street. His answer: “The birds will see them.”

Look for: the bees on the facade. Pick one pilaster (a flat column built into the wall) and count them yourself. Then cross to the far pavement and look up: the hives sit on the roof ridges, and the green glazed tiles show best from a distance (the photo at the top of this page was taken from above). Bingo items 1, 2 and 3 are all on this building.

Clue to stop 2: walk 85 m (straight line) along the same street and look for a market hall.

2. The Hold utca market hall

This covered market at Hold u. 13 was designed by Győző Czigler and built between 1892 and 1896, one of a set of Budapest market halls opened in the 1890s; some sources date its opening to 1897.

The hall is also home to the Light Art Museum, which lists Hold utca 13 as its address. Its official site gives Monday to Thursday 10:00–20:00 and Friday to Sunday 10:00–21:00, with last entry at 19:00 and 20:00 (checked on 21 October 2026). The current exhibition runs until the end of February 2027. It is a ticketed visit, so treat it as a rain plan, not a quick stop.

Look for: the words “V. Vásárcsarnok” (Market Hall V) along the top of the Hold utca front, and “Bejárás” (entrance) over the door. That is bingo item 4.

Clue to stop 3: walk 220 m (straight line) west and find a shopfront with curving wooden frames.

3. Bedő House

Photo (2015): Illustratedjc, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized, via Wikimedia Commons

Emil Vidor designed this apartment house in 1903 for Béla Bedő. It has been home to the House of Hungarian Art Nouveau (Magyar Szecesszió Háza). No current opening hours are published for the interior, so this route treats it as a facade stop. The facade is the reason to come anyway: curved wooden frames, ceramic flowers and balconies that seem to grow out of the wall.

Look for: the metal letters “Bedő-Ház” above one of the curved wooden frames on the ground floor (they were there in the 2015 photo above). That is bingo item 5.

Clue to stop 4: walk 238 m (straight line) south to a square where two huge stone palaces face each other.

4 and 5. Szabadság tér (Liberty Square): one architect, two palaces

Photo taken in August 2017, before the renovation finished: Fred Romero, CC BY 2.0, resized, via Wikimedia Commons

Ignác Alpár designed both the National Bank and the former Stock Exchange on this square, and they face each other. On the east side, at No. 9, is the headquarters of the National Bank of Hungary. It was built in 1902–1905 for the Austro-Hungarian Bank, and a long renovation finished in early 2025.

Now cross the square, 187 m (straight line), to No. 17. This was the Stock Exchange, and from 1955 to 2009 it housed Hungarian Television. It has stood empty since then. In February 2026, welovebudapest reported that a full reconstruction could start soon and take three to four years. You may see fences.

The square also holds statues and memorials. They are the subject of another walk: the Bronze Safari from the Basilica.

Look for: the stone carvings along the bank’s facade. Then turn round and compare the two Alpár buildings: one restored, one still empty.

Clue to stop 6: walk 447 m (straight line) south, towards the Chain Bridge, to a palace with birds in its gate.

6. Gresham Palace

Photo: Yair-haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized, via Wikimedia Commons

An insurance company, Gresham Life Assurance, built this palace at the Pest end of the Chain Bridge. The architects were Zsigmond Quittner and József Vágó. It was completed in 1906 and opened in 1907, and a 2001–2004 renovation restored its ironwork, stained glass and mosaics. Today it is the Four Seasons Hotel.

Look for: the arched iron gate with the hotel’s name plate beside it. The peacocks are in the ironwork (Lonely Planet describes the peacock gates). That is bingo item 6, the last square on the card.

Clue to stop 7: walk 467 m (straight line) east and follow the dome.

Side quest (an optional detour): the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

From Gresham Palace, the Academy is 209 m (straight line) north-west on the same square. Out and back adds about 420 m in straight lines. The Academy began in 1825, when Count István Széchenyi offered a year’s income from his estates to found a learned society. Its main building, by the Berlin architect Friedrich August Stüler, was inaugurated in 1865 in Renaissance Revival style.

Look for: a facade with no Zsolnay colour at all. It shows the older, formal style that Lechner’s generation set out to replace.

7. St. Stephen’s Basilica and the Holy Right

The last stop is a working church, so the game stops here.

St. Stephen’s Basilica is named after Stephen I, the first king of Hungary. The Holy Right is the relic of his right hand. According to the Basilica’s official page on the Holy Right, it was kept in a side chapel from 1987. Since 2018 it has been displayed in the main church space, at the Assumption altar. Many older guides still send visitors to the chapel.

Above the church, the panorama terrace runs around the dome. The official terrace page says lifts were added during renovations in 2003, so you can ride up or climb about 304 steps.

Look for: the Assumption altar in the main church space. Please be respectful: services take priority over visits.

The fork

• If it is Sunday morning: the church interior opens to visitors only at 13:00 on Sundays (Monday to Saturday it opens at 09:00). The terrace opens at 09:00 every day. Either start late enough to reach the Basilica after 13:00, or do the terrace now and come back for the church interior.
• If it rains: most stops are facades and work in any weather. For time indoors, use the Light Art Museum in the Hold utca hall and the Basilica interior.

Return to base

From the Basilica it is 186 m (straight line) back to Cookie Beacon on Hercegprímás utca. After a morning of green Zsolnay tiles, the Raspberry & Pistachio cookie fits the theme.

St. Stephen’s Basilica tickets, opening hours and dress code: practical box

Checked on 21 October 2026. Hours and rules change, so follow the official links before you go.

More walks and plans

• New in town? Start with your first day in Budapest.
• Across District V, by the river: seven hidden doors behind Ferenciek tere.
• With children: the Bronze Safari, a statue hunt from the Basilica.

Photo credits: hero image by Vasyatka1, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized, via Wikimedia Commons.