Discover 2026 exhibitions, guided tours, and family workshops at Budapest’s Hungarian National Gallery in Buda Castle—spotlighting Adolf Fényes, Impressionism, and hands-on kids programs—onsite and online all year.
when:
Budapest’s Hungarian National Gallery in Buda Castle, at 1014 Budapest, District I – Castle District (Várkerület), Szent György Square (Szent György tér) 2, rolls into 2026 with a full calendar of exhibitions, guided tours, family workshops, and special events. From deep dives into Hungarian masters to hands-on sessions for kids, the program blends art history with playful discovery throughout the year—online and on site—promising fresh reasons to return to one of the city’s most inspiring venues.
February 28 kicks off with The Taste of Sunlight, a curator’s tour by art historian Edit Plesznivy through the Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf) chamber exhibition. Using emblematic masterworks, the walkthrough maps the painter’s complete arc—his formative years, family background, patrons and mentors, and classical sources—while unpacking how his signature phases cohere into a distinctly Hungarian modern voice.
On March 1, Artists’ Colonies – Szolnok and Adolf Fényes (Fényes Adolf) asks why artists’ colonies emerged, how looser creative communities operated, and how their members rewired Hungary’s art scene. The guided series retraces the history of the most important colonies through their standout artists and works.
Missed the show? On March 3, the Online Guided Tour of Tihanyi 140 lets you explore Lajos Tihanyi’s paintings from home, with expert commentary adding context to his experimental color, structure, and modernist momentum.
Running on March 4, 11, 18, and 25, Color It Again! brings children into the many-sided world of folk life. Expect questions that spark curiosity: What were village festivities like? What songs did people sing? What went on the table? How did they dress—and decorate their homes? And what’s with those tulip-painted chests? Kids channel folk motifs into their own creations in the museum workshop.
March 5 and March 26 host Mama, Look! Shades of Green, a family-friendly tour hunting down green across centuries in the Gallery. Green ties sacred art to Eden, lights up landscape painting with sunlit radiance, and gleams in Zsolnay’s iconic eosin glaze. On March 19, an English-language version, Look at that, Mom! – Shades of Green, guides international visitors through the same chromatic journey.
On March 7, Create! – Fashion of the Centuries turns the galleries into a time machine for style trends that are anything but timeless. From impossibly long shoe tips to horned headdresses and exuberantly padded rears, the tour spotlights the collection’s most bizarre fashion icons. A short walk ends in the workshop, where visitors craft pin-back buttons featuring their favorite artworks.
March 8 brings The Seduction of Marble – Nude Sculptures at the Turn of the Century. The revamped show explores the human body in sculpture: frozen gestures, eternal moments, and the allegorical-symbolic layers of nudity. The tour also traces how the spell of antiquity can make carved stone feel uncannily alive.
On March 10, Toddlers – The Realm of the Spring Fairy invites the littlest visitors to sing, rhyme, play, and create. After a fun, age-appropriate gallery game about spring’s colors and scents, families move to the workshop for hands-on artmaking.
On March 12, Sunlit Weekdays dives into Adolf Fényes’s (Fényes Adolf) landscapes and intimate interiors. How does a peasant courtyard coexist in the shadow of French Impressionism? What links a colorful Szolnok interior to Paris? And what do these century-old genre scenes reveal about the joys and sorrows of rural Hungarian life?
March 14 features The Most Hungarian Habsburg: 250 Years Since the Birth of Palatine Joseph (József), a talk by art historian Gábor Bellák. Expect backstory and curiosities you can’t see in the gallery: connections, hidden details, and the magnifying-glass moments that stitch the collections to Hungary’s history.
Also on March 14, With Grandma at the Gallery – Spring Dressed in Color sparks intergenerational discovery. Families track down the scents and shades of spring across the galleries, then co-create in the workshop so everyone—young and old—leaves as a maker.
On March 20, the Italian-language guided tour sweeps from the Middle Ages to today, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries—and you might even bump into Dante among the canvases. On March 22, Renoir, Monet, and the Impact of Impressionism asks what Impressionism is and how it changed art forever, pairing French masters with their Hungarian contemporaries. Also on March 22, Seas’ Waves, Rivers’ Currents honors World Water Day, wandering among the Gallery’s most beautiful landscapes to hear waterfalls and raindrops in paint.
On March 24, Preschoolers at the Gallery – Dance of Flowers tracks spring’s emergence on canvas: budding trees, fragrant blooms, fresh greens, and sunlit hues. After a playful investigation of March’s moods, kids make their own colorful spring in the workshop.
March 25 hosts Mental Fitness – Tuning for Easter. From Gothic altarpieces through Károly Ferenczy’s religious paintings to János Vaszary’s monumental Golgotha, the session explores how sacred themes course through medieval to contemporary art. The gallery walk ends with collaborative creation in the workshop.
On March 28, Adventure at the Gallery – Order and Mess runs in two slots: 10:30–11:15 for ages 6–9, and 11:30–12:15 for ages 10–13. Expect playful inquiry into how artists choreograph chaos and structure.
April 9’s Mama, Look! – Along the Lines of Poems celebrates Poetry Day with readings from the best of Hungarian literature. Do a 19th-century poem and a contemporary artwork express the same feeling? Explore shared experiences across image and verse. On April 12, Explore the Gallery – From the Crypt to the Dome reveals the former Royal Palace’s secrets, from the Habsburg Palatine Crypt to the breathtaking dome panorama.
On April 18, the Building Walk for World Monuments Day tours the Royal Palace’s marvels: the Palatine Crypt, the dome with spectacular views, and other special spaces. It’s a brisk immersion in the Gallery’s architecture, history, and collection—all under one storied roof in Buda Castle.
