Andrássy Avenue, the Opera House and Heroes' Square

Laid out in the 1870s to connect the inner city of Pest with City Park (Városliget), Andrássy Avenue (Andrássy út) runs dead straight for 2.5 kilometres through District VI. UNESCO-listed together with the Millennium Underground (Metro Line M1) directly beneath its cobblestones, the boulevard changes character in three distinct stages: five-storey Neo-Renaissance apartment palaces and cafés at the city end, tree-lined avenues beyond the Oktogon junction, and freestanding villas with private gardens approaching Heroes' Square.

1. Deák Ferenc tér to the Opera (lower section): begin at Erzsébet tér and walk north-east past luxury boutiques and 19th-century mansion facades. Step into the lobby of the former Paris Department Store (Andrássy út 39) to see the gilded Art Nouveau Lotz Hall café upstairs.
2. The Hungarian State Opera House (Andrássy út 22): designed by Miklós Ybl and opened in 1884, and recently reopened after a multi-year restoration. Even though it holds fewer seats than the Vienna State Opera, its acoustics and marble staircase are among the finest in Europe. Afternoon guided tours in English include a short mini-recital by two opera singers, or you can book inexpensive upper-gallery tickets for an evening opera or ballet performance on the official site.
3. Liszt Ferenc tér and the Liszt Academy: two blocks past the Opera, turn right into leafy Liszt Ferenc tér. At the end of the square stands the 1907 Franz Liszt Academy of Music, whose concert hall and foyer drip with gold-and-green Zsolnay ceramics and stained glass; guided daytime tours and cheap evening student concerts let you see the interior.
4. Oktogon and the House of Terror (Terror Háza, Andrássy út 60): across the octagonal intersection with the Grand Boulevard stands a grey building framed by a stark black rooftop blade cutting stencilled words (TERROR) into the pavement below. Number 60 was the headquarters first of Hungary's fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944 and then of the communist secret police (ÁVO and ÁVH) from 1945 to 1956. Inside, a T-54 Soviet tank fills the courtyard and a slow lift descends to the reconstructed interrogation and torture cells in the basement. Allow at least two hours; audio guides are essential as room plaques are mostly in Hungarian (closed Mondays).
5. Kodály körönd and the villa quarter: north of the House of Terror, the avenue widens again around the painted Neo-Renaissance courtyards of the Kodály körönd circus before giving way to diplomatic villas.
6. Heroes' Square (Hősök tere): the avenue opens dramatically onto Budapest's largest ceremonial square, anchored by the 36-metre Millennium Monument (built for the 1896 millennial exhibition), where Archangel Gabriel holds the Hungarian crown above the bronze horsemen of Prince Árpád and the seven tribal chieftains, flanked by semicircular colonnades of Hungarian kings and national leaders. Framing the square are two grand Neo-Classical palaces: the Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) on the left (strong on Spanish masters, Italian Renaissance and Egyptian antiquities, plus the restored Romanesque Hall) and the Kunsthalle (Műcsarnok) for contemporary exhibitions on the right.
7. Riding Metro Line M1 back: descend the wrought-iron stairs at Hősök tere to ride Metro Line M1 (the yellow line) back to Vörösmarty tér. Opened in 1896 as the first underground railway on the European mainland (second in the world only to London), its shallow stations are lined with white-and-brown Zsolnay tiles and cast-iron columns.