Budapest Castle Hill Funicular

The Budavári Sikló climbs the flank of Castle Hill in Budapest from Clark Ádám Square, at the Buda end of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, to Szent György Square between the Royal Palace and the Sándor Palace. The whole line is only 95 metres long and rises about 50 metres, on a gradient of roughly thirty degrees, and the ride takes about a minute and a half — just long enough for the Danube, the Chain Bridge and the Pest embankment to spread out beneath the window.

The funicular was the idea of Ödön Széchenyi, son of the statesman István Széchenyi, who had seen a similar line in Lyon. Built between 1868 and 1870 and originally worked by steam, it opened on 2 March 1870, among the very first funiculars in Europe, and quickly became part of daily life: within three years it was carrying a million and a half passengers. Bombs in the Second World War destroyed the upper station and one car, and the remains were cleared away afterwards. For decades the cutting lay overgrown while plans came and went, including one to replace it with an escalator; the line was finally rebuilt and reopened on 4 June 1986.

The charm of the Sikló is in its details. The two cars, named Margit and Gellért, run in counterbalance on a double track; two pedestrian footbridges span the track, rebuilt in 1983 to their original design after having been removed in 1900 — as picturesque a detail as the cars themselves. Since 1987 the line has been included in the World Heritage listing of the Budapest Danube panorama.

Getting there

The lower station is at Clark Ádám Square in Budapest's first district, directly at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge; the upper station is on Szent György Square in the Castle District. Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD) is about 18 km away.