47.60° N · 19.35° E
The Baroque palace where Sisi spent her seasons in Hungary, 45 minutes from Budapest on the suburban train, with a park, a bunker and a winter light garden.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
The Grassalkovich Baroque palace that Hungary gave to Franz Joseph and Sisi · 1 h 30 · From 5,000 Ft · Open every day
26 hectares of landscaped garden with a barefoot path, a playground with a locomotive and an 18th-century pavilion · Free · 1 h
Rlevente · CC BY-SA 3.0The Grassalkovich court theatre and the royal riding hall, with a guide only · 40 min · From 2,500 Ft
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
All year: the palace is open daily. From April to October the park looks its best and stays open late; from late October to January, Sisi's light garden fills the winter evenings. On 21 November, Elisabeth's name day is celebrated with programmes at the palace.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Gödöllő is a comfortable excursion without a car: the HÉV H8 leaves from the end of the M2 metro and drops you opposite the palace in about 45 minutes. The centre, the park and the town museum are covered on foot; only the Máriabesnyő basilica is about 4 km away. The budget is per person per day, with one night, meals and transport.
Gödöllő has no airport: you fly to Budapest-Ferenc Liszt (BUD), with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona, and from there it is two journeys. The 100E bus takes you to central Budapest in about 40 minutes; from Deák Ferenc tér, the M2 metro to Örs vezér tere and the HÉV H8 to Gödöllő, another 45. Almost everyone comes for the day from Budapest. By hire car, from the airport to Gödöllő it is about 30 km via the M0 ring road and the M3.
By car, Gödöllő is about 30 km from the centre of Budapest on the M3 motorway, which needs an electronic vignette. With a car you reach the winter light garden, the Máriabesnyő basilica and the Napolizza pizzeria, which is outside the centre, without timetables. The budget is per person per day, with accommodation, food and petrol.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Gödöllő works well with children of all ages: a short train ride, a palace with storytelling programmes for families, a large flat park and, in winter, a night walk of lights.
With children up to the age of six, Gödöllő is one of the easiest excursions from Budapest: under-6s do not pay for the palace, the park is flat and can be covered with a pushchair, and the light garden is short and free for under-2s.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A three-star hotel in the former Art Nouveau town hall, opposite the HÉV and five minutes from the palace, with a garage and pet-friendly rooms.
Why we like it: A guesthouse of 58 beds with a garden in Máriabesnyő, a kilometre from the basilica, with air-conditioned rooms from 20,000 Ft a night.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: A coffee and cake in Sisi's salons after the visit, or before the light garden.
What to order: Ask for a table in the inner courtyard if it is summer; the menu is on the hotel's website.
What to order: One of their classic pizzas with San Marzano tomato and fior di latte; the kitchen closes half an hour earlier.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
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Tips
The palace has Spanish-speaking guides, but only with advance booking by phone or email.
It includes transport and entry to the permanent exhibition.
Palace at 15:00, coffee at 16:00 and light garden at 17:00.
A day trip from Budapest: Gödöllő is about 30 km north-east of the capital and its reason for being is the royal palace. Count Antal Grassalkovich I built it in the 18th century and in 1867, with the coronation of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth as king and queen of Hungary, the country gave it to the couple as a gift. Sisi spent long periods here, riding horses and far from the Viennese court; it was the place in Hungary she loved most. For a traveller coming from Spain it is the excursion that completes imperial Budapest: after the Parliament and the Castle, the kings' country house.
If you are coming from Spain, from Budapest airport you arrive in a little under two hours: 100E bus to the centre, M2 metro to Örs vezér tere and the HÉV.
Start with the royal palace, open every day from 10:00 to 18:00: the royal rooms, Sisi's apartments, the ceremonial hall and the history of a house that in the 20th century was a barracks and an old people's home before being restored. With advance booking there is a guided tour in Spanish. If you want more, the palace offers two other guided visits: the Baroque theatre with the riding hall and stables of Sisi, in 40 minutes, and the Horthy bunker, the air-raid shelter of the regent who spent his summers here, in 25 minutes and cold.
Afterwards, go out to the palace park: 26 hectares of free landscaped garden, with a barefoot path, a children's playground with a giant locomotive and, hidden among the trees, the Királydomb pavilion, with 52 portraits of kings. For lunch, the restaurant of the Erzsébet Királyné hotel, in the former Art Nouveau town hall, or the Neapolitan pizza at Napolizza, also open on Sunday. A coffee in Sisi's salons, at CaFE IDA, can be had without paying an entrance fee.
If you have time, five minutes from the palace is the town museum, with the Gödöllő Art Nouveau artists' colony, and about 4 km away the Máriabesnyő Basilica, a Capuchin pilgrimage shrine.
From 24 October 2026 to 31 January 2027, the park becomes the Queen Elizabeth Light Garden at night: a walk of lights that tells the story of the palace, from 17:00 to 21:00. It is the best reason to come in winter and do the day the other way round: palace in the afternoon, coffee and the light walk at dusk. The combined ticket with the palace, valid on the same day, works out cheaper. From 16:00 to 17:00 the park is cleared to prepare it.
Half a day is enough for the palace and a stroll in the park. A whole day if you add the guided tours, the museum or Máriabesnyő; or if you come in winter and stay for the light garden. To stay overnight, the Erzsébet Királyné hotel is opposite the HÉV and accepts pets; the Árnyas guesthouse, in Máriabesnyő, is the simple option with a garden.
All year. From spring to October the park is at its best and open until 20:30. In winter the lights and the Advent programmes win out. On 21 November, St Elisabeth's Day, the palace celebrates Sisi's name day with tours and events, several of them free.
Questions
On the HÉV H8 from Örs vezér tere, about 45 minutes, getting off at Szabadság tér. Also by MÁV train from Keleti or by car on the M3.
5,000 Ft Monday to Friday and 5,400 Ft at weekends; students half price; under-6s free.
Hungary gave the palace to Franz Joseph and Elisabeth in 1867, with their coronation, and Sisi spent long periods here.
Yes: there is a family ticket, storytelling programmes in the palace, a playground and the light garden in winter. Only the bunker is not recommended for under-12s.
Not in the palace park, which does not admit dogs. The Erzsébet Királyné hotel does accept pets.
Yes, the palace is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/hungary/godollo
