East Station

Built between 1881 and 1884, Budapest’s East Station, also known as the Keleti Station, was designed by Gyula Rochlitz and János Feketeházy. Located in the 8th District on Barros Square, the station was built in an eclectic style, borrowing elements from various styles of popular architecture of the time, including neo-Renaissance. Its reception hall, designed by Gyula Rochlitz, is especially beautiful.

Impressive due to its elegance as well as its size, the station measured 93 meters (305 feet) long, with a platform length of 80 meters (263 feet), making it one of the largest of its time and certainly the biggest station in Budapest.

The facade of the station is adorned with statues of James Watt and George Stephenson, crafted by sculptor Gyula Bezerédy. (Watt was a Scottish engineer and inventor who made changes to the steam engine to make it more efficient. Stephenson was an English mechanical engineer known as the “father of railways.”) The magnificent murals inside the station are by Hungarian artists Károly Lotz and Mór Than. You’ll find an abundance of gold leaf and other ornate touches inside the main hall, which was recently renovated and restored.

Of Budapest's three international railway stations (the others being Nyugati Pályaudvar and Deli Pályaudvar), Keleti Station is the largest and most important. Many of the intercity and international trains (including one to Vienna which departs several times a day) arrive and depart here. The station is well connected with the rest of the city thanks to the nearby metro station which can be reached via a half-open underpass. There are also plans for a direct connection with Ferihegy International Airport.

The station boasts a good cafeteria as well as a tourist office, where visitors can obtain maps, books, and other tools to help them get around the city and navigate the train system.