One of the questions I was asked a while ago (and apologies for not replying!) was whether I had more info about the Underground Military Hospital in Budapest which is on my Top 10 List of Things to do in Budapest – also known as “Szikla Kórház” (Hospital in the Rock). Any info I have is purely anecdotal, but if it’s of help to someone, great!

We found out about it totally by accident: after visiting Matthias Church (Castle Hill), we happened to notice an A4 piece of paper stuck to the window of a glass-paned stall near the church. There wasn’t a lot of info there – I think it was just something like “Underground Military Hospital Tours” and the times they ran. We took a punt and hoped a tour guide might arrive (which she did). Our tour guide was very helpful. At that time (back in September 2007), the tours had only been running a short time (a few weeks I think). Our tour guide offered the tour in Hungarian, German or English. Our preference was English, but German would have suited – however, our tour guide wanted to practice her English, so English it was.

I have since found a site for the hospital, and whereas it was only in Hungarian until recently, they’ve now got an English site (thankyou!!!!). From this site, it also seems that the Nuclear Bunker next door (same cave system, just next to the hospital, hmm) is also open now – that will definitely be on our list. Last time we visited the Nuclear Bunker was only open on Thursdays for tours when there was an appropriate person available (not entirely sure who that was).

Thankfully, from their site, it seems that the entry fees haven’t gone up since we visited (they were about 10EUR each), but that 10EUR now includes the Nuclear Bunker. One of the things I enjoyed the most last time was getting to go into the actual bare caves “behind” the hospital, after the tour. Finding out about the history of the original caves was really interesting too. They’ve been used for a very very very long time it seems, for all sorts of purposes: storage (of food and people), crypts (?), etc.

Finding this tour was one of the highlights of our whole trip – as much because it was so totally random, as the actual historical interest (which was very cool too). I also liked that people 50-odd years ago had seen the hospital as being of so much significance that they preserved it, and that it eventually was opened to the public as a museum for tours. I’m so pleased to see now that the Hospital in the Rock seems to have become a popular Budapest tourist attraction compared to two years ago (from how often I see it mentioned in Budapestian tourist literature!). Hungary has a fascinating history and this is a great way to see a slice of that history.