Retro Safari (Full-Day)

Step back in time behind the Iron Curtain, visiting a communist-era statue park and a city once known as Hungary’s Stalingrad.

Full-Day Retro Safari – In English or Hungarian

Family-Friendly Tour 😊

The Retro Safari is a private tour, not a coach trip. It's just you, your family or friends (up to six people) and your driver-host, who speaks both English and Hungarian.
You can spend as much time as you like at each stop, without having to follow a group schedule. It's a relaxed, flexible way to travel, especially if you're bringing children.
If you're visiting from Western Europe and curious about what life was like behind the Iron Curtain, this is a trip you won't want to miss.

The Retro Safari is available to book all year round.

Prices – Departing from Budapest
€270 total / 1–2 people
€300 total / 3–4 people
€330 total / 5–6 people

All entrance tickets are included in the price.

Retro-Safari – A Journey Behind the Iron Curtain

See what remains of Hungary's communist past on this full-day private tour from Budapest. We'll visit two very different places: Memento Park, home to monumental statues from the communist era, and Dunaújváros, a former socialist industrial city on the River Danube.

Your Retro Safari starts with a pick-up from your accommodation in Budapest. You'll travel with a private Hungarian driver-host who speaks both English and Hungarian. The tour is suitable for children of all ages, making it a good choice for families too.

Memento Park – The Communist Statue Park

Our first stop is Memento Park in Budapest, where many of the statues removed from the city's streets and squares after the fall of communism are now on display.

You'll see enormous statues of Lenin, Marx, Engels and other figures from the communist era. Among the exhibits is a replica of Stalin's giant boots, a reminder of the statue torn down during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

You can also see an old Trabant, the little East German car that was once a common sight across Eastern Europe.

These statues were once part of everyday life in Hungary, standing in public squares as symbols of communist power.

Hungary's Stalingrad (Dunaújváros)

Next, we head south to Dunaújváros, a city on the River Danube. Formerly called Sztálinváros (Stalingrad), it is sometimes referred to as Hungary's Stalingrad.

Dunaújváros was developed in the 1950s as a model socialist industrial city, centred around a major steelworks. Its wide streets, squares and public buildings reflect the Soviet influence on urban planning and architecture.

Much of the original architecture is still standing. You'll see examples of Socialist Realist architecture, a Soviet-inspired style sometimes nicknamed 'Stalinist Baroque'. Look out for the grand buildings, columns and decorative details typical of the period.

Unlike Memento Park, Dunaújváros isn't a museum. People still live and work among the buildings of the former Sztálinváros, many of which have changed little since the 1950s.

Optional Lunch Stop

If you'd like to stop for lunch, we can visit Halászcsárda, a traditional Hungarian fish restaurant in Dunaújváros. It's completely optional, and you simply pay for your meal at the restaurant.

A Trip Back in Time

Some parts of this tour are surprising, others are quite funny. Even after visiting these places many times, we still find something to smile about. It's a chance to see what life was like behind the Iron Curtain, and how much of that world is still around today.