Shoes on the Danube Bank - Access Budapest

The Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial — Photograph by VillageHero from Ulm, Germany, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Sixty pairs of iron shoes on the embankment. Free, always open, and not a photo stop.

What it costs

Nothing. It is on the open embankment and there is no barrier, no ticket and no opening time.

The shoes memorial along the embankment — Photograph by Dennis G. Jarvis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

When to go

Any hour. It is quietest early and in the evening. People leave flowers and candles; those are not decoration.

Getting there

A few minutes’ walk south of Parliament along the Pest embankment, or tram 2, which runs the length of it.

The Shoes on the Danube Bank along the embankment — Photograph by Dennis G. Jarvis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

If you only have an hour

It takes five minutes and should not be rushed. Give it those, then continue along the embankment to Parliament in one direction or the Chain Bridge in the other — both walks are free and both are along the water.

What people get wrong

It is often photographed as a curiosity without its subject being understood. It marks the place where Jews were shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militia in the winter of 1944–45, made to take off their shoes first because leather had value. The memorial was installed in 2005. It is worth standing still for a minute before deciding whether to photograph it.

The shoes memorial beside the river — Photograph by Fred Romero from Paris, France, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Nearby

The Hungarian ParliamentKossuth ter, Pest bank The Szechenyi Chain BridgeBetween Buda and Pest Dohany Street SynagogueDistrict VII, the Jewish Quarter St Stephen's BasilicaSzent Istvan ter, Pest

Ticketing arrangements and opening patterns as published for 2026 and checked on 4 September 2026. These change without much warning — confirm with the site itself before you travel. More sights, and how they fit together, in Landmarks & Sights.