Children's Railway

An eleven-kilometre railway through the Buda Hills is operated almost entirely by children between the ages of ten and fourteen. They sell the tickets, check the timetables, signal the trains, and manage the stations — the only adults are the drivers and maintenance engineers. It sounds like fiction, but the Gyermekvasút has been running since 1948 and is one of Budapest's most charming and surreal experiences.

The railway was established during the early Communist era as a Pioneer Railway, designed to teach young people discipline, responsibility, and technical skills. The children who worked on it were considered model young communists, and the positions were highly competitive. When the regime fell, the railway survived the political transition and simply dropped the Communist ideology while keeping everything else. Today, the children who operate it are ordinary school students who apply for the privilege and receive genuine training in railway operations.

The train runs from Széchenyhegy to Hűvösvölgy, winding through forested hills high above the city. The views are beautiful, the pace is slow, and the novelty of having a twelve-year-old in a crisp uniform punch your ticket and wave the departure flag never quite wears off. Several stops connect to hiking trails through the Buda Hills, and you can ride one-way and hike back.

The best approach is to take the cogwheel railway (Fogaskerekű) from Városmajor up to Széchenyhegy station, ride the Children's Railway through the hills, then take the chairlift (Libegő) down from János Hill for a full circuit of Budapest's quirky mountain transport network. It is a perfect half-day excursion that most tourists miss entirely.