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This may sound silly, but I am going to be in Budapest, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to tour embassies of foreign countries while I’m there.

When I was in the 8th grade, my class visited the Palestinian consulate in Washington DC, where we talked to some diplomat. We had also scheduled a similar meeting with the Russian embassy, but we had to cancel it.

I would like to maybe do a similar thing with the Chinese and Saudi embassies, but I am not sure what to ask or if that’s something reasonable to ask. (I’m an American citizen)

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  • As a tourist? At some you can, but the only one I know is the French Embassy in Rome, Italy (the Farnèse Palace) but that's more of a museum tour than an embassy tour in itself
    – Nicolas Formichella
    May 27 at 12:11
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    I remember my first trip to Washington I went to the Canadian embassy (it was nearby) and not only could I not have a tour, once it was clear I didn't have an appointment or any business there, even though I'm a Canadian citizen, I couldn't so much as loiter in the lobby and admire the artwork. I think in general you'll find embassies are pretty high-security places.
    – Kate Gregory
    May 27 at 12:59
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    Not necessarily a direct duplicate, but very similar - travel.stackexchange.com/questions/131187/…
    – Doc
    May 27 at 16:37
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    Note that DC is a bit of special case (or not so special) that many embassies hold open houses for the public, including Passport DC events.
    – xngtng
    May 27 at 18:27

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In general, no, embassies are not open to the public and you will not be allowed to tour or visit them without some specific business there.

However, there are sometimes exceptions to this, either regularly or for special events, and it can't hurt to check the websites of the specific embassies you are interested in visiting, or to email them, to see if there is an opportunity to visit on the days you will be in town. The worst they can say is no.

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