Would I call Budapest one of Europe’s most underrated cities? One of its most underrated capitals – most definitely. At least among Americans, at least those who do not need to travel to this beautiful city for work. When was the last time you heard your neighbor say ‘I am going to Budapest on my next vacation?’ But we are not talking about chronically, and unfairly, forgotten second cities here or even about an average capital city. After all, this place was Europe’s six largest metropolis before WWI – the last period when it counted, and counted most, when today’s cityscape was being shaped – and, at near two million, still remains one of the Continent’s most populous. It is also among Europe’s beautiful cities that somehow still retain their old world charm. Unlike Vienna, which in population terms still remains a shadow of its WWI era self, Budapest grew into its 1914 size, despite massive losses of territory and resources post 1919, then doubled it. Busy but not dehumanizing – or even depersonalizing – it is a perfectly sized metropolis, if there is such a thing.
This city certainly deserves more attention than it gets: on account of its exceptional architectural heritage, and simply a wealth of history memorialized here. And we haven’t even touched on its vibrant nightlife, rich coffee and wine culture, or its culinary excellence – traditional cooking ingredients here are also misunderstood, they too go way beyond pig fat, goose liver, cream, and paprika – where variations on the flavorful native recipes and a modern take on lighter foreign cuisines add up to a restaurant scene that is among Europe’s least disappointing, an obscure fact that is slowly gaining recognition. But even if this great city had none of these, one would have to acknowledge it for its unique energy, spirit of place, and ability to inspire in its own right, and not just as an obligatory stop on the boat cruise down the Danube.
Budapest combines contrasting notions and idiosyncrasies well. It is posh, monumental, and almost Londonesque but vast stretches of its inner city fabric devastatingly neglected and unfathomably dilapidated. It is quaint but grand and busy, highly cultured but casual to a fault. Its old world charm weighs down on you with the full weight of melancholy and defeatism of a permanently lost empire – and within the Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary lost more territory and political gravitas than any other land – yet it is resourceful and full of young energy. The city is unmistakably Christian, Catholic – having hosted from time to time the Holy Roman Emperor’s court – but also far from marginal to the history of prosperous, enlightened, and, for a period, highly assimilated European Jewry. Anchored 1,100 years deep in Central European history, Budapest is thoroughly integrated and inseparable from the Continent’s core, though this did not stop it from at times acting like Europe’s rebellious, anti-establishment teenager. It is spectacularly Greco-Roman in its outward appearance but has thoroughly Ottoman plumbing of at least half a dozen public baths and many more interior courtyards dutifully encircled with tiered balcony galleries – that is, if you care to look inside, past its grand Neoclassical doorways. Its populace doesn’t hide its obscure Siberian origins, and linguistically is not part of the Indo-European family.
Unalloyed authenticity of pocket-sized but regal Buda – its sleepy winding streets full of small-town charm but almost too low-rise, too village-like, too uninhabited – could not possibly make a bigger contrast with phony and pretentious but vast and impressive Pest. From its commanding heights Buda looks down, untroubled by all the frantic commotion of vast, commercial, muscular Pest – incomprehensibly oversized, grotesquely monumental, devastatingly arriviste – at a distance across the river. Pest‘s insecure, neurotic building boom betrays a desperate attempt to urgently make up for centuries lost, to ostensibly catch up to Vienna while glorifying the alleged Magyar achievement in Neogothic and Neoclassical forms, but also in Moorish, Venetian, and native Magyar Art Nouveau. Whatever the cost. And out of all proportion even to this the city’s historical significance. Is the world’s largest Parliament building – a palatial compound of wings and courtyards stretching along the river – really justified here? At nearly 700 rooms – I would love to see a conference room meeting schedule from those days – the awe-inspiring structure is almost comical for the minorities-intolerant Kingdom of Hungary of the day. World’s largest Parliament for the part of the Dual Monarchy notorious for its heavy-handed, centralized rule – by Magyars for Magyars, and for those who chose to fully assimilate and unconditionally subscribe to the narrative of regional Magyar supremacy – so different from the minority treatment in the increasingly liberal, tolerant, and decentralized Austrian half of the Empire. Self-aggrandizement here – crystallized, memorialized, and monumentalized in Pest’s structures, streets, and squares – is not incoherent and not without considerable architectural and artistic success. But it is relatively new, sometimes lacking in authenticity, and largely made up – or man-made – in the name of nation building. And that’s what makes Pest – and broader Budapest – a quintessential capital city.
Danube helps. It helps bridge this seemingly irreconcilable dichotomy between two river banks so different in character – unified into a single city only in 1873 – keeping them at peace and in harmony. The neighborhoods on both flanks of the Danube have excelled in their history, each on its own, each in its own right. Buda – in compiling one of the earliest and purest adaptations of Renaissance art and architecture outside Italy, every bit as artistically accomplished and worthy of contemplation as its antecedents South of the Alps, thanks to the courts of Matthias Corvinus and of the Jagiellonian and Bohemian Kings that ruled Hungary semi-autonomously. Pest – in creating a thoroughly Habsburg and most eclectic urban milieu, on a large scale and with pretense of a first-tier metropolis, with all its attendant cultural institutions, civic symbols, and infrastructure of the golden age of the post Ausgleich period. And all at the breakneck speed of the Continent’s second fastest growing metropolis – in this period, roughly corresponding to the French Third Republic, only Bismarck’s Berlin, emerging victorious from each of the three wars of German unification, rivaled Budapest’s rate of growth, and zooming in on the last two decades of the 19th century, only Chicago grew faster – and while relying primarily on native Hungarian talent for synthesis and execution.
Modernist Pest dwarfs its more historic sibling across the Danube much more decisively than central Prague’s Stare Mesto and Nove Mesto could ever dominate its quieter Mala Strana or Hradcany districts across the Vltava. And certainly more than the central districts on Right Bank in Paris could ever hold sway over arguably more picturesque but less deserving arrondissements across the Seine. Pest is even more assertive than the busy districts in the heart of the Bohemian capital. Buda is simply too insignificant, both in extent and presence, to be worthy of comparison with the lesser half of either Prague or Paris, and – in clear contrast to Mala Strana or St Germain des Pres, it offers no redeeming architectural eye candy along its riverbank – has no depth beyond a narrow strip of its virtually unbuilt embankment. Its central part rises steeply straight from the Danube bank towards the Buda Castle and the Fisherman’s Bastion, its Southern part rises almost vertically towards even more distant, disconnected, stark Citadel.
Landscape, topology, and 19th century city planners clearly conspired against Buda – following the siting of the impressive Dohany Street Synagogue, Europe’s largest, on the Danube‘s left bank, most of the city’s frantic expansion during nearly five post-Ausgleich decades was decidedly directed to the Pest side, at the same time adding approximately a doughnut hole to the built environment of Buda. While the opposing banks of the river in Prague and Paris make tempting benchmarks here, the difference between the Magyar Twin Cities’ relative weights is just too striking. Of course, there is more to Buda and the right bank than the castle – the area around the Gellert and the backstreets around the Technical University to the South is a delight, and some like Obuda, with its busy provincial street life, to the North – an outlet for one’s curiosity once the instantly likable Pest becomes too noisy, too tiring, too much. But by and large, despite the cute setting, nothing of note happens in Buda – history and monuments aside, it is a static viewing platform, an elevated observation deck, a miradouro of urban Portugal planted on the Danube, only without the charm – at least until the Hungarian government completes the planned move of some of its major cabinet and presidential offices to the right bank.
This official and artificial acceleration aside, Pest is where it’s at: the bureaucracy of countless government agencies and businesses of the posh Leopold’s district, the upscale living quarters and exceptional hotels, the palaces, the museums, the live music and the nightlife, the everyday life. And there is plenty of tangible evidence to this asymmetry: the 2.5 km long patrician Andrassy, the city’s longest avenue with its Millennium Underground line 1, world’s second oldest; the city’s widest and busiest street; its main commercial shopping street; its large pedestrian zone and nearly all of its open spaces; the endless tree-lined blocks; a sea of six-story apartment and civic buildings stuffed with balcony-lined courtyards; the monumental Heros’ Square and Varosliget, the City Park, the magnificent St Istvan Basilica, a younger cousin of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral (it even looks and stares at the city from the viewing gallery of its dome the same way); the grand boulevard ring; Nyugati and Keleti, its imperial train stations, each an object of latent envy of post-WWI Vienna and much of Continental Europe.
Pest is also where I found the city’s – and, possibly, Europe’s – deepest urban contrasts: the homeless by the dozen, the state so-called parks, post-Soviet in their shabbiness (many no more than neglected patches of what remains of the grass, no lawn other than in front of the Parliament is protected, and few are replanted, ever). But my favorite, and one I am still struggling to wrap my head around, is the veritable city center ruins – often right next to the opulent government buildings, posh hotels, and structures that seem to have been undergoing once frantic renovation and now resembling so-called frozen construction sites, as if funding has run out – and the so-called ‘ruin bars’ locals frequent with such nonchalant ease. As if it’s normal to write off imposing Belle Epoque vintage buildings – why ruins? this is not Ancient Rome, these structures are barely over 100 years old – even some American cities, chronically underfunded, overcrowded, devastatingly anti-urban, mired in partisan politics and social conflict, boast grand buildings older than that, and in a superior condition. I wouldn’t dismiss this as maintenance-free terracotta of the industrialized Anglo-Saxon world of the late 1800’s vs the high maintenance plaster of the then lower-cost Mitteleuropa, the latter should not age as gracefully as the former, but labor in Hungary is still cheaper, and there has to be more to it. As if it’s ok to use the building stock – rundown and abandoned it may be, often demolition-ready, and at times warlike and burnt out – as a junk yard backdrop to a theme bar, instead of repairing and restoring the empty shell to its old Habsburg splendor and newly adopted commercial use. While relaxing with a drink among the ruins is undoubtedly a lower hanging fruit than rolling up the sleeves for gut renovation and preservation, is there another self-respective capital city and a former seat of a royal court anywhere in Europe that would not fix the buildings first? But this part of Budapest‘s scene too is almost exclusively in Pest, on the left bank.
For an ethnocentric, ostensibly nativist, rebellious city that was always ready to break away with Empire and assert itself as equal to its capital, Budapest does not hide its surprisingly nostalgic side. It is on full display in the geographic names of its places: many of the city’s wealthiest and most central districts bear the names of the Habsburg family members. Terezvaros – after Empress Maria Theresia, Europe’s First Lady of her day who refused to move to Buda even after the Castle was expanded for her personally by the city. Krisztinavaros – after her daughter. Jozsefvaros – after her son, a statist and enlightened Emperor-reformer Joseph II. The elegant, worldly Lipotvaros – after Emperor Leopold II. Erzsebetvaros – after Empress Elizabeth, perhaps the city’s favorite, and these are just the names of the districts of Budapest. Not to mention the city’s most decorated stretch of its longest boulevard, Erszebet korut, and its most central bridge over Danube, Erszebet hid – both of them bear the name of the Empress – and I am not even talking about individual streets and squares and monuments. A surprising loyalty to Empire from its most feisty breakaway province – perhaps the pain of the lost regional hegemony, of the lost empire and two-thirds of kingdom’s resources has eclipsed the unease of showing respect for, and deference to, its former Vienna masters – a loyalty out of sync with the times, refreshing in its continuity. A sign that national pride over distinct ethnic roots and a 1,100 year tribal history can have room – for acknowledgement of the nation’s supranational past – and a triumph of inclusiveness over small-mindedness. I have to believe it is reciprocal, Vienna similarly wouldn’t even begin to pretend that it could be Vienna – the Vienna it became – without, at the very least, its Hungarians and Bohemians.
Indeed, 80% of sights and 95% of things to do are on the Pest side, the larger, bolder, appropriately posh, more metropolitan part of this city.
- Once in Pest, prepare to face constant assault on all your senses and on all fronts, from the fine monumental sculpture, grand 19th century portals, numerous open spaces, and the refined architecture lining the busy avenues and side streets – the sheer energy of the place can be invigorating.
- On this side of the Danube, hundreds of restaurants and bars, hotel fronts, funky coffee shops and cafes, and stylized bouquinists’ wheel carts with their colorful inventories of old books and posters will all compete for your attention.
- A standout in the street food category is perhaps the best ice cream street vendor scene after Italy in terms of its range, variety of flavors, and quality of ingredients, to all of which I can attest from intense personal experience of deliberate sampling and tasting. The city center affords numerous opportunities to partake in the awesomeness of this delicious staple – from dozens of artisanal street vendors, on the go, and in small scoops – as you make your way through the city’s maze.
- For all practical purposes, on most days, Pest is the city.
Exceptions to this rule of thumb abound, they will draw you to the Buda side time and again – that side is all about small firms dwarfed by the castle, quaint streets, slow pace, and inspiring views:
- The Castle District and the magnificent 18th century Buda Castle Built for Maria Theresia of the House of Habsburg but never really used by her as a royal residence, the castle is finally about to host some high offices of the Hungarian government, hence the impressive new construction of astonishing quality and attention to detail, visible on its grounds from the back courtyards and windows of the Castle galleries,
- You can make a nice morning out of the Castle’s many courtyards, its front Belvedere with an equestrian statue of Eugene of Savoy (disproportionately credited for expelling the Turks from Vienna and Budapest), and the back moat balcony offering picturesque views over mostly baroque landscape behind the castle hill, that of lower rise and semidetached old world Europe;
- The beautiful complex of St Mathias church with the equestrian statue of St Stephen and the Fishermen’s bastion;
- The sleepy maze of colorful lanes of Buda; the newly opened Maison Bistro and Hotel (below), a very nice family run bed and breakfast for a lunch and an espresso if you are so inclined, and
- The campus of the Technical University dating back to the 1700s with some fine buildings and grounds.
Budapest remains a rare European city where the Segway has not yet been decisively forced out by the shared stationless electric scooter scheme – thanks to wider sidewalks, a limited pedestrian zone, embracing populace, and relatively tolerant shopkeepers.
- And the Segway is still the most relaxed and efficient way to reach the top of Buda’s steep Citadel hill crowned by Szabadsag szobor for an unmatched view – go in late afternoon to have the sun in your back not your face for your maximum viewing pleasure – of both banks of the city.
- From here you can see at the same time the sprawling expanse of glittering Pest and the chiseled silhouette of the Buda Castle, of the nearby villas dotting the slopes of the hill, and of the neighborhoods along the gentle bend of the Danube in both directions, from Lagymanks to the South to Obuda to the North. And the angle is much better than from the top of the funicular, or from the Buda Castle, where the main drawback is that you can’t see the castle itself, heavily and unfairly shortchanging the richness and scope of the view.
- So before you give into the temptation to download the app for Lime, Bird, Voi, Beam, Skip, or Spin, head for the Segway rental off the commercial Vaci utca, also reachable by phone.
- You will be accompanied by a guide on his own Segway, and while the depth of commentary and quality of content leave much to be desired, you should find the rest of the experience of crossing the Danube and spiraling up the hill more than enjoyable.
While on the left bank, take advantage of a well-hidden gem, discoverable only by those intent on finding it or by chance, after hours of aimless exploration:
- It is an elegant – I would even say opulent – former pumping station to the castle, magnificently restored to its original Habsburg glory, and now housing an elegant cafe. Located at the Y shaped bifurcation of Ybl Miklos ter, the street running parallel to the riverside promenade, along the finely articulated facade of the Neo-Renaissance Castle Garden Bazaar and beneath the Castle gardens, this cafe occupies part of the inside of the main floor and the triangular open air terrace in front. It offers scenic views along and across the Danube – great service in great and very private surroundings, with no one in else sight – and is well worth the short hike along the river, along some dazzlingly beautiful real estate, and a quick stop. Here, sparkling modern design of the espresso bar meets spectacular period frescoes covering the underside of the vaulting of the Belle Époque arcade entrance, to a jaw dropping effect. In the back of the floor, a small but well-designed art gallery known as Budai Kreativ Haz showcases rotating exhibits.
- I highly recommend a stop at this place – the fanciest former pump house you have seen – especially if you are in the area around 8am, before ascending the steep stairs or before mounting the cable car to reach the Castle gate and gardens above. Do this instead of the highly promising (on account of dramatic views through the narrow pseudo Romanesque archways, its hanging chairs, and its commanding setting) but decidedly disappointing Panoramia cafe at the Fishermen’s bastion (slow, indifferent service, and uber touristy – save that one for a selfie or a shot of the Parliament across the river instead of a sit down experience of any sort).
- Across the street is the Semmelweis museum space – last year, it hosted quite a retrospective of WWI as the end of an era, quite educational and narrated from the point of view of the ruling imperial families of the European countries who marched off the cliff in a coordinated fashion (it was one of many exhibitions throughout the city that marked a century of the Versailles and Trianon peace treaties, an ill-designed end to the collective insanity of 1914).
- For a more lived-in cafe experience in the neighborhood, try Kelet Kavezo es Galeria, a double height shabby chic bookstore and café, further down the Danube bank: take the yellow city tram past Erzsebet hid (Elizabeth bridge) and the elegant silhouette of green riveted wrought iron trusswork of Szabafsag hid (former Franz Joseph’s bridge) up the curve of the Bela Bartok street to Gardonyi ter with its rows of colorful French bistro style chairs. This is the part of the city untrodden by the tourist. You will he greeted by a quaint local book gallery cafe full of colorful characters.
Like in Prague, but for a different reason, your Budapest visit is bound to be devoid of Museum time – Prague simply doesn’t have any, Budapest chose to shut down for renovation most of its stellar collections by the Esterhazy family and other Habsburg princes.
- Its many related art museums (the Museum of the Fine Arts, of Ethnography, of Applied Arts, and much of the National Museum are all temporarily closed, all at the same time, and all for about three years, along with the Opera and the Szechenyi Lanchid, the central chain bridge that does much to alleviate congestion even if it doesn’t really seem like it.
- So enjoy walking, the simplest way to extract the most out of the urban exploration. The key is to leave cheap commercial places like Vaci utca to the mainstream tourist and venture further out to cover the many attractions of hidden and not so hidden Budapest.
A few useful exceptions to this museum-free landscape – each a must on your itinerary – are
- The Buda Castle – even if you opt out of the visit to the somewhat specialized castle museum or the excellent national gallery
- St Istvan Basilica – besides the stunning soffit detail of the entrance arches and the amazing interior, the climb to the top will reward with the astonishing panoramic views of this photogenic metropolis from the circular balcony offering many flashbacks of London’s St Patrick’s. It views it offers are the city’s best, hands down. But do go early or pick a cloudy day to maximize the range of easily viewable and clearly discernible rooftop real estate, and
- The Dohany St Synagogue – world’s second largest after NYC’s Temple Emmanuel and Europe’s largest, this place is not only stunning but ranks among Budapest’s top mainstream tourist attractions, with sections of the congregation divided by language of the tour group, it also hosts a Holocaust memorial in its backyard.
- Another useful exception to the general no museum rule is a host of temporary exhibitions throughout the city, many are excellent and none are well attended by tourists.
Luckily, this city is lively and welcoming, with a well-developed urban infrastructure
- Boasting no fewer than ten public transport options, amazing street furniture no worse than Prague’s or Lisbon’s, a deeply rooted culture of culinary arts, a vibrant restaurant and wine bar scene, rich food and wine traditions of taste and character, and almost laughably low prices. All of which should make the city smaller and easily walkable.
- There is no shortage of eye catching detail here, in three dimensions: Budapest is monumental in the extreme, besides the imposing dimension of its public and private buildings, no open space here is complete without a group of statues, or at least a fountain sculpture, a memorial. Many display an equestrian monument – how many does a city of this size and stature need? – commemorating many a sovereign and a national hero, and some host massive compositions containing dozens of artfully chiseled sculptures.
- Look no further than Parliament square, the centrally located but very private Szechenyi ter, or the elegant Vorosmarty ter, not to mention the Heroes’ Sq at the far end of Andrassy utca but that is just scratching the surface. The artistic and expressive quality of Budapest’s installed base of sculptural monuments – while this is no Paris, Rome or Vienna – is decidedly high, and so is the level of execution.
- And not all of it form the good old of the Habsburg Empire or the glorious days of the Dual Monarchy when this city had the gravitas far surpassing its status as a national or symbolic imperial capital. No, sculpture production of masterful workmanship continues, tasteful contemporary sculptures gracing many public squares, neighborhood parks, open spaces, intersections, and walkways all over the center.
- Speaking of infrastructure, the hospitality industry has attracted significant foreign capital, mostly into hotels rather than restaurants, those have always been great. Among the culprits are the prospect of capitalizing on 11 centuries of history waiting to be discovered, Budapest’s extreme concentration of business and political power (Hungary is perhaps the most rural of European countries with the capital accounting for a larger share of the country’s human capital than in many others), and the persistent level of local real estate and labor rates that make this great city one of the cheapest among European capitals and that are still hard to explain.
- Further on infrastructure of recreation, Budapest’s hotel rooftop bars have been gaining market share in the local drinking scene. Could be a good way to keep some distance with more popular places if keeping up with the alcohol consumption standards of locals is not on your agenda for the night. Many are quite central – right next to Szabadsag ter, St Istvan Basilica – and offer spectacular views, day or night (see Hotel President and Aria by Library Hotel Collection below).
This city has a serious wine culture but if you are going to dabble in local wines it pays to know your way around – Hungary has 12 wine regions – to avoid disappointment.
- Bor is Hungarian for wine, look for it every time you pass by a sign or a window shop, see if there is a tasting opportunity
- Kekfrankos is Hungary’s main grape, it is the literal translation of Austria’s Blaufrankisch, similar to Zweigelt and St Laurent, all three are of the Pinot Noir family, with a little more character. When ordering Kekfrankos, avoid Egger and Hungary’s North and East, aim for estates close to Austrian border, in particular Weininger, the quality is simply that much better.
- Sweets, despite common Habsburg heritage with other Central European countries, are regrettable, overly sugary, and simply not the same as in Austria, Poland, or even Prague.
- Ice cream to go, from a street vendor, whether on the central Deak Ferenz ter or in Varosliget remains your best bet.
Culinary quality here is quite high, by any measure, whether you go for a food truck, a Hungarian-only and slightly Soviet style self-service counter in the neighborhood, or a high end gourmet restaurant, and whatever the cuisine on offer.
- Your chances of walking out disappointed – over quality of food, preparation, or price tag – after a meal or a stop at a randomly picked etterem (restaurant) or kavehaz (café) are among the lowest of any major city in Europe.
- This place doesn’t just know its Hungarian – it does the traditional and modern French and the Northern Italian equally well, as it does the new wave Hungarian-Jewish cooking, the Asian soup and noodle bar, the trendy brunch, the concept kitchen – and the roots of this culture of quality and authenticity are quite deep here.
- The old café-by-day-turns-into-wine-bar-after-5pm of the 2000’s seems to be gone (new generation, changing trends, rising rents – who knows?), nowhere to be found, however the city’s restaurant scene 12 or 15 years ago was – in stark contrast to Prague – as good in quality, if smaller in scope and more limited in options at the time, especially in the soup bar and breakfast all day department.
Lipotvaros – Leopold’s Quarter – the city’s most posh, grown up, official neighborhood
- Anchored by the world’s largest – and, it goes without saying, world’s most detailed – Parliament building, this part of town is all about monumental beauty.
- The Parliament square links together impressive government buildings of palatial proportions – the Parliament itself, with its insane complexity and endless Neo-Gothic nuance, is not the only one. Across the open space from it the Ethnography Museum and the Ministry of Agriculture, porticoed arcades running along the 20 and 30 window bay wide facades, they wouldn’t look out of place on National Mall in DC. The square hosts many sculptural mega compositions, any of which would embellish a similarly sized capital city elsewhere.
- Refined and noble. Large open spaces, carefully manicured gardens and small landscaped parks, spectacular facades of uniform height lining grid of wide and long city blocks.
- And none of this is monotonous or boring in the slightest. Every detail here is worth at least a casual look, many warrant a full study.
- This is where Pest tries to be Prague and Vienna at the same time, and offers eye candy superficially competitive with both. From the start, this area projected a well-deserved confidence of the Grunderzeit period of the newly minted dual capital. It still comes through here, spilling over into the quiet and dignified neighboring residential blocks stretching along Szabadsag ter and around its Northern arc and Eastern edge up Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca, the city’s widest artery, and towards the spectacular Nyugati railroad station, designed by the design atelier of Gustav Eiffel himself. And especially along Bathory utca and the little segmental square formed at its intersection with Hold utca and Aulich utca, one of the diagonal streets leading up and out from Szabadsag ter.
- Some coffee shops and funky java joints uncharacteristically informal for this area and more appropriate for Lower East Side are still around but may not last long in this district if everything goes as hoped with the local economy.
Streets between the Parliament, Erzsebet ter, Szabadsag ter, and the Danube are full of generously proportioned buildings with classical décor and statuary, skyline features give a nod to every Neo-style, mixed in with a few older structures in full Habsburg splendor.
- Szabadsag ter forms the power axis of official Budapest and paradoxically hosts the Stock Exchange – former Stock Exchange: needless to say, now defunct, under renovation, and unlikely to emerge in its old role: expect something else, diminished and repurposed for a more immediate commercial use – as well as the Soviet War Memorial, and the US Embassy.
- It coexists with quaint blocks nearby, anchors the city’s lively pedestrian zone, and puts you within reach of some of the best of upscale restaurants in the city.
- While here, enjoy the food, the wine, and the coffee, and a spectacular Italian lunch – acknowledging that recommended places are not always hiding, often the most obvious restaurants are actually among the best – try Da Mario off Szabadsag ter, between the square’s upper arc and the diagonal Vecsey utca that leads past a picturesque little park on Vertanuk ter and towards the Parliament square: bright, retro themed, design conscious, its succulent pasta dishes, wine selection, and service will exceed your expectations.
- Further down, on the other side of Szabadsag ter, past the former monolith of the Stock Exchange that manages to stretch almost the full length of this massive square – like with the Parliament, the goal was to catch up with Vienna and outdo it, at any cost, and what better way than through symbolic public buildings? Never mind that the reality of democratic debate or stock trading didn’t support the ambitions of the monumental structures but both rank among the world’s very largest – find Borza, a pleasant restaurant, epicerie, wine bar, café, always good as a destination or an unplanned stop to stretch and chill with a view of the lower Szabadsag sq with its row of fountains.
- Costes Downtown, among Budapest’s most successful celebrity chef restaurants, is a must, if you want to experience a state of understated near perfection, in taste and presentation: it is just around the corner from the front entrance to Gresham Palace, on the ground level of the neighboring Prestige Hotel.
- A nice option, if wallet starts to feel heavy in your pocket, is Kollazs, the Four Seasons lobby restaurant and cafe on the NW corner of the Gresham Palace itself, stunningly beautiful and with a full menu of options, the only disappointment will be over so many squandered opportunities to spend half as much elsewhere, but you knew what you were signing up for.
- But this area is littered with places designed for your culinary enjoyment, and you don’t need to reach for Costes, Kollazs, or other high end gourmet, Michelin quality brand to be pleasantly surprised. At least two generations of transformational chefs and their disciples are heling good options multiply as new venues splinter from the old establishments and pop up throughout the city.
- Look no further than Trattoria Pomo d’Oro, a busy, warm, and welcoming restaurant just a block further North of Costes Downtown, on Arany Janos utca, you can kill the waiting time across the street at MyWiny shop over a tasting of local or Italian reds.
- Just around the corner again, on Nador utca, directly behind the Gresham Palace, is Kavetarsasag, an effortlessly slick, devastatingly stylish, ultra-modern, ultra-minimalist sanctuary. Part store, part espresso machine showroom, part espresso counter – it celebrates all things caffeine, from single origin espresso to blends to filtered to pourover style to cold brew to frappe – its menu, heavy on iced drinks, offers a highly satisfying escape on a steaming summer day.
That pretty pedestrianized zone between Szabadsag ter, Erzsebet ter, and St Istvan Basilica is well executed and is a pleasant place for a stroll, a dive into a café or ice cream parlor, or even a bite.
- One establishment here, Hilda, a couple of short blocks behind the Gresham Palace hotel is among my favorites: brightly lit orange walls, colorful mosaics and blue and white brickwork lining its bar counter, arches, and vaulted ceilings, with a welcoming terrace and Deco interior, it is easy going, great for lunch, coffee, or afternoon aperitif.
- Another handsome choice is Aurum Bistro in the Danube Palace, around the corner from the Gresham, you can’t miss the lively terrace.
- Check out the minimalist Academia Italia concept kitchen
- And don’t miss Borkonyha Winekitchen, a solid option to dig a little deeper into local food and wine in a convivial setting.
If you are into architecture hunting, I would suggest checking out the Corvinus University building – this huge 19th century structure sits on the Pest side, across the Danube from the Technical University, and next to Szabadsag hid, and was built to impress from across the river.
- Corvinus University is Budapest at its most Italianate, along with its more diminutive sibling, the façade of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences facing Szechenyi Ter next to the Gresham Palace
- Right behind the University block is the zigzag roof of the well-articulated Central Market building – its 12 transverse bays and one lengthwise aisle reading through clearly from all angles – though these days it is better known for the faded grandeur of its structure than the content of its food halls.
You are now in the very relaxed, eclectic, and easily accessible part of the inner city that is a bit more remote and therefore less frequented by the mainstream tourist than its more central parts.
- From there back to get back to the start of Vaci around the Buddha Bar hotel you are facing the prospect of a delightful walk across Fovam ter and through the inner city’s some of the most eclectic blocks – past the historic Café Central and Karparia restaurant – small streets, big buildings, lots of color and character, as elsewhere in this city, only more so.
- In this area, Meszar Steak Kitchen in Karolyi utca is a casual but seriously convivial place with decent steak and wine, especially if nothing else planned.
- Pause at Fereciek ter, look up Kossuth Lajos before you cross it, stop after crossing it halfway – if your nerves will allow for it – to appreciate the detail multiplied by scale factor.
- Once in front of the Klotild Palace, look back South and East at the colorful pile up of rooftops, towers, domes, spires, shapes you just emerged from. Walk around the Klotild Palace and its twin tower if you have time.
While Vaci deserves to be avoided, it does have pockets of brilliance – Cyrano restaurant, more precisely its outdoor freestanding white champagne counter? just for a glass, maybe – and leads to a few of interesting junctions that are otherwise hard to get to.
- The first is the archway right across Vaci from the Buddha Bar side of the Klotild Palace, it leads you straight to the riverfront – Budapest is no Prague, Paris, or Stockholm, its waterfront remains surprisingly unbuilt and unimpressive, while its awesomeness is turned almost entirely inland, much like in Vienna, Rome, or Copenhagen – and from here, along the Danube towards Szechenyi ter, past the grand and historic Vigvarju. Whether or not the imposing Jozsef Nador ter is still under reconstruction, the riverfront makes for a more pleasant walk from Belvaros to Lipotvaros. On your way towards Vigado, a grand, river-facing, century-old concert hall visible from every vantage point across the Danube on the Buda side. Make sure to stop at Jacques Liszt, a beautiful artisanal bakery that will transport you to Paris, or at least Munich – this is take away service only, a true bakery, but you are welcome to watch the bread and pastry preparation next door through an artfully designed glass window. So different from Lipoti, a more democratic and somewhat basic boulangerie patisserie one finds on the busy Rakoczi utca and Erzsebet krt, this boutique bread shop exudes the air of legitimacy, longevity, and gravitas only a confident purveyor of baked goods can hold onto for any length of time (think Stohrer on rue Montorgueil in Paris but significantly more real and less pretentious).
- Another of the junctions is the narrow Suto utca closer to the Vorosmarty ter end, dwarfed by massive white modernist and art deco buildings, it leads to Deak Ferenc ter. This smaller and more scenic offshoot to the nearby no-man’s land of Erzsebet ter is Budapest’s pulsating epicenter, the city’s main metro hub, and a convenient launch pad to access the Gozsdu courtyard complex or the Jewish district across the busy Bajscy Zsilinszky utca that here forms an integral, if somewhat overwhelming and incoherent, part of the Inner Boulevard Ring.
- And finally, closer to the Klotild Palace end, is a link via narrow Parizsi utca past to the nearby Varoshaz utca with its daunting mass of heavy, colorful baroque portals, neoclassical facades, and mansard roofs, most notably of the city’s tax department building. Take in the curving streets, the triangular blocks, and the diagonal intersections, retrace to Szervita ter, chronically under renovation and reconstruction, for a look at the baroque St Anna church and a stroll down – or at least, am inquisitive look at the colorful Art Nouveau, Modernist and Art Deco facades of the Panofi Sandor utca overlooking the square. This is Belvaros, Budapest’s inner city, at its best.
The boulevard ring sounds central yet few venture out past a few central sites. And I would recommend both Kiskorut, the inner ring, and Nagykorut, the outer ring
- It is tough to say what constituted the epicenter of posh Budapest in the late 1800’s, Nagykorut or Andrassy, both were in contention.
- Similar to most of the boulevards of Paris, Budapest’s are past their prime but holding on to their faded grandeur with dignity, hosting along the outer boulevard ring and in near vicinity both of its palatial railway stations dating back to the bold days of spatial steel structure design as well as several of its top notch hotels. Generally speaking, and roughly similar to Paris, the further West you go the more posh the neighborhood, while neighborhoods traditionally socially and economically challenged and currently up and coming cluster in the East. While this holds true for the neighborhoods here, it fails to translate literally and completely.
- The elegant Palace District happens to be in the East. And it is the Southeastern stretch of Nagykorut, the Outer Ring, that happens more thoroughly embellished and beautified.
Beautification in Budapest was traditionally linked to opulent hotels, and with much recent investment targeting the hospitality sector and the hotel properties, this city continues to stand out among its equals in that area, its hotel stock punching well above its weight in terms of quality, variety, sheer beauty of the premises, and their historic value. One common theme among the great hotels of this city is a beautiful central atrium, usually in a reclaimed arcaded courtyard.
- The Erzsebet korut segment of Nagykorut near Dohany street intersection is especially well endowed. Among other things with the New York Palace hotel, easily the city’s most ornate building. Formerly the seat of the New York Life Assurance company, it was taken over a dozen of years ago by Italy’s Boscolo, one of Europe’s most consistent and design savvy boutique hotel operators. Back then, I was able to visit the unrivaled atrium of the then brand new hotel, admire all the fin de siecle workmanship, climb the stairs to the top, look down, and return to the historic and exceedingly over the top New York Café – all alone, unbothered by any travelers or anyone else – for a quiet time with a cup of coffee. No such luck today: the place is swarmed by the descending hordes, determined to stage a siege of the building as if it was one of the city’s top tourist attractions – not that it doesn’t deserve to be so besieged. Stop for a peek inside all the same but time it wisely, when batches of people, queued up, are not in sight.
- A couple of short blocks down Dohany, Continental Hotel sits on the premises of the repurposed Hungaria Spa, the public bathhouse, its original Secessionist incarnation dating back to the very end of the 1890s, the more modern Art Deco version to the 1920s, key architectonic elements of the spa preserved. This showcase of ingenuity and simplicity in design – check out the exceedingly well detailed doorway, some beautiful barrel vaulting of a public bathhouse, and the backyards – also hosts Araz, a great restaurant with a patio on premises.
- Half way back to the Nyugati station is the imposing façade – avant corps projections and glass atrium sections – of Grand Hotel Corinthia, another Grunderzeit era hotel. It was opened, along with the Andrassy street underground subway and Heroes’ Sq, in time for the Millennium Exhibition of 1896, its renovation during last decade predated that of New York Palace by a couple of years.
- Many consider the Four Seasons hotel on the bank of the Danube in the historic Gresham Palace to be the city’s finest, its color majolica tiles, curved glass vaulting, Art Nouveau detailing (check out the stained glass flooring on the fifth floor), and a location centered on Szechenyi Lanchid, Budapest’s oldest bridge that leads to the Buda Castle, do much to support that, as do the service and the price tag of the on-premise breakfast.
- But I would check out Buddha Bar Hotel further East along the Danube towards the next bridge. It occupies the historic Klotild Palace, one of two free-standing, near-identical Neobaroque buildings – formerly property of an archduke – that anchor the far end of Vaci utca, the city’s main pedestrian drag and straddle the corridor of massive Kossuth Lajos utca before it widens to join Erzsebet hid, once of the city’s central bridges across the Danube. The hotel is restored, its twin across the street undergoing restoration, both form a signature, a post card image for this busy and eclectic part of town, especially when lit up at night. Viewed from that point up, in the direction away from the river, the Kossuth Lajos artery is especially imposing, the imposing walls of ornate buildings lining its sides come close to the scale of Madrid, London, or New York. Consider Buddha Bar as a place for a late night drink, its posh DJ lounge and bar are stunning, the former offers some of the best acoustics in town.
- The pretty pedestrianized zone between Szabadsag ter, Erzsebet ter, and St Istvan Basilica holds its own when it comes to new boutique hotels, and Hotel President, Hotel Prestige, and especially Aria by Library Hotel Collection with its High Note Sky Bar rooftop stand out. Check out the Library rooftop, to be closer to the dome of the Basilica you would need to be on its viewing gallery, only then you would have the view of everything but the cathedral.
- Lower Andrassy starts across Bajcsy Zsilinszky utca not far from the St Istvan Basilica; Budapest’s finest street offers a couple of boutique hotels worthy of a serious detour. One is Callas House with an eponymous restaurant, this Art Deco institution overlooks the Opera – now that the renovation is further along, its gilded statuary should once again be visible around the cornice perimeter – and is always busy. The other is the beautifully renovated hotel Moments – as you make your way in pas the monumental Ringstrasse era Andrassy doorway notice the former neoclassical courtyard turned atrium, the meticulously detailed frescos on the arched ceiling soffits, the side stairway – where Bistro Fine, the stylish on-premise restaurant with a separate front entrance from the avenue, makes for a pleasant lunch stop despite its simple name (this place seems to have adopted a rendering of the master plan of the lower Andrassy avenue showing each of its buildings in cutaway cross section a sits logo, it graces every place mat and the wall next to the street entrance). Most cross streets off lower Andrassy are worth one’s time and attention, and Hajos utca joining the Opera and the upper reaches of Lipotvaros near the Nyugati station is certainly one. In this area, turnover among pubs and eateries is high, and many places close down on account of rapid transformation and rising rents as everyone tries to take advantage of this enviable stock of old world real estate – best approach is to keep your eyes peeled for something interesting.
- I should note Maison Bistro and Hotel, another boutique establishment, opened a year ago on the Buda side, on Orszaghaz utca, a sleepy street stretching North from Szentaromsag ter, the square next to the beautiful Matthias church and the Holy Trinity statue. Having stumbled on this hotel-restaurant-café set in an 18th century bakery building – bed and breakfast would be more appropriate – randomly, to my pleasant surprise, I learned that it was their opening day and was treated to a free cup of espresso as customer No 1 at their nearby café. Its colored tile covered bistro is bright, cheerful, fashion forward and, most importantly, of gourmet quality, and should be given more than fair consideration for lunch when in the neighborhood, the view of the garden and the tile roof rooms serves as an attractive backdrop.
Perhaps stating the obvious, Gozsdu Udvar courtyards with their libations, commotion, and their attractions are not to be missed
- This is a rare mix of 9 interconnected, Berlin-style inner courtyards cutting through the depth of generously proportioned residential blocks – think Hackesche Hofe – and the liveliness so typical of central Budapest.
- This place easily blends the locals and the visitors, offering everything from quaint bars to theme restaurants, to quirky and obscure cocktail bars, to bold food and drink establishments that stubbornly defy categorization but will nevertheless invite you in.
- If you are looking for a concoction with a twist of creativity and a bite, try the counter at the Jardin Cocktail Bar – Vicky Barcelona, both the place and its talkative Portuguese bartender are legit.
- As the night moved on, attractions will include some live music, some karaoke, and if you are lucky street salsa to the sounds of a Latin band or visiting DJs, but I wouldn’t come here looking for any of those.
- Expect simply a big celebration of everyone’s collective existence, a lot of places hosting groups of friends catching up and hanging out.
- Go there after a work’s day when passersby start to claim their seats on the terraces when the place is best approached from the center by crossing the busy Karolyi krt leg of the Inner Ring and straight up through the arches of Madach Imre ter – they appear slightly out of place with their functionalist (minimalist, brutalist, they are all the same) style – come back on a weekend during the day to get a taste of the place by walking sling it’s busy West-East axis.
- The archway and the alley are filled 24×7 with outdoor tables from casual wine bar, burger, and cocktail joints lining up its sides, and are technically part of Gozsdu. A couple of plain but satisfying bistros at the Eastern foot of the arch happen to be a good default choice when most other places close.
- I could dismiss a similar establishment elsewhere as a tourist trap – there is no similar establishment in any other city – but not here: Gozhdu paradoxically blends the local and the tourist well, and the vibe of this welcoming place is decidedly positive.
In Belvaros, the inner city inside the Inner Ring, Vorosmarty is one of my favorite public squares. It is urbane, civilized, quiet, old world in every way possible. It is well-proportioned, something to do with its dimensions, the envelope of buildings surrounding it.
- Perhaps it’s the element of surprise and a sense of freedom regained once at the end of the claustrophobic Vaci and its cheap pedestrian area, and the promise of elegant Lipotvaros now that you are on this end of Belvaros.
- But it could be eye catching combination of the fountain, the glass curtain wall of the shopping center along its Western side, and the beautiful outdoor terrace of historic Café Gerbaud on the far, Northern end.
- I would certainly recommend a visit to check out this establishment with claims of association with the Empress. The enfilade of multiple rooms is meticulously designed and dazzlingly beautiful, as only historic upscale cafes in Austria and Italy can be, but empty on account of its over the top refinement and museum-like demeanor, expect only a rare Chinese family. Come to have a look, and perhaps for a cup of espresso, no doubt expensive by local standards.
- Some of Budapest’s most impressive buildings, including the Ritz, overlook the nearby Deak Ferenz ter and Erzsebet ter from the inner city side although both open spaces are not the coziest in the city, are wrapped up in constant commotion, and will take some getting used to.
The old Jewish quarter of Pest is a must, for atmosphere, food, wine, and walking pleasure
- Known as Judapest in the Habsburg days, the city claimed to hold the top spot in Europe, in both absolute and percentage terms, with an urban Jewish population at 300,000 out of a total population of 1 million, tied with Warsaw.
- Andrassy Avenue, one of Europe’s finest, was itself a product of Jewish emancipation, assimilation, and capital, similar to Vienna’s Ringstrasse, and reflected social aspirations of legitimacy and refinement.
- Somewhat more real, the middle class Jewish quarter of that period has become the true center for food and drink activity by the locals, the younger ones would refuse to cross into Belvaros, the posh and elegant inner city. The quaint and seemingly older quarter – most of it only dates back to the expansive development of post 1867 Ausgleich era – is overrun with pedestrian activity day and into the night.
- Even on a Monday night, excruciatingly quiet in other cities, in this part of town you will have a choice of two dozen astonishingly high quality eateries with atmospheric courtyards, live music, much of which instrumental and original, and a few live singers – and that’s on a Monday. Walk from place to place – kosher restaurant, anyone? traditional Jewish? – until you find the best available and are ready to commit.
- During the day, places with names like the Humus Bar and London Coffee Society, coffee shops, noodle shops, and pizza and burger joints are prominently featured. At night, the range and diversity of establishments one would consider starts to present the classic challenge of too many options.
- One easy recommendation is Rezkigyo Coffee House, just a short block in from Andrassy. Another, also nearby, is Vak Varyu, an interesting concept restaurant with lots of spaces in split levels, good service, and more than satisfying, hearty cooking (this place may have moved temporarily). But the cozy Kavehaz Spinoza across the Eastern side of Gozsdu may be a more interesting choice, with live piano music, warm ambiance, and turn of the century posters tracing the steps up to the mezzanine balcony.
- At a totally different end of the spectrum, is Fausto’s, a high end Italian institution on Dohanyi street not far from the main synagogue that bears its name. This restaurant was great 12 years ago and has withstood the test of time and competition: there must be something incorruptible about good Italian, no matter where you are.
A very local experience – bizarrely local and, to a degree, incomprehensible – is Budapest’s ruin bars
- You will find them in this district – not always advertised, they are simply a fixture, an integral part of daily local life – bar counters and tables set in the courtyard terraces of otherwise perfectly abandoned buildings, uninhabitable in their present state, ranging from questionable structural integrity to near emergency state.
- Paradoxically, this bustling metropolis – so densely packed with people, monuments and public transport, so rich in prime building stock that would be envied by any Western European capital badly, and so ready for the long overdue expansions, additions, conversions and repurposing of historic real estate – has a lot of patience for unused and underused space. And I am not talking about empty lots or parcels of land with demolished buildings. The city seems content with numerous unused, vacated buildings, right in the center, buildings of pre WWI vintage, as ornate and purposeful in their Habsburg splendid as any, that for one reason or another were allowed in their relatively short existence of merely a century to fall in a state of disrepair.
- Elsewhere, especially in Northern Europe, these would be overtaken by squatters (think Kreutzberg and Neukolln in Berlin or Christiania in Copenhagen). Not so the great Magyar capital where empty historic building stock is allowed to sit empty, deliberately and proudly, for years, with no investment, evaluation, reinforcement, or a trace of concern by the authorities.
- I would love to study this further from social and cultural angle but the notion of simply establishing a watering hole in the courtyard of a vacated building – to a great cheering by the locals, emergency state and all – rather than investing to repair it (perhaps a reflection of the nonchalant Magyar attitude but possibly a more deliberate strategy to avoid unintended gentrification and unavoidable rise in rents?) is an interesting one. Uncharacteristically for a place so proud of its engineering traditions, seems like a decidedly anti-engineering solution to a technical problem.
- Ruin bars are as much a part of the authentic experience here as the Turkish baths, and possibly more. Try at least one. Especially that Mazel Tov, one of the trendiest new wave Hungarian-Jewish restaurants, is a ruin bar in upper Jewish district, within a couple of blocks from Erzsebet krt
I wouldn’t shy away from Ferenc Liszt ter, a tree lined and finely landscaped open space
- Part street, part elongated square, part promenade – reminiscent of the Lincoln Road in South Beach of all places – despite its exaggerated cuteness (Raday utca on the edge of the Palace District across town is another such area, normally it would be a tourist trap but in Budapest it just works).
- Ferenc Liszt ter is lined with sidewalk cafes – an occasional storefront with window sill seating cushions and detached bar counter lined with high chairs – attractively designed and popular at all hours, many decent, it stretches crosswise to the spectacular Andrassy utca (two short blocks East of the avenue and one West) precisely one block in from the Octagon. Menza, a corner bistro here that faces the Jewish district, with its scene and people watching potential, has been a decent lunch stop, whether early or late.
- The Octagon is where the grand Andrassy turns into the shabby Andrassy of its upper sections leading to the Heroes’ Sq. Indeed, the contrast between lower section of Budapest’s main avenue’s near section that runs from St Istvan Basilica roughly to the Opera is a particularly successful merger of the Vienna Ringstrasse and the Haussmann boulevards of Paris.
- Its contrast with the extension of Andrassy segments past Octagon (beautifully articulated facades perhaps one story lower are badly neglected as they can only be in Budapest, buildings in plain sight are missing entire skyline features, parapets, cornice sections, and statuary) is no less mind bending than the change one witnesses on Park Ave at 96th st where the UES becomes Spanish Harlem.
- None of this will be apparent along the decadent Ferenc Liszt sq, come here to stroll or stop for a drink, don’t miss it for a late breakfast. For a decorous experience or just a quick look, try Muvesz, a historic artists’ café – chandeliers and all – from 1898, a little up and on the other side of Andrassy from the Opera.
Half way up Andrassy, past the Opera and around the Octagon, you will opt to jump into the subway to continue your journey up the avenue to enjoy the attractions at its far end.
- You have made it through the elegant near part of the tree-lined Andrassy avenue and sideways on the nearby maze of cross streets and atrium courtyards – from here, I wouldn’t continue walking further up along the city’s 2.8km main drag, simply to avoid diminishing returns or outright disappointment.
- Budapest’s subway is the world’s second oldest and Europe’s first, inaugurated in 1896 for the Emperor Franz Joseph’s official visit to the co-capital of the Dual Monarchy to celebrate the millennium of the Magyar state. Metro line 1 – its neat, self-contained, color-coded, white tile-clad stations are minimalist but abundantly elegant and easy on the eye – runs directly underneath Andrassy in a straight line, connecting the center of the city to the then newly minted Heroes’ Sq.
- The metro is a treat in its own right – ticket control is disproportionately strict here so take the local rule seriously and purchase the ticket – compact but impeccably designed and spotless stations, harmonized in design and look, shallow and easily accessed, vintage train cars with wood trim, the experience is so different from the newer and deeper lines 2, 3, and 4.
- Once up at the avenue’s far end, enjoy easy access to the unusual monumental composition showcasing each of Hungary’s kings, to the mini Museum quarter, to the Shechenyi bathhouse, the zoo, and Varosliget, the Central Park, at the far end of the city’s most elegant avenue.
- Heroes’ Sq is a must – visually anchored by the Millennium Monument showcasing the Magyar kings in two semicircular colonnades on either side of the main column with seven tribal leaders at its base – it is flanked by the Museum of Fine Arts on one side and on the other by the Ringstrasse style Kunsthalle with a cafeteria on the steps under a pediment supported by a gilded colonnade. A noble closure for the Andrassy perspective, too bad it is not really visible from the center. The square, the park, and the metro line leading here were all a part of the Millennium project.
- Varosliget is awesome, take your time hanging out by the lake and meandering around. This local version of Regent’s Park it is full of greenery and boasts some serious chateau like park architecture on the far side of the lake.
- Technically, the famous Szechenyi bathhouse, the zoo, and several restaurants and cafes are part of the park, and I would not hesitate about making one or two stops at a lakeside restaurant terrace.
- After a stroll through the park and around the lake, an obligatory stop for lunch at the boathouse restaurant and a drink on the relaxing terrace of the spectacular Robinson restaurant across the road that splits the park in two continuing along the Andrassy
- Walk back down towards the center on the lesser streets to take in the easy going feel of elegant turn of the century garden villas lining the sidewalks.
For a pleasantly surprising change of pace, try Palota Negyed, the Palace District, I could not recommend it more. A random walk through around here is an absolute delight, and you will find this part of town especially restful if you have encountered your share of the unavoidable crowds, congestion, and grit elsewhere in this beautiful city.
- Stretching through the inner part of Jozsefvaros right from the Museum Krt segment of the Inner Boulevard Ring and up to the Museum of Applied Arts near the of the Outer Ring, this stylish low key area is a true and unexpected gem, in stark contrast with the shabbier up and coming part of the district that lies to the East of Jozsef krt on the Outer Boulevards.
- Immediately East and South of the prominent Hungarian National Museum block is a grid of quaint 19th century streets with leafy sidewalks, underrated and until recently ignored. Streets of lesser prominence are lined with long, low-rise facades of historic mansions that are often under restoration, streets that are more central (like Raday utca running in a straight line from the Inner Ring to the Outer and lined with coffee shops and eateries) – by the ubiquitous rental apartment buildings of near palatial proportions.
- Many hide elegant arcaded inner courtyards of astonishing detail, and you can easily visit those behind the apartment buildings – for a glance at the architectural detail of the vaulted entryway, at the fine floor tile patterns, the stained glass and striking layouts of the stairwell, all usually hidden behind the normally closed entrance doors. And I said nothing yet about the special acoustics sometimes found in these balconied courtyards.
- Quiet on the inside, this neighborhood projects an outward appearance that is increasingly bohemian, artsy, design conscious, buzzing with activity and full of younger people.
- The area is accessed from Kalvin ter – a nondescript square across from healthy street food kitchens of Istanbul and 827 Kitchen – on the Inner Ring where Museum krt ends and Kalvin krt begins, not far from Pata Negra, already promising 12 years ago and by bow a local institution of open brickwork, stainless steel ductwork, and tapas.
- A fairly generic looking cluster of modern bank buildings is immediately followed by a busy triangular square in front of the Flatiron-like nose of the historicist Ervin Szabo library
- It is a favorite with international hipster types and full of student bars and cafes (how is Matrioska Kroshka for a name?) and attractive outdoor terraces further back, the terrace of Frecske Presszo, a local favorite, immediately jumps out. Resisting a quick stop for a shot at Kaffeine Espresso Bar or Rukkola across the tiny square will be easier said than done, I can fully attest to that.
- Proceed down Raday utca, stop at the amazing Manioka bakery – tiny single aisle shop, a counter, two chairs, and a mezzanine, selection limited and gluten free – for an espresso and some of the most delicious local pastry I tried in this city.
- On the way out, stop at the historic Café Museum restaurant operating since the late 1800’s for a meal or a coffee in one of the most balanced turn of the century restaurant surroundings in the city – high ceilings, ceramic tiles, murals, chandeliers, plaster works, mirrors, and stained glass.
