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Lounging Around - Living the Good Life in Budapest

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Budapest is the ideal city in which to wander, eat lots of pastries and Hungarian food, drink world-class wines and party down. This weekend-trip emphasizes less sightseeing (although you'll still walk in front of a lot of museums and churches, just in case you're tempted to go in!) and more cafes, restaurants, and nightlife.

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Author: Jennifer

Day 1 - Budapest

Start your day with a tea and pogacsa (Hungarian scone) at the gorgeous Café Mirror in the Astoria Hotel. Continue down Muzeum Korut toward the National Museum and send an MMS of yourself sitting on its glorious staircase leading up to the entrance. Continue toward Raday St, known as the Soho of Budapest. Raday is chock full of bars and cafés, perhaps the best and most “Budapest” being Castro Bistro. If you can’t get a table there, Soul Café is also one of the better ones, Mode is yet another which is both trendy and gay friendly. Cut across Lonyai Square, admiring its gorgeous church from the outside, and head toward the Museum of Applied Arts (Iparmuveszeti Muzeum) which you probably passed on your way in from the airport and whose stunning architecture caught your eye. Feel free to go in, admission is cheap and it is well-worth wandering around, particularly if there is an exhibit which catches your eye. Walk down the ring road (Nagykorut) until you reach Krudy Gyula St. This is a gem in the heart of the city in the area known as the Palace District. Here, too, cafés dot the street and you should grab a table at the Darshan Udvar or another place here which tickles your fancy. There will be far fewer tourists and cheaper prices than Liszt Square or Raday St. Also, be sure and duck into Iguana used clothing, something of an institution in the city. Walk down Sztenkiraly St. until it ends at the Rakoczi St, then cut across into the Jewish Quarter. Walk down some of the smaller, more atmospheric streets (Sip, Nagydiofa) and eventually end up at Kazinczy. Duck into Koleves for some alternative “see and be seen” and great food at cheap prices. Head across to Ellato to for an after-dinner drink, grab a table if you can because the later it gets, the less likely it becomes that you’ll find an open seat. This is a great, non-touristy, non-pretentious artsy crowd with class. Wind up at the Kuplung for cheap drinks in a cool, shabby-chic atmosphere that is totally, totally Pest. Or, if you can’t get enough, head over to Piaf very late (as in not before 2-3) and party until the sun rises.

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Hungarian National Museum

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Location:

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Muzeum korut, 14-16
(District VIII)
1088 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

+36 1 338 2122

Castro Bistro

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Madách Imre Square 3
1075 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

36 1 2150184

Museum of Applied Arts

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Üllői Road 33-37
1091 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

+36 1 456 5107

Kőleves (StoneSoup) RestoBar

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Kazinczy street. 35
Dob street 26 (corner)
1075 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

36 1 322 10 11

Ellátó

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Location:

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Klauzál Square 1-2
7th District
1072 Budapest, Hungary

Kuplung

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Király Street 46
1071 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

+36 30 636 8208

Piaf Pub

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Nagymezo utca, 25
1064 Budapest, Hungary

Phone:

36 01 312 3823

Day 2 - Budapest

Sleep in late and head to the Café in the opulent Gresham Four Seasons for extraordinary service, whatever shape you’re in – they’re trained to treat all guests as royalty. Walk along the Danube toward the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and admire its breathtaking architecture from the outside (it’s hard to get in to see this stunning academy from the inside, anyway). Continue walking toward the Parliament and snap a few pictures here before walking toward Liszt Ferenc Square. Summers, this is a hotbed of activity. Grab a mojito and gossip with your friends about whether that fake blonde’s Louis Vuitton bag is real or notice those cute Scandinavians at the next table. Walk back down Andrassy toward the Opera, take a few pictures from the outside, then enter and admire the stunning ornamentation in the lobby. For fewer tourists and less scene head down Hajos St. (runs next to the Opera) grabbing a beer at one of the numerous terraces which dot the street or continuing on to Picasso Point, once a hotbed of bohemian life in Budapest (until it was busted for drugs), now a faint shadow of its former self yet still a good place. If you’re looking to spend the night drinking, head over the the Simpla Garden (Szimpla Kert) on Kazinczy St, for some Berlin style amusement, or go for dancing and a “show” at the Capella or Alibi.

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