Budapest-WhatToDo.txt

What to Do
S ome people visit Budapest to pursue a special interest and happily spend their holiday in thermal pools amidst ancient Roman remains. For the less single-minded there is a wide range of activities; from high culture to late-night bars, and from sports to folk dancing. Some visitors, especially those who have been here before, may want to experience Budapest as a native by visiting one of the smaller steam baths used by the locals, horse riding on the puszta (plain), or bargaining for old Soviet memorabilia at the flea-market.
Shopping
Not very long ago, a fistful of dollars would have given you the freedom of most Budapest shopping streets. The end of communism, the imposition of VAT at 16 percent, and the effect of inflation have, however, brought an end to those bargain-basement days. As ever, artisans provide the bulk of the best buys, but it is worth bearing in mind that their hand-produced items can’t compete with the price of the mass-produced substitutes from the Far East. If something is extremely cheap, chances are that it’s a clever imitation.
Where to Shop
The former “Intourist” shops which only took HUFand had a virtual monopoly on quality souvenirs have been consigned to the same scrap heap as the statues of Stalin. You can now buy most Western goods in the city’s department stores, at any number of specialist shops, and on market stalls; in fact, at all the usual retail outlets. Prices are nearly always fixed.
Any shopping foray should start on Váci utca, the most comprehensive and best quality shopping street in Budapest (see page 46). Here you will find a selection of clothes, fashion accessories, shoes, jewellery, antiques, books, music, china, glass, and much more.
If you are looking for folk items, start at the Folkart Centrum shop on Váci utca 14. This branch, the biggest and best of a small chain of nine outlets, is open every day. You will also find folk goods sold at stalls around Vörösmarty tér and Vigadó tér. The grocery store in the Open Air Village Museum at Szent-endre is another good place to buy real artisan products.
The complimentary monthly magazines, Where Budapest and Budapest Panorama, feature shop listings. Ask Tourinform for details of the city’s markets and about the Ferenc-város flea-market.
What to Buy
Ceramics. The two leading brands are Herend, which is made in the town of the same name near Lake Balaton, and Zsolnay, made in the south of Hungary. The Herend factory has been turning out porcelain for the tables of the nobility since 1826; members of the British royal family from Queen Victoria to Charles and Diana have been customers. As everything is still hand-finished, prices are understandably high. You don’t need to travel all the way to Herend to buy Herend ceramics, as there is a specialist shop on József Nádor tér (behind the Gerbeaud café on Vörösmarty tér).
More affordable folk-style plates and vases are common. If you want something distinctive, look for the blue-and-white ware (on sale at Tihany) or the local charcoal-coloured work.
Chess sets. There are some beautiful gift sets available for purchase in Budapest. Pawns as footsoldiers and knights as hussars in bright 18th-century garb are but one variation.
Elixirs and novelties. They say some foreigners used to fly to Hungary just to buy bottles of the wonder cure Béres Csepp; you may still find it at some pharmacies. There is another miracle cocktail for sale outside the Church of Tihany. 
How about a tin containing “Communism’s last breath?” You will find it on sale at Vajdahunyad Castle, the Citadel, and all good joke shops.
Food and drink. Paprika in small gift boxes or sachets, strudels packed in sturdy cardboard boxes, salami, Hungarian wines (particularly Tokay), and liqueurs (particularly apricot brandy) are popular gifts, selling at half the price, or less, than elsewhere in Europe.
Leather goods. There is plenty of Hungarian kitsch to take home, including leather wine-bottle covers and cowboy whips from the puszta. More seriously, handbags, gloves, and wallets are sold at reasonable, but not bargain prices.
Russian dolls. Hardly Hungarian, but a good, solid symbol of old Eastern and Central Europe. If you buy the popular Russian leaders doll, you get a miniature history lesson to boot: hidden inside Yeltsin is Gorbachev, inside Gorbachev is Andropov, and so on. This type is quite expensive.
Soviet army memorabilia. These include fur hats, steel helmets, cap and other badges, and watches. You’ll find these at most markets and alongside craft stalls.
Textiles. Embroidered and handspun blouses, tablecloths, lace, blankets, and carpets can be bought from the Folkart shops or in the country. Because they involve a high degree of hand-work, prices are often high.
Woodwork. Boxes, bowls, walking sticks, and the like carved by peasants are fairly common. Look out for the fascinating “secret boxes,” sometimes sold by gypsies. These appear to be unopenable, with no locks to undo or even hinges to pry open; but press a couple of panels here, slide a couple of sections there, and you’re in. Don’t forget the seller’s instructions.
Sports
For a relatively small nation, Hungary has enjoyed much Olympic and World Championship success. During the mid-1950s its football team was one of the finest in the world. For the most part, national sport was for the favoured few and pursued to promote the cause of communism. Despite this, Hungary still offers spectators and participants a busy world of sports. There may be no sea, but Lake Balaton does offer a playground for watersports’ fans. Horse-riders won’t be disappointed either; the Hungarians have been known for their equestrian prowess ever since the Magyars swept over the Great Plain.
Taking Part
Billiards and bowling. “Billiards,” which also includes ten-pin bowling, snooker, and pool, is a very popular pastime in Budapest. For a list of venues ask Tourinform or see the Sports and Leisure section in the Budapest Sun.
Golf. This is a newcomer to Hungary, and you will have to drive some way out of town if you want to play. The Budapest Golf Course is a 9-hole, par 36 course with driving range, 35 km (22 miles) north at Kisoroszi (tel. [phone]). Bookings are required. The nearest 18-hole course is 200 km (120 miles) away to the west in Bükk.
Horseback riding. There are numerous good stables and horse-riding schools just outside Budapest, and riding holidays around the Balaton area and farther afield are on offer at Budapesti Equestrian Club (tel. [phone]) and Petoreházy Club Hotel (tel. [phone]). Ask Tourinform for details, pay a visit to the aptly-named Pegazus Tours on Fereciek tere, or see the IBUSZ brochure, Riding in Hungary.
Ice skating. In winter the lake in the City Park is drained and turned into an ice rink with the romantic backdrop of the Vajdahunyad Castle.
Squash. The City Squash Club situated at Márcibányi tér 13 (near Moszvka tér) hires out racquets, balls, and even shoes (tel. [phone]).
Tennis. Hungary continues to produce some good players. There are a limited number of public courts for hire, although many hotels have courts and there are numerous clubs and facilities.
Watersports. Windsurfing and yachting are widely practised on Lake Balaton and boats and boards can be hired at the main resorts. Motor boats and jet-skis are forbidden on the lake, but there is a mechanical water-ski pull at Balatonfüred and you can jet-ski on the Danube near Szentendre island with Jets Sport (look for the signposts near the Hotel Party on Highway 11).
Spectating
The major event of the year is the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix meeting at the Hungaroring, about 19 km (12 miles) east of town (see page 91). Other important sports events are held at the Népstadion complex a short distance to the east of the centre.
Every week the locals enjoy football and horse racing — the former is Hungary’s most popular spectator sport. Two of the more popular of Budapest’s first division football teams are currently Kispest-Honvéd and Ferencváros. Be aware that the latter has a thuggish minority among its supporters.
The Lóverseny tér stadium at Kerepesi út 11 is the main venue for horse racing and attracts a large audience. The flat race (galopp) season is in summer; meetings take place on Sundays and Thursdays. Trotting (harness-racing) meetings are held all year round on Wednesdays and Saturdays at a smaller stadium also on Kerepesi út (closer to the city centre).
Details of sporting events are printed in the foreign language listings magazines or newspapers (see page 118). The Style section of the Budapest Sun is particularly good.
Entertainment
Budapest has a very active nightlife, as a glance through any of the newspaper listings sections will confirm. The city is best known for what Westerners would regard as highbrow culture — theatre, opera, ballet, and particularly classical concerts. In Budapest tickets are much more democratically priced than in the West, and there is less of a class distinction amongst the audiences.
Standard popular culture is also prevalent, ranging from a bland Parisian-style cabaret to much raunchier “girly” shows. Big-name international music and showbiz acts also regularly call in at Budapest — from Jean Michel Jarre to the Chippendales. High-rollers may like to note that Budapest is eagerly embracing casinos.
Performing Arts
Theatrical life is very active: on average, several new productions give premières in Hungary each week. The city has a number of fine theatres (színház), of which the Vigadó is probably number one. However, except for the English-language Merlin Theatre (on Gerlóczy utca, tel. [phone]), all plays are staged in Hungarian, thus excluding most of the foreign tourists. The language barrier is, of course, much less problematic with opera, ballet, and dance or music.
The State Opera House on Andrássy út is the finest of the city’s dedicated opera venues (the Vigadó also produces opera) and connoisseurs rank it among Europe’s best.
Ballet is performed at the Erkel Theatre, Köztársaság tér (which also stages opera), and at the Nemzeti Színház (National Theatre) on Hevesi Sándor tér. In August the Budafest is a spectacular celebration of opera and ballet in the State Opera House.
The main classical music venues are in Pest: the Academy of Music (Liszt Ferenc tér), and the Basilica and the Béla Bartók Memorial House (Csalán út 29); venues in Buda include the Matthias Church and the Museum of Music History. During the summer, open-air performances are staged under the stars on Margaret Island or before authentic ancient backdrops in castle courtyards.
Tickets are available centrally: for the concert performances go to the office at Vörösmarty tér, 1; for opera, go to Andrássy út 18. Larger hotels will also make bookings for you, or you can simply go direct to the venue box office. Tourinform also sells some concert tickets. The most comprehensive listings are given by the publication Pesti Musor and Koncert Kalendárium (Hungarian language only). A good free publication is Pesti Est, available at box offices, hotels, and restaurants.
Musicals from Broadway and London’s West End (like Cats, Les Misérables, etc.) can be enjoyed in Budapest, as long as you don’t mind a little Hungarian in between the songs. Tickets are on sale at the Andrássy út booking office.
For pop, rock, and jazz concerts the best listing is the monthly publication Budapest Panorama (this also gives a good round-up of bars, pubs, and clubs in the city). Go to the Music Mix shop at Váci utca 33 for tickets.
Clubs and Bars
Hungary’s late-night drinking and partying scene is not much different from that in other international cities. The “Pubs” are based either on the English model or, more commonly, the German bierstube. There is also a variety of international bars, Continental-style cafés, and authentic Hungarian bars, though the latter are not very apparent in the main tourist areas. Look for the sign sörözo if you are a beer drinker, and borozó if you prefer wine. While a sörözo is often similar to a German bierstube, however, a borozó is rarely like a Parisian wine bar (and neither serves only beer or wine). 
Live music is quite common, with jazz, suppressed as subversive in the Stalinist era, currently enjoying something of a renaissance in Budapest nightspots. Most performances are blues and dixieland, and audiences are generally young. There are also several cabaret clubs presenting floorshows with big-production numbers and scantily-clad dancers.
For visitors who prefer the excitement of the casino, Hungary has 23 gambling establishments. The place to be seen is the Hilton Hotel, which (in common with most Budapest casinos) offers French and American roulette, blackjack, poker, punto banco, baccarat and, to clear you of loose change and give you a bit of exercise, slot machines. There are many other city casinos: the Las Vegas in the Atrium Hyatt; the Gresham in the Gresham Building, Roosevelt tér; the Schönbrun casino ship by the Chain Bridge; the Orfeum in the Hotel Béke; the Vigadó on Vigadó utca; and the Várkert on the Buda embankment at the southern tip of Castle Hill. The latter is housed in a beautiful neo-Renaissance building by Miklós Ybl, designer of the Opera House. Casinos generally open from 4:00 p.m. to 3:00 or 4:00 a.m.
Films
Hungarians take their movies seriously, and Hungarian directors have come up with lastingly interesting works. But the tourist is out of luck, because the domestic product is incomprehensible even locally and most of the foreign films are dubbed into Hungarian.
Folklore
Despite a recent cultural invasion from the West, Hungary still has a very active folk-music scene; and where there is music, dancing is never very far behind. Hungarian folk-dancing is well worth watching, and takes you through the whole gamut of courtly wedding dances to high-energy, boot-slapping “Lad’s Dances” from the 18th century. As ever it’s best to catch it at local festivals, where performers are there for the love of dancing or local pride, as opposed to the tourist dollar. In the same vein, look out for the real gypsy dancers who have vivacity associated with the likes of Andalucian flamenco performers.
You can see Hungarian dancers — amateur or professional — most nights at the Municipal Folklore Centre at Fehérvári út 47, south of Gellért Hill. Folklore evenings are also staged at other venues; the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble gives excellent performances. Folklore evenings of a different type are also touted by some restaurants. These are generally staged for tour groups on whistle-stop visits, and while they provide an easy option, they are not representative of real Hungarian folk entertainment.
Children
The main roads of Budapest, and particularly Pest, are busy with people and traffic, and children have to be closely watched. Many other areas in the city and the surrounding region, however, are much more suitable for them. 
The obvious place to go is the City Park, where the zoo and Vidám Park are within a few yards of each other, and the circus makes regular appearances. The zoo as well as the amusement park are more traditional than modern, but the circus is reputedly one of Europe’s best. If the weather is warm, the splendid Széchenyi Baths is the perfect place for cooling off. In summer there’s a boating lake in the park and in winter this converts to an ice-skating rink.
The other oasis in the city is Margaret Island. You can spend a good hour or so riding round it en famille on a bicycle-carriage made for four. You can also swim here in the city’s biggest baths, the Palatinus Strand. Children also seem to enjoy the open-air wave pool at the Gellért Hotel. Out of town, Lake Balaton is a good place for water babies, particularly the southern edge where the sandy shore slopes gently into warm water.
A cog-wheel railway and a small-gauge train takes you to the peaceful Buda hills; the latter is staffed almost entirely by children, apart from the driver (see page 41). The chairlift is a great favourite. It’s a good idea to take along a picnic.
Older children with an interest in horses may enjoy a day at a riding school (see page 82) or one of the tour operators’ organized horse shows. Details are available from IBUSZ or Tourinform.
Nightlife possibilities include folkdancing (see page 88) or a not-so-traditional laser show at the Planetarium in the Népliget to the southeast of the city centre.
For more useful ideas, look in the bookshops for Budapest for Children by Bob Dent. If you would like a copy before you leave home, write to: The Budapest Sun, 1068 Budapest, Dózsa György út 84a.