Budapest nightlife
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Discover the best Budapest nightlife and entertainment
The nightlife in Budapest is one of the city’s main draws, with quirky watering holes and top wine bars making waves alongside the city’s traditional late-night café culture.
Bars and restaurants aside, live music provides much of the night-time entertainment in Budapest. There’s everything from rock to opera on the programme, with options ranging from indie bands performing in pubs to organ recitals in churches.
Bars and restaurants aside, live music provides much of the night-time entertainment in Budapest. There’s everything from rock to opera on the programme, with options ranging from indie bands performing in pubs to organ recitals in churches.
Travel Information
Language: Hungarian | Currency: Forint (Ft) | Local time: (UTC+1:00) | Average flight time: 2 hrs
Nights out in Budapest
Low-key bars and some of the best traditional cafés are located in the Castle District, while wine buffs will want to head to the upmarket bars that dominate the nightlife scene in and around Parliament.
Al fresco drinking spots and the trend for ruinpubs – pop-up style bars housed in old, previously-abandoned buildings – are both best experienced in Erzsébetváros, while Belváros adds a bunch of flashy rooftop cocktail bars to the nightlife scene in Budapest.
What to drink in Budapest
Hungarian wine doesn’t make waves internationally, but there are some seriously good reds and whites produced around Budapest and you won’t pay through the nose for them. Wine is sold by the decilitre in traditional wine bars and by the glass or bottle elsewhere. Go for anything labelled minosegi bor (quality wine) and you should be onto a winner.
To road-test craft beers from Hungary’s emerging microbreweries, two excellent bar options are Léhűtő in the Gozsdu Courtyard or Kandalló Artisanal Pub (Kertész utca 33).
Late-night coffee culture
Hungarians love their coffee, and traditional coffee houses have been an important part of the social scene in Budapest since the 16th century. While only a few old-style coffee houses remain today, the ones that do are still atmospheric.
The grandest is the New York Café (Erzsébet krt 9-11), an opulent spot in Erzsébetváros that opens for breakfast and closes at midnight. While there are plenty of Hungary’s home-grown wines and craft beers on the menu in Budapest, if you only have one alcoholic drink make it a shot of pálinka, a fiery fruit brandy.
Listen to the music
Grand concert halls are in no short supply in Budapest, with classical music performed in the likes of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy (Liszt Ferenc tér 8) and the Neo-Renaissance Hungarian State Opera House (Andrássy út 22).
Plenty of smaller academies, theatres and museums also host chamber music along with other entertainment.
If you’re more into pop and rock than classic and opera, your nights out in Budapest will mostly be spent in bars, clubs and quirky venues like the A38 (Petőfi híd), a moored hauler boat living a second life as a major hub for live music.