Budapest will soon be home to Time Out Market – the food and cultural market that brings the best of the city together under one roof, opening 2025 at Corvin Palace on Blaha Lujza Square. Time Out Market Budapest will feature 11 kitchens, three bars, five event spaces, and around 540 seats. Find out more!
Nightlife is why so many beat a path to Hungary’s capital. Budapest is known for its ruin bars (quirkily furnished party places filling entire apartment blocks) while its gorgeous cityscape provides the backdrop for atmospheric rooftop bars blessed with wonderful views. We’ve got both on our list of the city’s best bars, along with cocktail bars, wine bars, pubs and more. If you’re drinking in Budapest, this is the place to start.
What is the main street for bars in Budapest?
The nightlife zone centres on the ruin-bar scene in the Jewish Quarter, District VII, around Kazinczy utca (this is here you’ll Budapest's best ruin bar, Szimpla Kert), Dob utca and Wesselényi utca. Packed with young party-seeking foreigners at weekends and all summer long, this may be just what you’re after – or what you'd really rather avoid. Hungarians tend to do their drinking around Madách tér, referred to on maps as Madách út, just off the touristy stretch of Gozsdu udvar. In Buda, the terraces of Bartók Béla út, behind the Gellért Hotel, are lively by day, while a more recent scene is emerging on this side of the river along Margit körút. Are you catching our drift? In Budapest, you’ll find something fun on pretty much every corner.
馃搷 Discover our ultimate guide to bars and drinking in Budapest
馃彣 Ready to book? Here are Budapest’s best hotels and best Airbnbs, selected by our editors
Peterjon Cresswell is a writer based in Budapest. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.