The 9 best ruin bars in Budapest right now

What is it? Szimpla Kert is the undisputed king of the Budapest ruin bar scene. The interior is huge and hung with random decor. Most of it looks like a circus, and there’s two floors to explore. For some sense of the scale, Szimpla Kert contains nine bars, serving over 400 drink varieties.

Why we love it The bar has continued to evolve over the last two decades to become a cultural and social hub in the city, with live shows and other entertainment a regular occurrence.

Time Out tip: There’s a wholesome organic farmers’ market every Sunday, with a little live music thrown in, plus the occasional flea market in the central courtyard. 

Address: Kazinczy utca 14, 1075 Budapest

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 3pm-4am, Sat noon-4am, Sun 9am-4am

Expect to pay: While admission is generally free, you'll be paying around Ft 2,000 (€5) a beer – cheap compared to London, pricy for Budapest

What is it? Mega-pubs Fogas and Instant merged into one 1,200-square-metre giga-party in the middle of District VII in 2017. Despite this, neither venue has lost its individuality: Fogas retains its classic ruin bar vibe, Instant its eccentricity. Other venues operate under the same roof, meaning you waltz from one to the other for a different experience each time.

Why we love it The complex accommodates various themed bars: Unterwelt offers party hits, Liebling chilled-out rooftop fun with quality food and drink, while Frame gets down to broken beats and pounding bass. The rock fraternity can get their kicks at Robot. 

Time Out tip: Pace yourself. Opening hours are 6pm-6am, so peak early and you could be staggering around just as everyone else is warming up.

Address: Akácfa utca 51, 1073 Budapest

Opening hours: Nightly 6pm-6am

Expect to pay: Admission is free. Beer prices are pretty reasonable, with Czech Krušovice at Ft 1,600 (€4) – avoid the Hungarian option. Cocktails are in the Ft 2,500-3,000 (€6.25-7.50) range

What is it? Long-established Doboz (literally, ‘Box’) is an upscale ruin bar that combines a young, well-dressed clientele with wacky décor – even the huge red cube in the courtyard is dwarfed by the gigantic King Kong statue hanging from a tree, said to be twice as old as Budapest itself.

Why we love it Doboz comprises themed rooms playing different genres, from Latin pop to hip hop, with two main dance floors, one of them alfresco. Open year-round (patio heaters warm up partygoers in winter) until silly late, Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Time Out tip: Premium spirits are used for the house Doboz cocktails (average price Ft 2,500 (€6.25), such as Grey Goose vodka in the Pear Cosmo and Bombay Sapphire in the Fresh Bombay.

Address: Klauzál utca 10, 1072 Budapest

Opening hours: Wed-Sat 6pm-6am, Sun midnight-6am

Expect to pay: You're in Doboz, so no need to chug back the pints when you could be sipping Daiquiris (Ft 2,200/€5.50) or Champagne Mojitos (Ft 2,600/€6.50)

What is it? Though of the same vintage as its ruin-bar counterparts in District VII, and certainly with the same decorative approach, Csendes (‘Quiet’) differs in several ways. First, there's its location, near downtown Astoria, by the pretty pocket park of Károlyi kert. Secondly, its opening hours aren’t nearly as hedonistic, the bar closing at the reasonable hour of midnight. 

Why we love it For all that, Csendes is a fine place, which ticks the usual boxes (idiosyncratic décor, mismatching furniture, wise music policy) and known to host alternative acoustic nights. Cocktails and wines are a notch above – and bar staff make you feel like a customer rather than just another bleep on the credit-card machine.

Time Out tip: Csendes consists of two venues, this ruin-bar style pub (called ‘Csendes Létterem’) that fills a former literary coffeehouse dating back to 1883, the Fiume; and wine bar Csendes Társ (‘Companion’) at the end of the street, whose tables spill out around the entrance to the park in summer. Everyone calls both Csendes (‘Chendesh’), you just need to work out which your friend is referring to if you're meeting here.

Address: Ferenczy István utca 5, 1053 Budapest

Opening hours: Tue-Sat 6pm-midnight. Closed Mon, Sun

Expect to pay: With the draught beer range pretty meh, you might want to investigate the wine options, with several domestic labels in all three colours available by the glass, at around Ft 1,000-1,300 (€2.50-3.25) per decilitre.

What is it?  Before there were ruin bars, Budapest had garden bars, similar in approach and design, just not restricted to four crumbling walls. Kőleves Kert, attached to a restaurant named after a Hungarian fairy tale about an ingenious ‘stone soup’ recipe, evokes the same super-relaxed vibe as that first wave. Its garish furniture and murals help create a party-ready atmosphere,

Why we love it Here, it’s Budapesters who predominate, aware this may well be the best Kazinczy utca venue for catching the summer rays, drink in hand. It's big, too, so you should find a table even in rush hour.

Time Out tip: Kőleves also oversees three apartments, reserved through the website, for those looking to base their weekend around partying.

Address: Kazinczy utca 41, 1075 Budapest

Opening hours: Tue-Wed, Sun noon-10pm, Thur-Sat noon-11pm. Closed Mon

Expect to pay: Slightly pricier than most nearby options but you're in convivial surroundings

What is it? Craft beer enthusiast Dániel Bart opened Élesztőház with a clear mission to offer something new.. Although the courtyard follows the classic ruin-bar formula – ‘we didn’t have a lot of money to spend, so we had to be clever and use secondhand and old things’ – Bart aimed to focus his bar on what you drank rather than how you drank it. As his wine country learned to make beer, Bart created a place to showcase this improving genre. Of the 20 (or so) top-notch brews available at the industrial-style multi-tap bar, particularly popular are ones by Fehér Nyúl from the same district of Budapest, and the affordable house variety.

Why we love it Élesztőház is not for just the bearded: ‘Our clientele has changed: now we have every kind of customer, and very few craft beer geeks,’ says founder Dániel Bart. There's a serious kitchen, too – you'd go far to find a better burger in Budapest.

Time Out tip: Long before District IX became gentrified, contemporary arts centre Trafó was attracting people to this then grey neighbourhood – it's still going today, right next door to Élesztőház, offering alternative music, art, drama and dance. Its café, Trafik, can set you up for the day.

Address: Tűzoltó utca 22, 1094 Budapest

Opening hours: Daily 3pm-3am

Expect to pay: For house Élesztő lager, Ft 1,350 (€3.40), for a decent IPA from Budapest craft brewers First, Ft 1,850 (€4.60)

What is it? Once it was established that a ruin bar such as Szimpla Kert could make a killing from serving drinks till late in alternative surroundings, everyone wanted a piece of the action. Diagonally opposite Doboz, UdvarROM (literally ‘CourtyardRUIN’) brings in the crowds by showing sport on many TV screens, but it otherwise sticks to the same tried and trusted formula of keeping the party mood going amid bare brick and frills-free furniture until 4am. 

Why we love it While attached to the Füge Udvar next door, UdvarROM serves different drinks (the domestic draught option is the more preferable Borsodi, with Hoegaarden also available) and appeals to a slightly more grown-up crowd.

Time Out tip: UdvarROM's signature neon sign in the Hungarian colours of red and green is set in bar central, with Füge Udvar next door and Doboz across the street, not to mention several others a few paces away. It's an easy hop on a bar crawl.

Address: Klauzál utca 21, 1072 Budapest

Opening hours: Nightly 4pm-4am

Expect to pay: Pretty standard prices for Budapest's bar zone – you'll find cheaper but also pay more at Szimpla Kert

What is it? The ‘Fig Courtyard’ (note the tree in the middle of the main bar) dedicates itself to fun. In many ways, Füge Udvar feels more like an amusement park than a bar, with its rooms for arcade machines, air hockey, table football and things that flash and bleep, a prelude to throwing shapes on one of four dancefloors. It’s also, like any amusement park, a money-making machine, pricier than its neighbour, UdvarROM, to which it’s attached, and geared to groups of lads on the lash. 

Why we love it If this feels like your idea of fun, then Füge Udvar is for you. Like UdvarROM, it also screens sport in the barn-like main bar, and offers Peroni, Asahi and Pilsner Urquell alongside inferior Hungarian brands.

Time Out tip: Füge Udvar specialises in deep burgers with a myriad sauce accompaniments, so no need to go staggering off if hunger hits.

Address: Klauzál utca 19, 1072 Budapest

Opening hours: Nightly 4pm-4am

Expect to pay: A half-litre of a decent Hungarian brand, Borsodi, will cost you Ft 1,390 (€3.50), the same as a draught craft Nyéki, also domestic, from Lake Velence.