Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The capital's streets have been transformed in recent years by the mushrooming of in-
ternational chainstoresandtheopeningofmodernshoppingmalls.However,thereare
numerous small retailers that preserve local crafts and traditions as well as backstreet
shops recently colonised by young fashion designers. Budapest also has a set of distin-
guished market halls (
vásárcsarnok
) dating from the late nineteenth century, where the
displaysofcuredmeatsandpaprikaareafineintroductiontothenationalcuisine.You
can also spend a happy afternoon stocking up on Tokaj and Bull's Blood at the city's
growing number of wine sellers. The city's cultural strengths are also reflected in the
many bookshops and music shops across town.
One feature of old Budapest that has survived is its
artisanshops
: whether it's the small jew-
ellery workshops such as Wladis, the quirky brush shop in Dob utca and the old craftsmen
and workshops in the backstreets inside the Nagykörút, or the growing number of young de-
signers whose work is deservedly attracting attention. Look out for Emilia Anda, Use and Je
Suis Belle, whose clothes range from the trendy to the avant-garde and the eccentric. One
event worth catching is the Wamp design market (
wamp.hu
); taking place every month on
Erzsébet tér,it showcases the workofemerging Hungarian designers, with some one hundred
vendors selling everything from clothes and jewellery to home decor.
It has taken a while, but at last there is a far wider choice of
souvenirs
to take home from
Budapest that extends beyond the folk tat sold in the Vár. You can find some chic Hungarian
accessories and clothes in Rododendron or Insitu; while the city's markets and small shops
such as Hercserli offer excellent local produce - jams, sausages, honey and the like.
ESSENTIALS
Shoppingareas
The main shopping areas are located to the south of Vörösmarty tér in cent-
ral Pest, in particular in and around pedestrianized Váci utca, which has the biggest concen-
tration of glamorous and expensive shops, as well as branches of popular Western stores.
It is also, however, full of tourist tat. The nearby Deák Ferenc utca has been jazzed up as
“Fashion Street” and attracted names such as Sisley, Tommy Hilfiger and Benetton, but also
young Hungarian designers like Nanushka. The main streets radiating out from the centre -
Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, Andrássy út and Rákóczi út - are other major shopping focuses, as are
the Nagykörút (especially between Margit híd and Blaha Lujza tér) and the Kiskörút. Shops
in the Vár are almost exclusively given over to providing foreign tourists with folksy souven-
irs such as embroidered tablecloths, hussar pots and fancy bottles of Tokaj wine.
Opening times
Most shops are open Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm, and
Saturday until 2pm, with food stores generally operating from 8am to 6 or 7pm. Some shops
in the centre of the city have extended hours on Saturdays, while the malls are open roughly
10am to 8pm every day, but close around 6pm on Sunday. However, quite a few places are
closed at weekends, so it is worth checking beforehand. The sale of tobacco is now restric-
