BUDAPEST

BAKERIES, COFFEE, ICE CREAM, JUICE & TEA
●Bobek – 53 Kazinczy; 011-36-1-322-0729; bobek.hu; pudding thick hot chocolate.
●Gerbeaud Cafe & Confectionary – Vorosmarty Ter 7-8; 011-36-1-429-9000; gerbeaud.hu; among Budapest’s “grand dames”; Hapsburg-era confections such as Esterhazy cake (sponge cake layers, interspersed with chopped nuts and icing stripes) and Dobos Cake, 1^st sampled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1880s.
●New York Cafe – 9-11 Erzsebet Korut; 011-36-1-886-6111; newyorkcafe.hu; dates from 20^th Century’s 1^st decade; beloved.
●Printa – 10 Rumbach Sebestyen Útca (7^th District); 011-36-30-292-0129; printa.hu; art gallery and coffee bar.



BARS & NIGHTCLUBS
●Anker Klub – 1-3 Anker Koz; 011-36-70-505-5480; facebook.com/ankerklub; intimate indie rock concerts.
●Boutiq’ Bar – 5 Paulay Ede Útca; 011-36-30-220-1821; boutiqbar.hu; tiny speakeasy with great cocktails; laid-back but expensive.
●Borbirosag – 5 Csarnok Ter; 011-36-1-219-0912; borbirosag.com; 100s vintage Hungarian wines by glass.
●Budapest Jazz Club – 7 Muzeum Útca; 011-36-1-267-2610; bjc.hu; domestic and international jazz.
●Buddha Bar-Hotel Budapest Klotild Palace – 15 Baross Ter; 011-36-1-413-2064; buddhabarhotelbudapest.com.
●Corvinteto – 1 Blaha Lujza Ter; 011-36-6-20-772-2984; corvinteto.hu/english.php; open-air, roof-top, “underground” bar (roof-top portion only open spring-fall).
●Fogas Haz – 51 Akacfa Útca (7^th District); 011-36-20-800-8953; fogashaz.hu; courtyard bar in former dental clinic space (“false teeth” sign still in place); culture venue.
●House of Hungarian Wines – 6 Szentharaomsag; 011-36-1-212-1030.
●Instant – 38 Nagymezo Útca; romkocsma (“ruin pub”); destroyed building used as pub until renovations commenced.
●Otkert – 4 Zrinyi Útca; 011-36-30-413-1173; otkert.blogspot.com; kerts are outdoor beer gardens that, typically, are grungy and in vacant lots (they often are only couple notches above squats); this is supposedly Budapest’s 1^st “upscale” kert; open-air; try apricot or pear palinka (schnapps).
●Szimpla Kert – 14 Kazinczy Útca (7^th District); 011-36-6-1-461-0007; szimpla.hu; “ruin pub.”



HOTELS
●Art’otel – 16-19 Bem Rakpart; 011-36-1-487-9487; artotel.de; stylish but economical; on Danube River’s banks.
●Atrium Fashion Hotel – 14 Csokonai Útca; 011-36-1-299-0777; atriumhotelbudapest.com; on quiet street.
●Bohem Art Hotel – 35 Molnar Útca; 011-36-1-327-9020; bohemarthotel.hu; new hotel in downtown Pest; doubles as art gallery, each room having different piece by different Hungarian artist.
●Continental Hotel Zara – 42-44 Dohany Útca; 011-36-1-815-1070; continentalhotelzara.com; built on Hungarian Baths’ ruins; Art Deco classic Hungarian spa and inventive restaurant.
●Danubius Grand Hotel & Health Spa Resort – Margaret Island; 011-36-1-889-4700; danubiushotels.com.
●Danubius Hotel Gellert – 1 Szent Gellert; 011-36-1-889-5501; danubiushotels.com; great spa.
●Hotel Gresham Palace – 5-6 Roosevelt Ter; 011-36-1-268-6000 or 800-819-5053; fourseasons.com; restored Art Nouveau mansion overlooking Chain Bridge; mosaics, stained glass, and ironwork (all Art Nouveau); rooms have vaulted ceilings and fireplaces; top floor spa.
●Iberostar Grand Hotel Budapest – 26 Oktober 6 Útca (at Szabadsag ter); 011-36-1-354-3050; iberostar.com.
●Kempinski Hotel Corvinus – 7-8 Erzsebet Ter; 011-36-1-429-3777; kempinski.com.
●Lanchid 19 – 19 Lanchid Útca; 011-36-1-419-1900; lanchid19hotel.hu; 45 minimalist rooms facing river on 1 side and Castle on other.
●Malmaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest – 111 Andrassy Útca (7^th District); 011-36-1-462-2118; malmaison.com.
●New York Palace Hotel – 9-11 Erzseber Korut; 011-36-049-828-7777; boscolohotels.com; original belle époque-style architecture; expensive.
●Palazzo Zichy – 2 Lorine Pap Ter; 011-36-1-235-4000; hotel-palazzo-zichy.hu; stylish, 80-room establishment in restored 19^th Century mansion.
●La Prima – 6 Pesti Barnabas Útca; 011-36-1-799-0088; laprimahotelbudapest.hu; “fashion hotel.”
●Racz Hotel & Thermal Spa – 8-10 Hadnagy Ulica; 011-36-1-266-0606; raczhotel.com; 67 rooms; near city’s main shopping district; dramatic chandeliers and Royal Palace views; 16^th Century, UNESCO-designated hammam spa with domed ceiling.



RESTAURANTS
●Alexandra – 39 Andrassy Útca; 011-36-1-413-6670; alexandra.hu; in city’s 1^st department store (1911); cafe; also houses city’s best bookstore.
●APA Cuka – 5 Horanszky Útca; 011-36-1-486-2378; ateliers.hu; artists’ studio with cheery bar and restaurant; try roast duck leg with mashed potatoes.
●Bock Bisztro – 43-49 Erzsebet Korut; 011-36-1-321-0340; bockbisztro.hu; try slow-roasted ox cheeks.
●Borkonyha – 3 Sas Útca; 011-36-1-266-0835; borkonyha.hu; name means “wine kitchen”; airy, modern bistro with outstanding domestic wine list and homegrown fare.
●Bortarsasag Parlament – 5 Vecsey Útca; 011-36-1-269-3286; bortarsasag.hu; restaurant and wine store.
●Costes – 4 Raday Útca; 011-36-1-219-0696; costes.hu; sleek new restaurant; chef worked with Ferran Adria; expensive.
●Csalogany 26 – 26 Csalogany; 011-36-1-201-7892; cslaogany26.hu.
●Café Csiga – 2 Vasar Útca; 011-36-1-210-0885; cafecsiga.org; trendy oasis.
●Cafe Gerloczy – 1 Gerloczy Útca; 011-36-1-501-4000; gerloczy.hu; casual lunch crowd packs shaded terrace for homemade breads, pates, and spreads.
●Klassz Bisztro – 41 Andrassy Útca; 011-36-1-225-1702; klasszbisztro.hu; Hungarian wine-centered.
●Cafe Kor – 17 Sas Útca; 011-36-1-311-0053; cafekor.com.
●Lumen Gallery & Café – 2 Mikszath Kalman Ter; 011-36-20-496-8317; photolumen.hu; boxy, all-white gallery operated by Lumen Photography Foundation.
●Mak Bistro – 4 Vigyazo Ferenc Útca; 011-36-30-723-9383; makbistro.hu; buzzing Basque-Hungarian bistro.
●Menza Restaurant – 2 Liszt Ferenc Ter; 011-36-1-413-1482; menzaetterem.hu; conjures lost world of workers’ canteens; plush beige and brown interior straight out of 70s.
●Nagyi Palacsintázója – 5 Batthyany Ter; 011-36-1-201-8605 (main number, not this location); nagyipali.hu; near Aquincum (walking distance) so go to this iconic institution at same time visit ruins; whether for snack attack at 3 am, craving something sweet, or wanting full inexpensive meal, this is place; palacsintá is Hungarian version of crepes; crepes made within hour and prepared in front of you; several other locations around town.
●Nagyi Palacsintázója – 17-19 Petőfi Sándor Útca; 011-36-1-201-8605 (main number, not this location); nagyipali.hu; whether for snack attack at 3 am, craving something sweet, or wanting full inexpensive meal, this is place; palacsintá is Hungarian version of crepes; crepes made within hour and prepared in front of you; several other locations around town.
●Nobu – 7-8 Erzsebet Ter (at Kempinski Hotel Corvinus); 011-36-1-429-4242; noburestaurants.com/budapest.
●Onyx – 7-8 Vorosmarty Ter; 011-36-20-386-9157; onyxrestaurant.hu; 2 Michelin stars; very formal; try goose liver torte with strawberry jelly and kolache; lunch menu affordable.
●Pomo D’Oro – 9 Arany Janos Útca; 011-36-1-302-6473; pomodorobudapest.com.
●Rosenstein – 3 Mosonyi Útca; 011-36-1-333-3492; rosenstein.hu; turning out classics since 1996; try smoked tenderloin with volcanic Tokay sauce; on Fridays, try solet, traditional Jewish dish of baked beans topped with boiled eggs and fried goose breast.
●21 Magyar Vendeglo – 21 Fortuna Útca; 011-36-1-202-2113; 21restaurant.hu; pre-Communist Hungarian food, such as Hortobagy pancakes with minced chicken and/or sirloin steak with duck liver.
●Zappa Caffe – 2 Mikszath Kalman Ter; 011-36-20-972-1711; zappacaffe.hu; restaurant that serves upscale pub food and Hungarian beers.



SERVICES
●Beyond Budapest Sightseeing – 011-36-20-332-5489; beyondbudapest.hu; offers 3-hour area tours.
●Central European Wine Institute – 55 Paulay Útca; 011-36-1-321-4858 or 011-36-30-946-1057; cewi.info/english; sign up to take “Hungary in Depth,” full-day class on country’s remarkable wine culture.
●Bortarsasag Parlament – 5 Vecsey Útca; 011-36-1-269-3286; bortarsasag.hu; founded in early 1990s, this is wine-enthusiast’s must; table-top education of local terroir; also restaurant and wine store.
●Danubius Grand Hotel & Health Spa Resort – Margaret Island; 011-36-1-889-4700; danubiushotels.com; spa.
●Underguide – 36/B Boszormenyi Útca; 011-36-30-908-1597; underguide.com; “insider tours,” especially re fashion.



SHOPPING
●Alexandra – 39 Andrassy Útca; 011-36-1-413-6670; alexandra.hu; in city’s 1^st department store (1911); now city’s best bookstore; also houses cafe.
●Atelier Pro Arts – 5 Horanszky Útca; 011-36-1-486-2378; ateliers.hu; artists’ studio with cheery bar and restaurant.
●Black Box – 18 Iranyi Útca; 011-36-30-414-8979; blackboxconceptstore.tumblr.com; clothing by local designers.
●Bortarsasag Parlament – 5 Vecsey Útca; 011-36-1-269-3286; bortarsasag.hu; restaurant and wine store.
●Culinaris – 7 Balassi Balint Útca; 011-36-1-373-0028; culinaris.hu; lunch counter with gourmet food store attached; good for travel meals.
●Demo – 51 Akacfa Útca; 011-36-70-270-7275; demo.blog.hu; Hungarian University of Fine Arts initiative; art and design incubator.
●Eclectick – 20 Iranyi Útca; 011-36-1-266-3341; eclectick.hu; colorful linen dresses.
●Je Suis Belle – 11 Ferenciek Ter; 011-36-1-20-313-0557; jesuisbelle.hu; Hungarian designers Dalma Devenyi and Tibor Kiss’ women’s wear boutique.
●Kisterem – 5 Kepiro Útca; 011-36-1-267-0522; kisterem.hu; downtown gallery championing both established artists and young talent.
●Mammut – 2-6 Budapest Lövőház Útca; 011-36-1-345-8020 or 011-36-1-345-8333; mammut.hu; department-store-like; 2 buildings connected by glass hallway, with over 200 shops; make sure to check out Ourstyle Boutique, which sells Hungarian designer Dora Mojzes’ women’s wear (ourstyle.hu).
●Nanushka – 9 Csonak Útca; 011-36-1-202-1050; nanushka.hu; for upstart clothing labels.
●Nosztalgia Bazar – 7 Dohany Útca; retro and vintage accessories, including Tieza Cipo sneakers, Communist Hungary’s answer to Adidas.
●Printa – 10 Rumbach Sebestyen Útca (7^th District); 011-36-30-292-0129; printa.hu; art gallery and coffee bar.
●Retrock Deluxe – 1 Henszlmann Imre Útca; 011-36-1-30-678-8430; retrock.com; local fashions and streetwear.
●Studio Gallery – 35 Rottenbiller Útca; 011-36-1-342-5381; studio.c3.hu; Studio of Young Artists Association showcase.
●Tisza Cipo – 1 Karoly Korut; 011-36-1-266-3055; tiszacipo.hu; flagship store for former Communist-era brand; sneakers that are restro in design and great souvenirs.
●Trafo – 41 Liliom Útca; 011-36-1-456-2040; trafo.hu; artspace for exhibitions and performances.
●Use Unused – use.co.hu; sold at stores around town.
●Valeria Fazekas – V50 Design Studio, 50 Vaci Útca; 011-36-1-337-1520; valeriafazekas.com; whimsical headwear, often more of artpiece than hat.
●Vintage Gallery – 26 Magyar Útca; 011-36-1-337-0584; vintage.hu; early 20^th Century Hungarian photographs.



SIGHTS & SITES
●Aquincum – 135 Szentendrei Way; 011-36-1-454-0438; aquincum.hu; ancient city once situated on Roman Empire’s northeast Pannonia province borders; Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations part at Aquincum; originally settled by Eravisci, Celtic tribe; served next as Roman military base (castrum), having been part of Roman border protection system called limes; city had 30-40K inhabitants by 2^nd Century’s end; ruins include houses (that had central heating), public baths, Mithraeum, and palaces, as well as amphitheatres; many historic artifacts appear in Aquincum Museum.
●Buda Castle Labyrinth – 9 Uri Útca; 011-36-1-212-0207, ext. 34; used as wine cellar during 16^th-17^th Centuries, then as air-raid shelter during WWII, this 52'd x 3.9'l labyrinth, which winds below early-18^th Century house, can be explored with tour or, if you dare, on your own; English-language brochures available.
●Budapest History Museum – 2 Szent György Tér 2; 011-36-1-487-8801; btm.hu; looks at 2K years city history, on 3 floors, in restored palace rooms dating from 15^th Century; extensive holdings by Hungarian architect and painter, Albert Schickedanz.
●Central European Wine Institute – 55 Paulay Útca; 011-36-1-321-4858 or 011-36-30-946-1057; cewi.info/english.
●Dohany Útca Synagogue – 2 Dohany Útca; 011-36-70-533-5696; greatsynagogue.hu; built in 1854-59; in March 1944, Adolf Eichmann arrived in Budapest with occupying Nazi forces to supervise Jewish ghetto’s establishment, as well as subsequent deportations; Eichman’s office behind women’s balcony’s rose; 20K Jews took refuge inside synagogue complex during WWII; 7K perished during winter 1944-45, buried in courtyard; restoration recently completed, funded in large part by Tony Curtis and Estée Lauder, both of Hungarian-Jewish descent; designed like basilica and includes some striking Byzantine and Moorish elements; interior vast and ornate, with 2 balconies and, unusually, organ; ark contains 25 torah scrolls taken from other synagogues destroyed during Holocaust; next to main building are Jewish Heroes’ Mausoleum & Temple, Memorial Garden, and National Jewish Museum.
●Fogas Haz – 51 Akacfa Útca (7^th District); 011-36-20-800-8953; fogashaz.hu; courtyard bar in former dental clinic space (“false teeth” sign still in place); culture venue.
●Gellért Baths – 4 Kelenhegyi Útca (11^th District, in Hotel Gellért); 011-36-1-466-6166; gellertbath.com or gellértfürdő.hu; once Budapest’s most spectacular bathhous; located in Buda’s oldest Hungarian spa hotel, secessionist in style (know that, though thermals & hotel share building, city spa authority owns thermal area); thermals remodeled to original glory; too expensive for Hungarians, so frequented by foreigners who stay at hotel & get in for free; once inside, staff is churlish.
●Gellért Hill (Gellért-hegy) – 1^st & 11^th Districts; gellerthegyi.hu; 235 m above Danube River; named for Saint Gerard, who was thrown to death from top; at top is Citadella (Citadel), from which view available down both directions; cave at hill bottom has hot springs that make for enjoyable soak.
●Gozsdu Udvar – between 13 Kiraly Útca & 16 Dob Útca (7^th District); 6 interlinked bar and restaurant courtyards that transform into outdoor market of sorts.
●Hungarian National Museum – 14-16 Muzeum Korut; 011-36-1-327-7773; mnm.hu; neo-Classical building that houses artifacts and artworks.
●Jewish Heroes Museum & Temple – 2 Dohany Útca; 011-36-70-533-5696; greatsynagogue.hu.
●Liszt Museum – 35 Vorosmarty Útca; 011-36-1-322-9804; lisztmuseum.hu; re Franz Liszt.
●Ludwig Museum – 1 Komor Marcell Útca; 11-36-1-555-3444; lumu.hu; contemporary arts.
●Lumen Gallery & Café – 2 Mikszath Kalman Ter; 011-36-20-496-8317; photolumen.hu; boxy, all-white gallery operated by Lumen Photography Foundation.
●Magyar Allami Operahaz – 22 Andrássy Útca; 011-36-1-353-0170; opera.hu.
●Margaret’s Island – Danube River (middle); where princess of same name sequestered in monastery when Mongols ravaged city.
●Matyas Templom – 2 I. Szentharomsag; 011-36-1-489-0716; matyas-templom.hu.
●Memento Park – corner of Balatoni Útca & Szabadkai Útca (Southern Buda, 22^nd District, Szoborpark); 011-36-1-424-7500; mementopark.hu; final, kitschy restingplace for revolutionary memorabiia, such as Lenin-Stalin effigies, etc.
●Museum of Fine Arts – 41 Dózsa György Útca; 011-36-1-469-7100; szepmuveszeti.hu; built 1900-1906 according to plans by Fulop Herzog and Albert Schickedanz (eclectic-neoclassical style; 6 departments: Antique; Egyptian; Graphics collection; modern collection; Old painter gallery; & Old sculpture gallery; most important works: Maso di Banco’s Coronation of Virgin; Sassetta’s St. Thomas Aquinas at Prayer, Domenico Ghirlandaio’s St. Stephen Martyr; Gentile Bellini’s Portrait of Caterina Cornaro; Giorgione’s Portrait of Young Man; Raphael’s Esterhazy Madonna; Correggio’s Madonna and Child with Angel; 3 works by Sebastiano del Piombo; Bronzino’s Adoration of Shepherds (as well as his Venus, Cupid and Jealousy); Titian’s Portrait of Doge Marcantonio Trevisani; Tintoretto’s Supper at Emmaus; Tiepolo’s St. James Greater in Battle of Clavijo; Dürer’s Portrait of Young Man; Bernard van Orley’s Portrait of Emperor Charles V; 8 pictures by Lucas Cranach Elder; Pieter Bruegel Elder’s St. John Baptist Preaching; Rubens’s Mucius Scaevola Before Porsenna; 2 excellent portraits by Frans Hals; and particularly strong collection by Spanish masters, including Goya, El Greco, and Velázquez; re sculpture, small equestrian by Leonardo da Vinci, numerous painted wooden sculptures in Austrian-German section, and works by Constantin Meunier and Auguste Rodin; 100K prints encompassing all European graphic art periods and including 2 studies by Leonardo da Vinci for Battle of Anghiari, 15 drawings by Rembrandt, and 200 pieces by Goya; bulk of painting from Biedermeier period; from French schools are pieces from: Romantic period (e.g., Eugène Delacroix), Barbizon school (e.g., Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet), and Impressionism (e.g., Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec).
●National Jewish Museum – 2 Dohany Útca; 011-36-70-533-5696; greatsynagogue.hu.
●Palace of Arts – 1 Komor Marcell Útca; 011-36-1-555-3301; mupa.hu; music venue.
●Royal Palace – 1 Szent Gyorgy Ter Buda (Varhegy); budapest.info/royal-palace.
●Sziklakorhaz – 4/c Lovas Útca; 011-36-70-701-0101; sziklakorhaz.hu; former, secret hospital and nuclear bunker, hidden deep inside mountain under Buda Castle; open to public as unusual, Cold War museum; bring outer-wear because always under 64º F; hourlong tours.
●Terror Museum (House of Terror) – 60 Andrássy Way; 011-36-6-1-374-2600; terrorhaza.hu; exhibits related to communist and fascist dictatorial regimes in 20^th Century Hungary, as well as to these regime’s victims, including those detained, interrogated, killed and/or tortured in this building; member organisation of Platform of European Memory and Conscience.
●Western Railway Station – 55-57 Terez Korut (at Nyugati Ter); 011-36-1-371-9449; mav-start.hu.