Budapest has a lot of gorgeous Christmas Markets, that’s why this capital city has often been chosen as one of the best Christmas destinations in Europe. Its markets and fairs are recommended by many travel books! If you visit Budapest during winter, do not miss the beautiful markets and fairs! We introduce you the most visited places.
The most popular Christmas Fair in Budapest is on Vörösmarty Square, really close to Deák Ferenc square, at the city centre. If you would like to buy something bright or unique and original for your loved ones, this is the perfect place to go. This fair is turned into a winter festival, which opens from the beginning of November until the 1st if January. Here you can taste the original mulled wine, hot chocolate, tea and cinnamon, and traditional honey cookies, sausages, breads and lángos (the Hungarian traditional food) etc. Moreover, there are a lot of winter and Christmas programs: folk, jazz, blues, soul, crossover, world music concerts, dance house performances entertain the visitors. If you go there with kids, they won’t be bored either! Puppet show will be on the stage, but the music and dance performances, craft workshops, wooden playhouse can entertain the children. If you can visit only one Christmas Fair in Budapest, this is the perfect choice, of course the entry is free to all programs! You can get to the Deák Ferenc square with the metro line 1-2-3, or tram 47, or by the tram 2, which stops at the Vigadó square, with a couple of minutes walk from there.
This fair is the other most-visited Christmas market in Budapest, on St. Stephen’s Square, in front of the gorgeous St. Stephen’s Basilica, which is one of the tallest buildings on the Pest side of the city. Moreover this is one of the biggest churches in Hungary! Its fair is turned into a winter festival, always starting in late November, ending in the New Year. There is a skating rink in the middle of the market, where skating courses are available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the 4-14 year old children. Of course these trainings are free of charge! They can use the rink from the beginning of the Advent market. The adults won’t be bored either: while the kids play and skate around the big Christmas tree, they can taste traditional Hungarian food, like Chimney cake, lángos, different type of breads, sausages, cheese etc., and drink mulled wines, teas etc. If you don’t have too much money, don’t worry, you can buy small cute things for around 1000 HUF, but if you just walk through the fair hearing the pleasant Christmas fair and smelling the better and better fragrances of different delicious spices can upload you with a lovely Christmas mood.
Tall Christmas tree, workshops, special Christmas lights, skating rink and local gastronomy create a pleasant pre-Christmas atmosphere here, in Óbuda’s Main Square. Puppet shows, concerts, gastro market also welcome the visitors. This fair is like in a smaller town, so it has a really lovely festive mood. You can also prepare your own holiday decorations in the craft workshops and of course, here are also available the “obligatory” traditional Christmas-food: fishermen’s soup, grilled and roasted trout, wall eye, catfish, goulash, cottage cheese pasta, bread pizza, roasted chestnut etc. You will find here a lot of artisan cheese and amazing chocolates, and of course, no Christmas fair goes without the hot winter drinks! This festival welcomes its visitors until the 23st of December.
It’s a really lovely advent programme series in front of the Castle Garden Bazaar, where there will be a lot of Christmas programs on every Sunday between December 2 and 23. Our Hungarian artists will entertain the visitors here, and of course, you can buy handicraft products, for example ceramics, jewellery, paintings, enamel paintings, storybooks, watercolours, special clothes, textile dolls and other collections of the contemporary artists. You can choose different type of concerts, and there will be organized advent walking tours near the Castle Garden Bazaar. On these walking tours you can get to know the building’s history. During the day you can prepare your own Christmas decorations, greeting cards, and decorate gingerbreads.
Delicious Christmas food, wide and colourful variety of hot drinks, Hungarian concerts are waiting for the celebrating people in New Pest’ Christmas Market on every weekend of Advent. And of course, Christmas can not pass without the most beautiful tales! “Taletown” is waiting for its small visitors, the glittering eyed kids to play slideshows during the story readings. Of course there is an option to donate for the poor people. There is a free ice skating rink, what you can use until 17th of February! It’s open in the weekdays between 15 and 20 o’clock, in the weekend 9 and 20 o’clock. (They have a one-hour break between 14 and 15 o’clock because of the ice renovation.)
