Christmas market in Budapest
According to some lists, Budapest’s Christmas market is the most beautiful in Europe. So of course we had to go and see that with our own eyes….
First of all, ‘the’ Budapest Christmas market does not exist. There is a Christmas market near the Szent István Basilica, there is one on Deák Tér, one on Vörösmarty Tér, … The good news: those 3 are just a few hundred metres from each other and the streets in between are as Christmassy as the Christmas markets themselves. That makes you immersed in a Christmas atmosphere in Budapest.
Even public transport is taking part: a train, some trams and some buses are running around, decorated with thousands of lights.
After a somewhat difficult start (we had planned to go by train, but it was already announced with a 40-minute delay due to snowfall), we arrived in the centre of Budapest, where we first went to Vörösmarty Tér. Then we moved along Deák Tér to the Szent István Basilica. The latter is the Christmas market that, according to this list, is said to be the best in Europe.
Notable, though: the prices. Although Hungary is usually a fairly cheap country, this clearly does not apply at the Christmas market. 15 euros for a (large) hot dog, 10 euros for a bag of soup… In the cafés around the Christmas market, you’ll be dry and warm, and pay about half as much.
Christmas markets are clearly in demand by tourists. Walking around, you can hear just about every European language. And every now and then you’ll even run into a Hungarian. So at the stalls, you can hear English everywhere too. Those stalls are what you can expect at a Christmas market: food stalls, mulled wine, and lots of artisan products.
The decoration of the stalls and the surroundings is very nicely done. And the background of the basilica completes it.
We ourselves are certainly not avid visitors to Christmas markets, but we absolutely enjoyed this evening. For all those who want to soak up the Christmas atmosphere, we highly recommend it.
