Budapest

When you live close to the rainiest city in Europe, the ability to work from wherever you want comes in handy. The last three weeks we’ve been working from Budapest, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

Budapest is neither too big nor too small. It feels compact and cozy, yet offers plenty to explore, including places to eat and wine to taste. The architecture is stunning, and walking around is never dull.

The city

Our last visit to Budapest was in 2022, when COVID had hit hard. Váci utca, one of the main streets in Budapest, lay completely empty with storefronts covered in plywood and closure signs more frequent than fridge magnets. This time, though, it was buzzing.

We stayed in an Airbnb right next to St. Stephen’s Basilica, which was maybe too central for a three-week stay, but ended up being very convenient. We also had a couple of days at the Queen’s Court Hotel.

I never get tired of the city’s architecture. It’s a mix of various styles, and the buildings are well preserved. I had many morning walks, never on the same street, and they were all unique experiences.

A few of our favorite spots this trip were parks: Szabadság tér (Liberty Square), Margit-sziget (Margaret Island), Városliget (City Park), and Erzsébet park (Elizabeth Square). These were all great for working, going for a walk, sightseeing, or having a drink. Especially the huge City Park, you could spend a whole day here (and we did!). Would recommend a glass of rosé on the terrace of The Millennium Café, overlooking the rose garden.

We’ve seen some of the more tourist spots before, like the Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion, the Parliament Building, and St. Stephen’s Basilica, but they shouldn’t be missed if you haven’t seen them.

We also hit 10 escape rooms. Budapest rooms are excellent if you’re an escape room enthusiast. They have quite a few next-gen rooms, with a significant emphasis on thematic decor. I’ll try to share more about them later, but the top spots were AROOM, MystiqueRoom, and Neverland.

Places to eat

We had some really great food (as always) in Budapest, our top picks from this trip were:

Essência – A delightful Portuguese and Hungarian fusion restaurant with one star in the Michelin guide. Not only was the food delicious, but the way Tiago & Éva’s story was incorporated and told gave the visit an extra dimension. Google Maps.
Borbíróság – Right next to the Great Market Hall, it’s clear that they have direct access to fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. The familiar Hungarian cuisine has been refined and blended with inspiration from around the globe. Excellent winelist, and the tartar might have been one of the best I’ve ever had.
Retek Bisztro – An excellent spot for traditional Hungarian dishes. Remember to reserve a table; the queue was out the door by the time they opened.
Forni di Napoli – Amazing pizzas, innovative and creative toppings, and more than one prized pizza on their menu. Great for lunch, dinner, take-away, and our favorite, eat-in and order two pizzas (they’re pretty large) and take the rest home for dinner the next day.
Tapassio – Tapas place (with passion, get it?). Perfect for lunch, dinner, or just some snacks accompanied by great Hungarian and Spanish wines.
Trattoria Pomo D’Oro – An authentic Italian experience. This is actually a collection of several Italian places on Arany János utca: a Trattoria, Gelateria, Pizzeria, and Winebar. We went back a few times.
Maia Mexican Fusion – The name says it all. Tasty tacos and creative signature cocktails.

An honourable mention that shouldn’t be missed, though we didn’t get to visit this time around, is Borkonyha.

Bor – Wine to taste (and buy)

Hungarian wine is good. Like really good. The most internationally known are probably the Tokaj dessert wines. While the breadth can’t really compare with countries like France or Italy, they have some serious contenders. Some of the highlights were a few from St. Andrea (Eger), especially the Hangács Dűlő, and quite a few from Attila Gere (Villány, Hungary’s Bordeaux). I would highly recommend the Kopar. A somewhat unique grape is the Furmint, grown in the Tokaj region. It’s the “main” grape in the sweet Tokaj dessert wines, but it’s used in some seriously good dry whites. I would recommend wines from Sauska and Oremus.

Most restaurants have a pretty good selection of reasonably priced, high-quality Hungarian wines, so we didn’t actually spend that much time in wine bars. Some of the places we went back to a few times were:

Furmint Budapest – A hidden gem on Andrássy. It’s super easy to just walk past as the only sign outside says “the place I was telling you about”. They sell wines from they’re own winery, Simonfey (Tokaj), and a few others (all Hungarian). The dry whites from Simonfey were delicious and I would absolutely recommend them. The place had a super cozy courtyard that was a nice relief from the busy streets.
DOBLO Wine Bar and Shop – An impressive wine list with lots of high-end wines by the glass. Cool bar and decor. It’s super central and can get busy at night, so I would recommend booking a table.
Bortársaság – Andrássy – They have a few shops around Budapest, but we visited the one on Andrássy. It was a small wine shop with some carefully selected Hungarian wines. You can’t really go wrong with anything you buy here.

If you’re looking for a unique wine tasting experience, I’d highly recommend Faust Wine Cellar. It’s located deep underground in the Buda Castle Caves, which gives it the perfect backdrop for a trip through Hungary’s wine districts. Bring cash, as there’s no reception down there (seriously!)

Working from Budapest

Easy peasy. High-quality internet is pretty much everywhere, and data SIMs are pretty reasonable if needed. There’s a ton of nice parks, cafésl, and restaurants to work from, they’re also very used to and accommodating to folks who want to sit through the day.

Bonus

While dining at Essência, they served a dish on a beautiful hand-crafted glass creation. We got chatting about where it came from, and it turned out it was produced by a local glass artist who had a shop just down the street.

The next day, we visited Luca at Üvegház – Glasshouse design store. It’s a shop and gallery combined, and the super-talented Luca was super friendly and told us stories about the different pieces and collections. She also shared some insider tips for places to see, eat, and experience Budapest.

Would highly recommend a visit. Google Maps.

We went back a few times. We went above budget.