Shopfronts on Vaci utca, Inner Town.

Váci utca

Top choice in Budapest


The capital’s premier pedestrian shopping street is crammed for the most part with chain stores, touristy restaurants, ripoff bars and a smattering of shops and sights worth seeking out. Its more unique spots include the art nouveau interior of the Philanthia flower shop at No 9-11; Thonet House at No 11/a, a masterpiece built by Ödön Lechner in 1890; and the sumptuous Bank Palace at V Deák utca 5, built in 1915 and now converted into a shopping gallery.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Budapest attractions

1. Inner Town Parish Church

0.15 MILES

A Romanesque church was first built on the eastern side of Március 15 tér in the 12th century, within a Roman fortress. The present church was rebuilt in…

2. Párisi Udvar

0.16 MILES

Built in 1909, Párisi Udvar is a stunning, ornately decorated piece of Eclectic architecture, with Moorish, Gothic and art nouveau elements. It was for…

3. University Church

0.17 MILES

This Baroque church was built in 1742 on the site of an Ottoman mosque. Above the main altar hangs a copy of the Black Madonna of Czetochowa, which is…

4. Contra Aquincum

0.17 MILES

Under Plexiglas in V Március 15 tér you'll find the remains of a Roman fortress – an outpost of the Roman town of Aquincum – dating back to the 3rd…

5. Petőfi Museum of Literature

0.18 MILES

Just north of Egyetem tér and housed in the sumptuous neoclassical Károly Palace (Károlyi Palota), dating from 1840, this museum is devoted to Sándor…

6. Egyetem tér

0.18 MILES

Boasting a fountain, abstract sculpture, benches and shade sails, ‘University Sq’ takes its name from the branch of the prestigious Loránd Eötvös Science…

7. Károly Garden

0.24 MILES

A pleasant place to take a breather, this flowered-filled garden was built for the Károly Palace, which now houses the Petőfi Museum of Literature…

8. Thonet House

0.28 MILES

The four-storey Thonet House is an art nouveau masterpiece designed and built by Ödön Lechner in 1890.