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1000 Tea
In a small courtyard off lower Váci utca, this is the place to go if you want to sip a soothing blend made by tea-serious staff and lounge on pillows in a Japanese-style tearoom. You can also sit and sip on the tea chests in the courtyard. There's a shop here too.
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A38 Hajó
Moored on the Buda side just south of Petőfi Bridge, the 'A38 Ship' is an old Ukrainian stone hauler built in 1938 that has been reinvented as a party venue. It's so cool, it's hot in summer; and the hold, well, rocks throughout the year.
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Action Bar
The name says it all. Take the usual precautions and have a ball. Strippers and dancers make appearances every night from about midnight.
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Angelika
Angelika is a charming café attached to an 18th-century church, with a lovely terrace overlooking the Danube. The food is just so-so; come here for the cakes and the views.
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Ballet Cipő
The pretty little 'Ballet Slipper' in the theatre district and just behind the opera house is a delightful place to stop for a rest and refreshment or to have a light meal.
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Bank Dance Hall
In the southern wing of Nyugati train station next to McDonald's, this enormous disco has rhythm and blues on the 1st floor, house and trance on the 2nd, dance on the 3rd and funk-house (a Hungarian thing) on the 4th. Lots of young suburban types reeking of cologne and on the prowl.
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Becketts
Of the capital's ubiquitous 'Irish' pubs, this is the best (and largest) of the lot, with all-day breakfast as well as sandwiches and salads. The new cocktail bar in the rear is an additional plus.
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Birdland
This new venue at the southern end of Liszt Ferenc tér is surprisingly bereft of jazz despite its name. It is, however, the ideal spot to catch strains from musicians practising music at the academy just opposite. The food gets good reports.
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Café Csiga
This very popular, eclectically decorated café-cum-bar just opposite the Rákóczi tér market attracts a mixed, arty crowd.
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Café Del Rio
On the northern side of Petőfi Bridge on the Buda side, Rio is stylish but not up itself, with a pseudo tropical/carnival theme.
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Café Eklektika
While there are no specifically lesbian bars in Budapest, Café Eklektika comes the closest, and attracts a very mixed crowd. Lots of canned jazz and the like.
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Café Miró
A personal favourite in the touristy Castle District; Miró has Med-coloured walls and furniture, snacks, cakes and main courses and local artwork and photography on the walls. It's open on two sides. There's also a Pest branch called Miró Grande on VI Liszt Ferenc tér 9.
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Café Ponyvaragény
'Pulp Fiction' is a great place that's supposed to be a local secret but - alas - is no longer. The old books and fringed lampshades are a nice touch, and the coffee is some of the best in town.
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Café Vian
This comfortable café - done up in warm peach tones and serving breakfast all day - remains the anchor tenant on the sunny side of 'the tér', courted by Pest's arty aristocracy.
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Candy
Lesbian parties are held on the last Saturday of the month at a bar called Candy.
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Castro Bisztró
This eclectic place has a mixed clientele, Serbian dishes and chilli on its menu and a few terminals for logging on to the Internet. It's one of the few places on the strip that is crowded all year.
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Centrál Kávéház
This grande dame of a traditional cafe is still jostling to reclaim her title as the place to sit and look intellectual in Pest, after reopening a few years ago following extensive renovations. It serves meals as well as lighter fare, such as sandwiches and omelettes and, of course, cakes and pastries.
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Cha Cha Cha
Located in the underpass at the Kálvin tér metro, this is a retro cafe-bar, with distressed-looking chairs, faux-leather armchairs, and a very - and we're talking Star Wars here - mixed crowd that really bops over the weekend. It's a great place to meet people and it probably gets busier here in the wee hours than the entire station does during the day.
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Cha Cha Cha Terasz
In the stadium at the southern tip of Margaret Island, Cha Cha Cha Terasz is an attitude-free venue with great music and dance space.
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Club Bohemian Alibi
This club attracts ladies and gentlemen, and anything in between. It's the preferred watering hole of Budapest's burgeoning TV population, so if you're into cross-dressing or cross-dressers, this is the place to be.
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Comedy Theatre
The attractive little theatre, roughly in the middle of the Szent István körút section of the 'Big Ring Road', is the venue for comedies and musicals.
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Coxx Pub
This gay cellar bar with the in-your-face name has a DJ and small dance floor, but it's more of a pub than a club. There's a gallery and Internet café at street level just to let you know this place has a serious side too.
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Darshan Udvar
This cavernous complex of two bars, a restaurant and a courtyard-terrace vegetarian café is a great escape from the bars of VI Liszt Ferenc tér and IX Ráday utca. In fact, Krúdy utca may be poised to take over as Budapest's next after-hours strip.
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Demmer's Teaház
This cosy little teahouse next to the Mammut shopping mall is the place to come in Buda if you're serious about your cuppa cha. There's also a Pest branch at VI Podmaniczky utca 14.
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Erzsébet-híd Eszpresszó
If you're in the mood for a relaxing drink in simple surrounds, the 'Elizabeth Bridge Espresso Bar' is a wonderful old dive with a large terrace that has views of the bridge. Most locals call it Platán in honour of the big plane tree sheltering the outdoor tables.
