Budapest
Dating back to 1854, 'Plan' (as in the communist five-year variety) is a retro-style cafe-bar on two levels, decorated with photographs of Hungarian…
Must-see nightlife in Hungary
Castle District
The decor is cinema-inspired (Hollywood memorabilia on the wood-panelled walls, leather director's chairs) and the beautiful crowd often act like they’re…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
Supposedly Budapest's largest outdoor beer garden, this achingly cool, grown-up courtyard pub surrounded by seriously ruined buildings has monochrome…
Pécs
With a curiously boat-shaped wooden ceiling, this snug bar provides a safe haven for lovers of good beer. Apart from craft beers from all over Hungary,…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
Named after a dark-skinned variety of wine grape that originated in Hungary, this buzzy, modern wine bar serves a dizzying array of varieties (mostly…
Budapest
At the southern end of City Park, Kertem is a wonderful beer garden, filled with multicoloured chairs and trees strung with fairy lights. By day it's an…
Castle District
Located in Swan House, a remarkable example of Hungarian 'organic architecture', this friendly place welcomes 'wanderers, lovers, artists' and more. There…
Pécs
Cooltour embodies so many cool things it's hard to choose what we love best. It's a ruin pub, yet it's open all day, making it fine for both coffee and…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
A calm little teahouse (and now cafe too) on a busy street, with a lovely upper level where you can grab a piece of chalk and leave your mark while you…
Castle District
Anyone who takes their chai very seriously would be advised to visit this 'tea shop and lab' whose owner sources the best and most exotic leaves from…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
Diagonally opposite the Hungarian State Opera House, the 'Artist Coffeehouse' is an interesting place to people-watch (especially from the shady terrace),…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
OK, so what's not to love about a tiki bar, with those fake coconut trees, palm-frond huts, colourful idols and mai tais (2350Ft) that go down like water…
Budapest
One of the original bars on the IX Ráday utca nightlife strip, this place has a coffeehouse feel to it with old sepia-tinted photos on the walls and pool…
Pécs
Nappali is one of the hippest gathering spots in town for a coffee or a glass of wine. Its outdoor seating fills up on warm, lazy evenings, and there's…
Pécs
This wine bar tucked away in a stone house in the hills above Pécs offers a fantastic selection of local wines served by gracious and knowledgable staff…
Sopron
The heavy wooden chairs and repurposed wine-barrel tables are fitting for this Flintstones-like cellar, and add to the pleasure of sampling the extensive…
Debrecen
No one cares more (and can tell you as much) about their coffee: its provenance, in-house roasting time and temperature, how to drink it and so on. And…
Budapest
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 relax in a Japanese…
Óbuda & Buda Hills
This teensy bar just over Margaret Bridge, which opened a quarter-century ago, hides an Aladdin’s Cave. It's filled to bursting with antiques and a host…
Budapest
Squeeze into this minute coffee shop (there's just a bar to perch at and tables in the quiet open-air inner courtyard), where you can sample well-poured,…
Debrecen
A classic setting for drinking sör (beer) just north of the centre, with an interior done up like a late-19th-century sailing vessel (look for our mate…
Debrecen
Directly behind the Great Church and run by same, this glassed-in cafe and bookshop with ancient bits and bobs excavated from the area is a comfortable…
Budapest
Covered decks below the southern foot of Széchenyi Chain Bridge on the Pest side form the more sophisticated (but less fun) of Pest's two new fair-weather…
Budapest
The Caribbean-style food here is missable, but you should definitely taste master mixologist András Lajsz's incomparable American-style (hi, LA!)…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
One of the most popular cafe-bars in Pest, the 'Négyszáz' is a big space, with outside seating in a no-car zone near Gozsdu udvar. Come just to relax over…
Pécs
'Drinking coffee is sexy' says the sign outside this thimble-sized place. We agree. Is this a cafe? A wine bar? A bit of both, actually, with carefully…
Szeged
This place does a grand 'English pub' imitation, with mock 'Turkey' carpets, proper pints (seven beers on tap) and bar stools, and there’s a full menu …
Debrecen
The 'Sugar-coated Pill', with its attractive yellow and black decor, mezzanine seating and terrace, is a great choice for a sundowner just off Piac utca…
Esztergom
This cafe-cum-cultural centre in Watertown, with mix-and-match furnishings, a steady stream of events and a shop selling a rare mix of must-have non…
Budapest
This modern cafe is among the leafiest in Pest thanks to an ingenious 'urban gardening' plan and has first-rate views of Szabadság tér through the foliage…
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
What was the gold standard among hipster meeting places a few years back has lost something of its lustre of late, but 'Centre' remains popular among…
Szentendre
Our favourite cafe in Szentendre is an ultramodern and very comfortable affair attached to the Margit Kovács Ceramic Collection. The staff are fonts of…
Budapest
A popular drinking spot in the week with indoor and outdoor spaces (including a cool central courtyard), the 'Five Garden' ('five' as in district V)…
Kecskemét
We've always tended to avoid the eating and drinking outlets on Szabadság tér like the plague but we make an exception for our favourite, Vincent. It…
Eger
As much a Latin cocktail bar as a cafe (with Has Bean Bolivian and Ethiopian coffee) and a place for fancy burgers (1890Ft to 2490Ft), Cortado Gastrobar…
Budapest
With an unfinished, grungy look, and break-your-neck stairs to the small seating area upstairs, this thimble-sized coffee shop is serious about java. The …
Erzsébetváros & the Jewish Quarter
A bar-bistro with Asian-inspired food and drinks (including a choice of Chinese, Japanese and Singaporean beers). It's just across the road from its…
Budapest
This serene place with quite a mouthful of a name just north of Liszt Ferenc tér is rather serious about its teas (940Ft to 1590Ft). Climb up the stairs…
Budapest
A very relaxed open space and club with multiple rooms opposite the southern edge of City Park, Dürer Kert boasts some of the best DJs on the ‘garden’…
Castle District
Named after a communist-era local soft drink, Bambi has hardly changed since the 1960s and that’s just the way the clientele here likes it. Friendly…
