Highlights
Széchenyi Baths
No visit to Hősők tere (Heroes’ Square) is complete without a wind-down in the Széchenyi baths in the Városliget (City Park). The complex, one of the largest in Europe, boasts the usual network of hot tubs and steam rooms, but the outdoor pools in the enormous neo-Baroque courtyard are the main attraction, and are particularly atmospheric in the winter months. The warmer pool is better suited to a chat, a soak and a game of chess, while the second offers alternate bubble massage and a bizarre aquatic roundabout that brings a smile to faces of all ages. Only committed swimmers, equipped with the obligatory swimming caps, take to the colder water in the central pool.
Out on the Town
The first thing many British visitors ask is "when do the pubs and bars close?". To a Budapester, this is something of a difficult question, and the answer is often “when the last guest leaves”. As a rule of thumb, smaller cafés and drinking dens close around midnight, while larger music venues tend to go on until at least 2am on weekdays and well into the early hours at the weekend (which usually begins on Thursday). There are also a number of hybrid restaurants that offer live music and turn into clubs in the evenings.
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