A Guide To Budapest’s Best Warehouse Ruin Bars
Budapest’s post-communist streets were once littered with abandoned factories and warehouses left to crumble into the ground. But now, come dark, life throbs from inside the brick walls where thousands flock to party. These eerie sites of these parties, each with its own idiosyncratic design and unique character, have been transformed into dynamic hotspots pumping a fresh energy and vitality through Hungary’s capital city.
Szimpla Kert
Pub
Szimpla Kert
Recently hailed the third best bar in the world, Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy Street – the very heart of Budapest’s nightlife, is simply a must-visit. It is a labyrinth of stairways, balconies, and back rooms brimming with an assortment of weird and wonderful items from bikes to vintage toys, television screens to towering house plants and miles of intertwining fairy-lights. You can simply get lost wandering through Szimpla’s intriguing rooms before choosing where to enjoy your cocktail – perhaps inside a disused Trabant car.
Szimpla Kert, Kazinczy Utca 14, Budapest, Hungary +36 20 261 8669
Corvintető Rooftop Terrace | © Corvintető
Instant
Bar, Hungarian
AnKert
AnKert
Beautiful in its simplicity – in striking contrast to many of the city’s brimming, junk-filled bars – AnKert is a series of interconnecting terraces within the arched, cream-hued walls of a former factory. It is open-air, thus steeped in natural light, with a minimalist design concept. AnKert has a relaxed and rather sophisticated atmosphere. You can, of course, stay on after nightfall when one of the spacious courtyards becomes a lantern-lit dance floor.
AnKert, Paulay Ede Utca 33, Budapest, Hungary +36 30 360 3389
Ellátó Kert | © chris_UK/ Flickr
Ellátó Kert
Bar, Mexican
Fogas Ház
Bar, Nightclub, Beer
As one of the pioneers of Budapest’s ruin bar scene, Fogas Ház (or ‘House of Teeth,’ named after a century-old dental repair advertisement found on the site during its initial renovation) has a well-considered concept and design, which was relaunched a few years ago. Since its reopening in 2010, the bar’s popularity has soared. It is now a go-to venue, enticing tourists and locals with a more stripped-back interior, a breezy, open-air dance floor, and very reasonable prices.
Kuplung
Bar, Hungarian
Doboz
Bar, American
Dürer Kert
Pub, Beer
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