Shopping
Budapest's range of shops has expanded massively in recent years, as big international names such as Mango and Benetton have appeared in its streets, and more especially in its malls. Most shops are open Monday to Friday 10am-6pm, and Saturday until 1pm, with most foodstores opening from 8am to 6 or 7pm. Recently some shops in the centre of the city have been staying open later on Saturdays. The new shopping malls on the edge of the city also tend to have longer opening hours, and are open on Sundays as well. You can usually find a 24-hour - non-stop - shop serving alcohol, cigarettes and some food in the centre of town, though in the residential parts of Buda they may be harder to find. Main shopping areas are located to south of Vorosmarty ter in central Pest, in particular in and around pedestrianized Vaci utca and Petofi Sandor utca, which have the biggest concentration of glamorous and expensive shops. The main streets radiating out from the centre - Bajcsy-Zsilinszky, Andrassy and Rakoczi ut - are other major shopping focuses, as are the two ring boulevards, the Great Boulevard (especially from Margit Bridge to Blaha Lujza ter) and the Kiskorut, while the small streets inside the Nagykorut are also worth exploring. Modern shopping malls , combining major shopping centres with entertainment facilities under one roof, have now spread right across the city - though with prices high by Hungarian standards, it's a mystery how they survive. Two of the closest to the centre are the Mammut by Moszkva ter, which has recently doubled in size with the opening of Mammut II, and WestEnd, by Nyugati Station. Further out are Duna Plaza, XIII, Vaci ut 178 (Gyongyos utca metro), and Polus Center, XV, Szentmihalyi ut 131 (special buses run from Keleti Station). Budapest has three flea markets : Petofi Csarnok (Sat & Sun 7am-2pm) in the Varosliget, which has expanded fast and is probably the best in town; the expensive Ecseri piac at XIX, Nagykorosi utca 156 (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat 7am-noon; take bus #54 from Boraros ter in Pest near the Petofi bridge), where sellers are aware of the money to be made from rich foreign tourists, but where there also are bargains to be found, either early on a Saturday or at closing time; and the newcomer on the flea market scene, the Nowak piac at Dozsa Gy. utca 1-3, behind Keleti Station (head up Verseny utca), which has excellent bargains and shady characters, although it is still weak in the snack department. The most popular souvenirs to bring home are wine, porcelain, foodstuffs (such as paprika, salami and goose liver) and CDs. The emergence of a thriving wine industry is reflected in the number of new wine shops in the city. The Budapest Wine Society at I, Batthyany utca 59, near Moszkva ter, has a good selection and the English-speaking staff know their wines (Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-6pm, free wine tastings on Sat afternoons; tel 1/202-2569). Another good outlet is La Boutique des Vins at V, Jozsef Attila utca 12, near Deak ter (Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm; tel 1/317-5919). Outlets for the main porcelain makers are Haas & Czjzek, at VI, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky ut 23, opposite the Arany Janos metro station, which stocks all the main brands, or the shops of the producers, such as Herend at V, Jozsef nador ter 11, or Zsolnay at V, Kigyo utca 4. For rock, pop and jazz records and CDs (including bootlegs), try DOB Records, VII, Dob utca 71, Indiego in the courtyard at VIII, Krudy Gyula utca 7 or Lemezkucko, VI, Kiraly utca 67. The best place for folk CDs is the shop in the Fono concert hall (Tues-Sat 10am-11pm). For classical music, try Hungaroton at V, Vorosmarty ter 1, Fotex Records at V, Szervita ter 2, or the Amadeus CD shop by the Danube behind the Inter-Continental Hotel . The friendly Rozsavolgyi at V, Szervita ter 5, has an excellent selection of classical music, with pop and folk downstairs, plus sheet music. The best selection of second-hand classical records is at Concerto Records, VII, Dob utca 31 (Mon-Fri noon-7pm, Sun noon-4pm). Budapest's Antiques Row is Falk Miksa utca, at the Pest end of the Margit Bridge. Shops in the Var are almost exclusively given over to providing foreign tourists with folksy souvenirs , embroidered tablecloths, hussar pots, fancy bottles of Tokaji wine and so forth. Another good source of presents are the market halls in Pest: the spectacular Great Market Hall (Nagycsarnok), or smaller ones on Hold utca (behind the American Embassy) and on Rakoczi ter. Other interesting shops include Hephaistos, at V, Molnar utca 27, which sells beautiful wrought iron items, from candle holders to bookshelves; Lekvarium, VII, Dohany utca 39, which has a range of locally made and unusual jams and preserves, as well as delicious elderflower syrup; and the puppet shop in the courtyard at V, Haris koz 2, which has marvellous glove puppets.
Rudas Baths - wreckedCJB says "An Article Submitted to Various Travel Mags.
A few weekends ago I went to Budapest to sample the famous 450 year old turkish baths. There are three main ones - Rudas, Rac and Kiraly. (Sorry for the lack of accented Hungarian spellings). As might be well known Hungary has recently joined the European Community and is now spending vast sums of Euros to upgrade its tourist facilities. Unfortunately this has meant that the atmospheric turkish baths - unchanged for centuries, and still with the patina of use by thousands of customers over the centuries - are now being gutted and modernised.
Certainly the Rac Baths - the only building left in the now demolished Jewish quarter by the Castle - has now been so gutted that is now resembles a bombed out shell. Gone are the baths, the steam rooms, the dry heat rooms, and everything else. The only thing that now circulates the windowless shell is the cold damp air blowing up from the frozen Danube. The Baths will now be turned into yet another clinical and sanitised 'spa' devoid of all ancient turkish history.
Unfortunately the Rudas Baths have already been given this treatment over the last two years. I was there on the opening weekend. We queued for about 20 minutes - this was a popular opening. There were three security guards at the turnstyles. There was another outside. Security guards at a turkish baths?!!! The cashier couldn't understand my request in English for admission for swimming (in the 18'th baths) and to the turkish baths. It seems that modernising for the tourists does not mean learning English (or even having any signs in English). Eventually I was sold a credit card size plastic security pass, and was grudgingly allowed to pass through the first turnstyle by a gruff looking security person. I was then directed to the turkish baths (what remained of them). There another turnstyle had to be negotiated. No towels or sheets were offered - luckily I'd brought my own. The changing rooms were all modernised cubicles just like any swimming pool. The cubicle staff were as aggressive as usual. Each cubical door was locked from the inside by using the plastic card. This released a key from the outside to be kept tied to one's swimming costume. Ah - yes - swimming costumes were mandatory - everything was co-ed now. The ancient turkish bath part that used to be for men only is now for families including screaming kids. Then I entered the turkish baths proper - and horror of horrors - the whole building had been gutted and rebuilt with garish red marble!! NOTHING remains of the original 450 year old baths except for the roof. EVERYTHING was brand spanking new. And GONE was the etheral and steamy atmosphere that had endured for so many centuries. Even the drinking fountains (taps) had been replaced by electronic proximity devices to turn the water on and off. Needless to say in the humid atmosphere these failed to work properly. The four pools of varying temperatures around the main pool had also received the dreaded red marble treatment. And believe me the newly cut marble edges were SHARP. Everything was bathed in bright light, and the coloured glass openings in the old domed roof had been removed. The dry heat rooms were tiny and now boasted plastic doors that didn't close properly. The steam rooms had been removed. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. Obviously this is how the Rac Baths were going to end up. But worse was to come. I wanted to get something to eat and drink - but nothing was available. To visit the Cafeteria I had to pass through the second turnstyle, and to do that I had to surrender the credit card pass. And - no - I couldn't re-enter the baths. Feeling VERY upset I then decided to visit the 18'th c. smimming baths. But despite having paid for this with my credit card pass I was not allowed in. What an rip-off.
I hear that the Gellert Hotel - dating from the late 1800s/early 1900s has also just had a refurbishment - so I hope that they haven't also gone for the red marble treatment too.
Luckily the Kiraly Turkish Baths nearby have yet to be refurbished. So do visit them before they too get a makeover for the tourists from the EEC."
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