Cats and Kerts: My favourite bits of Budapest.

Retrock Deluxe

Nosztalgia Antik Shop- (Klauzál Utca 1)

New York Café

Sugar! Shop

Károlyi Kert

Cat Café

In June I finally visited Budapest; being totally in love with derelict buildings, I knew I should go. I had heard many wild claims that 'It's like Berlin five years ago', and curiosity got the better of me. So if you happen to visit, here are my favourite places from our five day trip:
Day one was for wandering, we visited Printa, a screenprinting studio/gallery/cafe with good coffee, where I found the perfect illustrated guide to the city which helped us plan our days. We sat upstairs in Telep and watched the world go by from the warehouse style windows drinking homemade lemonade, and later made ourselves at home in  Szimpla, the most talked about of the 'ruin bars', which we couldn't stay away from and returned at some stage every evening.

To ease the hangover the following day we visited the famous Széchenyi Baths, and despite it being our third choice 

(the Bauhaus baths on Margrit Island were closed due to the river bursting its banks), 

it was an absolute pleasure. 

We basked in the outdoor hot pool for hours and watched local leathery 

old men in speedos play chess.

To top off our day of pampering we had afternoon tea in the 

stunning New York Café, which was an incredibly decadent setting and the cakes were delicious.

An unhealthy habit developed on our lovely trip, of visiting Sugar! 
everyday, a Parisian  style sweet emporium,  
to work our way through sampling all their treats 
(their gelato is excellent).

The weather was beautiful so we lounged around a lot in Károlyi Kert, 
Budapest's oldest little park around the corner from the 
immaculately styled Retrock Deluxe Boutique.

Fogashaz became another favourite ruin bar, once a dental clinic 
it is now a bar/gallery/general cultural hub and their outdoor 
courtyard became a firm favourite

 (we recommend a sneaky shot of Unicum or two).

The Cat Café had to be visited, although the terrible decor let it down, 

it was hard not to enjoy the novelty of fifteen cats roaming around.

We finished the trip off by hiring bikes and cycling across to Pest 

to see the castle district and have milkshakes in the sun in Tranzit, 
an old bus terminal.

So, it's official, Budapest is now easily my JOINT favourite city 
so far with Berlin, which coming from me is very high praise!