Wekerle Estate is a calm, green island in the rushing city, the living example of the garden city movement, with the added spice of Károly Kós‘s “Transsylvanian style”. Some of Budapest’s biggest roads frame the area, but heavy traffic luckily avoids these neat streets.

The end of the 19th century saw a boom in the number of Budapest residents. Housing developments could not keep up with population trends, thus the mayor, István Bárczy created a concept together with the architect Róbert Fleischl to build a separate estate for those in need. Enjoying the support of prime minister Sándor Wekerle, the project was carried out from 1908 to 1925 resulting in the construction of 4412 new apartments. In a few decades the city incorporated the estate, still, the rural atmosphere has been preserved until today.

Lots of trees (50,000 were planted during the constructions), small gardens, beautiful architecture – it is easy to fall in love with the place. Architecturally the area is very compact and integral, yet the buildings don’t look the same. Those were the good old days, when state intervention meant “getting things done properly”. I wish today’s developments would take Wekerle as an example.

Once it counted as the “faraway outskirts”, now it is pretty close to the city center with good transport connections. And you thought you actually had to move out of the city to live in a village?

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Wekerle Estate | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Kós Károly tér | Outer Pest
24 hours daily

Gang is a German loanword in Hungarian meaning the open corridor that can be found in most of the houses in downtown Budapest. The typical „gang house” was built from the second half of the 19th century to the 1920s-30s and originally served as an apartment building with big flats.

Communist times turned the few big apartments into several smaller ones sometimes resulting in flats without toilets. So people had to visit the common toilet at the end of the corridor. These times are (almost) over, what’s left are the flats with their entrance door opening to the inner courtyards.

Some communities care more about these interesting yards, they have removed the clinkers to reveal the soil and plant flowers, lay it down with grass, even create a little kitchen-garden for the residents. But even if the tenants neglect the state of the premises, there is a type of tree that grows tall even in the crack of the wall and could be the symbol of urban survival: sumac.

Walk around in downtown, even further to the outskirts and carefully walk in if you see an open door. I promise, you’ll find real gems inside.

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Inner courtyards | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Central Pest | Central Pest
24 hours daily

Before entering the city and becoming a channel forced between concrete quays, the Danube is actually a living river. On the Buda side, north of the Újpest railway bridge there’s a long green esplanade called Római part stretching on the riverbank towards Szentendre. “Római” means Roman, since the ruins of the ancient town “Aquincum” are located nearby.

Római part is full of bars, restaurants mostly serving the same food and lacking a distinct character. The iconic dish, “hekk” is a fish, the number one fish consumed by Hungarians which is funny because it’s a sea fish. You go to lake Balaton, you eat hekk from the Atlantic. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

If you get past the crowd and the twelve-in-a-dozen places, you’ll eventually reach Fellini, this colourful circus car placed near the water with its own beach. Other bars simply don’t use the opportunity to get closer to the water than 10 meters, thus it’s a relief to finally find a place with deck-chairs on the stony beach.

By character I mean that Fellini has a certain atmosphere. The colors, the car, the beach – a very simple idea and it works, because it brings you close to the water in a green setting. Plus they have several Belgian beers on tap, don’t miss the cherry-flavored one!

Downsides? Not too many, not too serious: a bit expensive to my taste, only has a mobile toilet and the water attracts bugs.

I can live with these until I have my cherry beer.

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Fellini Római Kultúrbisztró | Bars, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Snacks | Glass of Floris Kriek beer HUF 520
Kossuth Lajos üdülőpart 5. | Outer Buda
Mon – Thu 14:00 – 23:00, Fri 14:00 – 00:00, Sat 11:00 – 00:00, Sun 11:00 – 22:00

The existence of this beach is a business miracle because no one seems to know about it. I spotted it by accident on a lonely bike trip around the natural side of Újpest in the 4th district. There isn’t much information to be found about the spot, neither online nor in the real world, which explains why only a few guests are around whenever I go to swim. Just be self confident and don’t turn back if you find a bunch of ships waiting to be repaired. Yes, it’s the dirt road running along the river that will bring you to the entrance.

The beach itself is pretty small, reaches from the bank of the Danube toward Váci road starting with the buffet and the colorful changing rooms. The orange building makes a nice contrast with the blue pool that’s surrounded by a hedge from 3 sides. The pool was apparently designed for bathing rather than swimming but it’s still enjoyable and there’s a tiny pool the size of a bigger bathtub for children too. The rest of the area is covered with grass, extra services include a volleyball court, football field, table tennis and three little cabins for rent.

The whole atmosphere is really chilly, the furniture, the design, the music coming from the speakers bring you back to the „good old days”. Don’t expect too much English knowledge, it would just ruin the sixties-feeling anyway.

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Duna Beach & Sunbathing Park | Relaxing | Entry fee HUF 1000
Üdülő sor 3. | Outer Pest | +3612333482
08:00 – 18:00 daily

Rudas Ivócsarnok (“Drinking Hall”) is a place where you can drink very healthy thermal water that comes out of the ground hot.

Located near Rudas, one of Budapest’s thermal baths, the hall is a small, single-room construction where you can often see old ladies and gentlemen waiting for their turn with empty bottles in hand. Inside, you pay at the register to the right, then take your slip of paper to a stand where hot and smelly water is bubbling out of three taps. These are coming directly from three subterranean hot springs, and you can either get a half-liter mug for 30 Forints, or fill your own empty bottle for similar, ridiculously low prices.

Now, all three types of spring water are warm, and the one with high sulfur content also smells like eggs, so it’s not something you probably want to drink to cool yourself down on a blistering summer day. Instead, it’s what you drink if you’re health-conscious and wish to prevent any one of a good dozen ailments from rheumatism to high blood pressure.

The Hall is a bit hard to find. First you should get to the Buda side of Erzsébet bridge (the closest tram stop is Döbrentei tér, or you could walk across from Pest), then look for the entrance on the edge of a wide, circular open-air area, surrounded on several sides by the elevated motorway that leads up onto the bridge.

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Ivócsarnok | Relaxing | Mug of thermal water HUF 30.00
Erzsébet híd (Buda end) | Central Buda
Mon, Wed & Fri 11:00 – 18:00, Tue, Thu 07:00 – 14:00

Whatever signs and parents say, playgrounds are not only for children. Your waist might be a bit too wide for the slide or the swing but does playtime end if you have a grown-up body? Definitely not. Trying out toys, enjoying the sunlight or the green shades under the chestnut trees are serious matters that kids shouldn’t deal with.

There’s this small alley that connects Városligeti fasor with Benczúr utca where the houses encircle a park trapped in a cage. Many parks in the city are surrounded by fences like this e.g. Szent István park or Károlyi Kert, probably to prevent hooligans and homeless people from entering during the night. Makes sense but we don’t care about the sense of it, do we? At least I’m more upset when I face a closed park gate.

The playground is supposed to be open from 07:00 to 19:00 but I didn’t find it closed later in the evening so it’s worth a try, playgrounds without children are much better anyway. (If you think likewise and you’re looking for some chilling, I suggest to avoid the playground in the afternoon hours.)

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Benczúr köz playground | Relaxing | Free
Benczúr köz | Outer Pest
07:00 – 19:00 daily

Every once in a while you may feel like you want to get out of the city, not too far, just to feel the green love of Mother Nature. Although Buda is greener with all its hills, the Pest side also has a forest to discover – Farkaserdő.

While the name suggests this forest would be the home of wolves, I haven’t met any yet. But there is a variety of tree and forest types ranging from a dark oak forest to a clear, mixed poplar and pine park forest. On the Western side of the forest there is a swampy open area, a nature reserve which you can cross using the network of narrow paths.

Geographically this side of the city belongs to the Pest plain and is built on sand. You can explore all the original natural features of a sandy plain here without having to travel far away.

The forest is just the right place for running, biking, it has a little technical track for mountain bikers (and there’s also a bike park nearby, at the crossing of Farkaserdő and Óceánárok streets). In late spring I usually come here to pick some elderflowers and acacia flowers, put them in water for a few days and they make a wonderful drink. If the weather allows, you can use the fireplaces available for grilling.

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Farkaserdő | Relaxing | Free
Farkaserdő utca | Outer Pest
24 hours daily

Right behind the back of Károlyi Gardens lies another green spot in the heart of the city: the garden of Károlyi Palace. The building hosts PIM i.e. Petőfi Literature Museum and also offers the chance for a quiet lunch at Károlyi Restaurant.

So there is culture, gastronomy and chilling, all in one. And one more important thing: no “keep off the grass” signs. Very well, the grass is for chillin’, let the people use it. After walking all day there’s nothing better than sitting in the middle of a green field. Your mom lied to you, grass stains are cool.

You can find the entrance to the garden on Károlyi Mihály street (yet another Károlyi, it’s all about this family) which is part of the new main street project in the 5. district.

I find this project really cool, it looks like the local government is trying to create more livable public space, at least between Kálvin square and Szabadság square. Less cars, wider sidewalks, fountains – the rest of downtown is slowly changing for the better too.

Until then, let’s enjoy what we have here.

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PIM garden | Relaxing | Free
V., Károlyi Mihály utca 16. | Central Pest
10:00 – 22:00 daily

Just nearby the Keleti Station you’ll find the biggest park of downtown Budapest but don’t be surprised if you find some tombs there too – it is a cemetery after all. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I compared it to Pere Lachaise in Paris – a spacey, green island where amongst thousands of others the great men of Hungarian history are buried. The cemetery was established in 1847 and officially opened on the 1st of April 1849. Opening times change every month, however, if you go between 07.30 and 17.00 it’ll be open in all seasons.

No wonder it is called a ‘garden’ – the first time I visited the place I was really surprised to find monuments, trees and green fields rather than tombs. Check out some photos here. Such a calm park, and although some might find it odd, I like to hang out there, walk around, sit on a bench contemplating or even enjoying the sun. The cemetery even features a museum that exhibits mourning and burial accessories.

Best time of the year to visit the cemetery is spring or autumn, when nature is at its best to provide beautiful scenery for a long, quiet walk: either harsh green with the colourful spots of blooming trees and flowers or the decadence and last dance of falling leaves. Beauty, not grief makes you cry.

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Fiumei Road Cemetery Garden | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Fiumei út 16 | Outer Pest | +3613235100
07:30 – 17:00 daily

Litea, just next to the Castle-district canteen, is an oasis of freshness in the baking Budapest sun. It’s alternatively a very warm spot when the hot weather is long gone. In a word it’s perfect in all seasons and rightly so as it is open all year-long.

So what is Litea about? Books and coffee! Mostly about books though! It’s typically the kind of place you end up spending hours at. Ideal spot for writing postcards (they do sell Budapest arty postcards, not the touristy-chain bridge ones…), sitting down for coffee, eating – unfortunately not home made – pastries. Feel free to read as much as you want to, here.

Besides books, CD’s are also on sale (Hungarian classical music, and some Gipsy + Hungarian Folk music). Books are available in many foreign languages (English, German, French…), and tackle all kind of cultural topics, from Hungarian Jewish heritage to Magyar traditional dishes, and of course Hungarian literature. The only downside of Litea is that it is deprived of wi-fi internet…

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Litea | Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping, Snacks | Coffee HUF 250
Hess András tér 4 | Central Buda | +363756987
10:00 – 18:00 daily