Image by András Nagy

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

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Eszter Szilva

After passing Oktogon and walking down Andrássy street, it’s not so easy to find a nice café. This problem is partly solved by Ecocafé which was opened this year on Budapest’s famous avenue. The name is telling, you’ve guessed it, the café offers organic and fair trade coffee plus healthy home-baked snacks. Budapest’s slowly discovering the power of organic…

Biking home from Városliget park, I came across this spot randomly as the little terrace with flowers caught my attention. Stepping inside, I was impressed by the large, bright and modern space. Although everything is new and look somewhat sterile (especially if I compare it to my favorite places in Budapest), the kind waiters, the peaceful music and the calming combination of white, green and brown colors always make me feel relaxed. The place is mostly full of foreign students studying in Budapest, or tourists and locals heading to Városliget for a relaxing stroll.

The coffee is excellent, a blend of Guatemalan, Brazilian and Ethiopian beans. Cappuccino goes well with some cakes for baguettes, all of them made here. Those on the healthy side can choose wheat grass juice, or ask for soy milk with the coffee.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Ecocafé | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Espresso HUF 330
Andrássy út 68 | Outer Pest
Mon – Fri 07:30 – 20:00, Sat – Sun 08:00 – 20:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Eszter Szilva

Entering this tiny shop full of garments with funnily weird patterns always makes me happy. About their name, the girls behind MUSU say something like it means muszi (cute) and súlyos (serious). If it’s still not clear, their motto might help you get closer to the underlying idea of their shop: “thinking, laughing, cycling”.

Besides supplying Budapest bikers with chic and useful clothes, bags and other accessories, MUSU thinks of safety as well. You’ll find tons of different reflective prisms, bands and stickers for your bike, and also waist warmers which come handy during the cold months. 

The unique MUSU design is basically built on a childhood memory of a bunny toy. This “minimal bunny” was their first figure soon to be followed by other crazy creatures in MUSU’s world, such as the spoke-eyed children, the creepy angels, the pocket animals or the capsules. Besides the clothes already having some of these creatures on them, you can choose plain T-shirts, sweatshirts, pullovers and dresses and your favorite pattern which the girls transferiron to the clothes right on the spot. I have chosen a tank top and as I was in a bad mood I opted for a black Bloody Mary Poppins as decoration – with a hack in her hands instead of an umbrella.

MUSU is a great place to find nice presents for my friends. Or for myself.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
MUSU | Art & culture, Shopping | T-shirt HUF 3000
Pozsonyi út 9. | Outer Pest | +36209661151
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Eszter Szilva

Sarki Fűszeres (Grocery store at the corner) is located next to Szent István park in Újlipótváros (thirteenth district), embraced by impressive Bauhaus buildings. It’s literally a corner of a house, often compared to the Flatiron Building of New York, while others tend to think that this place is a piece of Paris in Budapest. I’d rather say that it’s one of Budapest’s nicest faces. You won’t see it as often as the courtyard houses of downtown Pest, but it belongs very much to the city.

Sarki Fűszeres is something between a grocery store, a bistro and a café. Besides coffee and tea, they sell freshly baked breads, croissants, delicious cakes (you might bump into traditional Hungarian sweeties like Rákóczi túrós made with sweet cottage cheese) and a nice selection of cheese and ham. The tall wooden shelves are full of wine. You can order your sandwich with the ingredients you see in the counter or ask for a cheese plate. They are specialized in hearty breakfasts as well.

Unlike most of the cafés here, the lovely terrace of Sarki Fűszeres is open during cold weather – the heaters and blankets guarantee that you won’t freeze. However, you might enhance the warmth by sipping mulled wine cooked at the terrace in a huge caldron. Take your seat and enjoy the sight of the red, old school trolleybuses turning here to Pozsonyi street at a relatively high speed. Noisy and also a bit terrifying for trolley-freaks like me, but definitely part of the Újlipótváros picture.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Sarki Fűszeres | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Espresso HUF 390
Pozsonyi út 53-55 | Outer Pest | +3612380600
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 22:00, Sat 08:00 – 15:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Miklos Zsamboki

Pótkulcs is a bar, club and restaurant popular with the bohemian crowd, full of laid-back vibes, but rather crowded sometimes. Located a few minutes’walk from Nyugati train and metro station, it has a garden completely separated from the street by a wall, as well as indoor seating – and some of the fussball tables so ubiquitous in these kinds of places.

Personally, I find the garden to be my favourite part of the locale. There’s nothing objectively special about it, but it’s cozy, charming, and has just enough grass that isn’t covered by chairs and tables. In fact, it has such a nice ambience that once I’ve stayed there late at night just to watch a game of Bridge unfold – and I can’t even play Bridge!

One thing that separates Pótkulcs from many similar venues is that you can get some hot food here, making it a good stopping point on a late night crawl. You’ll need to walk a few minutes from and back to the nearest public transport, but that has the added bonus of clearing a bit of the alcohol haze from your head.

Do note that this is a smokers-friendly place, and the air can get rather thick even in the garden, so if you’re sensitive to cigarette smoke, you might want to go give the place a miss.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Pótkulcs | Bars, Restaurants (Central-Eastern Eur.) | Beer HUF 450
Csengery utca 65/b | Outer Pest | +3612691050
Sun – Wed 17:00 – 01:30, Thu – Sat 17:00 – 02:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Miklos Zsamboki

If you approach Margit Island from the south – via Margit Bridge -, you’ll see a public fountain, with a large, rather strange-looking statue standing close to it. If you have a taste for the bizarre, you’ll find this statue worth checking out.

Built in 1972 to commemorate the ’73 centenary of the unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda (and thus the formation of Budapest proper), this large metal spiral is… well, hard to describe. I know for a fact some people find it awesome, and I imagine some might find it absolutely hideous. Personally, I’ve decided after much thinking that I find it “weird”, but I’m happy I checked it out after a friend’s rave about it.

It’s hard to give a good description of these two embellished spiral towers that have countless plaques and items emerging from their surface, so all I’ll say is you should go there – the scary-ugly passageway leading to the island from the tram stop will emotionally prime you for the experience – and have a look. And if you find any hidden message in the teddy bear, the stick hand grenades, the candelabra and “Revolution! Revolution! Revolution!” sign, do tell me about it.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Centenary Memorial Statue | Art & culture | Free
South end of Margit-sziget | Outer Pest
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by Nikoletta Horváth

Our Southern neighbors are out on the streets, balancing Turkish-dominated fast food with their version of grilled meat. OK, we don’t share a border with Montenegro (since 2006) but food doesn’t care about borders, right? Also, Serbian and Montenegro cuisine are not really different when it comes to grilling meat.

The grill bar is located under the arcade at Blaha where you get off the bus coming from the direction of Keleti railway station, centrally enough to step by during a city walk or at the end of a night out.

Veal, pork or chicken are served on a plate or in a pita bread with fresh vegetables, grilled pepper, fresh cheese, ajvar – whatever you ask for. Pljeskavica in a pita bread is just like a hamburger, Balkan style. I think the pita is just as important as the meat, and you won’t be disappointed by this crunchy-and-soft type they will offer you.

You can choose between small and large portions, but you better be really hungry if you want to go big!

There is free delivery to downtown districts (or 500 Ft for the rest of the city).

And the best thing? They’re open 24/7.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Montenegroi Gurman | Snacks, Restaurants (Balkan) | Small pljeskavica HUF 960
Rákóczi út 54. | Outer Pest | +3617820806
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by András Nagy

True, Újpest is a bit out of centre, it looks like a small town in the countryside with dusty wattles on the side of the road. But this is just the thing which gives it its charm and the true local feeling. You can be sure, there are no tourists around, it’s a locals-only market.

I live quite close so it’s obvious for me to do the shopping here every now and then. For those coming from downtown, the blue metro line takes you as close as a block away.

There are three buildings: the big market hall, the connecting side wing and the separate dome. The hall is full of tables with piles of vegetables, fruits and eggs, while on the side various shops sell meat, pastries, dairy products and pickled vegetables. I was always wondering why there were supermarket-like shops, maybe it’s some weird tradition. The side wing has shops but no stands, the dome offers one important shop selling fish.

After a long and exhausting shopping spree there is nothing better than a fried sausage or meat along with some pickled vegetables, and a “fröccs” to help you digest. All this is available at the back of the main building.

The “new main square” project of Újpest includes the market area, you can already enjoy the positive changes of the expanded public spaces.

Now go and see for yourself. It’s worth the trip!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Újpest market | Shopping, Snacks | Oranges (1kg) HUF 299
Szent István tér | Outer Pest
Mon – Fri 06:00 – 17:00, Sat 06:00 – 14:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by András Nagy

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?

Check out more photos here.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Wekerle Estate | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Kós Károly tér | Outer Pest
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest

Image by András Nagy

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.)

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Benczúr köz playground | Relaxing | Free
Benczúr köz | Outer Pest
07:00 – 19:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Budapest