The Christmas Markets in Budapest are more interesting than you might think. The Advent Fair and the City of Budapest Castle are just two of the activities that make the city of Budapest magical during this Christmas season.
Maybe they are not the most famous markets, or at least not like those in Switzerland or Germany, but Budapest he knows how to defend himself in this field: every year the Christmas atmosphere made of lights, the scent of spices and songs floods the city. The Christmas program almost always starts at the end of November, and ends at the end of December. The largest and most important market is the Budapesti Karacsonyi Vasar which is located in Vörösmarty Tér, Pest area.
This beautiful square, located right in the city center, is invaded by stalls of all kinds that display and sell authentic handicraft items, whose quality is guaranteed because they are selected by the Hungarian Association of Traditional Art: ceramics, wooden objects, jewels, toys, clothes, flowers, accessories and much more, including agri-food products such as honey, Hungarian salamis, biscuits and Chocolates, among these also the typical ones filled with marzipan, fruit jelly or vanilla cream to hang on the Christmas tree.
In a rich market like this one obviously cannot miss the food and drink stalls: there are 13 stands dedicated to this and allow visitors to taste many typical and Christmas dishes, traveling among the traditions of the different regions of Hungary.
You can warm up with a hot soup or goulash accompanied by kenyérlangos, a bread baked in a clay oven; have a snack with a langos stuffed or a hot-dog stuffed with the delicious Hungarian mangalica pork sausages; or have lunch and dinner with grilled meat, fried fish and many other special dishes. Those who prefer sweets cannot remain dry-mouthed for sure because they can taste Christmas delicacies such as i bejgli, typical sweets with poppy seeds, walnuts or raisins, but also the rétes, the Hungarian strudel, the delicious kürtőskalács that resemble brioche muffs in brown sugar and cinnamon (also known as trdelnik). To accompany everything you cannot miss the mulled wine, which here can be alternated with tokaj and the very particular strawberry wine.
In the center of the square there is a large luminous Christmas tree and a hand-carved wooden nativity scene by the skilled hands of Hungarian artisans, but tradition also has it that the windows of the beautiful and historic Gerbeaud pastry shop, which overlooks Vörösmarty Tér, become a kind of huge Advent calendar. During the entire period in which the markets are held there are also two stages on which concerts and shows will be held every weekend to accompany the celebrations.
Reaching this square from any part of the city is very simple: in fact, here all three lines of the Metro cross Deak tér stop, you can use this name as a reference even if you travel by bus or tram.
The opening hours of the market vary depending on the day.
From Vörösmarty Tér starts Deák Ferenc utca, a street also set up for festivities with craft and street food stalls, there are no precise dates for this market but when I was in Budapest a few years ago I found them again in March, so c 'is also hope for those in town after Christmas! Among the "minor" markets we can also mention the Advent Fair which takes place in the square in front of the Basilica of Szent Istvan (Santo Stefano), also in the Pest area, where, in addition to the stands, there is also a large ice skating rink and special events are organized.
Crossing the Danube and going up to the old city you can find that Buda also has its own market which takes place from the end of November to mid-December, in Fő Tér where concerts, events and activities for children take place alongside the food and craft stalls.
In reality then scattered around the city, in small squares and in peripheral areas there are also other small markets, the list would be truly endless, so you have the pleasure of discovering the little gems that are hidden in the streets of Budapest.
