Baroque saunas, live jazz, and more hummus than we could imagine. Budapest was a 30-degree dream.
LGBTQ+ Budapest
With its conservative parliament and recent rise in anti-LGBTQ+ laws, we weren’t entirely sure what to expect upon our arrival in the city. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex is prohibited, and registered partnership for same-sex couples has been legal since 2009, but same-sex marriage is banned and public opinion remains conservative.
There is documented gay culture in Budapest going back to the 1930s and 1940s as the underground scene began to flourish. The LGBTQ+ organisations that formed in the late 1980s are some of those still at the forefront of queer activism today. In 1997, Labrisz Leszbikus Egyesulet became Hungary's first organisation to support lesbians.
Hungary has since experienced a rise in right-wing movements, which led to the violent 2007 attacks at the Budapest pride march. Most recently, Hungary adopted a new law banning the depiction or promotion of LGBTQ-related material to minors which went into effect in the summer of 2021. This law prohibits the appearance of LGBTQ+ people in social advertising, as well as educational programs that mention the existence of homosexual or trans people. The consequences of this on young queer people and public opinion is not to be underestimated and, though the EU sued Hungary for implementing such laws, the future of LGBTQ+ rights in Hungary feels precarious.
Despite all this, Budapest felt like an incredibly welcoming city with a burgeoning LGBTQ scene. We felt very safe holding hands and presenting as a lesbian couple during our entire stay in Budapest. Keep in mind, we didn’t stray far from the more tourist-heavy areas and we’re two white femme cis women.
Culture
At and around Városliget
Ötvenhatosok tere is a memorial for the 1956 Hungarian Revolution of 1956. It’s a powerful work located in the ‘valley’ of the ethnographic museum, which rises above the city as an artificial sloping garden. From here, you can enter the Városliget (city park).
Inside the park, walk toward Vajdahunyad Castle, a pastel blue wonder on a small pond. The modernist, mushroom-like House of Music opened in 2021 and sits in the centre of the park. It was quieter in the summer, but has a long list of events through the main season.
The park is also home to many events, festivals, flower gardens, and shady spots for a summer picnic.
The Museum of Fine Arts is on the outskirts of the park. We went to see a rather overwhelming Hieronymus Bosch exhibition, and then cleared out palate walking around the near empty museum hallways, which were gorgeous in their own right.
Live music
Concerts in St Stephen's Basilica: This basilica is one of the most breathtaking venues in the heart of the city with regular classical music and organ concerts. We attended the Sunday evening Ave Maria Air Alleluja II and would highly recommend it.
There are plenty of jazz bars in District VII to check out as well, particularly Spinoza Café and Doblo Wine Bar.
Photo walks
We stayed in District VII, Erzsébetváros, and loved walking around this neighbourhood. When we first arrived, there was a jazz band playing a full set in the street with a full audience. There are many leafy corners and beautiful wall murals, quiet courtyards, and lively cafés.
Budapest is a dream if you’re interested in architecture — a mix of baroque, neoclassical, and art nouveau. You shouldn’t miss the Dohány Street Synagogue, which is Europe’s largest.
Across the river in Buda, you'll find a pastel dreamscape of quiet streets just beyond the Fisherman's Bastion.
Walking along the riverbank is a must. We spent a wonderful evening near the parliament building on the Pest side.
Hannah’s favourite spot was a hidden sculpture garden at the Epreskert school (look for Epreskert Art Colony on a map). Epreskert means ‘strawberry garden’.
Vegan food
The vegan options in Budapest were top-tier. We didn’t have a lot of variety — sticking mostly to hummus and mezzes — but were incredibly satisfied.
Our absolute favourite was:
Dobrumba: Casual, bright spot with European & Middle Eastern small plates. We had incredible hummus, aubergine, and cocktails (see below). Hannah had her first negroni and it was 10/10.
Other great spots included:
hummusbar: This chain has a few spots around the city — we went to one in the Jewish quarter right when we arrived. We sat outside on the corner and people-watched with excellent hummus and falafels.
Szabad: This café had great vegan options, was queer-friendly, and even had a live music event happening while we were there. We were serenaded by a steel drum in 38-degree heat. Spot the Путин GTFO sign below.
Franziska: We tried their smoothie bowls for our first breakfast. It was a cute space with good coffee, but their bowls were a bit sweet for our taste. We’d go back to try a savoury breakfast.
Grumpy Food Bar Coffee: Explicitly queer-friendly and very fun. It had a very “I’m hungover at brunch but still partying” vibe. For a chiller space, go across the road.
Dorado Café: Grumpy’s more chill neighbour. We loved this space and would have been here more often if we'd stayed in the city longer.
Maison Bistro & Hotel: We only ate once in Buda, and it was an odd choice for us. BUT Hannah had some excellent pasta and Marion had (yet again) a hummus dish. We also had very nice wine!
Vegan Garden: Located in Central Passage, this fully vegan restaurant was a delight! We both started with a quinoa salad and then shared a platter for two. The plates were small and slightly on the more expensive side, but the food was divine.
Las Vegan’s: Vegan food truck serving burgers with multiple locations throughout the city. We visited the one on 40 Dob street. The food was delicious and this little hidden food court was a lovely place to sip wine and people watch.
Wine
At risk of pissing some people off, we’re going to go ahead and say that Hungarian white wine was really not our thing. If you like sweet wines, please indulge! Otherwise, try the reds. We quite like the Bolyki Indian Nyar (pictured), though the white Egri Csillag was too sweet for us. Aren’t the bottles cute, though?
Dobló Wine Bar: Located in the Jewish Quarter, this is one if the very first wine bars that opened in the city in 2010. The menu only features Hungarian wines and the dark and cozy interior makes it an incredibly comfortable spot to sip and listen to live music.
Bookshops
Massolit Books & Café: An explicitly queer-friendly bookstore and café with a comfortable and vintage interior. They have a great range of secondhand English books and beautiful notebooks and postcards.
Atlantisz Publishing House & Bookstore: A cute little bookstore with a nice selection of books in multiple languages. They provide books in a wide range of different topics and boast an especially good selection of philosophy and history books. They even have their own publishing company!
Spas
There are plenty of public baths and spas to choose from, the most famous being the Széchenyi Thermal Baths in the park. It was over 30 degrees and we didn’t feel much like spending our days in a sauna (walking around was warm enough), so we only went to one. We promise it’s the prettiest one, though — the ornate Gellért Thermal Baths. There’s a beautiful outdoor pool with flowers and sun loungers, surrounded by little copses of trees for some shade. Inside, the Art Nouveau tiled baths lead to more steam rooms and a plunge pool. Entrance isn’t cheap, but you can stay as long as you like — we could easily imagine bringing a book and spending the day in the winter. There are changing cabins rather for everyone, undivided by gender.
Our reading recommendations
Writer László Krasznahorkai is in a league of his own when it comes to contemporary Hungarian literature. It’s not for the faint-hearted though — he has a tendency to disregard punctuation and even plot. Hannah’s been dipping into his novel The Melancholy of Resistance off and on for several years.
The late Magda Szabó is also one of Hungary’s best known authors. Her best and most famous work is The Door. Hannah also reviewed her coming-of-age story Abigail, an adventurous and endearing work for young people.
We also highly recommend checking out Budapest-based qLit, a lesbian* online magazine, which also lists queer events. *they’re inclusive of all women-loving-women, and have plenty of content for all types of queer folks.
Getting there
We took a budget flight from London Gatwick to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. We then got the airport shuttle bus, number 100E, straight into the city centre and walked to our accommodation from there.
Where to stay
We had a little flight fiasco and ended up in Budapest one day earlier than expected, so we stayed in this small and practical Airbnb for a night. The rest of the time, we stayed in this gorgeous studio overlooking a park.
Want to know more? Or have you been to Budapest and think we missed something special? Get in touch with us at gaygirlstravelguide@gmail.com. We'd love to hear your thoughts.