Chinese lights in Budapest Zoo

It has been on for quite a while, but everything good has to end. The Chinese lights in the Budapest Zoo will be available until May 22nd. Here you can see some pictures.

If you visit Budapest Zoo in the evenings then you can now enjoy beautiful lights inside animals and sculptures. It is a really creative kind of exhibition available every evening between 19.00 and 22.00. Since there are only three evenings left it is worth noticing that if you arrive at 19.00 there is still not dark in Budapest, so you will not really be able to enjoy the Chinese lights, but around 20.30 its starting to get dark and the experience is fantastic. Be aware of the fact that this is a super popular program, so there are long lines that you need to stand in before you can get hold of your ticket.

The entrance fee for this program is 1900 HUF for adults and 1500 HUF for children under 14 years. Here you can see some pictures to give you a little taste of what you can expect if you visit the Zoo in Budapest in one of the coming three days in the evening.

Sculptures in Budapest Zoo
It looks cool, doesn’t it?
Beautiful lights in Budapest Zoo in the evening
Beautiful lights in Budapest Zoo in the evening
Colorful and impressive in Budapest Zoo
Colorful and impressive in Budapest Zoo

If you want to do something completely different tonight in Budapest instead, or maybe before you visit the zoo, then you can of course consider going to Groupama Arena instead where Hungary will play an international friendly match against Ivory Coast. This is the first of several friendly matches Hungary will play to prepare for Euro 2016 where they will have their opening match against Austria on June 14th. For more information on where you can watch Euro 2016 in Budapest, read this article.

Where to watch Euro 2016 in Budapest?

Are you going to visit Budapest between June 10th and July 10th? Or maybe for a few days, but you just have to watch your favorite team. This is where you can watch Euro 2016 in Budapest!

Let us first assure you that it will be very easy to watch Euro 2016 in Budapest. First of all because Hungarians love football and secondly because Hungary will actually play in Euro 2016. This will be their first time playing in an international tournament like this in over 30 years. But, where you can watch the matches, starting with the Euro 2016 opening matches between France and Romania on June 10th.

watch euro 2016 in budapest

Watch Euro 2016 in Budapest

In general it can be said that you can watch the matches everywhere. During Euro 2016 you can expect almost all restaurants to have big screens available or you can simply visit a cafe and watch the matches on their screens. But, if you want to watch the European Championship matches at a place where you will be together with lots of other football fans, then you should probably want to visit one of the following places:

1) Watch Euro 2016 outdoors

The coolest place to watch Euro 2016 will be at Szabadsag ter, a beautiful square located in between the Hungarian Parliament and the St. Stephens Basilica. Here you will have a fantastic big screen, lots of places where you can buy snacks and drinks and it will be packed with people who love football. We would go here!

2) Watch Euro 2016 indoors

If you want to watch Euro 2016 indoors (maybe it will be to warm outside), then you can of course visit a sports pub in Budapest. Here you will find the name and addresses of some popular sports bars:

– Champs: Dohany Utca 20
– John Bull Pub: Apáczai Csere János u. 17
– Beckkets: Liszt Ferenc tér 11.

3) Watch Euro 2016 in your hotel room

All matches during Euro 2016 will be broadcasted on the Hungarian national TV, meaning that you probably have the channels you need in your hotel room. Look for M4 as you swap between the channels and you should be able to watch the Euro 2016 matches there.

4) Watch Euro 2016 online

If you want to watch the Euro 2016 online while in Budapest, then there are several ways in which you can do that. You can read more about watching Euro 2016 online and also find full schedule and venue information at euro2016.one. To watch it at Hungarian TV online while in Hungary visit mediaklikk.hu.

Now all you have to do is cheer for Hungary!

Picasso exhibition

Picasso exhibitionWant to take a look at the biggest Picasso exhibition on display in Hungary ever? Visit the National Gallery before July 31st.

The Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery are hosting this Picasso exhibition together, cooperating first of all with the Picasso museum in Paris. The exhibition opened on April 22nd and will be available until the last day of July. Here is some more information about the exhibition from the press release:

“Boasting a hundred paintings, drawings, sculptures and other artworks, this exhibition embraces every period of Picasso’s career, paying particular attention to one aspect of his ouvre: the constant transfigurations in his portrayal of the human figure. Most of the exhibited works have been generouslyloaned by the Musée national Picasso-Paris, which, with some 5000 works, preserves the largest Picasso collection in the world. The collection was bequeathed to the French state by the artist’s heirs, and contains works from every period of his activity, as well as 200,000 documents – letters, periodicals and photographs – from Picasso’s private archive.

The vast majority of the artworks on show – 74 in all – have come from the collection of the Musée national Picasso-Paris. These are supplemented by selected masterpieces kindly loaned by other major, global museums: The Israel Museum of Jerusalem, the Beyeler Foundation of Basel, the Kunstmuseum Bern, the Pushkin Museum of Moscow and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Visitors can also see three paintings from the Ludwig Museum of Budapest, and an exquisite selection of etchings from the Collection of Prints and Drawings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.” (source)

Venue: National Gallery in Budapest

Dates: April 22nd – July 31st

This is a nice way to take a break if you are tired of watching the Euro 2016 matches in June and July, or if you are in town and watch all the matches outside on the Szabadsag square, but have some spare time in the middle of the day before all the matches start again in the evening.

Sunday shopping returning to Budapest

Since March 15th in 2015 all shops in Hungary had to remain closed on Sundays, with a few exceptions. This law however did not last too long, and as of April 17th 2016 shops are free to stay open on Sundays again.

Shopping in Budapest on SUndays
Can I shop in Budapest on Sundays?

The entire matter of closed and open stores on Sundays has had 100% to do with politics, and it was politics that led the current leaders of the nation to go back on their decision and again let shops stay open on Sundays. There are people on both sides of the political world and normal Hungarians who are really happy about it, while both workers and other people are sad that stores will re-open on Sundays again.

Most shops might not open already from Sunday April 17th, because it takes quite a lot of work to reschedule everything, make new working plans and so much more, but as a tourist coming to Budapest you can expect to see more and more shops open on Sundays again.

Read more about shopping in Budapest right here. If you are about to visit Amsterdam then you can read more about shopping in Amsterdam at the linked article.

 

Spring Fair in Budapest

Since March 25 the Spring Fair can be found at the Vörösmarty Square in Budapest. This is almost like the Christmas market, only the weather is better!

Want to know more about what’s on in Budapest right now? Or when the actual Spring market will be arranged in the present year? Check the Budapest calendar to find out!

Spring Fair in Budapest
Spring Fair in Budapest

The Spring Fair of 2016 will be arranged between March 25th and April 24th. We visited the Spring Fair a few days ago and to be honest, it is simply brilliant. In a way we liked it even more than the Christmas fair, because there are not that many places to shop, making it easier to walk around, there are more free space, but the things for sale are brilliant and feels more Hungarian than the stuff you buy at the Christmas market. In addition you can buy chimney cakes, langos and lots of other goodies, making sure that you will not leave Budapest hungry!

If you have time, do not miss out out on the Spring Fair at the Vörösmarty Square, available until April 24th in 2016!

Budapest video from 1973 – Must see for Budapest fans

Are you a Budapest fan? If the answer is yes then you will love this Budapest video from 1973. It is a 30 minute film simply showing what Budapest was like, presented by the Hungarian singer Kati Kovacs.

We by coincidence bumped into this film in the library of the Norwegian TV channel NRK, so you can watch the film there if you want to.

Press the link above to visit the video on the NRK website and start watching the website. It is amazing to see the changes that has happened in the city since then. Just take a look at the following picture from the film which was made back then of what is today one of the nicest hotels in town, the Gresham Palace (Four Seasons).

Four seasons in 1973
Four seasons (Hotel Gresham) in 1973

There are lots of clips like the one above that is interesting, but you should be warned that the first 10 minutes are most interesting, because after that they start to sing a lot and you do not get to see as much of Budapest anymore.

And one more thing… it is often just as interesting to notice what you can not see as what you can see. Lots of buildings present today can not be seen in the video, you can see cars driving on the area which is the Danube Promenade today, and so much more. Enjoy the film and watch it.

Welcome to Budapest
This statue welcomed you to Budapest in 1973

It is supposed to be available all across the world, but if you should have problems watching NRK from abroad, just press the link to get help.

Muse and David Guetta to Sziget Festival 2016

Sziget Festival 2016 is closing up, and even though it is far away, the biggest artists are already planning their arrival to the festival. Yesterday Sziget announced some of the artists that will come to the festival in 2016.

Sziget Festival 2016

For Hungarian the Euro 2016 might be the highlight of the year since the Hungarian team managed to qualify after beating Norway in the play off matches in November. But, for musicians and artists the Sziget Festival is the highlight and among the artists that were announced yesterday for Sziget Festival 2016 were: Muse, David Guetta, The Lumineers, Years and Years and quite some more.

Are you looking forward to the Sziget festival in 2016? You can read more about it here!

Lots of Budapest in Strike Back season 1 episode 10

We love Budapest in films and TV series and if you want to see a lot of Budapest then Strike Back season 1 and episode 10 is perfect to watch for you. Strike Back is an action TV series, quite similar to 24 and it also reminds us a bit of NCIS: Los Angeles.

Castle of Buda
Castle of Buda in Strike Back

In Strike Back season 10 the good guys are hunting a terrorist and his affiliate who want to blow up a bomb during a peace conference arranged in the castle in Budapest. There are two guys with bombs attached to them and we see the good guys played by Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester hunt down those bad guys. This hunt leads to scenes all around Budapest and you will get to see famous attractions and also see a bomb explode inside a tram.

Explosion in tram
A tram blows up near Batthyany ter

Most of the clips are very well made and they have done their best for this to be an authentic episode from Budapest. There are of course some small mistakes as when they show a tram starting from Batthyany ter running with number 47 with Deak Ter as starting point and not Batthyany ter. But, who cares? The tram is about to be blown up anyway!

Gellert Hill Panorama
Beautiful panorama clip from above the Gellert Hill

As you can see on the three pictures already there are lots of beautiful clips from Budapest in this episode of Strike Back, so if you do not mind explosions and action, then go ahead and watch this episode of Strike Back right away, and get a little taste of Budapest on this first day of February 2016.

Nyugati PU
One of the bad guys arrives to Nyugati with train!

Main characters by castle
The main characters having a chat in front of the castle with the Pest side in the background

One more Budapest panorama clip from the episode
One more Budapest panorama clip from the episode

Strike Back in Budapest
Strike Back in Budapest

If you want to watch this episode then you can either find it and buy it on Amazon.com, you can watch it on NOW TV or you can look for it online elsewhere!

If you have tips on other TV series or films with lots of clips from Budapest, please write a comment and let us know!

International Wine Festival 2016

Wine festival 2016The International Wine Festival in Budapest will come back in 2016 as every other year and if you are looking for the dates for the event you will have to look no further.

The International Wine Festival 2016 will be arranged in the Buda Castle area again and the dates this year are September 8th to 11th. That is from Thursday till Sunday and that might not tell you anything, but for those of us who have been in town for a while that tells us that this years festival will be one day shorter than it has been for a very long time. Is this due to lack of visitors? Or how come that it has been shortened with one day? We do not know, but that means no wine tasting on Wednesday, only from Thursday till Sunday!

For more information about the International Wine Festival in Budapest, click the link!

Mangalica festival in Budapest 2016

The annual Mangalica festival in Budapest will return to town again in 2016 and the location will be the Szabadsag square this year again. At the Mangalica festival you can enjoy lots of products made by this special Hungarian pig and you can also buy meat to bring with you home afterwards.

Mangalica festival

The Mangalica festival is a free festival, meaning that you can freely walk around inside the festival area, and the only thing you pay for are the actual products you decide to buy.

The Mangalica festival will be arranged from February 12th-14th in 2016.