Budapest Nightlife: Fun in The Ruin Bars and Szimpla Kert
Budapest is a fun city for nightlife, and the ruin bars in the Jewish Quarter are very popular, including the legendary Szimpla Kert. The Ruin Bars are a great place for a night out. These are in formerly neglected buildings brought back to life. These have a lively vibe, and most have unique decor. For some travellers, they are a must-see attraction in the city.
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We stayed in a backpacker hostel above one of the bars and spent many evenings enjoying the atmosphere of the area. Most of the bars are on Kazinczy utca and the streets parallel to it.
Ruin Bars in Budapest
These are some of the best ruin bars that we visited on our many visits to Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Some of these are also dog-friendly for those who travel with dogs. It’s an entertaining area to wander around, soak up the vibe, and pop into whatever catches your eye. You can also find a few pleasant restaurants, late shops and other quirky things to see in the area.
Szimpla Kert
The most famous of the ruin bars in Budapest is Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy utca. Szimpla Kert is a fantastic place set over a few floors with a variety of bars inside. It has side rooms with eclectic furniture, lighting, and decor. Examples of the bar’s quirky nature include a bathtub you can sit in while drinking. The walls have musical instruments, street art and more. Looking around Szimpla Kert is fantastic but best when it’s quiet.
They also have an outdoor seating area at the back with balconies, which are pretty cool. It seems to be a smokers’ and vapers’ corner too. The entire bar is photogenic; hence, I took lots of photographs.
We found Szimpla Kert to be a unique place for a drink, especially for both continental and Hungarian beers. It was quite a sociable place, and I had a chat with other travellers from around the world. I preferred weekday afternoons for my visits, as on weekend evenings there can be quite an epic queue.
Karavan A Food Court For Street Food
Karavan is a cool food court with outside seating in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest, near Szimpla Kert. They have lots of street food and drink trucks serving a range of foods.
Karavan has seating within the courtyard, which is nicely lit up. Their tables are suitable for those alone up to bigger groups. We found it a pretty friendly place and easy to get chatting with people.
If you plan on drinking with food at Karavan, you need to leave a deposit for plastic glasses. You can collect this when you return the glass when you leave. The food trucks and bars both accept cash or card payments. We dined out here a few times and had a few drinks. It got busy at times; however, there was always a spare place to sit. If the food needed preparation time, they gave you a pager that beeped when your food was ready.
They had a barbecue place that sold some delicious street food. They had lots of options for BBQ meats, and they served them with coleslaw, fries, and a cabbage salad.
UdvarROM
UdvarROM is on the ground floor of the Unity Hostel on Klauzál utca. It stays open very late. It’s a vibrant nightlife venue if you like to party. UdvarROM has a great atmosphere, is popular with backpackers and makes it easy to meet new people.
The decor and lighting are bright and colourful, and it’s a great place for those who enjoy nights out. It has comfy seating and long tables, ideal for groups.
UdvarROM offers a range of drinks, including beers and cocktails. They accept both cash and card payments for drinks. As a bonus, there is a burger joint next door, Füge Udvar, where you can order food.
Füge Udvar
Another ruin bar is Füge Udvar, formerly Deep Burger, a handy place for drinks and food. Füge Udvar specialises in beer and burgers, which I tried both of.
They serve a fantastic range of burgers, but I highly recommend their big “Juicy Lucy burger”. The eatery has tables where you can sit, eat, or drink. They are open late, from 4 pm to 4 am, and have a garden too.
EXTRA Budapest – Brunch Bar Club
Another cool place on Klauzál utca for food or drinks is Extra. They are an urban bar in a historic building serving mostly pub grub. Drinks include various beers and cocktails. They also have live music. On my visit, I had beers along with sausages and pickles.
Restaurante Fuego
Near Szimpla Kert is Restaurante Fuego, a lovely place, especially if you like chicken. We enjoyed a meal out here during a night out at the ruin bars of Budapest.
For drinks, I had a Borsodi, a Hungarian beer. For food at Fuego, we shared a rotisserie chicken with a few sides.
Kazinczy Kocsma For Karaoke
Kazinczy Kocsma. It’s in the basement of a building and quite a cool bar. They serve a range of drinks, including Hoegaarden, a delicious beer.
We found this to be much quieter than other places and had a delightful time here, except for a scammer trying to charge us for the toilet. They also have karaoke.
How To Get To The Ruin Bars
To reach the area on public transport, there are buses, trams and the metro. The nearest metro station is Astoria, then a short 7-10 minute walk to the entrance. Alternatively, it is walkable from many parts of the Jewish Quarter and the main sights in Pest.
The address of Szimpla Kert, the main bar, is Kazinczy utca. From there, everything else is nearby. The entrance is in the photograph above.
Where to Stay?
There are many options for hostels and other places to stay in the area near the Szimpla Kert and the ruin bars. We stayed at Unity Hostel, which is in the heart of the area. Many options are very close; you can find these on Booking.com.
Are Szimpla Kert & The Ruin Bars Worth Visiting?
If you like a lively night out or quirky bars, then Szimpla Kert is well worth visiting while in Budapest. If you’re not into nightlife, it’s probably best to visit when the bars are opening and quiet, about 4 pm. There are plenty of options for bars and places to eat, so there’s something for everyone.