Are you going to celebrate Christmas in Budapest with Hungarian friends?
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Here you'll find some essential information about opening hours, public transport and some interesting Hungarian Christmas traditions.
In mid-November Budapest starts to prepare for Christmas.
Streets are decorated with colourful lights, shop-windows are adorned to lure in customers hunting for gifts. |
More and more people set out to look for the ideal Christmas presents in shops or in the markets.
If you're looking for a unique Hungarian gift and want to get away from the all alike shops visit the Budapest Christmas Fair at Vörösmarty Square.
Hotels in Budapest
Opening hours at Christmas
Public Transport during the holiday
Hungarian Christmas traditions
Weather around Christmas at Budapest
Programs at Christmas in Budapest
Christmas Cruise & Dinner on the Danube, 24th & 25th December
Go for a Christmas Dinner & Cruise on the Danube and admire the wonderful panorama of Pest and Buda on the riverbanks. While contemplating the vista you can relish fine food from the buffet dinner, and live music (only during the cruise starting at 19.00).
Details:
You will be welcomed on board of an air-conditioned ship, which will take you on a one-and-a-half-hour-long cruise with an excellent warm buffet-dinner. In the romantic candlelight atmosphere you can enjoy the wonderful view of the city swimming in lights. After dinner you can also admire the panorama from the open upper deck of the ship. Guiding is not included in the program.
Time, Meeting Place:
Christmas Cruise with Dinner & Live Music starts at 19.00 on 24th and 25th December, meeting is at the ticket office of the Duna Palota (Danube Palace) at 5., Zrínyi utca, V. district. at 13.30 the latest. See map.
Christmas Cruise with Dinner at 22.00 on 25th December, meeting place Duna Palota (Danube Palace) at 5., Zrínyi utca, V. district. at 21.30 the latest. See map.
Price: 53.45 €/14 900 HUF, with pick-up service: 59.25 €/ HUF
Reserve your Tickets and Read More Details About the Christmas cruise in Budapest:
Menu of the Christmas Cruise:
Aperitif
Champagne or Peach Pálinka or Orange Juice
Cold entries
Aubergine Cream with Bread Crackers
Sheep Cheese Cream Hungarian Style
Traditional Greaves Cream
Soup
Goulash Soup with Beef Cubes "Hortobágy Style"
Cold Peach Soup with Pálinka
Warm main course
Stuffed cabbage rolls with sliced sausage and sour cream
Chicken breast filled with dried fruits, marinated in honey and thyme with garlic sauce
Catfish filled in bell peppers with spicy tomato dill sauce “Szegediner style”
Garnish and vegetarians
Fried “puliszka” with olives terrine and sheep cheese in rosemary garlic oil
Potato noodles in tomato stew with fresh basil and blue cheese
Mashed potatoes with mustard seeds and deep fried onion
Steamed rice with glaced vegetables
Salads
Different kinds of raw salads
with yogurt dill and horseradish cognac dressing
“Duna Palota style“
Cabbage salad with bell pepper stripes and garlic cream dressing
“Caesar salad”
Lettuce salad, Parmesan chesse dressing and slices of grilled chicken breast
“Grandmother’s recipe”
Potato salad with onion, mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard dressing
“Farmer style”
Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, cheese, olives
Basket of seasonal fruits
Desserts
Créme caramel with grated strawberry chocolate
Sponge cake "Somlói" style
Chocolate peppermint mousse with egg liqueur
Drinks:
1 glass of red or white wine + 1 bottle of water (0,33) or soft drink
Christmas Concert in the Danube Palace
The Christmas Chamber Concert in the splendid neobaroque Duna Palota (Danube Palace) will get you in the festive mood. The Danube Chamber Orchestra compiled the 2 x 45-minute concert program especially for Christmas Day.
Date of the Christmas Concert: 20.00, 25th December 2011.
Tickets: 34.25 €/8 900 HUF/adult, 7 900 HUF/30.8 €/student. Book your ticket for the Christmas Chamber concert in Euro.
TIP #1: SAVE money by booking the Christmas Chamber Concert together with a Dinner & Cruise.
TIP #2: Book a ticket at discount price for a spectacular Hungarian Folk performance, together with the night cruise starting at 22.00. You pay less for the two programs than you would if you bought them separately.
This way you not only have great program for a full evening but you pay less if you book the a Concert/Folk performance + Dinner & Cruise as a package.
After the concert/folk program the friendly, foreign-language speaking hostesses accompany you from the concert venue (Danube Palace or Vigadó hall) to the cruise ship. It takes about 4-5 minutes to get there by walk.
The 19.00 cruise ends at 20.30, the 22.00 cruise lasts till 23.30 and the hostesses can call you a taxi to take you back to your hotel.
Read our account of the Danube cruise and see the photos we took.
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More Program Tips - Preparing for Christmas |
Here are some of the coolest Xmas programs taking place during the weeks preceding the holiday.
Advent in Óbuda, Fő tér (Main Square), 26th November-18th December 2011
Getting there:
The Main Square of Óbuda hosts festive programs on the four weekends of Advent and in the first two months of 2011: concerts, puppet shows, ice rink, and folk craft market offer entertainment for the whole family.
A tall Christmas tree and the life-size Betlehem create a special pre-Christmas atmosphere.
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Tickets: there's no admission fee but visitors has to purchase a mug for 500 HUF to be able to sip mulled wine or hot tea and taste the culinary delicacies. All concerts, performances and the ice rink are free.
More information: Advent in Óbuda
Saturnalia - Aquincum Museum, 6th-9th, 11th December, 2011, 10.00-16.00
Address: Szentendrei út 135., district III., by suburban railway (HÉV) from Batthyány tér to Aquincum station, from Szentlélek tér in Óbuda: by buses 34, 134, and 106 to Aquincum stop
Tickets: adult: 850 HUF, students (6-26 years of age), pensioners (62-70 years of age): 450 HUF
An event that introduces visitors to the roots of Christmas in Antiquity. Saturn is the god of agriculture and time in Roman mythology.
The ancient celebrations devoted to him were the predecessors of Christmas in Christian traditions. |
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Christmas Market at Vörösmarty Square and Other Places in Downtown Budapest
Opening Hours: 18th November-30th December, 10.00-20.00 daily, on 24th December: 10.00-14.00, the market is closed on 25th and 26th December
Getting there: M1 metro (yellow line) Vörösmarty tér station
Europe's best Christmas fair (according to the Sunday Times in 2008) welcomes visitors on Vörösmarty Square in Budapest's centre.
The Budapest Christmas Fair has become one of the most popular of similar festive markets in Europe. |
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Folk craftsmen offer authentic handmade artifacts and souvenirs in homey wood pavilons surrounding the lofty Christmas fir and the giant Advent wreath.
If you're looking for unique one-of-a-kind Christmas presents you'll definitely find something on the Vörösmarty Square Fair. See some photos below.
There are some other festive markets in the city center during the Christmas period:
- in the Gozsdu Courtyard
- in Deák Ferenc utca
- at St. Stephen's Square in front of the Basilica
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Christmas Concerts in Danube Palace
Address: Zrínyi utca 5., district V., a short walk from Deák tér metro station (M1, M2, M3 lines)
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Where to Stay During Christmas in Budapest?
Search for the Best Budapest Christmas hotel deals using the search box on the right.
The results will appear in a new window allowing you to compare hotel prices provided by 30+ booking sites.
You can also read hotel reviews provided by travelers. |
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Christmas Market at Vörösmarty Square - Photos
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Genuine Handcrafted Goods |
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Hungarian Salami, Sausages and Ham |
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Opening Hours at Christmas in Budapest
Shops are open for the Bronze, Silver and Gold Sundays on the three weekends before Christmas.
Shops close around early afternoon on 24th December and open only on 27th December. Some larger shopping malls might stay open until early evening on 24th December.
On Christmas Day and Boxing Day all shops, supermarkets are closed in Budapest. Many shops do not open between Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Life gets back to normal after 1st January.
Restaurants are also closed on Christmas Eve (24th December), but some of them open on 25th-26th December.
Opening Hours During Christmas in Budapest.
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Public Transport at Christmas in Budapest
Public transport vehicles run until around 15.00-16.00. After 16.00 night services carry passangers.
On 25th-26th December vehicles run according to holiday schedule.
Between 27th and 1st January vehicles run less frequently than they do on usual weekdays. It's also holiday at schools, all public transport vehicles run according to schedules valid on school holidays.
You'll find exact information on public transport schedules around Christmas and New Year's Day on this page.
Tram 2A and this year tram 61K are Usually Dressed in Festive Christmas Lights During the Holiday Season
Tram 61K runs between Szél Kálmán tér and Móricz zsigmond körtér in Buda from Monday to Wednesday in every 45 minutes. See timetable here.
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This year Tram 2A (between Boráros tér and Jászai Mari tér stations along the Danube Promenade) will also be decorated with Santa Claus theme. The Santa Claus tram will run for 1 week from 4th December. Tram 2A will take on its festive Christmas lighting decoration from 9th December 2011 and. Timetable for Christmas Tram 2A. |
Photo Credit: Heti Válasz weekly magazine
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Romantic Christmas Feeling in Váci utca
Andrássy Avenue is another great street for Christmas strolling
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Some Hungarian Christmas Traditions
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Hungary. The main celebration takes place on Christmas Eve (it's Szenteste in Hungarian, meaning Holy Night).
Family members get together in the afternoon on 24th December and decorate the Christmas tree. Grandparents or elder brothers and sisters look after the little ones, so they won't see their presents placed under the tree.
The fragrant fir is adorned with colourful paper decorations and a special Hungarian Christmas candy (szaloncukor) wrapped in shinny coloured papers.
Housewives cook traditional Hungarian Chritsmas dishes in the kitchen. We usually have fish soup, stuffed cabbage, pastry rolls stuffed with poppy seed, walnut or chestnut stuffing (it's called bejgli in Hungarian). Try our Authentic Hungarian Christmas Recipes!
Family members exchange gifts in the evening on 24th December while listening to traditional Christmas songs.
In Hungary baby Jesus brings the presents, not Santa. We celebrate the arrival of Santa on 6th December, St. Nicholas Day.
At midnight people go to the midnight mass. Organ music and pine scent fill the air in churches where people sing together classical Christmas songs. Even non-religious people attend this mass because of its festive and uplifting atmosphere.
On the following two days relatives and friends visit it each other at their homes, have traditional Christmas dishes and desserts and enjoy each other's company.
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Weather around Christmas in Budapest
When I was a little kid thick snow covered the streets around Christmas. The first snowflakes fell usually at the end of November. The temperatures were around zero or below.
Today it is hard to tell what will be the weather like around Christmas. Due to global warming we have not see any snow in Budapest in the past couple of years during the holiday.
Some snow might fall in the northern Hungary and in the hills. The weather around Christmas is sometimes rather mild and dull, with some rain, and it's crispy and sunny with crystal blue sky at times. I prefer the latter, though I long for white Christmas every year.
Find out more about Budapest Weather.
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Programs at Christmas in Budapest
Gala Concert of the 100-member Gypsy Orchestra
30th December, 18.00, Budapest Congress Centre
The world famous 100-member Gypsy Orchestra performs a concert; they'll play both classical and traditional folk music.
The whole city calms down for a couple of days. You can hear only the sound of Christmas concerts and Advent songs in Budapest's churches.
After the hectic shopping it's a real relaxation to listen to the organ works and contemplate about the meaning of Advent and Christmas. I recommend the Lights of Christmas Festival in Matthias Church in Castle District .
Merry Christmas in Budapest!
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