Beat the winter blues at Budapest’s new free recreation room

Plenty of green plants, a lot of light, a stripy deckchair and some tea – what else do you need for an hour of chilling out? Rákócity at Víg utca 20 is a new wintertime mood booster, where anyone can take time out for an hour, free of charge, until 3 March. If you need peace and quiet, but can’t find the perfect place, here it is. So bring a book, a friend, your Netflix or nothing but yourself – and just chill.

Mindspace is a non-profit organisation aiming to make Budapest more liveable with creative ideas. This year, Rákóczi tér and District VIII are the focus. Over the weekend, Mindspace adopted 70-80 plants that needed a new home – this number is still growing – and crammed them all into a little space on Rákóczi tér, creating a cool recreation room in the heart of the city.

Rákócity is available for everyone – maximum two people at a time – between 4pm and 8pm for an hour, but reserving a time period is necessary. In the afternoon, there still is plenty of natural light, while after the sun goes down, the lights for the plants create a special mood with red and pink hues. There’s fruit to eat and you can also fix yourself a tea.

Until 3 March, everyone can use Rákócity for free – donations are welcome – while afterwards different kinds of events will be organised here such as film screenings and exhibitions. The plants will later be moved over to the Rákóczi tér Market Hall.

Rákócity

Address: District VIII. Víg utca 20 Booking