Forget Scandinavian chains and run-of-the-mill décor shops – if you’re looking for something really unique to spice up your apartment, there’s nothing like digging in to a good flea market. Here in Budapest, you have to travel a little outside the centre to get to it, but once you’ve arrived at Ecseri Piac, you won’t be able to leave in a hurry. Let our video take you on a quick tour!
Ecseri is the largest of Budapest’s flea markets. It takes a good 30 minutes to get there from the city centre, but it’s worth the journey. The stalls here are overflowing with goodies: furniture, tools, children’s toys, trinkets, antiques, Soviet-era relics, old cameras and weird jewellery… and that’s just the beginning!
Here you can find a working rotary phone, right next to a carved mask from the Busó carnival. Or maybe you prefer the hand-cranked music box, which sits next to an old stamp collection. Looking for a lamp? Simply climb over assorted chairs in one corner and take your pick.
The market is a mix of open-air and interior stalls, often packed to the brim. At the entrance is a small cafe for serious browsers who stay the whole day.
Technically the market is open all week, but the pickings are pretty meagre on the weekdays. The best time to go is on a Saturday morning, when the shopkeepers have all their wares out on display. Of course, the market is run on cash, so don’t expect to find anyone able to process a card payment. Prices are negotiable, as with most open-air markets.
How to get there
The market is only a few minutes from the Naszód utca (Használtcikk piac) bus stop for routes 54/55 from Boráros tér and 84E/89E from Határ út. Once you alight, take the overpass which crosses the main road, and leads straight to the entrance of the market. (On the way back, the Használtcikk piac bus stop is located just outside the main gates, making it that much easier to carry home all those cool things you bought at the market that day.)
Ecseri Bolhapiac
District XIX. Nagykőrösi út 156
Open: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat 5am-3pm, Sun 8am-1pm
