Ruin or ‘art’ pubs are phenomena of Budapest nightlife. You must visit at least one of them whether you are young or old, rich or poor.
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Kertem
We mentioned green. You can have a similar experience in the biggest green area of the city, in the City Park. The outdoor bar is simply called Kertem (literally ‘my garden’). Whether you take your dog or your child for a walk, or ride your bike along, it is worth having a glass of lemonade and some snacks in this cool area. During summer nights, you are able to watch an original black-and-white film on a blanket over the grass while having some romantic or lonely moments.
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Dürer Kert
Dürer Kertis right in the neighborhood of the City Park, which is situated in the former building of the ELTE Faculty of Humanities. It is a real mixture of styles. You will find everything from hardcore, indie or electro parties, to relaxing, biking and darts-playing nights. The advantage is that it is open in winter as well, but sometimes there are too many teenagers, and the music is a little loud.
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Csendes
We should mention Csendes in connection with ELTE, which is the most flagrant bar in Budapest. This place is way beyond creativity, but in service it is just a single pub. It is the favorite place of all university students, since it is ideal for just sitting and talking. As its name suggests, (literally means ‘quiet’) the bar closes early, because they must not disturb the nights of the locals. It is a disadvantage of the place that it is quite hard to get a table, and smoke is so thick that you won’t take your coat home.
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Kuplung (Closed)
If you feel like going to a louder place, do not stop until you find Kuplung in Király Street. The bar has been operating since 2004 and it aims to strengthen the artistic aspects of Király Street. It is a real workshop during the days and it transforms to a loud party place for the nights. We can listen to and watch hundreds of interesting programs, though the bar itself seems a little depressing and dark.
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Fogas
Another hotspot of the downtown is Instant offering different choices in the busy Nagymező Street. The dance floor, the fooseball and the artistic lifestyle is quite common in all ruin pubs, but Instant has a special, trendy atmosphere, that it outstands from other places. The interior and furnishing is similarly deliberate and nonsense like in other bars, it is full of treasures and labyrinths. Their service is also exceptional not to mention that the cutest girls of the city are found here.
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Corvin Club (Closed)
Besides courtyards and parks, we can find an exciting place, which is Corvintető. The roof terrace was planned on the top of the socialist Skála ‘superstore’ in 1926, which became a first-class place of the city by now. You can dance to world music, electroclash, jazz, reggae, drum and bass concerts on the indoor dance floors, while admiring the panorama of the downtown from the top. Corvin-tető can be very exciting with its red lights, but it is very crowded and the inside is confusing. You must not miss two things. First is the sunrise at summer dawns and the second is buying spirits in the elevator.
