So, you’ve had a great time in Budapest, seen the sights, wined, dined and partied, and now it’s time to go home. But first, that special souvenir you’ve been thinking about all weekend. Before you shop, rather than carry your bags around with you, why not pop into the new airport check-in and left-luggage service at Kálvin tér, right in the city centre, close to the stop for the 100E airport bus.
How to pack
Remember that the limit for liquids being taken through security as hand luggage is 100ml, and containers must be sealed and placed in a see-through bag. The size and weight of permitted hand baggage vary between airlines. Hold luggage is generally 20kg but this also differs from company to company. See here for English-language guidelines as to what can be taken on board and what should be packed away in the hold.
Drop, check-in and go!
Thanks to the new self-service facilities at Kálvin tér 4 (daily 6am-10pm), baggage check-in is now faster, easier and more convenient. Just print out and attach the tag to your luggage after scanning the barcode on your boarding pass. You can then leave it there safely to pick up later. You can also weigh it, measure it and wrap it, with a member of staff on hand to help with any problems. On-site is a Covid testing point, a Nespresso café, and wine and spirits provided by Bortársaság and Zwack. All within a short walk of the 100E airport bus! Once you've picked up your luggage and taken it to the airport, you can beat the queues and breeze through to the automated check-in desk. Self-service check-in is also available at both terminals. Currently you can use this facility for Wizz Air, Aegean, Air France/KLM and Norwegian flights. See here for guidelines.
So, with a little more time to spare in town, what should you buy? As Budapest is a one-of-a-kind, enchanting capital of a country whose language few outsiders can speak, many items on offer are equally unique. It could be a cool designer T-shirt, a pre-war poster or a bottle of golden Tokaji wine to wow your friends with.
Here we provide a few tips. All outlets within easy reach of Kálvin tér.
1/25
DRK
Dorko, as it is called in its homeland, is a successful Hungarian
streetwear and sports brand. Its distinctive acronymic sign can be seen above
shopfronts across Budapest, Hungary and at Terminal 2A at the airport. Reviving
training shoes from pre-’89, Dorko have made a point of collaborating
with talented designers, musicians, artists and athletes. The Dorko Hungary Collection is worn by many top sportsmen here, including recent Wimbledon
quarter-finalist Márton Fucsovics. Details
2/25
MONO art & design
A one-stop shop for
contemporary Hungarian design – outlet, gallery, exhibition space and
concept store in one, in fact – MONO showcases the works of around a
hundred local creatives. Funky accessories and items of home décor are its speciality,
artefacts small enough to pack into a suitcase but original enough to cause
genuine surprise and gratitude when your gift is presented upon your return
home. Details
3/25
Printa
The
ever-creative Zita Majoros set up Printa way before surrounding District VII became the
centre of Budapest nightlife. Staying true to her principles of sustainability,
her store, art gallery, screen-print
studio and café still stocks limited-edition, eco-friendly clothes and accessories with Budapest as their running theme,
either urban history or local topography. Upcycling is a key dynamic here,
those cool belts probably once part of a car tyre. Details
4/25
Rododendron Art & Design Shop
Rododendron was originally a tiny gallery, but it has since expanded into a more
mainstream spot showcasing art and design, representing around a hundred local and selected
international creatives and artists. The range of artefacts in dizzying, Budapest
represented in necklace, art print, diary planner, notebook and poster form,
including – ta-da! – We Love Budapest’s very own tote bags. Details
5/25
Tisza cipő
Their flagship outlet diagonally
opposite the Hotel Astoria, Tisza is a classic example of own-brand, Communist-era
training shoes being rebranded and becoming ever so fashionable two generations
later. First established in Martfű by the Tisza
river in 1942, the footwear was given a unwittingly cool retro logo in 1971. Some
Hungarians craved three stripes from the West – just as many here wore Tisza. With
pre-’89 labels enjoying a revival in popularity a decade or so later, the iconic T symbol was dusted down to recapture the imagination of the Hungarian
public. Excellent craftmanship and contemporary urban design did the rest. The
Budapest Collection is what you’re looking for. Details
6/25
Bortársaság
Budapest’s longest-established
independent wine outlet, unveiled by enthusiasts from the UK and Hungary back
in 1993, has flourished in tandem with the country’s blossoming wine industry.
From showcasing labels by Attila Gere and József
Bock back in the day, Bortársaság now highlights on-trend domestic
winemakers such as Endre Szászi and Homola. Bubbles are in, too, look for names
such as Kreinbacher and Sauska. Staff at the dozen or so outlets across
Budapest are knowledgeable, English-speaking
and happy to advise. Details
7/25
Culinaris
Hungarians go to this revered institution by Margaret Bridge for high-quality Italian pasta sauces and exclusive virgin olive oils – Budapest expats love Culinaris for Hungarian grey-cattle and venison salami, domestic smoked ham and artisanal honey. If you’ve plenty of space in the suitcase, they also offer a basket of Hungaricums, Hungarian specialities, the contents varying according to season and supply. This main branch also serves tasty sit-down lunches if you have time before your flight. Details
8/25
Magyar pálinka háza
Hungary’s particular kind of clear fruit
brandy, pálinka, comes in many forms and is made from all kinds of base ingredients.
Produced as an eau de vie since medieval times, from peaches, pears, plums and
other fruit, pálinka has been refined over the centuries and became fashionable
around a decade ago. Brands such as Árpád and 1 Csepp now distill high-quality pálinkas
in thin, trendy bottles. These also make ideal presents. You’ll find some 70
varieties lining the shelves of the Magyar pálinka háza near Astoria, with staff
dispensing advice on what to buy and how to serve the drink once you get home. Details
9/25
Stühmer
Chocolates are always an easy,
portable option on any holiday or business trip, local brands often steeped
in history and tradition, the boxes often in classic designs created by
advertising teams generations ago. Such is Stühmer. Originally a master
confectioner from Hamburg who came to Hungary in 1868, Frigyes Stühmer became
the prominent chocolatier during Budapest’s Golden Age. Some five dozen outlets
dotted the country, with branches in the Habsburg resort of Opatija and even in
Paris. Their packaging was ahead of the pack. In a familiar story, the firm was
nationalised after World War II, then its trademark revived after 1989. Recognised
and revered, the brand has since expanded to 150 products, underscored by a
sense of comfortable nostalgia. This really is like taking a piece of Hungary
home with you. Details
10/25
Szamos
Another classic Hungarian brand, this
one with an outlet at the airport as well as a café, museum and store by
Parliament on Kossuth Lajos tér, Szamos has been built on marzipan. It was Mátyás
Szamos who learned the key to making high-end marzipan from a Danish confectioner
in the 1930s, passing down the secrets to the next generation. Today, Szamos
marzipan comes in bonbon, draguée, figurine and chocolate-bar forms, though the
pretty presentation boxes might best suit the travelling customer. If you’re at
the showcase branch on Kossuth tér, you can sit down with a coffee and slice of
cake, and admire your purchase while the number 2 tram glides by past
Parliament. Details
11/25
Bomo Art
Bomo Art Budapest is a small and stylish stationery store
with an atmosphere that echoes the Belle Époque. Offering original notebooks,
postcards, calendars, diaries, wrapping paper and all kinds of fine tools for
calligraphy, Bomo Art is a true treasure trove
of pen and paper. There are lovely gift sets, too, the ideal present for the
creative child, as well as gift boxes. You can even pick up a kaleidoscope. Details
12/25
Citygraph
Leisurely Falk Miksa utca is the go-to destination for antiquated artefacts
in Budapest, lined with auction houses and art galleries. Of the more
contemporary outlets to open in recent years, the most notable is Citygraph, a
brightly lit shop selling map-like graphics of Hungary’s capital, all
hand-drawn in great detail. Urban illustrations showcase historic Budapest
through the ages. It’s all the work of Béla Magyar, whose painstaking precision
creates one-of-a-kind maps, prints, stationery and T-shirts. Details
13/25
Great Market Hall
One tram stop
from Kálvin tér on Fővám tér, the Great Market
Hall is the easiest go-to destination to pick up strings of
bright-red paprikas, distinctive small packages and tins of the powdered
variety, cheeses, goose liver, wines and other Hungarian delicacies. The
building is a tourist sight in itself, opened in 1897 when a canal ran through
it, allowing traders to transport their wares up from the Danube alongside. Head
upstairs for handicrafts and traditional souvenirs, including clothes and fabrics
created with the so-called blue-dye technique, kékfestés, typical of Hungary. Details
14/25
Magma
Magma is a little boutique in the city centre whose
strikingly original artefacts have been created by
Hungarian
artists only. The
vast selection holds everything from décor items, fashion accessories, posters
and textiles, to all kinds of knickknacks. If you’re looking for one-of-a-kind shot
glasses, playing cards or chimney-cake air freshener for the car, here’s where you’ll
find them. Note also the autistic art notebooks, their covers created by people
living with autism, taught by contemporary artists. Proceeds go towards
residential homes for the autistic. Details
15/25
Memories of Hungary
When you’ve got ten minutes to browse,
choose, purchase and go, and yet still take a piece of Budapest home with you, Memories
of Hungary is ideal. With branches at the airport, at tourist hubs around Buda
Castle and here on the city’s mainstream shopping drag of Váci utca, this long-established
souvenir store offers a surprising number of gifts above and beyond the standard
fridge magnets and snow globes. Among the near 10,000 objects, you can pick up
a scary mask of the type worn at the Mohács Busójárás Carnival,
T-shirts bearing the portrait of Hungarian football hero Ferenc Puskás and figurines
to dangle on the Christmas tree whenever that time of year comes around. Details
16/25
Herend
Approaching its bicentenary, Herend
porcelain is one of Hungary’s most revered brands, sold to the Hungarian aristocracy
from the 1840s, showcased at London’s Great Exhibition in 1851 and commissioned
by Queen Victoria. On your next visit to Hungary, you may wish to take a trip
to the Herend factory near Lake Balaton and see how it’s all done, but for now,
the showcase Palais Herend store in the city centre would be your
best port of call to select a hand-crafted figurine, jewellery box or
decorative dish. There are more elaborate items, too, with prices to match, but
whatever you purchase will be delicately wrapped for you to transport. Details
17/25
NUBU
Sophisticated urban wear for both
sexes is the stock in trade of NUBU, a long-established Hungarian fashion brand with a significant presence in the US,
Tokyo and Hong Kong. The showroom is found on showcase boulevard Andrássy út, diagonally
opposite the Opera House, the ideal setting for NUBU’s eagerly awaited seasonal
collections. Material is sourced locally, designs are subtle yet classy and,
along with ready-to-wear-pieces, you’ll find accessories and leather bags.
18/25
Tipton Eyeworks
As Hungarian-American
designer Zachary Tipton sums
up his sought-after glasses and how to best purchase them, “Handmade
since 1998, worn globally. Get your contactless eye exam and have a cocktail
after. Walk-ins welcome”. Starting out by swiping a few vinyl records from his dad’s precious collection and
fashioning them into cool frames for glasses and sunglasses, Tipton went from wowing
his friends with his Vinylize collection to a series using photographic film, Cinématique,
examples of which are highly prized today. Today, Elton John, Robbie Williams
and Quentin Tarantino wear Tipton, the frames usually black or transparent, the
price tags hefty but reliability and durability a given. Details
19/25
Varga Design
In business for the best part of half a century, Miklos
Varga started out as an expert silversmith, branching out to master all kinds
of precious metals, crafting exquisite jewellery in gold, platinum and silver.
Also putting together his own team of young artists and artisans, Varga
oversees the production of gorgeous necklaces, bracelets, brooches, rings and
earrings, not to mention cufflinks, medals and buckles. All is beautifully
presented, the ideal solution if you’re looking for a thoughtful gift for that
special occasion, a wedding, an engagement or a graduation. Details
20/25
Vass cipő
Crafted from finest calfskin, horse leather and various exotic varieties, Vass shoes are ready to wear once you walk into this pleasingly old-school boutique in the heart of town – or you can have a pair made to measure and dispatched to your address. Established by László Vass in 1978, the brand honours the venerable tradition of shoemaking, allowing the customer seeking customised footwear to decide on colour, stitching, soles and design. For those looking to walk out in something smart and durable straight way, Vass stocks sizes 39 to 47 as well as half-numbers in between. All hand-made and meticulous with it. Details
21/25
Antik-Bazár
A
short walk from Astoria, Antik-Bazár is an Aladdin’s Cave of authentic
Commie kitsch, a flea market squeezed into a two-floor store of secondhand treasure.
Caps, badges, posters, banknotes and postcards, all items here were used at one
time or another before 1989. Browsing is a real delight, you’ll never know what
you might find on the next shelf, and if you’re looking for something specific,
the lovely old shop owner can point you in the right direction. As Hungary is laudably
a make-do-and-mend culture, you may pick up a useful item no longer manufactured
today, a needle for your record player perhaps, or a flint for your 1960s’ cigarette
lighter. Details
22/25
Artibus365
Though utterly desirable, much of what you see in this
haven of authentically retro furniture is not exactly portable. But, sadly
passing over the sofa designed by Danes in the 1970s or that dining table crafted
in yé-yé era France, your beady eyes might still settle on a must-have Italian bedside
lamp or ashtray you last saw in a Melville movie. There are plenty of Hungarian
artefacts, too. All form part of a collection gathered by Tibor Nagy from Debrecen, part of which he sells on commission. Tibor’s aim is to
make sure all his objects fall into
the right hands, to people who will love and look after what they’re
buying. Details
23/25
Központi Antikvárium
Leading from Kálvin
tér, main Múzeum körút opposite the National Museum is Budapest’s equivalent of
London’s Charing Cross Road, a row of secondhand bookstores beckoning almost all
the way to Astoria. Along with mainly Hungarian books, they also stock maps,
posters, postcards and vinyl. The granddaddy of them all, the largest of its
kind in Hungary, has been in business since 1891. Announcing its presence
with a neon owl in bright blue,
the ‘Central Antiquarian Bookshop’ displays vintage
advertising posters in its many windows, and around the
large main room centrepieced
by glass cabinets containing rarities and autographed editions.
The posters, stacked back-to-back to one side, carry hefty price tags, so if you’ve
fallen for the gorgeous Orion radio
ad from the 1920s,
be prepared to pay for it. This is the kind of place which
hires out the gilded
Mirror Room at the Festetics Palace for auctions. Details
24/25
Múzeum Antikvárium
Along the antiquarian
avenue of Múzeum körút, this charming store was opened
by four bookworms more than
30 years ago, an attractive space decorated with the vintage advertising and film posters all
for sale. If you’re after an original poster with lettering in Art-Deco style advertising the
XXXIV International Eucharistic Congress in May 1938, this is where to come.
The English-friendly website lists far more books, exhibition catalogues, maps, postcards and manuscripts than could possibly
fit into these intimate surroundings, but if you’re just browsing for random treasure, you’ll spend a very happy half-hour here. For specific rarities, look out for
their online auctions. Details
25/25
Tordai
The owner, who
originally trained as a cinematographer, eventually decided to give in to his
love for books, and opened his own secondhand bookstore in 2005 on bustling Király utca. While the
majority of the items don’t fall into the antique category, some of the volumes
here were printed in the 17th and 18th centuries. The
shop’s old-world feel is enhanced by paintings, typewriters, sketches, cameras
and a collection of 30 vintage mechanical watches,
some adorning the interior and
the shop windows. It’s all a short
walk from Deák Ferenc tér, two tram stops from Kálvin tér. Details
This article was published with the support of Budapest Airport.
