SUP seems to have been invented for those keen on hot Insta summer snaps – but you don’t have to be a model or a hunk to do it. Local SUP culture is a laid-back, friendly community, allowing those who practise the sport to relax, improve their posture and sense of balance, and feel close to nature. Here are the best places in Budapest to give it a go.
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Kiteline SE
Kiteline SE offers SUP in exciting locations around Budapest, with equipment rental also
available. During their one-day tours, in addition to SUP, barbecues, good
company and active recreation await the sporting visitor. You can find out more
about the excursions in the closed Facebook group SUPAlert.
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Kolonics György Vízisport Központ
The ideal introduction to the aquatic world of the Danube branch in Ráckeve or Molnár Island, through SUP. Rental fees are an affordable 4,000 forints/2hrs or 6,500 forints/day. In addition to SUP, you can also try several other sports activities, most notably canoeing, whose stellar Olympian was György Kolonics himself.
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Óbuda-Pénzügyőr SE Sporttelep
This sports club by the ever-popular Római embankment up in Óbuda is a great choice for SUP beginners. You can rent a board for 2,500
forints (plus deposit) and use it to take a short, half-hour jaunt along the riverbank,
before heading to the Garden Placc bar next door for refreshments. In addition
to SUP, there are many other activities, cooking facilities, tennis courts,
bicycle and kayak rentals.
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SUP Budapest
If you are looking for a SUP
tour in Budapest, here you can paddle down
from the Római embankment to Elizabeth Bridge and snap a selfie with Parliament in the background, or go
around Lupa Island in a few hours. The price of an excursion lasting a couple
of hours is around 7,000 forints, you just need to have the necessary swimming
skills to join – everything else is provided by the enthusiastic team.
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SUPcsi
This spring, the Nocsak Bar
opened near Soroksár beach where, in addition to wafer-thin pizza, artisanal burgers,
delicious lemonade and iced teas, the SUPcsi team awaits with
boards to rent, right by the cycle path. Options include hourly rental for 4,500
forints. The sport does not require any special expertise, but before your
first tour, you are given a short briefing and receive a life jacket. From the
site you can take a pleasantly languid tour around Czuczor Island or Molnár
Island.
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SUPport
SUPport awaits sports lovers at two locations alongside each other, SHO Beach and Kopaszi-gát. The waters of the Danube are calm in Lágymányosi Bay, providing the perfect opportunity to train and learn new techniques, plus it’s a great place for a team-building. As paddling out of the bay is forbidden, SUPport arranges longer trips to the Danube stretch in Ráckeve, Lake Velence and the Római embankment. Rental of the SUP board is 4,000 forints/hr at Kopaszi-gát and 4,900/hr at SHO Beach.
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SUP The Lifestyle
SUP tours are a main element in the profile of the Budapest Rowing Association.
These include dawn paddles with sunrise coffee on the river, and sunset ones by
Parliament or outside the city, on a more secluded section of the Danube. In
addition, special attention is paid to tuition, from the basics to the presentation
of more serious techniques.
