Vörösmarty tér is the city’s focal square, the site of Budapest’s main Christmas market, its most café/confectionery Gerbeaud and, in the same prominent building, the only restaurant in town granted two Michelin stars, Onyx. Alongside the Gerbeaud terrace is the southern terminus of the M1 yellow Millennium Underground, linking the square with the landmarks of Andrássy út, Heroes’ Square and Városliget, or City Park.
The square is the gateway to the tourist-focused shopping strip of Váci utca, which means that its southern end is haunted by people hawking tours and portrait artists praying on passing tourists. Here, on one corner, the Hard Rock Café also attracts significant footfall from the bustle.
After a relandscape and overhaul undertaken in 2019, the statue of namesake poet Mihály Vörösmarty should regain its sheen, new trees will be planted and ornamental lighting installed. Amid the greener, sleeker surroundings, the once centrepiece lion’s fountain moves to the space previously occupied by the British Embassy near the Gerbeaud.
