Exploring the best ruin bars of Budapest’s Jewish Quarter

26.11.2024 - 19:19 / lonelyplanet.com

Nov 26, 2024 • 6 min read

Budapest’s seventh district, also known as the Jewish Quarter, once home to a flourishing Jewish community which languished for decades after World War II, has emerged as one of the best bar-hopping ’hoods on the busy Pest side of the Danube.

This renaissance has been led – fittingly, perhaps, given the still-derelict state of much of the area – by a string of so-called ‘ruin bars’ (romkocsma in Hungarian) that have opened in recent years along the back streets behind the Great Synagogue. 

Today these establishments are among the nightlife staples of the Hungarian capital, offering a unique mix of drinking, dancing and socializing in a slightly shabby but always charming setting. Here’s the guide to the best ruin bars in Budapest.

Each ruin bar is unique, but they all share certain similarities. The main ingredient is usually an abandoned building (hence the ‘ruin’ part in the name), preferably with a vacant lot nearby to hold some picnic tables and a few beer taps. Add to that a bit of thrift-shop decor and a healthy dose of hipster vibe and the result is what you might get if you crossed a chill Berlin squat with a smallish Munich beer hall.

The best ruin bars in Budapest offer live music or DJs on the weekends, as well as film nights and art exhibitions. Some have light food and hostel accommodation, or even host farmers’ markets or creative events during the day. They’re the perfect spot to unwind on a warm summer night after a busy day of sightseeing.

The arrival of the ruin bars couldn’t have come sooner for beleaguered Budapest VII (as the city’s districts are designated; when in Budapest, do as the Romans do). Though the area is a stone’s throw from Andrássy út, Pest’s swankiest boulevard, it suffered from a mix of neglect, bad karma and poverty that started during the war with the deportation of tens of thousands of Jewish residents and continued into the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s with the forced relocation here of the Roma to occupy the abandoned houses.

Now, main streets like Király utca and Dob utca are home to trendy coffeehouses and wine bars that sit alongside the remnants of Jewish life – small family-owned restaurants and bakeries – that managed to survive.

Budapest’s main ruin bars are all a short walk from one another and can be taken in fairly easily during a night of methodical drinking. They concentrate in the city’s Jewish Quarter (officially called District VII, seventh district, or Erzsébetváros). Each has its own personality, so the best bet is simply to find the one that best suits the night and the mood.

You can explore the bars on your own, but if you want a deeper historical and cultural immersion into the ruin bar lore, book a specialized walking tour. Most