Cooking class in Budapest? Or some other cool experience?

We are cruising the Danube so not necessarily looking for a water
excursion.

But you still have to do the evening sightseeing cruise. Your riverboat wont give you that unless they arrrive or depart after sunset.

COOKING CLASSES & HOME COOKING

• EATWITH.COM provides an opportunity to dine in the home of a local or have a private dinner prepared by an expert chef or learn how to cook the local specialties. In Budapest there are currently over 30 options to choose from. https://www.eatwith.com/
• Flavors of Budapest cooking classes: https://cookinghungary.com/
• Chef Parade cooking classes: https://www.chefparade.hu/en/home
  
• Culinary Hungary cooking classes: https://budapestcookingclass.com/

And there used to be a place in a village just outside of town where you could participate in a local honest to goodness good old fashion pig killing, sausage making, barbecuing event. I will look and see if they are still doing it.

Any ideas will depend on when you are coming and for how long you are staying and how many of you and maybe interests?

The North American Womens Association of Budapest used to sponsor a pig slaughter, but apparently no more. A shame. And the big slaughter festival is this weekend so I suppose you will miss that:

On 15 November, the Sausage Stuffing Pig Slaughter Festival will be held for the 16th time, where everything is about the traditions of village pig slaughter. The event starts early: you warm up with a homemade pálinka, then the classic ceremony of pig slaughter begins, with roasting and processing. Those who wish can experience this special, old custom up close, and can even take part in the work. For breakfast, marrow and roasted liver are offered with pickles and fresh bread – a real Hungarian feast for cold mornings! And at noon, the art of making hog's pudding and sausages can begin: participants can test their creativity and manual dexterity in the sausage stuffing competition. As a highlight of the day, András Szőke, the chairman of the jury, will award the best creations.

• Wineries are always interesting especially if you can be here duing a private event at one.
• Local social events also. But again, need dates. .....
• Would you like to fly in a WWI vintage biplane. I thought it was a kick in the ...... A little more tame might be the DC3 flight (not really a DC3 but a WWII Soviet knockoff) also a hoot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djYxwm6hl70 and https://youtu.be/4KZoXHkDiuY?si=uEJuUqvarsFntrOt
• Maybe a day trip to Uzhorod or Mukachevo?
• We have some caves. Imagine exploring caves in a country without many lawyers. So much more interesting.

Great info! This is why I love the forum!!!

Sorry I didn’t think to include dates. We will be there April 22-25. 2026.

Cissy K, if you are into historic train journeys, keep an eye on this page. Nothing on your dates, but Its early and a substantial number of the trips are not posted yet. https://www.mavrailtours.hu/hu/travels/2026

Another is maybe a night at the Opera. You book early (now) and get box seats and go as high roller with intermission in the The Feszty Bar https://budapestimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20230808034859-ce8a0d7f.jpg and https://www.opera.hu/media/images/solti_gala_2024_10_20_foto_berecz_valter_resi.width-2000.jpg There is a production on the 24th. Its a Friday and a Season Ticket night so I would expect that the audiance will be pretty well dressed. There are a few good seats left, but not many. You want a box .... problem is you will have to buy all four seats in the box so thats 33.000 ft x 4 or about $550, but I might be convinced to take two of them off your hands.

Maybe a tour in an old commie Trabant? This little car is made out of 1960's kitchen counter top mateiral (Formica) and is powered by a lawnmower engine (two stroke). https://www.getyourguide.com/budapest-l29/trabant-sightseeing-tour-t763/?ranking_uuid=d1a85ff6-1307-475e-ba90-3ce4b1c811df

Historic train journey, yes. Opera, probably not. I’ll keep an eye on the train website so thank you for that info.

In our RS Prague and Budapest tour in September 2024, we did a group lunch cooking class at ChefParade (Becsi ut 27). Our group of 28 split up into several groups that each made one of the courses under supervision (goulash soup, appetizers, salad, main course, dessert). Afterwards, we ate what we cooked. It was a great and fun experience. Very tasty. They then gave us a cookbook on the preparation. We took the tram to get there. Not sure how it compares to the others that Mr. E provided. Check if they offer individual classes?

Thank you so much for the info. I’ll check it out!