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December 23 and 24

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My family of 4 adults will be in Budapest on December 23 and 24. I’m looking for restaurant recommendations for both days as well as any recommendations for how and where to spend our time on Christmas Eve. Particularly church services and programs offered in English. Thank you!

Posted by
28051 posts

Restaurants

  • 23rd most anything will be open. I will send you a PM with my favorites. There is enough good in town that you might want to choose based on where you are staying. Post where and I might have a different suggestion.
  • 24th I will send you a PM with a list of some that have been open in the past but do confirm and do book asap. One on the list is a river cruise dinner. I love that idea.

Things to do

Much is closed on Christmas Eve. Christmas Markets are open in the morning. Find the thread about the Budapest Christmas Markets. The lights are on in the city and its beautiful and it’s a great town for walking. The larger hotels often have special events and there is usually something at the Opera House (morning or afternoon performance). The bathhouses are open and the river cruises still run.

Church

(these are among your best bets. Call or write and check)

Posted by
28051 posts

Anyone that knows me, and has come to visit knows that Cork Breakfast & Wine is among my favorite "nice" restaurants in town. I checked and they will be open 24 and 25 December.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for this information! We are staying at the Continental Hotel so anything close by would be great.

Posted by
28051 posts

The Continental Hotel is on Dohány utca (street) in District VII. This was the Jewish Deportation Ghetto during WWII. There are three very interesting synagogues in the district; all are worth the time and cost to visit. Today District VII is the district with the most night clubs, kosher restaurants and tourist dependent restaurants. The hotel is near the eastern fringe of the tourist activity, and that’s a good thing.

Budapest is a large city, and the sights are spread out. The good news is that all the real estate between the sights is beautiful and interesting; but you will need public transportation to do it well. Blaha Lujza tér (square) is a 5-minute walk East. There you will find the M2 Metro and the 4/6 Tram. You will need both at some point. A 10-minute walk west will take you to another stop of the M2 Metro and the 47/49 Tram. Again, at some point you will need both. The nearest Christmas market is a 5-minute walk from the M2 & 47/49 Tram stop at Deák Ferenc tér; or you could make the 20 or 25-minute walk from the hotel as the streets and architecture is fascinating. Look at the thread for the market times.

Still haven’t answered your question. Dinner on 24/25. Your hotel has a well rated reasonably priced mostly Hungarian restaurant called Araz that will be open. If you wanted a fancy dinner, I would say Caviar and Bull at the Corinthia Hotel. If you wanted to exotic maybe Marrakech Kosher Restaurant, if you wanted very nice and a reasonable price then Cork Breakfast & Wine, if you wanted something you could tell folks back home about then maybe Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill. My only rule is that I generally avoid any place that has Goulash or Gulyás or Langos in the name.

Look at the list. The most convenient for you will be in District VII or District VIII; but public transportation runs on the holidays (reduced schedule) so go where you are interested. That list will be updated later today (my time).

Posted by
79 posts

Lovely time to be there! On the 23rd the markets at the Basilica and Vörösmarty tér are in full swing, go after dark when the light show on the Basilica starts. Book dinner for the 24th now, the few places open fill fast!

Posted by
28051 posts

The only thing wrong with the Basilica Market is that they tried to fit too much into a small place. Its best during the middle or the week and immediately after sunset; so maybe 5pm. You can see the lights but it hasnt started filling up yet.

Lots of restaurants open, but as shpuntz.m pointed out book soon.

lbell88 that list is updated now and has no less than 30 to choose from. Some are business as ususal, some have Fixe Prix menus, some make a party out of it, some do lunch but not dinner or the other way around. some you will get out for maybe $40 with wine and some will be closer to $180 a person. And there are more. The list is just the ones that take reservations (how I confirmed). For instance, one of those two nights I will be eating a winebar burger.

Posted by
3 posts

Hi Mr. E! Our schedule just opened up and we decided to travel to Budapest with our grown daughter. I know that we are behind in our plans. Any options for dinner remaining on 12/24 or 12/25? We will be in an Airbnb by the Basilica.
Sincerely,
Evelyn

Posted by
28051 posts

Evelyn, I sent you the list. Its long. If you want to narrow it down a bit. First I would say stick to District VI. From the Basilica to the Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út stop of the M1 Metro is a very short walk. But in December the walk up Andrassy ut will be beautiful. Most of the District VI restaurants on that list are on or very near Andrassy ut. The Basilica area will be crowded with market tourists so getting away will be a good idea.

Here are some other links in the forum that might be helpful for your planning.

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