Was so pleased to know you guys enjoyed my last post on the folks at ‘Our Bumble’  that I decided to expand my horizons a little bit on including features on being a digital nomad. Since I’m off to Budapest, Hungary soon; I thought it would be the best to get in touch with a local! Glad to have Katechka help me out on what there is to know when you’re looking to either make Budapest your home as a digital nomad and how to be cost-efficient as a tourist too! Here’s a guest post from her:

Budapest is the capital city of Hungary, and it is called the pearl on the Danube. The metropolis is a unique blend of beautiful architecture, vibrant atmosphere and wild nightlife. It is easy to reach because it has become the hub for low-cost airlines. There is also a huge community of foreigners that make Budapest an English-friendly city.

Budapest, Hungary Digital Nomad guide|
Ronald Reagan leaving the iconic Budapest Parliament 6. View from Buda to the largest Parliament building in the world
Digital Nomad guide|Budapest
Nyugati train station was built in 1877 by the famous Eiffel before he actually became famous for said tower 😉
Budapest, Hungary Digital Nomad guide|tram
Trams in Budapest are yellow. What colour are they in your city?

WHERE TO STAY

Thanks to being in the spotlight for tourists, the city has accommodation alternatives suiting any budget. You can choose from hundreds of hostels, serviced apartments to luxurious and boutique hotels. The city centre is in district V., but you may want to consider staying in the vivid Jewish quarter (kerület VII.) or district VI. too.

FOODIE PARADISE

Budapest will win your heart, or rather win your stomach’s heart! If you are not a foodie yet, you will become one after spending some time in Budapest. Why? Because of all the fabulous food and the culture surrounding it. Try some traditional Hungarian cuisine like chimney cake (kürtőskalács), lángos, gulyás soup, pörkölt or chicken in paprika sauce.

There are two different culinary trends in Budapest now: modern experimental cuisine and street food. Taste some artisanal pizza in Pizzica, grab the most unhealthy comfort food under the sun – Kolbice or have an innovative lunch menu in Nu Bisztró. If it’s brunch time – Bordó is your place. If you don’t know what you want to eat, head over to Karaván. This courtyard in the famous party street Kazinczy houses food trucks. Vegans will find some noshes in Slow Foodiez. The rumours say that Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant is worth the hike to the Buda castle.

Vegan burger from Foodiez |Digital Nomad guide Budapest, Hungary
Vegan burger from Foodiez

COFFEE CULTURE

Coffee lovers will not be leaving sad either! Budapest has a bustling speciality coffee culture that fuels the city. There are so many new cafes that it is easy to lose track of the new ones. If one coffee is not enough, make sure to get the Budapest coffee tour card. Visit the most iconic Budapest cafes and get a stamp with every order. After drinking in all the eight places, get a coffee for free (if you still have the power for one more). A program for all the real coffee enthusiasts. My favourite cafes (in no particular order) are Espresso Embassy, Madal Cafe, La Nube and Kontakt.

Digital Nomad guide|Budapest
Fekete has also courtyard seating – great in summer to escape the heat of Budapest streets

CO WORKING OFFICES

As Budapest is on the bucket list of many travellers and digital nomads, the need to have a solid work environment and to network led to the opening of many coworking offices. They became the home for many startups too. If you look for a nice place to work, skip the cafe for a day and give them a chance. The newest additions to the coworking spaces are Mosaik and Coffice. Massolit is a bookstore with a secret garden in the Jewish district. It is popular with English-speaking expats to work during the day. This place will never turn you down.

WHAT TO SEE

Budapest has stunning architecture and myriad historical sights. Many retro items found their second life meaning as they got revamped by ruin bars in Budapest. The oldest one is Szimpla kert. If you want to see something from its crazy installations, choose to visit it during the daylight. It gets crowded in the evening regardless whether it’s a weekend or not. Here’s what you need to know about other ruin pubs and places in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.

WHAT TO DO

The number one activity in Budapest is going to the spa. You can choose between Roman or Turkish type. The most famous are Roman – Szechényi and Gellért but if you are on a budget, try Lukács instead. Király baths are yet to be renovated, but they are charming and homey. If you are not up to wild Sparty, head over to Rudás night bathing from 22 pm to 4 am. You can enjoy the panoramic pool overlooking the Buda Castle, Chain Bridge and the Parliament.

Ice skating is the most popular activity in winter. Check out the gigantic rink in the City Park Városliget. Or if you’re aa runner, put on your running shoes and head over to the Margaret Island. There’s a tartan track on the circumference of the isle with the total length of 5 km.

Budapest, Hungary digital nomad guide
Isn’t that magnificent?

WEATHER

Budapest has hot summers with temperatures being around 30 degrees Celsius. The Indian Summer usually lasts until mid-October. Winters are mild with snow being scarce. If it falls, it usually doesn’t last long. Starting March, you can already smell the spring coming. Do you know how you can guess if it will be raining that day? Have a look around and if you see Hungarian women wearing wellies, grab your umbrella.

You can check out Katechka’s blog on Budapest, Hungary here.

Cover image by Daniel Olah for Unsplash. All image credits go to Katechka.

19 Comments

      1. hi, i was born and raised in Budapest, i live around the world and travel back and forth. Budapest is not a cheap location to fly to, there are low cost airlines, however flying from Budapest is always more expensive than most EU countries. Flight tickets are more expensive, comparing to UK, Spain, Italy, Germany prices… Accommodation prices went up high thanks to Airbnb. I am an apartment owner, and honestly we rent it less and less to cheap people, there have been many destroyed apartments, and personally i did not have good experiences with foreign tenants. It is EXTREMELY hard to find good tenants, and yes, i rather have my flat empty. I like spas, and healthy stuff. I don’t go to any of these spas, they are very dirty and too many tourists.
        Budapest is a nice place to visit, but to live there… I would not recommend. Also, many people like me living in the center, are fed up with foreigners who have no respect (loud music, trash everywhere). The VII district become absolutely NO place to live and in the past 3 years many locals have been complaining and suffering thanks to the night-life… I think you present the city from a perspective which is not so real.

        1. Oh gosh, I had no idea about these things! This was a guest post done years ago and it looks like Budapest as a city has rapidly changed and is also now a victim of over-tourism like many other places in the world. 🙁

  1. Great experience in a lovely city, I always wish to get there one day but I am leaving mi trip to Europe at the end, after visiting countries I want to do outside Europe ( and far away)! I did not that the summer ended at mid October, I thought something like September! Food lovers are happy there! thanks for sharing, nice reading

  2. I have been to Budapest several times ad loved it, it’s such a great diverse city, cheap also, perfect if you’re thinking of locating there as a digital nomad. The food is indeed amazing, I love the chimney cake. I used to eat it all the time when I was little, while I was living in Transylvania. And the gulash is so delicious also!

Leave a Reply to Aneesha Rai Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.