The coffee shop culture in Budapest is even older than the coffee shop culture in Seattle. And Paris. For years centuries coffee houses have been a wonderful place for friends to gather and socialize. Artists, poets, and common people pondered, gossip and, well, drank coffee!
During World War II many coffee shops were destroyed, but luckily for us many coffee houses have been rebuilt and people are flocking for their cup of joe. If we were in Budapest right now, we’d check out Gerbeaud, which was built in 1858 and has existed as a coffee shop since then.
(Photo by Perhapstoopink/Savannah Grandfather)
The Gerbeaud is also listed as a “must see” in the popular book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List.
Now to the Bars
For a great account on the Hungarian bar experience, check out this website. In the meantime, grab a stool, and have one of the two most popular alcoholic beverages in Hungary: Palinka, a double distilled fruit brandy; or Unicum, which tastes a bit like Jaegermeister. Hungarian wines are also quite a bit tasty. So, make sure to pick up a bottle the next time you see one.
Very important fact: Do not clink glasses if you are drinking beer.
What are you drinking tonight? Do you like going to bars when you are on vacation? What kind of bars do you like?
Great post! While traveling, we have been known to spend hours in coffee houses. We ducked into one in Prague during a rain storm and spent 4 hours there getting to know the locals. We had a wonderful time.
We will hit some of the bars at night-not the touristy ones-we try to go where the locals go for music and good drinks and atmosphere as well. Usually we get picked for being obvious Americans and someone will strike up a conversations then others will come over. We always end up having a wonderful time. Looks like you do too!