2017. Április 26.
Nowadays we have a really busy schedule and there is no time to shop for a long time. Mostly we just grab everything from the supermarket fast. Though many people are getting aware that it is not good, and they simply miss the old feeling of going to the market to shop and socialize. Maybe that is the reason why markets are getting popular again and even becoming a tourist sight. Tourists coming to Hungary visit them even then when they do not want to buy anything, they want just see the tipical local vegetables, different sort of meat or they want to eat and drink something, a typical Hungarian food and drink or even a souvenir. 10 markets were built in Budapest more than 100 years ago and now almost every district has one. One of the most popular ones is the
Central Market Hall in Budapest.
It is situated on the Pest side of Szabadság Bridge and end of the pedestrian Váci Street, so it is very easy to find it, That is the largest roofed market of Budapest, was built in 1897 and received the title: „The most beautiful market of Europe”. It is also on the toplist of CNN: „Must see sight in Budapest.”
It has two sections. One of them were for small traders and the other one was for wholesalers. The building has 3 floors. On the basement you can find the fishmarket. On the first floor you can find the main market part with the vegetables, meat etc. . On the second floor you can buy souvenir shops for bag, baskets and thousand kinds of hand made table cloth or the most famous Herend porcelain, leather goods etc. Its area is about 10.000 m2.
This breathtaking building has been bombarded during World War II and was thoroughly renovated in 1994.
Interesting fact, thats it was prohibited to shout, whistle, litter or swear here like at the other markets.
Since many thousand of tourists visit here every year, you can find a lot of typical Hungarian souveirs as well but Budapest invites a lot foreign countries to exhibit here as well and they show their traditional food and products also for tourists.
If you are hungry, you can try Lángos, that is a traditional Hungarian food, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt and water. It is served fresh fried and hot, topped with sour cream and grated cheese, ham, or sausages, but from time to time you can find lángos also with new tastes, since tourists have different demands.
Festival days are the following in 2017:
Persian Days - March 21-23.
Bulgarian Days April 4-6.
Sekler Days (people from Rumania) - April 25-27.
Indonesian Days - May 9-11.
Hungarian Days - May 16-18.
Croatian Days - May 23-25.
Portugese Days - June 6-8.
Slovenian Days - June 13-15.
Indian Days - July 4-6.
Thai Days - August 15-17.
Hungarian Days - September 19-21.
Polish Days - September 26-28.
Sekler Days (people from Rumania) - Oktober 10-12.
Japanese Days - November 7-9.
Santa Claus Days - December 4-6.
Its opening hours are the following:
Monday 06:00-17:00
Tuesday 06:00-18:00
Wednesday 06:00-18:00
Thursday 06:00-18:00
Friday 06:00-18:00
Saturday 06:00-15:00
Sunday Closed
It is worth a visit, even if you do not buy anything, just enjoy the view or eat a Lángos.