Shopping in Budapest

Budapest is hardly a shopping Mecca, but being a European capital it has its share of malls and streets to shop at.

Locals prefer shopping in malls conveniently scattered around the city, but visitors to Budapest like to combine sightseeing with buying a thing or two, and this is where shopping streets come handy.

The most famous pedestrian street of Budapest is <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=V%C3%A1ci+utca,+Budapest&sll=47.493516,19.05407&sspn=0.01215,0.036778&g=V%C3%A1ci+utca,+Budapest,+Hungary&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Budapest,+5+ker%C3%BClet,+V%C3%A1ci+utca,+Hungary&ll=47.491457,19.05407&spn=0.006075,0.018389&z=16" target="new">Váci utca</a> (Váci street) with eclectic selection of shops, stalls and boutiques.

Váci street consists of two parts connected by an underpass. One part has the Great Market Hall at one of its ends, which is both a tourist attraction and a busy market place.

Market Hall can be a convenient spot for souvenir shopping.

Its first floor houses plenty of stalls with traditional Hungarian souvenir produce, such as embroidered tablecloths and serviettes, leather purses, dolls and many paprika-themed items.

The ground floor of Market Hall is all about food, and here you can get some edible souvenirs, such as salami, goose liver and many paprika-themed foods.

All in all, the stretch of Váci utca between the Liberty (green) Bridge and Elizabeth (white) Bridge is all about tacky souvenir shops with occasional antique galleries and cafes.

If you are looking for international brands go to the other part of Váci utca ending with Vörösmarty tér (square) where the <a href="http://www.budapestindex.com/blog/editors301108/budapest-christmas-fair" target="new">traditional Christmas market</a> is held every year.

Here you will find a selection of clothing, shoe and cosmetic brands, as well as usual fast-foods.

Collections in these stores can be somewhat different from the ones offered in other countries (and other brand stores in Budapest), and the prices are usually lower than in Western Europe.

Sales, however, are not very exciting, and finding a good deal might take you a while.

Majority of shops accept credit cards, and cash payments are in Hungarian forint only. But you can easily exchange the money in one of many exchange offices on Váci street. Shops are open till 19 or 20 hours, and also on weekends.

Here you can also get books, newspapers and magazines in foreign languages, or drop by a drogerie to get hygiene supplies or budget cosmetics.

So called Fashion Street connecting Váci street and Andrássy út is a home to more expensive clothing labels, but yet again collections here are tailored to the local market, and might be quite limited.

Another quite popular shopping destination is <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Budapest,+Andr%C3%A1ssy+Way,+Hungary&sll=47.533197,19.063339&sspn=0.091329,0.294228&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Budapest,+Andr%C3%A1ssy+%C3%BAt,+Hungary&ll=47.50636,19.066172&spn=0.006073,0.018389&z=16" target="new">Andrássy út</a>, a boulevard with such high-end fashion shops as Armani, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and the likes.

But luxury boutiques and restaurants are not the only attractions of Andrássy út, it is lined with many spectacular mansions and palaces.

Váci utca and Andrássy út are shopping façades of Hungarian capital, but if you turn to a side street, you’ll see that shopping scene in Budapest still bears the scars of country’s socialist past when nobody cared.

You still see here plenty of bizarrely ugly shop windows as if arranged to prevent you from entering.

And service can be quite peculiar too. Many shop assistants here suffer from what we call “The Princess Syndrome” (well, they might be not actually suffering from that, but their customers do suffer), when they behave as if they were born Princesses to be served by the others, but by turn of fate they have to work now in this stupid shop.

Needless to say, that these assistants are of little assistance, they just stand there trying to look fabulous.

All in all, if your aim is to shop, your best option would be <a href="http://www.budapestindex.com/term/shopping/malls" target="new">shopping malls</a>, but if you just want to leisurely roam about and stop by a shop or two, head downtown and enjoy the city and the crowd as is.

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